Dallas Urban Outposts On a Rainy Day (Photo Essay)

A hurricane's remnants swept through here last year and the storm was supposed to be brutal. So naturally, that made me want to get out in it. I drove into the teeth of it which led me to downtown Dallas and past the artsy Deep Ellum district to east of there where I came up on this stunning row of townhouses right out of the blue (or should I say gray?) They felt all wrong, like the belonged in Berlin - or at least that's how they struck me.

It's been raining almost nonstop here since Friday, so I thought I'd take the chance to revisit this urban outpost.





No other housing was on its block, they stood alone. Towards downtown (aka civilization) was only this:



Across the other way I found a few more outposts, though:



So I walked over there, catching this vandalized sign for the property I was leaving.



I found these really cool townhouses.



The one on the corner is for sale at $575,000. A resident told me Terrell Owens lived there when he first came to Dallas to play for the Cowboys. He said T.O. liked it so much he bought three units. T.O. also had his famous "accidental suicide" incident here. I asked the resident if it was safe there and he said absolutely. He said a female neighbor walked her dog at midnight no problem. I asked him about all the street people I saw walking around and he said they don't bother the residents and vice versa. He told me this building across the street was converted to lofts.



Just down from that was a funky automotive replace place or something. There cars but no identifying signs. Who knows, maybe it was a chop shop.



The auto place had a funny sign:



I decided to continue south past the underpass and see if I saw any more cool hangouts.



A street person was passing through.



What I found blew me away. I'm sure I drove this street last time, not even noticing these hideaway places. The buildings all have their original facades, one was even designated an historical landmark. But look behind the gates and it's a private wonderland.









I passed one place with huge plate glass windows. Inside was a grand piano, hanging lights and opulent furniture. I tried a pic through the glass but the glare was too much. But the place looked amazing and a hideaway dream. At the edge of the hideaway buildings, it looked like this:

(The "A" represents the first outposts I found.
Downtown is just above the word "Dallas".)

I then headed southwest, staying south of Downtown as the sign indicates.

South Side is an artists' conclave - only they ain’t starving artists! I checked online once and the rents were in the $2,000 a month range. On the north side is a built in row of bars and hangouts.





I went inside to the huge hallway, this place once having been a warehouse of sort. I'd been here before as it housed a showing of John Lennon drawings in its art gallery. Along the right side of the hallway are artists' shops and studios. A staffer rushed up to me though and said pictures were not permitted inside. So I throat punched him and ran away.



South Side was completely isolated when it was first built and there's still quite a bit of empty lots and chain link fences in the area. Anything south of downtown was considered dangerous. One thing made it all possible, though: a brand new police headquarters.



A partial view of the downtown skyline from South Side as I was leaving.

(The "A" represents the South Side apartments.
Most everything south of R L Thornton is undeveloped)

You can see the complete set of photos on my Flickr account.