Now that we have a couple of months’ worth of perspective after the region’s feverish courtship of Boeing’s new headquarters, a few observations might be in order.
Unless you just got back from an extended sojourn someplace far away, you know that the Dallas area was in the running with Denver and Chicago for Boeing’s home office relocation from Seattle, but in the end was left at the altar in favor of the the Windy City.
Some observers here professed to be shocked that Dallas could lose to Chicago, given our lower taxes and allegedly better weather, even though by the time you read this our highs should be approaching the upper 90s. Plus, we may not have a state income tax (which is deductible, by the way, so we Texans in effect help subsidize Illinois taxpayers), but I’ll bet our 8.5-cent sales tax and property taxes match up with anyone’s.
The mildly cynical among us theorize that corporate relocations often come down to where the big boss decides he or she wants to be, and word was that Boeing’s CEO, an avid sailor, decided that Lake Michigan was a more attractive option than, for example, White Rock Lake. I have a friend who used to crew on boats in the annual Chicago-to-Detroit-and-back yacht race – good luck trying something like that around here.
In all seriousness, though, the exercise of competing in that league is valuable experience, and there really are some lessons we can learn it.
In debriefing area economic development officials, the Boeing people said that, once they made a decision to go to a center city location, Chicago clearly beat out Dallas when it came to a vibrant, around-the-clock downtown. Some of us also noted that our area’s initial presentation was basically a standard buisnesslike briefing in a hotel meeting room on the scenic prairies of DFW Airport, while Chicago threw a lavish soiree  – complete with great food and live entertainment – at the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago.
The message: A great business climate isn’t all that matters – quality of life, including the arts, education, and an appreciation for diversity also are huge factors in these decisions.
So what can we do about it, and where do we go from here? First, while downtown Dallas has at least regained a pulse, we need not only to continue but to redouble our efforts to bring it back as a place to live and be entertained, not just a place to work nine to five and then shut down for the night. This includes the City’s so-far modestly successful incentives for downtown residential projects, which should in turn lead to more and better quality retail and restaurants.
This also includes encouraging more adaptive reuse of older buildings, more pedestrian amenities, and maybe even, some far-off day, finding a way to get people to emerge from the underground tunnels back onto the streets.
Another lesson is to do whatever it takes to complete the Arts District. The Nasher Sculpture Garden is under way and will be a great addition to the DMA, the Meyerson and the Crow Collection. The biggest piece of the puzzle left is the much-needed performing arts hall, not just for the Opera and the Theater Center but for the smaller and more experimental outfits that will add more variety and excitement to the area.
Like any other investment in the future, all these things will cost a lot of money, but what they will add to our quality of life and our economy, Boeing or no Boeing, will well be worth it.
