Back Talk Oak Cliff

Pledge drive: Bike racks at neighborhood businesses

Only $10. That's all Oak Cliff neighbor (and resident Energizer bunny) Jason Roberts is asking for one of his newest fundraisers — a pledge drive to install bike racks at North Oak Cliff businesses.

It's an Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce Alternative Transportation Committee fundraiser, and the goal is $1,500, which will pay for five bike racks. So far, $1,160 has been raised, and fund raising continues through Saturday, Nov. 1. A shout out from blogger Holly Jefferson will probably help, as will Roberts' persuasive (and humorous) logic:

"... these days, [$10] is like a cup of coffee, right? or maybe half a gallon of gas. ... If you are one of the wonderful contributors to our goal, we will hold an old school ice cream party in the Bishop Arts District, just like you would have had after jump-roping-for-heart in the sixth grade!"

Speaking of neighborhood businesses and bikes, when I visited Eno's Pizza Tavern for October's Delicious piece, I learned that owner Matt Spillers rides his bike to and from the restaurant every day. Way to be green, Matt.

Former Bishop Arts shop owner Hamilton Rousseau dies

I never visited the late Hamilton Rousseau's tobacco and bottled soft drink shop Ifs Ands & Butts. My husband did, not long before we moved to Dallas a little more than three years ago. He was mesmerized by the place and its seemingly endless soda options, but couldn't remember what it was called. So for Christmas 2005, I tried to track down the name of the store with the intention of buying my husband an array of sodas as a Christmas present.

I finally figured out the name of Rousseau's shop, but I was too late. He had already closed its doors because of his failing health (The Soda Gallery now sits in its place). If I remember reading his original website correctly, he hoped to someday reopen or reinvent the shop. Sadly, a few days ago, Rousseau passed away due to complications from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), according to Pegasus News. His obituary, in which his shop's location is described as "Olde Oak Cliff", can be read here.

CliffDwellers head to Portland for trolley expedition

September's Advocate CliffDweller story "Movin' Right Along" gives an update on Oak Cliff's trolley quest and the city vault find by Jason Roberts and Luis Salcedo that might speed up the process. (The magazine should be delivered to your Oak Cliff doorstep sometime over the next week; if not, please e-mail me.)

I talked to Roberts last week, and he told me about a trip this weekend that Roberts and other Oak Cliff Transit Authority folks are taking with Fort Worth Avenue Development Group director Scott Griggs, Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce president Bob Stimson and other interested parties are taking to Portland, Ore.

Why Portland? Well, yes, I'm sure the weather is nice this time of year, but the point of the trip is to meet with the streetcar director of Portland. The city has "modern streetcars throughout," Roberts says, and CliffDwellers want to learn how they reinvented the rail. Portland's streetcars serve communities surrounding its downtown, and now boast 10,000 boardings per day. Wow. That's something to aspire to.