My 9 year old son was asked to write a paper on the “Perfect Place” for a classroom assignment. His teacher called us later that afternoon to tell us it brought tears to her eyes. After reading it, I realized that he had done a better job of promoting the need for great, livable/walkable communities than anything I’d run across by Jane Jacobs, Andres Duany, or Jan Gehl…and all he did was describe a day in his life:
(Full text below image)
The Bishop Arts District by Asher Roberts
I get up [out] of my bean bag and say, “finally done with my homework.” I jump on my bike and ride to a little district called Bishop Arts. I hop off my bike and thought to myself, “Where should I go?”
I look around at the old brick buildings and all the murals and say “Oddfellows.” I rode my bike past the cars and to the bike rack. I’m not supposed to eat on days when they’re crowded because my mom, dad, and other owners of the restaurant don’t want to have more people waiting at the door and I say, “Well you shouldn’t keep your son waiting,” and they just ignore it but it’s still a pleasure to say hi. After I say hi, I go to the bike shop. Jeremy is one of the owners and he usually messes around with me and I don’t care for it, I don’t understand how it’s funny to them but I just ignore it. And then I go ride by the murals and some one like my friend Matt asks me to do something like go get me an extension cord for piano night at his restaurant Eno’s. Then my mom, dad, and sister ride over to Eno’s to watch piano night. We eat dinner and I get my favorite food truffel cheese bread, when we are done with our food we ride back home and get into bed to get ready for another great day.
In the Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs describes neighborhoods that sounds much like this…where shop owners know the people in the area, keep eyes out on the children, and the kids have a fun and safe environment to play in with plenty of options. We recently moved to be closer to the historic Bishop Arts District for this very reason. Our son now has a place that he can go and just say, “hi”, and stroll past murals, listen to pianos play, eat his favorite food, walk or bike safely, and have a community that knows his name, asks how he’s doing, and maybe even playfully busts his chops a bit…but most importantly, it loves him back.
Bike Friendly Oak Cliff 
That’s wonderful. It reminds me of the Dallas that I grew up in, where I could ride my bike to the local full-service gas station and the old mechanic would patch my flat bike tire. Then next door to Cabell’s for an ice cream sandwich and some chopped beef. Creating safe environments for kids is what building great cities is all about.
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This brings back a lot of memories when I as a kid growing up on Madison Ave. would ride my bike to Jefferson for a day of walking through Sears, the Hobby shop and catch a movie at the Texas theatre. We would ride to Kidd Springs for a day of swimming, fishing, playing baseball or participating in arts and crafts. There was also riding your bike to Lake Cliff park for a day of fun filled activities then topping it off with a visit to Polar Bear Ice Cream. The Bishop Arts District brings back memories of spending time around the old Fire House #15 with the greatest bunch of guys who could cook almost as good as granny. And then there was the bowling alley. All the shop owners knew you by name and they watched over you. Yes, those were the days!
As I read the above… I can’t help but think how I too feel like a nine year old when I ride my bike down the street to the little district of Bishop Arts…
He is so right… you see people you know, visit friendly places and feel fortunate to call this place home, a great community where people actually care.
Thank you little Mr. Roberts.
You have a great kid here. I enjoyed his observation on life in Bishop. Ahhhhhh
Tell your son we can both go into the bike shop and make fun a Garmy! Both my wife and I loved this.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jason E. Roberts, CNU NextGen. CNU NextGen said: 9-year NextGen-er: http://j.mp/gpev31 […]
Indeed! Come on down to The Oak Cliff Bicycle Company and make fun of Jeremy. While you’re there check out the huge pre-spring sale. OCBC has the hottest deals on the coolest bikes anywhere.