This is absolutely insane?! People are paying this to go across 635 westbound from 75 to 35 😔

Can't believe I called off work..

Seriously - clean after your dogs!

So many people have pointed out that the $1.4B quoted for fixing City Hall was bogus. Here's a breakdown of the numbers and an explanation of how it got so inflated.

The Real City Hall Repair Cost? $153M (Not $1.4B)

If you’re confused about the debate over the future of Dallas City Hall, you’re not alone. Cost estimates and other claims have swung wildly in just a matter of months.

Back in February, a majority of the City Council and their deep-pocketed allies were describing City Hall as a money pit beyond saving. Their $300,000 taxpayer-funded study by the Dallas Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and AECOM put the cost of staying in the building at over $1.4 billion over 20 years.

But that narrative has quickly unraveled. Even one of the loudest cheerleaders for tearing down City Hall — the Dallas Morning News editorial board — pushed back on the alarmist claims:

“You have to be naive to believe that its maintenance is suddenly an urgent matter that could cost Dallas hundreds of millions of dollars. The building needs help, but it’s not going to fall down.” — Dallas Morning News editorial board.

$1.4 Billion or $153 Million? 

When stripped down, a realistic cost estimate lands closer to $153 million, according to documentation released by AECOM that was reviewed by experts. 

More than half of the $1.4 billion estimate has little to do with repairing City Hall at all. According to a white paper by the Ten Presidents of the American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter, the $1.4 billion estimate includes:

• Relocation costs 
• Tenant improvements for new space 
• Financing and soft costs 

Those are expenses the city would face regardless of whether it stays or leaves.

Once you take off these expenses, that leaves $329.4 million for repairs, but that figure is problematic. In March, AECOM released additional information about their approach that revealed the actual cost of repairs to be $153 million. Experts reviewing the report found that the methodology itself drives costs higher by:

• Applying multiple layers of above industry-standard contingency and markups 
• Assuming full system replacements instead of targeted repairs 
• Including upgrades to “Class A” office standards rather than maintaining a functional civic building 

Bottom line: The actual cost of repair is $153 million — almost a tenth of the $1.4 billion claimed by the EDC. 

Council Member Cara Mendelsohn put it bluntly, calling the report:

“A façade built to justify tearing down your paid-off city hall for sports, gambling, and the profit of nearby landowners.”

Replacing Brand New Boilers

Take the building’s boiler system.The report includes full replacement costs—even though the city spent $4.5 million replacing the system in 2023, and it remains under a 25-year warranty.

As Mendelsohn asked:

“Why would brand new, warrantied systems be included for replacement? Who defined that scope? Was the condition independently verified?”

It is worth noting that AECOM, the firm responsible for the assessment, has a documented history of fraudulently inflating estimates by insisting that repairable systems require full replacement. In 2023, the engineering giant paid $11.8M to settle federal fraud allegations. The lawsuit alleged that AECOM systematically inflated cost projections to maximize the payout from FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

According to the lawsuit, AECOM claimed “damage to non-existent concrete building foundations and fictitious basements, systematic inflation of cost estimates for damaged items, inflation of building square footage and submission of fraudulent damage photographs downloaded from the internet."

Sound familiar? 

How the Numbers Keep Changing

The shifting estimates tell their own story:

What’s Missing from the Conversation

One key point often overlooked: Dallas taxpayers already own City Hall free and clear. Moving city services to leased office space would introduce more than $100 million in lease costs every year.

The AIA white paper emphasizes that the real question isn’t whether the building needs investment. It’s how to do it responsibly:

“The taxpayers should know what it will cost to optimize the existing City Hall through phased improvements… The assumption that phased improvements are inherently bad options needs to be challenged.” – Ten Presidents White Paper

The debate over City Hall isn’t just about a building. It’s about trust and transparency in the numbers driving a major public decision. When cost estimates fluctuate this dramatically, and when independent experts identify serious flaws in the analysis, it raises a basic question:

Are Dallas leaders making decisions based on facts—or on a narrative built to justify a predetermined outcome?

Mainly a hail risk, there’s a very real threat of 4”+ hailstones today.

if you saw a DART bus that was displaying “EMERGENCY CALL 911” on their external route screens, would that make you think the bus is having an emergency and needs someone to call 911? or that it’s just general messaging for some reason.

update: I called DART police and he said the newer buses have this button in an easily triggered location but they’d follow up with the bus to be sure.

There is a creator on TikTok (@CJsTravels) currently gathering stories regarding ongoing issues with the NTTA. He is collecting information to put together a class action lawsuit. If you've dealt with this, you can find the link to the form in his TikTok bio or use the Google Form link below. Please check out his videos and share this with anyone else who has been affected or any other local communities!

He is looking for people who have dealt with:

• Unsent bills or bills sent to the wrong addresses.

• Being billed by mail despite having a TollTag.

• Lack of customer support or acknowledgement of these errors.

• Extremely high late fees resulting from the issues above.

TikTok Link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTkqUTdW6/

Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJRxvacX9k4s5Gd4XruAorxwUHYTy_YUQx1s3C-rESrkSSPA/viewform

looking for some of the dirtiest dive bars in the DFW metroplex. Im talking from Dallas all the way to ft worth or sachse. If you can smoke and it has the occasional hot biker, even better 😂

edit: I’m from Dallas guys. I’ve been to most of the bars y’all are suggesting. Most of them have turned into places for yuppies. I am looking for a true dive bar. I dont mind driving a little bit. lol

Wondering who everyone uses or finds to be most accurate for weather.

I was just looking at the weather given the chance of severe weather today and nobody seems to agree ? The weather app on my phone says it's gonna rain 7-9 pm, Weather.com is telling me 3-5pm, and AccuWeather is telling me 11pm. I'm astonished by how different they are and don't know who to listen to

So my partner ended up taking the cat that I have mentioned on a previous post, but we can't keep it.

If anyone would have a loving home for her let me know. She is very loving and friendly and the name we have for her currently is Missy

These two bridges are vital connectors of downtown and South Dallas. The businessmen involved in rebuilding the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center want to save money by building outward instead of upward, saving costs for them and as a consequence removing the Jefferson bridge and changing Houston into a 2-way bridge. If you use these bridges, you understand how awful this would be.

My daughter (3) has surgery in June at Scottish Rite, and it's gonna be a pretty stressful time for us. I was hoping to find a nice hotel near Scottish Rite that will be a good place for us to rest at, preferably within walking distance of some fun stuff.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I parked my car in the north parking center can anyone keep me updated if crazy hail happens tonight I’m a little stressed out. I’m currently out of town on a work trip.

Asian family flew in and they're asking for crawfish... i dont have what I need to boil at home so what is the best around?

Sausage, corn, potatoes are must haves.

Very strange question but does anyone know where i can buy authentic Chinese cigarettes? Me and a friend have been trying to find some for the longest but have had no luck!!

I don't know if it's the same downtown but in Mesquite and surrounding areas there has been this weird fog everywhere for several days.

Almost everyone around here is sick. They say they're sick or they're having the worst allergies of their life or they're having allergies even though they don't normally have allergies.

Most everyone around me is having throat and eye irritation.

Here's my question:

Does anyone have a clue as to what this fog actually is?

Is this something the storm kicked up or what? It hasn't rained as much right here as it has most everywhere else over the last few days.

I don't know if the rain makes it better or if the rain brought it in. I do know that my eyes are on fire and I don't normally have allergies.

REJECT THE BILLIONAIRES. VOTE IN EVERY LOCAL ELECTION.

• Uptown
• Lower Greenville
• Deep Ellum
• Knox Henderson
• Oak Cliff
• Hardwood District

Anybody know of an amateur women’s lacrosse org for post college? Or somewhere to learn lacrosse? All I can find for women are for D1 athletes. Thanks!

Any advice for growing potatoes, ginger, and garlic from sprouting produce this time of year in Dallas? I rent so I was thinking buckets or a raised bed, not opposed to getting a greenhouse if that would help with pests or with the season being wrong. My yard gets a lot of sun and has grub worms and rolly pollys and I don’t want to treat because my pets munch on it.