Fort Worth: A Paradox

My one or two longtime readers may remember that I used to subscribe to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That paper provided me a lot of blogging fodder.

I still glance at the paper's online version and read the letters to the editor. There is such a contrast between the Fort Worth paper's letters to the editor and the Dallas Morning News letters to the editor. As in the Dallas paper has way fewer embarrassing ones.

This morning's Star-Telegram letters has one that perplexes me. I can't tell if the writer is being sarcastic, with heavy duty irony. Or what. I can't believe the writer is serious, due to their being so many ridiculous assertions, like Fort Worth's "10 year plan to end homelessness is amazing in its compassionate, yet pragmatic inspiration."

10 year plan? Compassionate and pragmatic? 10 years?

Fort Worth arts are "acclaimed nationwide."

Fort Worth's school system "has leadership that dares to really address our educational problems."

Our "Trinity River Vision is unbelievably far-reaching in its foresight of what can be accomplished in this city."

And my favorite, due to its use of the "envy of" verbiage that always makes me cringe, "Few would question that Fort Worth, led by its forward-thinking "first families," developed a vibrant downtown that is the envy of most cities."

Okay, on homelessness, Fort Worth sent out a task force to towns like Seattle and Denver to look at their successful homeless programs. The task force came back saying those programs were worth emulating. And it's gonna take 10 years?

Fort Worth's arts are acclaimed nationwide? You in the rest of the country, reading this, have you done a lot of acclaiming about Fort Worth's arts?

Fort Worth's school system is a disaster. How are the problems with high dropout rates, bad test scores and bad schools being addressed?

The Trinity River Vision is unbelievably far-reaching? Now this was the one that I thought the writer had to be being sarcastic, as in the River Vision is unbelievably far-reaching. It has never been voted on by the public. To fund it they had to come up with an un-needed river diversion channel, to replace humongous flood control levees that the public has already paid for. And to make it all work, in one of the weirdest cases of nepotism I've seen, Kay Granger's son was appointed to run the thing. Kay Granger being Fort Worth's representative in Congress, who now has a vested interest in trying to get funding for the Vision. So, her son can have a job.

Fort Worth's downtown is the envy of other cities? Okay, you reading this in other cities, are you envious of downtown Fort Worth? Do you even have the slightest inkling of what downtown Fort Worth looks like? Do you have any image in your memory of downtown Fort Worth? I have been to a lot of downtowns in big cities all over America. Fort Worth has the most unsubstantial skyline and downtown of any American city with a populaton over a half million. It's the only American city with a population over a half million with no downtown grocery or department store. It is the least lively downtown of a major city I've ever been in.

I'm not saying downtown Fort Worth is not a perfectly fine place. But to say other towns envy anything in downtown Fort Worth is ridiculous. What do you people, who think this type stuff, think the first time you visit the downtowns of Seattle or Denver or San Francisco or Portland or San Antonio, Dallas, Houston or Austin? Let alone New York City, Chicago, Miami, Phoenix or even Oklahoma City or Tulsa?

Anyway, below is the letter that I can't tell whether it is serious or joking....

Fort Worth, a paradox

As I was reading the Jan. 1 editorial, and the excellent column by County Judge Glen Whitley, I was struck by the paradox presented by Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

Few would question that Fort Worth, led by its forward-thinking “first families,” developed a vibrant downtown that is the envy of most cities; that our Trinity River Vision is unbelievably far-reaching in its foresight of what can be accomplished in this city; that our 10-year plan to end homelessness is amazing in its compassionate yet pragmatic inspiration; that our arts are acclaimed nationwide; that the Fort Worth school system has leadership that dares to really address our educational problems; plus many more examples that all of us could name.

Yet I read that Tarrant County is the most conservative county in the most conservative state in the nation. Our progressive actions and our accomplishments and goals belie that! Maybe we vote a certain way out of tradition or habit, when, if we really examine our values and actions, we would find we truly believe differently.

— Louise B. Carvey, Fort Worth