Today I Biked The River Legacy Park Trail To Veridian To See If Homes Are Really Sprouting Up There

New Homes Being Built At Veridian In Arlington

Last week there was an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about houses being built at the Huffines Veridian development north of the east end of River Legacy Park in Arlington.

It seemed to me that it had only been a month or two since I'd pedaled my bike in that zone and at that point in time all I saw were some bulldozers in road building, dirt moving mode.

It takes months to build a house, how could there be finished houses in Veridian, I thought to myself?

I also thought to myself that this could be another case of the Star-Telegram getting their info wrong. This has been the case, previously at this particular location.

I remember when the Star-Telegram had an article touting the opening of a new 4 mile section of paved trail in River Legacy Park, extending the trail to Highway 360, opened after a mile connector to the existing trail was finished.

However, the facts were that this trail had been finished and usable for months. There was no new 1 mile connector. But, more importantly, the trail did not and still does not, extend to 360.

The problem caused by a newspaper printing erroneous information can be a little thing. Like the very day after the Star-Telegram had this article about the trail extending to 360, I pedaled to the 7 mile mark end of the trail, thinking, well, maybe a new section has been added since I've pedaled to the end of the trail.

I got to the 7 mile mark and found a guy appearing to be very annoyed. I asked if he was okay. He told me he thought the trail went all the way to 360.

I asked him if he read that in the Star-Telegram. He replied in the affirmative. He'd told friends, flying into D/FW International, that he'd jog the new River Legacy Park trail and to look for him waving from an overpass, and to exit and pick him up. How he timed this or how he thought he knew what overpass he was going to end up on, I did not ask. I told him I didn't think he had any option but to jog back to wherever his vehicle was.

So, today I fully expected to see no houses built or being built on the Veridian development.

Well.

I was wrong. There looked to be, maybe, a dozen or more houses in various stages of construction. I thought it took 4 to 6 months to build a house. Have Texans figured out how to speed up home construction?

The Veridian development ground to a halt when the economy collapsed in 2008. Are homes rising in this location yet one more sign that the economy is coming back? I hope so.

Checking On The Huffines Bulldozers At Arlington's River Legacy Park While Walking With The Queen Of Wink

I went swimming early this morning in what feels like my outdoor bathtub. By 11 I was in the mood to be bi-pedal, so I took off to the Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

When I got to VCNHA I saw the gate closed. Village Creek had gone into flood mode, apparently. Was it from that short storm on Friday? Or was there another storm last night? I wondered, this morning, if I slept through a storm, because I had to navigate puddles of water on my way to the pool.

With Village Creek not available I headed to Arlington's River Legacy Park. I'd not been there since a couple months ago when I hiked the mountain bike trail. Today I decided to walk east, crossing the Trinity River and going under Collins Road to see the current state of the Huffines Development.

To my great shock, with no public hearings on the matter, a huge swath of what had been fairly wild land bordering the paved River Legacy Trail had been assaulted by Huffines bulldozers. Bulldozing to make islands, lakes and plots of land for buildings. What had been scenic was turned ugly. What should have been a park, was ruined.

Well. All bulldozing on the Huffines project has ceased. The project appears to have been long abandoned. A long time ago now, I blogged about how the Huffines project had blocked off the last mile of the River Legacy trail, due to the building of a pipeline. Well the "Trail Closed Between Mile 6 & 7" sign is now down.

Mother Nature has covered up the Huffines scars. The only ugliness that remains is the chain link fence that was put up before the bulldozing began.

As I walked away from the Huffines debacle my phone rang. I can not see who is calling when I'm out in the bright sun. So, I answer with "I'm in the bright sun and can not see who is calling. Please identify yourself." I heard laughing and recognized the Queen of Wink's royal giggle.

The Queen talked to me the 3 miles back to my vehicle. Where I sat on a picnic table and continued the royal conversation. I must say I have not laughed so much since I don't know when.

The Queen of Wink's tale of her recent Vegas Adventure with the Girls, was, well, funny stuff.

If the Queen of Wink is reading this, I did not hang up, my phone made its annoying bloop bloop noise and disconnected. I figured I'd done enough laughing and it was time to head to my next destination.

Huffine's Veridian at River Legacy Park

Yesterday I blogged about what's happening at, or to, River Legacy Park, in Arlington. I biked the trail as far as I could, til the trail was blocked by the construction of a pipeline.

Yesterday I told you what I'd learned about this project, from an Anonymous source.

Then, today, another Anonymous source made an information rich comment about the project at River Legacy.

It is called Veridian. Veridian, well, the Huffines, have a website. You can go there and see more artist renderings of what Veridian will look like, along with topographical maps. It is a way bigger project than I realized. It will totally alter River Legacy Park. In a good way, or bad way, I don't know. What I do know, almost for certain, is we'll be hearing a lot of construction noises for who knows how long, along the formerly quiet nature trail.

Below is an excerpt from the Veridian website describing the project. You can go to their website to read all about it.

"Viridian, a 2,000-acre+ mixed-use community located in Arlington, Texas, will offer the connection with nature that one yearns for in today's busy world, plus all the great advantages that come with small-town life. Its new urbanism design, sustainability and eco-friendly environment will make it exciting and vibrant.

Unique, unlike any ever developed, Viridian sets itself apart from others because of its prime urban location, its commitment to sustainability and its green living environment. It will be unlike any community ever built in the Southwest and is one of the largest infill developments in the U.S. It is the last large remaining urban tract in Arlington and the only remaining one - in the middle of five million people - where Huffines could create their vision of a true mixed-use, sustainable, green community, in which one could work, live and play in a urban environment. Huffines will make the development viable because of key local, public/private partnerships with the city, and when completed the community will boast a $1.5 billion dollar tax base."