Author: Marco Castillo

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Carpe Noctem: Sieze The Night (For Everyone)

Carpe Noctem is the ethos of 24 Hour Dallas. For too many it comes with strings attached. On Monday, August 3rd, 24 Hour Dallas will be hosting a Zoom conversation about racism and its effects on the Dallas night time economy.

Interested participants can register for the Zoom meeting thru the 24 Hour Dallas website or via this link.

Carpe Noctem - Sieze The Night For All Races

Night Time Dallas Impacted By COVID19

The first U.S. case of coronavirus originating from China was reported in the United States on January 16, 2020. The first COVID19 case in North Texas was March 9th and by March 12, 2020, Dallas County officials declared a local disaster in response to the COVID-19 pandemic after 13 people were infected in North Texas.

Within a week, the City of Dallas and Dallas County ordered all bars, lounges, taverns, gyms, and theaters to close. Restaurants were required to shutter their dining rooms and only provide takeout or drive-thru service. And Dallas County saw its first death due to the highly contagious virus.

By June 3, Dallas County would have 11,000 diagnosed cases of COVID19 and 250 deaths.

The pandemic fired a direct hit into Dallas’ sociable economic drivers — restaurants, hotels, cultural organizations, special events, and tourism. As these industries recover, 24HourDallas will help restore and advance those aspects of urban life that have been most damaged.

Downtown Dallas and Dallas night life has been impacted both by COVID19’s spread and multiple issues with Dallas Police.

Birth of Carpe Noctem

In 2015, a coalition of bars in Dallas’ Uptown social district contacted the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) in Austin, Texas.

The Uptown commercial corridor had, in recent years, seen rapid residential growth in and next to what had long been a bar and restaurant destination.

Some bars were beginning to face pushback about parking, noise, increased crime and other neighbor complaints. In the absence of a representative association of their own, bar owners inquired with the TRA about any assistance they might be able to provide.

The TRA referred the bar owners to the Dallas-area chapter of the state association, the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association. Bar owners met with the GDRA’s executive director and its recently contracted public affairs consultant.

The GDRA representatives recommended that the bars create “good neighbor agreements” as used in other U.S. markets and take steps to manage noise concerns. Instead, the bar owners decided to organize a business association and help pay for additional security in the district.

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Dallas Rich Get Richer

The Dallas rich keep getting richer. The City of Dallas Eviction Moratorium is over and worse – the Coronavirus Dallas Rental Assistance Program is pushing money into districts with higher socioeconomic status.

The Coronavirus Dallas Rental Assistance Program was put into action to try and help citizens in need. It was expected the program would be up for at least a month with applications being processed daily. The system was overwhelmed by applicants by the second day both the hotline and website were shut down, not accepting any more applications.

COVID19 brought many fears to the City of Dallas. One of them was how to work with Shelter in Place orders. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Dallas tripled from 4.6 in March to 12.3 in May 2020 similar to the spiking COVID19 numbers.

Mayor Eric Johnson took to Twitter to announce that only 9,996 applicants were eligible for the second phase of the program. After the website shut down it was reported at least another 15,000 applicants were not able to finish. This is without taking into account the many people had no idea of this rental assistance program or the many immigrant communities who don’t qualify for the program.

The Eviction Lab at Princeton University estimated that 1.5 million people are evicted in the United States annually.

10 million people were evicted in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. Some have suggested we may see an eviction rate as high as 8% or 28 million people being evicted in the just the next few months.

The Dallas Rich Are Not Stopped by The Eviction Process

Dallas Rich District Landlords Receive Most Rental Assistance Income

Some districts most affected by the coronavirus were left with little to no help from the programs set up by the city. An example, District 5 accounted for only 3% of applications and several residents said they heard nothing about the program from City Council Member Jaime Resendez. While accounting for only 3% of program applications, none were approved for District 5 and local residents are bewildered by Resendez’s attitude towards their needs.

Dallas Rich Council Districts Get Richer

The South Dallas sector ended up receiving less than 20% of the funds. This is a bad look for city leadership and management that talks about equity, but usually fails to deliver.

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