Each month, the Advocate talks with District 12 council member Sandy Greyson about issues being discussed Downtown and how they affect Far North Dallas. This month’s discussion: The 2012 bond program.

How’s the crime rate in Far North Dallas? What’s the latest on the Valley View redevelopment? And when will Fretz Park Recreation Center finally re-open? These questions and more will be answered at two important meetings this week. Both are being held in the community room of the North Central Station.

The North Central Division hosts its quarterly crime watch meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Ed Fox, crime watch extraordinaire and P.E.N.A. West resident, will give an update on Volunteers in Patrol. Officer Mark Lutz will present some stats, comparing 2010 and 2011. Our area has actually seen the largest crime decrease in the city. Finally, Senior Cpl. D.J. Beaty will provide some insight on how police are using social media, which is quite timely considering that was the subject of our January cover story.

Have breakfast with council members Linda Koop (District 11) and Sandy Greyson (District 12) 7:30-9 a.m. Thursday and learn how important city hall issues will affect our neighborhoods. Topics will include the Complete Streets Initiative and bike plan, water restrictions and flow control. There also will be an update on the Fretz Park Recreation Center, which has been under renovation for many months now, and the plan for redeveloping the Valley View area.

Richardson High grad Courtney Parmalee and Lake Highlands grad Madison Barnes first met when they arrived on the Oklahoma University campus in 2010. When the sorority sisters and best buds heard that Khloe Kardashian would be making an appearance in Dallas over Christmas break, they knew there’d be no crowd too large or temps too cold to keep them from meeting the reality-star. Here’s what Courtney (pictured in the photo) shared about the experience:

I heard about Khloe’s Toy Drive on the news late Tuesday night and I immediately called to wake up Madison. “I’ll be at your house at 9! We’re going to meet Khloe!” I yelled into the phone. Each fan was asked to donate a new toy for Children’s Medical Center in exchange for pictures or autographs, so after making a quick trip to Target we waited in line for 3 hours outside of Dallas City Hall. It was definitely cold but the picture made it worth it!

It seems like every time Madison and I turn on our TV, one of the many Kardashian reality shows is playing. (In fact, everyone in line had to sign a waiver in case we are featured on their reality show, Khloe and Lamar.) We have both become fans this year but Khloe has always been our favorite because she is certainly the most down-to-earth and seems to have a positive and a hilarious personality. When Madison told me Lamar Odom, Khloe’s husband, had been traded to the Mavs, we both started screaming. When it was finally our turn to shake her hand, we both told her how happy we are that Dallas is her new home and wished Lamar and the Mavericks another great season. Khloe seemed to be very grateful for the turnout.

Each month, the Advocate talks with District 12 council member Sandy Greyson about issues being discussed Downtown and how they affect Far North Dallas. This month’s discussion: Complete Streets.

Social media can forge relationships, improve efficiency, boost business and promote safety within the neighborhood. But not everyone is on board.

Thanks to the ongoing Texas drought, the City of Dallas begins restricting landscape watering today (Dec. 12). Home or businesses with addresses ending in odd numbers can water lawns Saturdays and Wednesdays only; addresses ending in even numbers can water Thursdays and Sundays. And no one can water between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

If you are one of those people inclined to narc a neighbor or neighboring business out, fines for violations range from $250 to $2,000 per incident, according to the city’s website, with the first violation likely resulting in a warning only.

Robert Wilsonsky with the Observer and Rudy Bush with the DMN have been talking about this latest Dallas Citizen’s Council video, touting all of the great things happening here in the city. It’s a slick video that’s probably worth the five minutes of your time it will take to watch it.

The video’s premise is that Dallas has invested during the tough times in infrastructure and other projects that will allow us to take off like a rocket ship when the inevitable good times come around again. Cited, of course, as the Dallas Convention Center hotel, the Calatrava bridge, the Downtown revitalization projects, the Woodall Rogers deck park and a bunch of other nice pictures.

I can’t take issue with the hope that our taxpayer-funded investments will pay off big when the economy turns around. The video is nice and it kind of leaves me pumped up after watching it. I don’t think I’m going to be running through any brick walls today, though.

The city held its fifth neighborhood open house for the Complete Streets Initiative last night, focusing on the two North Dallas areas identified for pilot projects where roads could be friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists. But this was the first meeting that yielded some negative feedback on the idea, says Janet Tharp with Kimley Horn and Associates, the consulting group that’s leading the project.

“This is the only one [so far] that hasn’t embraced it,” she says.

The areas in question are Alpha from Preston to the Tollway and Meadowcreek from Arapaho to Campbell. The city aims to redesign these areas to promote economic development and safety, using only the existing right of way without widening the streets.

The decision to include Alpha was a given, says District 11 council member Linda Koop, because of the Valley View/Galleria redevelopment vision under way now. Ideally, there would be room for pedestrians and cyclists to access retail and housing plus large sidewalks for outdoor cafes. Meadowcreek served as a good example of a neighborhood street; it connects the community to destinations like Brentfield Elementary, Campbell Green Recreation Center and All Saints Catholic Church, to name a few.

Barry Rosen is president of the Prestonwood Meadows Homeowner’s Association, and he lives on Meadowcreek. He says he believes the city may be putting the cart before the horse with this grand plan.

“The sidewalks are in horrible condition,” he says. “There’s about 18 inches between the sidewalk and the street below. It’s dangerous. You can’t push a stroller down to Campbell Green Rec Center. People walk in the street.”

Rosen’s ideas are things that the city should already be doing for its residents, he says – simply fix the sidewalks, repair the street lights and calm the traffic.

A few neighbors took a strong opposition to Complete Streets. Bill Ames has lived on Town Bluff for 20 years and says doesn’t want the plan encroaching on his way of life.

“The City of Dallas is trying to change my behavior,” Ames says. “We are not ready – and I don’t think anyone in this room is ready – to give up our suburban lifestyle.” He added, “I don’t think we’re ready to take on an expense like this when the city is broke.”

Mike Jay, a neighbor on Vista Ridge, was quick to reply that Ames does not speak for the entire room. Jay is positive and optimistic about Complete Streets.

“This is all of our neighborhood,” he says. “It belongs to everyone. This is a planning process. The planning is not necessarily the execution.”

Ironically, most of Meadowcreek’s biggest stakeholders were busy next door at the Brentfield PTA meeting.

Stay tuned for more on the Complete Streets Initiative in North Dallas.

The city is exploring ways to make our streets friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists through the Complete Streets Initiative, which has identified areas throughout the city as potential candidates for the plan. According to a survey last month, 85 percent of Dallas residents said they would be happy to give up part of their roads.

So, how does this apply to Far North Dallas where it seems impossible to get around without a car? Well, the two streets identified in our area are Meadowcreek between Arapaho and Campbell and Alpha between Preston ending just before the Tollway.

There’s an open house and workshop to discuss the details 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Brentfield Elementary cafeteria.

Don’t expect to see a difference on our streets right away. After a series of open houses and presentations, the city council will review the final plan in the summer of 2012.

The prolonged drought hasn’t caused a Dallas water crisis yet, but the City has decided to be cautious by instituting Stage 1 water restrictions beginning Dec. 12. The regulations affect both residential and commercial water users in Dallas.

The DMN reported the story this weekend, but if you aren’t a subscriber, the basics are in this document available on the City’s savedallaswater.com website. Here are the basics: We can’t water lawns more than twice a week, and the allowable days are listed in the rules. There’s a time limit to watering, too: 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. Make a mistake, and you’re entitled to receive a written warning the first time and at least a $250 fine (and up to a $2,000 fine) the next violation. Continued violations could result in more fines or even a “flow restrictor” placed on the water line to help keep you in line.

Most of us likely won’t be seriously impacted by the new regulations, particularly in the winter off-season. However, there are some big waterers in Dallas who have been highlighted in the DMN and on the TV stations (guys like Tom Hicks, for example) and who use a lot of water on probably a lot of days. Whether the water police will be watching those guys is yet to be determined, but I imagine in this age of ubiquitous video cameras in phones and online squealing, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll be hearing lots more about this in the weeks ahead.

As the North Dallas conversation about the controversial Cotton Belt Rail Line heats up, neighbors have launched the Cotton Belt Concerned Citizens Coalition, a focus group born out of the last North Dallas Neighborhood Alliance meeting to help monitor the situation and make crucial recommendations to limit the negative impact of having a rail line run behind people’s homes.

They have a Facebook page to help get information out about the latest news and help reach people who still haven’t heard about DART’s regional development, which has caused nothing but opposition from North Dallas residents. Tom Wood, the homeowner pictured in our October story whose home comes closest to the tracks, is leading the focus group. Tonight, he’s speaking about the issue at the Brentfield PTA meeting.

To learn more, and get involved, contact the NDNA.

OK, this is a promotion for meeting planners and not the rest of us, but I’m on an email chain that touts these things and here’s a copy of what I received via email a few minute ago. Looks like Nov. 11, 2011, is the official opening date for the much-discussed hotel.

I clicked on the promotion hoping that perhaps they were selling $11 room nights at the soon-to-be Omni; I figured with my taxpayer/owner discount, maybe my room night would be rounded to an even $5 or so. But alas, the deals right now are only for event planners.

Courtesy of Scribd, you can check out the promotional mailing.