Phase Two Planting - A Huge Success!

The volunteers of the Jefferson Median Beautification Project really came through on the morning of Saturday, March 12th. We had so many helpers - 62 to be exact - the work was finished in about two hours. Incredible!

We planted 22 trees and most have already been adopted. But we still have a few trees needing adoptions. Adopting a tree just means you will water it weekly when it is dry during the critical first two years. That's it! To adopt a tree, email JeffersonMedian[at]aol[dot]com.

Big thanks to all who came out to help, including football players from Adamson High School and even volunteers from outside Oak Cliff. Great job, everyone!

(Photos courtesy of Lybo Buchcanan. View more here and here.)

Streets to Plaza: A Project Realized

The JMBP isn't the only group striving to improve our little corner of Oak Cliff. Check out this update on Tyler Street between Davis and Jefferson reposted from Go Oak Cliff:


"If you read the Dallas Morning News late last week, you probably picked up on an item that Go Oak Cliff is helping put together…Dallas’ first Streets to Plaza conversion. We’re still outlining plans and developing the project, but since the cat is out of the bag we wanted to reveal a bit more about the effort. For those who may be unfamiliar with our past projects, Go OC created a “Better Block” initiative where we took an area of old buildings with high vehicle traffic and turned it into a European styled walkable block, complete with temporary coffee shop, flower/gift market, kids’ art spaces, fruit stands, bike lanes, and cafe seating. Much to our surprise, the success of that project resonated nationwide and queued up the potential for a series of other projects we’ll be unveiling shortly."


For information on how to "Build a Better Block" check out Go OC's article here. And stay tuned for more news about this amazing opportunity for Oak Cliff!

Big Thanks to Robert Bellamy Design!

Small community movements like the Jefferson Median Beautification Project count on businesses like Robert Bellamy Design to help out with in-kind gifts.

For our tree planting project back in December 2009, Robert Bellamy Design donated four crew members to dig 18 holes for the large trees. For the uninitiated, the soil in Oak Cliff is notoriously rocky. It took Bellamy's guys a total of 8 hours to dig the holes!

Big thanks to Robert Bellamy Design + crew for their commitment to helping out the JMBP. Their hard work made the tree planting project a lot more enjoyable, and gave the weekend volunteers a break from this arduous task. Thanks, guys!

Robert Bellamy Design is an independent Dallas business specializing in landscape installation and architectural development. Visit them online at www.bellmay-design.com.

Build a Better Block

In conjunction with this weekend's 2nd Annual Art Crawl in Oak Cliff, the area of shops along 7th and Polk will transform into a temporary "plaza" style locale in an effort to show the city what the are could become - with its support (Are you listening, City Hall?). Expect to see a temporary bike lane, pop up flower and gift shop called Wigwam, and other fun happenings.

Also happening this weekend is the unveiling of Oak Cliff's latest (and seemingly endless) endeavors to build a better home - the Thing Small campaign. From the Go Oak Cliff blog:

"[The campaign's] major push is to recognize that the places people value and spend time are made up of small elements, whereas Dallas tends to look at massive works projects like signature bridges, half-billion dollar hotels, and major roadway construction, which do very little to create a sense of place. It’s the small plaza here, the neighborhood coffee shop there, and the community that lingers outdoors and plays that makes a lively, and engaging space. In other words, it’s not about the Eiffel Tower projects, it’s about the outdoor cafe and what makes that work…or worse, what hurts it’s development."

Sign me up for this campaign - bumper sticker, please!

(Read more at Unfair Park.)

Build A Better Block - This Weekend!

In conjunction with the 2nd Annual Oak Cliff Art Crawl, a new experience will be at hand. From the Go Oak Cliff web site:

Go Oak Cliff presents a live art installation called the “Better Block” developed to highlight the city’s restrictive zoning and ordinances that limit our ability to create a truly livable block. For two days only, on April 10th and 11th, the 400 Block of North Tyler Street will change from a car-centric thoroughfare, to a people friendly environment, complete with temporary businesses like a cafe, flower market, and kid’s art studio. We’ll also bring out historic lighting, cafe seating, and more.

Check out the Oak Cliff Art Crawl for more details on the businesses and galleries that will be open during the event. Also, view the recent press we receieved for the project by the Dallas Observer here.

A Tree Is Born

Actually, 18 trees were born. Saturday was a great day. Yes, it was cold, wet and gray, but Saturday was a great day. Everybody woke to 40 degree weather and drizzle, which didn't us from getting out there. There were Steve Hauser, Dallas Urban Forest Advisorary Chair, with Karen Woodard, Dallas City Forester, and the Citizen Foresters were out there and ready to plant.Also out were an assortment of neighbors, city council members (Thanks, Delia), tree lovers, gawkers, babies, and bicyclists.

The Caddo Maples and Burr Oaks were delivered early, and they were heavy as we expected. Because of the distance from where they were delivered to the holes, we had to roll them. It was fun. I definitely recommend tree rolling for strangers. The weather chilled a bit, but everybody toughed it out. All the trees were rolled fairly quickly to their respective holes, and small crews would do the actual planting.

Watching the first tree being planted was special. This is a project that has taken a long time, and a lot of hours have been put into the planning of it by a number of people. So, it was great to see this project come to fruition. This is just phase one of a multi-phase project, but it was incredible. Hearing the people honks their horns in support as they drove by and watching all the volunteers working and having fun, I really could envision the finished project.

18 trees transformed a corner, but we've got bigger plans. Oak Cliff is a great place, and Jefferson is one of our great boulevards. Soon it will be a street people go out of there way to drive down, and we can say, "I remember when..." A huge thanks to all the volunteers who helped out and everybody who gave us some press (Roy Appleton, Granny Geek). You guys are awesome. This is a true community project, and we need you going forward. Hope you'll stay along for the ride. Things will only get better.

Jason