gc
21 December 2002, 01:31 PM
Article from Saturday's (12/21) DMN. It is a good effort market DART rail for purposes other than commuting to work. I'm not sure it truly compares to Manhattan, but it's a decent start.
DART rail puts the 'trip' back in shopping trip
12/21/2002
By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News
Can't make it to Manhattan for a Christmas shopping excursion? It's possible to recreate that feeling by shopping along the DART train line.
And it's just a $2 trip on an all-day pass that is a ticket to literally hundreds of stores accessible by the yellow-and-white trains in Dallas, Richardson, Garland and Plano.
"It's so easy," said Debra Polk, who took the DART train this week from her home in Dallas to Collin Creek Mall in Plano. "I had to do some Christmas shopping there. It was very convenient."
Riding the rails from downtown to the newest DART stop at 15th Street in Plano can provide a Dallas shopping experience to mimic anything New York can offer. For example:
• The windows at the downtown Neiman Marcus are all spruced up in their holiday best, just like the Macy's at Herald Square or the original Saks Fifth Avenue. (No snow is blowing in shoppers' faces, but flakes wouldn't look out of place, either.)
• West Village – at McKinney and Lemmon Avenues, a trolley ride away from the Cityplace station – may not be a twin for its namesake area in Greenwich Village, but it's got all the same ingredients – coffee and gelato shops, boutiques and candle-lit restaurants and loft apartments. It's also a century or two more contemporary.
• Mockingbird Station has the Soho feel, what with Urban Outfitters, Silver Moon and Virgin Megastore. A short walk across Mockingbird Lane leads to Whole Earth Provision Co. It's a mixture of what's been here a while and what's new.
• Lover's Lane isn't Prince Street, but the Central Market there rivals the Dean and DeLuca grocery at the Broadway subway stop. No one is hawking men's cashmere coats from a rack on wheels out front, but there's a harmless homeless person or two.
• And the newest and farthest Plano stop at East 15th Street is so suburban it could be New Jersey. The old downtown has no national chain stores, just some antique shops, offices and a coffee shop, the kind that has the self-service, giant jars of malted milk balls and is decorated for the holidays.
No big deal
It's still a rare sight to see people loaded with shopping bags at DART rail stops, but for a growing number of area residents, shopping by train is no big deal.
Danielle Likan got on at Lovers Lane on Thursday morning for a quick trip to Target at Cityplace. "I needed a roll of wrapping paper and some CDs for gifts," said Ms. Likan, who added that the train is her preferred way of getting to her favorite stores.
Oralia Rojas is a DART shopping pioneer. She's been riding from Oak Cliff to NorthPark Center in Far North Dallas since the line opened in 1997, sometimes as often as twice a week.
"I'm retired, I have plenty of time and I come to NorthPark and eat in the cafeteria and walk and find some sales," she said lifting up a couple of shopping bags. "I was just scared of the train when it first came out, but my family took me on it, and I've been riding it ever since."
NorthPark marketing director Melody Kamp said the mall gets lots of convention center traffic from out-of-towners who are used to riding the rail at home.
"It's just how they get around in other cities," she said. "Now that the train gets you to more places here, maybe we'll all get used to it too."
The train allowed Ms. Polk to become something of an urban explorer. She said she was a bit surprised by what she found in Plano. The historic downtown looked "so country" to her.
Ethalia Jones of Dallas says she hasn't been north of Park Lane on the train yet and hadn't heard of West Village, even though it's only a five minute-walk from the Cityplace Station, where she often gets off to go to the movies at the Loew's theater a block away.
Ms. Jones, waiting for the 3:30 train Thursday at Park Lane, was carrying a Burberry plaid bag containing a few gifts for her daughter from the London-based chain's store at NorthPark.
Some reservations
She likes the train, but has reservations about using it for heavy-duty shopping. "I wouldn't ride the train if I was going to be buying a big load," Ms. Jones said.
Park Lane is the busiest station for shoppers, said DART spokesman Morgan Lyons. It's the stop for NorthPark, which is accessible by trolley, and within walking distance a Bed Bath & Beyond, TJMaxx, Best Buy and Oshman's.
DART train riders "migrated quickly to the familiar destinations they've known like a NorthPark," Mr. Lyons said.
When the CityPlace Station opened in December 2000, it caught on with riders too who were familiar with the nearby Target and the Loew's theater, he said.
West Village only opened last year, and "it will catch on too," Mr. Lyons said.
It's Dallas' newest shopping district, and its three-story faux-brownstone apartments do have a Manhattan feel. Plus, getting there by train beats parking, and the walk is refreshing.
DART rail puts the 'trip' back in shopping trip
12/21/2002
By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News
Can't make it to Manhattan for a Christmas shopping excursion? It's possible to recreate that feeling by shopping along the DART train line.
And it's just a $2 trip on an all-day pass that is a ticket to literally hundreds of stores accessible by the yellow-and-white trains in Dallas, Richardson, Garland and Plano.
"It's so easy," said Debra Polk, who took the DART train this week from her home in Dallas to Collin Creek Mall in Plano. "I had to do some Christmas shopping there. It was very convenient."
Riding the rails from downtown to the newest DART stop at 15th Street in Plano can provide a Dallas shopping experience to mimic anything New York can offer. For example:
• The windows at the downtown Neiman Marcus are all spruced up in their holiday best, just like the Macy's at Herald Square or the original Saks Fifth Avenue. (No snow is blowing in shoppers' faces, but flakes wouldn't look out of place, either.)
• West Village – at McKinney and Lemmon Avenues, a trolley ride away from the Cityplace station – may not be a twin for its namesake area in Greenwich Village, but it's got all the same ingredients – coffee and gelato shops, boutiques and candle-lit restaurants and loft apartments. It's also a century or two more contemporary.
• Mockingbird Station has the Soho feel, what with Urban Outfitters, Silver Moon and Virgin Megastore. A short walk across Mockingbird Lane leads to Whole Earth Provision Co. It's a mixture of what's been here a while and what's new.
• Lover's Lane isn't Prince Street, but the Central Market there rivals the Dean and DeLuca grocery at the Broadway subway stop. No one is hawking men's cashmere coats from a rack on wheels out front, but there's a harmless homeless person or two.
• And the newest and farthest Plano stop at East 15th Street is so suburban it could be New Jersey. The old downtown has no national chain stores, just some antique shops, offices and a coffee shop, the kind that has the self-service, giant jars of malted milk balls and is decorated for the holidays.
No big deal
It's still a rare sight to see people loaded with shopping bags at DART rail stops, but for a growing number of area residents, shopping by train is no big deal.
Danielle Likan got on at Lovers Lane on Thursday morning for a quick trip to Target at Cityplace. "I needed a roll of wrapping paper and some CDs for gifts," said Ms. Likan, who added that the train is her preferred way of getting to her favorite stores.
Oralia Rojas is a DART shopping pioneer. She's been riding from Oak Cliff to NorthPark Center in Far North Dallas since the line opened in 1997, sometimes as often as twice a week.
"I'm retired, I have plenty of time and I come to NorthPark and eat in the cafeteria and walk and find some sales," she said lifting up a couple of shopping bags. "I was just scared of the train when it first came out, but my family took me on it, and I've been riding it ever since."
NorthPark marketing director Melody Kamp said the mall gets lots of convention center traffic from out-of-towners who are used to riding the rail at home.
"It's just how they get around in other cities," she said. "Now that the train gets you to more places here, maybe we'll all get used to it too."
The train allowed Ms. Polk to become something of an urban explorer. She said she was a bit surprised by what she found in Plano. The historic downtown looked "so country" to her.
Ethalia Jones of Dallas says she hasn't been north of Park Lane on the train yet and hadn't heard of West Village, even though it's only a five minute-walk from the Cityplace Station, where she often gets off to go to the movies at the Loew's theater a block away.
Ms. Jones, waiting for the 3:30 train Thursday at Park Lane, was carrying a Burberry plaid bag containing a few gifts for her daughter from the London-based chain's store at NorthPark.
Some reservations
She likes the train, but has reservations about using it for heavy-duty shopping. "I wouldn't ride the train if I was going to be buying a big load," Ms. Jones said.
Park Lane is the busiest station for shoppers, said DART spokesman Morgan Lyons. It's the stop for NorthPark, which is accessible by trolley, and within walking distance a Bed Bath & Beyond, TJMaxx, Best Buy and Oshman's.
DART train riders "migrated quickly to the familiar destinations they've known like a NorthPark," Mr. Lyons said.
When the CityPlace Station opened in December 2000, it caught on with riders too who were familiar with the nearby Target and the Loew's theater, he said.
West Village only opened last year, and "it will catch on too," Mr. Lyons said.
It's Dallas' newest shopping district, and its three-story faux-brownstone apartments do have a Manhattan feel. Plus, getting there by train beats parking, and the walk is refreshing.