Following up to my AC Advocacy!

After my last post about the impact of air conditioning on sun belt culture and community, I remembered an argument I made in spring 2010 about the new AT&T Performing Arts Center in downtown Dallas. I alluded to air conditioning, but did not make an obvious connection regarding how AC can be attributed to the lack of any type of street-life outside in the heat heart of the PAC.

I wanted to be sure I offered a solution and not just blame. Rather than get all preachy and say how weak Dallasites are about the heat and how AC has spoiled us, I just wanted to point out an opportunity to impact the culture.

It's another example that demonstrates how AC has impacted our infrastructure here in the heat heart of the sun belt!

Consumer demand requires these cultural centers to include parking solutions since the automobile is a "driving" factor in a culture like Dallas where the car is king. While the overall approach to the center's design embraced underground parking in order to prevent any significant type of unappealing impact on the architectural aesthetics, the consequence of this "door-to-door" air conditioning challenge has been an absence of any vibrant street life as well as any sense of community.

Short of suggesting Dallas puts the new AT&T PAC inside a bubble and pump in sweet AC, I attempt to motivate and inspire others to act.