Looking for a Dallas Texas Editor

[Peccato]

I am looking for an Editor who lives or at least knows about Texas. I live in Holland, like smack dead in the middle. Our roads usually have two side lanes, one for bikes and the other for pedestrians (fietsenpad en voetpad is what they are called in Dutch). I have no I idea about Dallas, Texas but I am googling it. Still, such intimate knowledge would be a godsend for me.

I have asked earlier in another forum about how to write a car chasing scene and I would like someone to take a look at the end results. Plus, the school that he attends (Wilson Woodrow) and the pecan orchid they end up in is in Sunnyvale (about 20 min away from Dallas). Oh and I would be writing about the lady from white rock and Texas' Governor James Stephen Hogg from 1906.

So, if there are any editors who would like to take a look and give these places and people some authentication I would appreciate it. Maybe some local information or background... I am open to suggestions?

 

[nangaman]

I know Dallas pretty well, have worked there quite a few times, but I don't know much about it's history. I could probabaly help with georgraphy and life and weather, and the type of shops and people you'd expect to meet today, but other than that dallas is like any other metropolitan city - you'd have to go out into the country to meet more rural characters.

Maybe you can send excerpts that you are concerned with?

My inbox is open

JNanga

 

[CopperSkink]

Just watch the OJ Simpson hunt.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Just watch the OJ Simpson hunt.

Think that was in LA, but nice thought

Have you considered Google Earth? You can get a surprising amount of information from their photos. Just a thought.

 

[driphoney]

Just watch the OJ Simpson hunt.

Think that was in LA, but nice thought

Have you considered Google Earth? You can get a surprising amount of information from their photos. Just a thought.

Dallas . . . LA . . . Dallas . . . LA. Yeah.

Oceans . . . prairie . . . Californians . . . Texans . . . . LOL

Cute.

 

[CopperSkink]

As far as I know the road-building laws in Texas are the same as they are over here...

 

[driphoney]

As far as I know the road-building laws in Texas are the same as they are over here...

Since he was being very specific about Sunnyvale, White Rock [Lake] area, Woodrow Wilson HS and Gov. Hogg, it appears he's wanting more than road construction.

By the way, Gov. Hogg had a daughter, Ima.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima_Hogg

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

The road stuff is a good question. The roads in Texas are definitely different than the east coast, or anything I've seen in Europe.

Dallas highways are typically surrounded by one-way parallel lanes. Many of the highways, 695 (the LBJ), 75, North Dallas Tollway, 30 downtown, 395 (the George Bush) are raised, with limited access from the one way feeder lanes down at street level. These highways are commonly 3 and 4 lanes each direction.

Here's a good link to see what the highways look like.

We have no bike lanes anywhere, no pedestrian lane. Many of the big roads are toll roads, but they're fully automated. Where the toll booths are, one half the lanes don't have to stop, if you have a 'toll-tag' in your car to automatically detect your car and pay your tolls. You can drive through the tolls at full speed. The other half of the lanes are for people paying their tolls by hand, or exiting the toll road. Occasionally you'll see motorcyclists riding through the automated toll doing a wheelie for a half-a-mile or so, so the cameras can't pick up their license plate.

Most of the toll roads cause traffic backups at the toll booths during rush-hour.

The big intersections of the highways have massive cloverleafs. The High Five is an example where 75 meets 695. It's easily 10 stories tall, and is like a maze. Separate lanes for HOV traffic, where you have to have at least 2 people in your car. A bir cloverleaf is at highway 30 and 695, in Mesquite near Sunnyvale.

Sunnyvale is sparsely populated, with the typical Dallas high-end McMansions. 4000 Square foot homes on very small lots, 100's of them in a small builder community. It is very typical of the outermost suburbs of Dallas. They're big, pretty houses, with postage stamp yards. Big garages and driveways.

30 near Sunnyvale seems to always have construction on the roads. Exits may be blocked off with red cones, making it harder to get onto 30.

For a chase seen, the highways are interesting. The cloverleafs are often very high and narrow, sometimes one lane 100 ft above ground. You can occasional see people driving over them very slowly if they're not comfortable with heights.

Another interesting thing common in parts of Dallas, and Texas in general are "Texas Turn-offs". There are so many trucks and SUV's in Dallas, it's not uncommon for people to just drive across the grass onto the side feeder roads when the highways get backed up during rush hour or if there's an accident. In many places this is so common you can see the dirt-tracks across the grass where hundreds of people use them.

Just inside of Sunnyvale is Mesquite. Older homes, and a lower than average income in places. Lots of Mexican communities, and low income communities. If you ever watch King of the Hill, the cartoon, you'll see what a lot of the homes in Mesquite are like. King of the Hill is patterned after Garland, just up the road.

Dallas has lots of high-rises, but they're not all downtown. There are at least 8-10 communities where there are lots of tall (15-20 story) buildings. They are scattered all over the metroplex (the name for the Dallas-Fort Worth greater area.) Addison, off of the North Dallas Tollway, Irving (30 between Dallas and Fort -Worth), the High Five (695 and 75) and Richardson (75 and Coit Rd.) are just a few examples.

Sunnyvale is near Lake Ray Hubbard, the biggest local lake. All the local lakes are artificial. Lots of boating on the weekend during the summer on Lake Ray Hubbard, and lots of fishing.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck with your story.

 

[jayce1066]

On the NW corner of Dallas' Love Field, you've got Bachman Lake Park, which has a foot/bike path that surrounds the lake. At one point, airplanes landing at Love Field pass about 100 feet above the path.