Irving Trivia Contest and DART Orange Line: Symbols of Irving's past and future

Two Irving events that bookend the week of April 9 serve as metaphors representing both the past and future of Irving; the beginning of the week previewed the future, the end of the week was spent looking back in time.

On Monday, April 9, the DART Light Rail crept along the distance of the Orange Line route on its first test ride. The dream held for more than two decades that envisioned tying Irving to the rest of the Metroplex through the DART Light Rail system, and the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) that accompanies rail transportation, is within sight.

Conversely, on Saturday, April 14, the annual Irving Trivia Contest was held. Prior to the contest, members of several Irving organizations brushed up on their Irving history with hopes of taking home the first place prize. When was Irving founded? (1903)  Who was the first mayor? (Otis Brown) In what century was Washington Irving born? (18th)

In between these two extremes exists Irving today facing a May 12 election with the Entertainment Center (EC) its core issue. The very direction of the city is at stake: do we make a reasonable leap of faith into the future or continue to look backward and wish Irving was the same city it was in 1980?

In reality, there is no choice. Irving is no longer the city it was in 1980. Demographics have changed; the population has almost doubled in 30 years from about 110,000 to 216,000 in 2010.  The population center has shifted north with the build-out of Las Colinas, the Urban Center and Valley Ranch. South Irving is no longer demarcated at SH 183, but at Northgate. The primary tax base is business, not residential.

Given these realities, there is still a small group that wails against all things new despite the inevitability of change and documented proof of potential benefits that change will bring. Driven by a foggy nostalgia that “things were better back then,” they oppose everything that is forward-looking such as the Entertainment Center.

Until an infallible crystal ball is developed, issues facing City Council and staff such as building the EC or increasing density in the Urban Center to bring retail into the city will always require a necessary leap of faith. The sky won’t fall, Irving won’t face any plagues and residents won’t be taxed into poverty. It will simply be a 21^st Century City.