It’s around 7 p.m. and already pitch black in Dallas.
The dogs and I are walking in Perry Heights, which is a tiny historical neighborhood immediately behind my apartment building.
Perry Heights has some pretty single-family homes and it is a great place to walk dogs because the area is removed from all of the gay bars on Cedar Springs road. This cute residential area is also very poorly lit at night – the few street lights that exist are dim and often covered by huge trees.
The darkness of Perry Heights makes it really hard to pick up after my dogs without using the flashlight application my phone. However, the darkness it made it really easy to notice a car slowly creeping towards us with its lights dimmed.
I quickly cleaned up after my dogs and tried to get away from the car. It picked up speed followed me around a corner. I contemplated ducking into the alley way until the street light at the intersection revealed that it was a cop car.
I’m not the only gayborhood resident who is on edge lately.
Since the begging of September, about a dozen people have been mugged or attacked in the neighborhood.
The rash of violence has made walking the dogs and going to gay bars feel like dangerous activities.
The local gay newspaper covering the crime wave.
At first it was unclear whether the attacks were isolated incidents or really just drunken bar fights. The rapid increase in attacks and violent nature of the incidents makes it seem like something else is going on.
It is also foreseeable that criminals would realize that an area this densely packed with clubs and restaurants is a great mugging opportunity.
It is easy to find waiters and bartenders walking home with tons of cash. The problem is that these attacks are often happening when the bars are still open, and in areas that are heavily trafficked.
There has also been a rash of robberies on Katy Trail, so the dogs and I no longer do our evening walks now that it gets dark so early.
Last week some of my neighbors marched “to bring awareness” to the crime problem, but I’m not sure how useful marching or holding community meetings is.
Yas Dallas. A video posted by Dennis (@lowertownjnsn) on
The response of the people in my building has been mixed – several people only go out in large groups now, one guy carries a hidden camera that looks like a pager, another says he doesn’t even go to the grocery store without a loaded gun.
One of my friends even carried a huge rock with him on the way home the other night, which I suspect isn’t terribly effective.
Others just continue to walk home alone, hoping that they don’t get jumped.
Two more men were attacked after the “Light Up Oak Lawn” march, and LogoTV has started reporting on the “crime wave.”
However, it is unclear whether there is actually a crime wave. The gayborhood is pretty large and some robberies seem inevitable anytime you have so many bars near poorly lit areas.
Unlike the problems we had with drug addicts and sketchy characters back in Minnesota, there is this predatory feel to the recent incidents in the gayborhood. Walking around feels like being in a Scream movie, waiting for the slasher to emerge from the bushes.
I haven’t started carrying weapons or cameras, but I’m increasingly wondering whether this neighborhood is a good place to renew my lease in. After all, I’d like to be able to pick up after my dogs at night without feeling like I might end up in the hospital.
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