The Downtown #162- Maggie from Downtown Arlington

This episode of The Downtown, we Maggie with Downtown Arlington. We talk all about the Doggie Depot, the Classic Car Show, and so much more. We also hear music from Joseph Fisher- Schramm with his song “28 Days.” First, here's 13 year old Mel Garsek with his new single “Backroad.” 



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Episode Transcript

(00:25):
Welcome to Downtown, brought to youby Arlington Citizen Media. I am Rody
John and today we talk to Maggiewith Downtown Arlington. That's right, the
Downtown is on the Downtown. Wetalk all about the Doggy Depot, the
Classic Car Show, and so muchmore. As you were listening is today
the Doggie Depot is breaking grounds,so definitely make sure to check that out

(00:45):
today, happening at four o'clock andthere will be a Yappy Hour afterwards,
so that's gonna be so much fun. Also on today's show, we have
local music from Joseph Fisher Shram withhis song twenty eight Days. But first
here is thirteen year old Mel Garsonwith his song background sat me down a

(01:14):
backroom, that's what she said tomy face. So I started my four
four on off and then I'd bebased into the sunset. We weren't drunk
yet, so c my cooler anda couple of beers. Then when we
put this carping, use it tobe down the drone. That's a little

(01:38):
bit. If you give me thelost a ben your sheet inch dra After
midnight we welcome one morning fine setdown the drone. That's a little more
on. It can give me thelost. I'm playing the glassy evengef that
he play. It's kidding hung here, bab. Next thing we knew we

(02:09):
weren't trypping to this one that uhwe had those cool letters. We weren't
tricking down. We're at s theoff line. Then it's midnight, then
please car roll us soap. Nextthing we were saving shord and shoulders.

(02:30):
He said, Tad be down theroll and that's a little bit. He
be give me lost, been yourchevvy into drafter midnight, we'll welcome the
morning. Bid me down the roadand that's a little and even give me
lost. I'll playing Cassie bent thatway. It's getting on here, babe,

(03:13):
its the sun set. We weren'tdrunk. Yeah, you said,
if you down a brown, that'sa little bit. If you give me
fast a bit in your chevych aftermidnight were come thumb on my bike down
the bron that's a little you cangive me bast of playing cast even that

(03:37):
gave way Scar called here b Iwould like to welcome the show Maggie with

(04:08):
downtown Arlington. How are you doingto day, Maya, I'm doing great.
How are you doing well? Sofor those that don't know, they
may have seen the Downtown Arlington aroundas long as they have, what exactly
does Downtown Arlington do for the cityand for everybody living in it? Sure
we are the place management organization.Our employees come to work every day and

(04:30):
think about what is it we cando to move downtown forward, to bring
more value, to bring more people. So we are a private, nonprofit
organization governed by a board of directorsthat represents a cross section of the stakeholders
downtown, and we have a contractwith the city to provide economic development services.

(04:51):
And then we pretty much work forall the property owners and businesses down
here doing things that provide value tothem. So we do the marketing,
we do clean and Safe ambassadors,We have a website for downtown, We
do events, We show up atcity Hall as the advocate for Downtown.

(05:12):
We work with UTA, so onany given day it can be a lot
of different things, but we tryto be the voice for downtown. I
love that. So I mean atthis point, like how big is downtown
Because it's always growing, it's alwaysgetting better, and obviously you guys are
a big part of that. Doyou, in your mind kind of be
like, Okay, we start hereand end here, you just kind of

(05:34):
think the entire city in general.Oh no, we are very much.
We are very much driven by ourpurpose. As a nonprofit, you have
to have a stated purpose or mission, and ours is very much about the
geography of downtown. So our boundariesgenerally are Cooper to Collins on the east
and the west, and then SandfordStreet on the north. That's really when

(05:57):
it stops being a commercial area andtransitions to a neighborhood, and then Johnson
Creek or the edge of the campuson the south. And we really think
of us as the commercial business districtfor downtown, the original core of the
city, and then kind of tothe edges. So it's a mile square
and as the crow Flies were alittle over a mile from the entertainment district.

(06:18):
True. Yeah, And I knowthe city has done so much to
really help grow that and they're tocontinue to grow it. It's always going
to be construction over there, forgood or bad. And then obviously what
they're you know, what you guyshave helped do, and then everything that's
happened in this area is kind ofalmost grown organically. But you know,
and now we're all trying to figureout how to put the pieces together to

(06:39):
where they all kind of blend together. And our city has really done a
great job. There was a downtownmaster Plan, a planning process that was
done that was completed in twenty eighteen, which really articulates and sets the vision
and charts the course for the priorities, and it really allowed the community to
kind of take stock of it everythingwe've gotten done and everything we still wanted

(07:02):
to do. But that master planinforms us in terms of what we want
downtown to be. So if youlook to the master plan, it talks
about walkability, activating public spaces,being a place that can continue to welcome
more residents, more businesses, moreof everything, more vitality. So you

(07:28):
know our relationship and our geography.Here is the center of the city.
This is really where the community celebratesitself, right. It's where we have
our parades. If we have amemorial service, this is where we have
it. And the Levett Pavilion hasbecome kind of the centerpiece of our downtown
and that has become a huge gatheringplace for us where everyone feels welcome,

(07:50):
and that's what a downtown should be. Exactly, and we've done we do
a lot here to build community.So we are the where the arts community
gathers. We are the place thatthe civic leaders recognize as the heart of
the community. And we love theentertainment district and all that it's doing for

(08:11):
our city, the economic engine andall the people that it brings. But
people from Arlington be very connected tothe downtown and we really love being that
place. And it surprised us thatthrough the years, this is where entrepreneurs
are attracted to open their businesses.So we've kind of taken stock of all

(08:35):
of our businesses. We've grown fromtwenty some restaurants and bars to almost fifty
restaurants and bars. And as wego out there and meet and engage with
our business owners, we find thatmany, many, many of them are
UTA grants. True, So youknow, are we accomplishing what we wanted
to accomplish through the years. Yes, we're being that place that keeps our

(08:58):
bright people here, place that's attractingbusiness startups. It's a place where people
want to have events and festivals.So a lot, a lot has happened.
It's true. I mean as muchas the entertainment district does bring in
so many tourists. You know,you've got to have something to do while
you're in the city, and they'reDowntown has, like you said, over
fifty places now for uh, ifyou got out for drinks, if you

(09:22):
want to see live music, ifyou want to eat amazing food and food
from all across the world. Reallybecause all the cuisines you could do in
Arlington, and it is exciting,as you mentioned, even just in recent
months, we're getting chef concepts openingin downtown Arlington, Like can you imagine
how awesome is that? So,you know, I think there's a synergy

(09:43):
definitely, and there's a connection betweenwhat's happening in the entertainment district, the
development plans for Lincoln Square, allof the energy around downtown, and now
we all have to figure out howdo we weave that together, how do
we connect These places are major enginesand uta you know, it's an amazing

(10:03):
institution growing a huge part of ourdowntown. So we're just waiting to see
what happens next. True, yeah, I mean they're they're not getting a
smaller either, because they're obviously they'realso the most diverse school in Texas and
one of the top five in thecountry and it I think by the end
of this year or next year,they're going to have more students there than

(10:24):
down at UT Austin, which isabsolutely nuts to think about. Yeah,
it's amazing. So I love that. You know. I've always heard too
that people at UTA and with thecity are like, how do we keep
them here and how do we nothave them go get jobs out in Dallash
or Fort Worth or any other bigcity. And then you know, obviously
you guys are doing such great thingsto help nurture that as well, and

(10:46):
I love that, you know,we're keeping the talent here in Arlington.
Yeah, there's so much talent comingout of that campus and that's been an
integral part of our priorities each ishow can we better engage with UTA.
How do we get those students andfaculty to get off campus and explore when's
downtown and have them think of thisas their neighborhood and their community. Of

(11:11):
course, I mean any you thinkabout you know, you know, I
hate to say back in the day, but there's people who have gone to
other big schools and you know,it's always oh, there was this place
that I went to in College,it was amazing and people have that here
as well, and it's always changingand it's always getting better when it comes
to places to hang out with friendsor do your work, or even just
grab about to eat or even maybetake people on dates, because there's so

(11:35):
many great places with that here inArlington as well. Yeah, it's it's
changed a lot, and with everythingthat's still coming right, I think we're
going to see even more change overthe next couple of years. So we've
got several big parcels of vacant landdowntown that are just hitting the market.
So, you know, I thinkall indications have been fairly strong of late

(12:00):
that investing in Arlington is a goodbet exactly, and so I think we're
going to see a lot of developerinterest. Our downtown has really benefited from
having strong local developers, people likeGary Walker and Burt Collins who were the
early investors, Ryan Dotson who cameand improved up this whole area with Urban

(12:22):
Union. You know, these arelocal developers that took the risk and were
pioneers and have really proven up ourdowntown exactly. And I think with some
of these new parcels coming online,we're going to have some national developers taking
a look at these opportunities, andit really is allowing Arlington to kind of

(12:43):
shine. So there's just a lotof eyes on our city right now.
So it's an exciting time to behere. No, I love it too,
because I mean we've obviously been preachingthe amazing things here in Arlington for
five years now, so it's greatto see people think of not just Dallas
or for Worth, at Arlington aswell, because you know, there's so
many great things happening here, andyou know, we have four or five

(13:07):
major sports teams to play here aswell. You know, if you're into
sports, you've got them here.If you into water parks, we've got
it. You know, amusement parks, we've got it. Amazing food,
we've got it. So it's goingto be a really interesting summer. It
is noteworthy to mention that our LightUp Arlington event, which is usually July
third, it's always the night beforethe fourth of July. It's being moved

(13:28):
back to the last Saturday in June, Okay, And part of why because
we have a whole group of wehave a homestand set of games the fourth
of July, so we have theRangers at home, but we have the
Copa Mexico tournament for the first time, that big Copa soccer tournaments in town

(13:50):
is July fifth, wow, Andso it was just too much for our
police department. Oh I imagine,And you know, so we've had to
split those two of it. Andthen you know we're going to get behind
the fourth of July events and thatweek and not too long after that we'll
be hosting the All Star Week.That's right, two weeks after that.

(14:11):
So all of that is just alittle bit of a practice session for World
Cup. Right, So it's goingto be a busy summer in Arlington,
Yes, with even more announcements comingtrue. Yeah, so you know we're
sitting here, we got plans rightnext to me here about the Doggy Depot.

(14:31):
Can you tell us as we're recordingthis this actually when this comes out,
we're going to have the groundbreaking thesame day. So tell us about
the Doggy Depot and what people canlook forward to with a dog park here
in downtown Arlington. Well, sure, Well, the genesis of this idea,
it was really when our employees' ideas. Garrett Martin, who has dogs,
who lives near downtown, and youknow, we did a residence survey

(14:56):
and we learned that our residents,more than almost half of them have dog
and we heard really loudly from ourresidence survey that there's not a place for
dogs and that they really was aneed for an off leash dog park.
So we found a grant from Projectsfor Public Spaces, which was a national
grant to identify a piece of dormantland in your community and make it a

(15:20):
place that was the grand So wegot to looking for a vacant piece of
land and we found this next tothe railroad track and started putting a grant
application together. And turns out thegrant source for this national grant is General
Motors, and we have one ofthe biggest General Motors assembly plants and one

(15:41):
of the biggest producers of General Motorsproducts right here in Arlington. So Tom
Reid, our contact here at thelocal GM assembly plant, was a big
supporter of our grant application. Sowe won. It was a competitive grant,
I think against eighty six other communityacross the country. So we won

(16:02):
the seventy five thousand dollars grant,so it was a cash grant and it
also included design services from this firmprojects for public spaces and so they're an
internationally known design and planning firm thatdoes everything from public markets to parks and
helps people think about activating vacant space. So they brought the design services.

(16:25):
We have the grant. We wentto the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation for the one
hundred thousand dollars to really get usacross the finish line on this project.
And then we have reached out tovarious people in the community who have stepped
forward and bought benches or lamp postsand who are helping us underwrite the fencing

(16:48):
and the like. We haven't finalizedall of our philanthropy gifts, but we'll
have a whole roster of local benefactorsand don't to recognize. And then we
ran a brick campaign as well.We've had hundreds of local families and individuals
sponsor bricks that will help line oneof the walkways into the dog park.

(17:11):
That's amazing. So our dedication isreally inviting those donors and our city leaders
and the parks department and our nonprofitorganization. Really it's the public private sector
that's come together and done this project. If it hadn't been done as a

(17:32):
public private partnership, it would nothave happened. So this is building an
amenity a park. We are buildingit, we are raising the money for
it, and then we are giftingit to the city and the understanding is
the Parks Department will take over themaintenance of it in October once it's built
and operational. So you know,again, we wouldn't have this park without

(17:55):
the generosity of the donors. Wewouldn't have this park without the creative of
our staff at Downtown Arlington seeing thepossibilities and applying for the grant and dog
in the people at up until theyagreed to talk to us. So and
dogging them. I'm making a littleponds. But it's been great and the

(18:18):
city parks staff has been great andpatient and working with us, and so
we're excited and we're excited about seeingit all the way through. You know,
downtown organizations exist in most of ourcities across America, and they have
proven to be partners with local governmentsand local communities where we can come in

(18:41):
and fill gaps and get things donethat otherwise wouldn't happen. And we know
that is the magic of the ArlingtonTomorrow Foundation as well. You know,
but for that funding, our citywouldn't be able to help with projects like
this. So it really does kindof take a village. But it is
that public private partnership aspect, sothat we can apply sort of that private

(19:04):
sector fundraising side of things and thatpush and that visioning, and then we
can bring all the parties together andmake it happen. You're just you're setting
the table and allowing everybody to comesit and make the decisions and make things
happen. Well, you know,I think our city has done a really
good job through the years of investingin downtown, particularly in infrastructure. Our

(19:30):
city has set the table for investmentto be attracted by doing the streetscapes,
by doing the Abram Street rebuild,by investing in the Levett Pavilion as a
park. So if as long asthe city continues to see the value of
investing in downtown and they do whatthey do best, and that is bring

(19:51):
the infrastructure, that does set thetable to attract private developer and it tells
the developers that something special is happeninghere, somebody's caring for it. So
I mean that's part of why peopleare willing to come and build new apartments
or build new businesses because they seethat something special is happening here. I

(20:12):
love that so much. And yeah, I mean we're seeing what's happening on
Front Street just growing like crazy aswell. And then this is on the
other side of it, which youjust really helps tie that tie it all
together, which is even better.It's fun. It's fun to see it
kind of coming together because downtown Arlingtonhas always been fragmented, right, and

(20:32):
we've always not had that connectivity,partly because of the railroad, partly because
we weren't a traditional downtown with traditionalbuildings and street grids, right. But
it is fun to kind of seethe infill happening and you can see it
kind of slowly building on itself.So there's a lot that's going to happen
over the next ten years. Yes, and it'll be fun. It'll be

(20:57):
fun, particularly for folks who liveand work downtown right within walking distance of
this amenity to be able to bringtheir dogs to work and go use the
dog park on a break, forpeople who live nearby to be able to
go and meet other people. Imean, it's been proven that dog parks

(21:17):
are just as much for the peopleas they are for the dogs, exactly
because of the socializing. You know, when COVID so many people were isolated.
This becomes a public space where thecommunity can get to know each other
exactly. Yeah, I know rightnext to Union Works and the brewers have
Shiner that I'm sure they would loveto take you to the dog park as
well on their breaks. We actuallyhave been meeting dogs ever since we started

(21:44):
this project. I know now whatmy designers dogs name is and what my
accountant's dog's name is. And we'vetalked about creating a board of directors of
dogs. I love that, right, a little advisory mark so Bark council.
So we're having a lot of funwith it. But when it's open,

(22:06):
it doesn't stop. There really hasto be people who want to be
part of this community. So we'llbe continuing to do things. We'll do
programming, we may have dog training, we may set up an agility course,
we may have ye happy hours.But the you know, the the
groundbreaking Wednesday, we're going to followthe groundbreaking by a fundraising night at Greece

(22:30):
Monkey so and we're going to belooking to do that in the future as
well. So we'll be announcing othernights where some of our favorite downtown restaurants
will be donating proceeds to the dogpark. As we continue to try to
finish this project. Tell us moreabout that. So after the groundbreaking,
we can go to grease Monkey thatnight and how much is it the percentage

(22:53):
of the sales or just right,they're just going to donate a percentage of
the sales. Daring happy hour atgrease Monkey and we'll be doing a raffle
of special items and you know,just trying to solicit additional donations. There's
still an opportunity. We have afew more bricks to sell that might be
the last time that people could buya brick. And then we don't have

(23:15):
our dates set for future fundraising,but folks can watch our social media and
participate at future restaurant fundraisers. Loveit And how much is a brick if
somebody does have a dog, whereif somebody has the friends that do have
dogs? I believe. I believeour bricks are one hundred and then the
larger bricks are two fifty. Okay, there you go, so perfect.

(23:37):
Yeah, it's been great. Peoplehave been very supportive, and you know,
everybody, everybody who's got a doggets this project exactly, you know,
and people you know who use downtown. You know, from an environmental
standpoint, we want to have cleansidewalks, yes, you know, And
so some of this is training people, but some of it is just simply

(24:02):
making the space that people are alreadyusing much more easy to use, with
lighting, with fencing, with someseating. So we'll see it come to
life. It will be fully underconstruction, I would say, by mid
June, and then our goal isto finish it by the end of the
summer. I love that. Ican't wait. Yeah, because you know,

(24:25):
obviously nobody you know, here inNorth Texas it gets a little hot
in the summertime and outside with thedogs not exactly great for their pads on
their paws. But you know,October is perfect for people being outside with
dogs and people want to stay outsidelonger when it comes to October exactly exactly,
and hopefully around October we can alsohave the Rangers being the world sieres

(24:45):
again fingers crossed. So we'll seehow that I wanted to play some fall
baseball, of course, yeah,I want to. I'm going to have
to buy a sweatshirt. You should, yeah, yeah, I love get
their winter apparel. Yes. Iused to live in Saint Louis, A
and we played baseball in November often. Yes, in Saint Louis, So
you had to have the full attireof course, right, and just by

(25:07):
the jersey in the summer. Yeah, oh, you have to have part
of the hoodie. Yeah. I'vebeen Opening Day at the Old Ballpark and
I was freezing because I was inthe shade and not in the sun.
And like at the Cardinal Stadium no, sorry, at the Rangers. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, No, I haven't been in the Cardinals
Stadium yet. I want to.It's definitely on my list. A little
colder in Saint Louis, of course. Well I just came from Philly for
WrestleMania and it was outside and itwas not pretty. It was very chilly.

(25:30):
Yeah. Now you come back tothis, Oh I can't. Oh.
I was like, oh, thankyou, it's hot again. I
can't. I don't do well withthe cold. Not a fan, but
some people are. It's okay.Yeah, I don't like to see.
It's a fair trade to stick around. It's gonna get worse. Oh,
I know. Yeah, we're veryspoiled right now, being in the seventies
or low eighties in May, likewhat is happening right now? So it

(25:53):
feels like the nineties out there today. It does unless you get in the
shade and then yeah, then topick up better than yesterday. Yeah,
oh wait there yesterday. The restof the next week's can be fantastic.
Now. You know, we're notsure how the weather's going to be in
the first part of June. ButJune first is the Classic Car Show out
here. There's gonna be over onehundred and fifty cars showcasing decades of designs

(26:15):
and memories for people. Welcome,people look forward to when it comes to
the Classic Car Show. You know, this event is really our favorite event.
It has become our signature annual event. So now it's officially the second
annual. There we go, butwe've done it three times. We already
have over one hundred cars preregistered cars. These owners bring these beautiful restored cars

(26:38):
and they bring them and show themwith us all day. So the show
runs from nine to three. Weclose the streets. We closed Center and
Front Street, and the cars areall on display. We'll have some food
vendors. We'll have live music playing, but it is all about checking out
the car. Of course, wehave an award ceremony at two thirty and

(27:03):
last year we had over three thousandpeople attend very family oriented event. The
library will be out with kids activities. That's aesome, but we encourage people
to come down. There's lots ofrestaurants nearby where you can go in and
enjoy some air conditioning and take alittle pause and then come back out and
check out more cars. But we'resuper excited about it. You know,

(27:26):
Arlington our history is tied to thehistory of the automobile and Division Street is
the historic Bankhead Highway and the VandergriffDealership. The very first dealership was there
at the corner of Center and Division, so that is the backdrop for our
car show. Love it. Sowe're super excited and people have responded very

(27:49):
well to it. So we thinkall of our sponsors, but we really
think the car owners who are sogenerous to come out and share their cars
with us. I mean, thepeople invests so much time and money and
blood, sweat and tears when itdoes come to restoring these cars, or
they maybe have owned these cars formulti generations, and they really want to
show them off because to them it'stheir story as well as to who they

(28:12):
are and where everything came from whenit comes to their families, or they're
just trying to buy their nostalgia again, and so it's absolutely wonderful to see
how much people really put into thesecars. Well, we are looking for
people to enter their cars. Ifthey own cars that are pre nineteen seventy
nine, that's our cutoff, makessense, and we're not looking for cars
that have been fully modified and hotrotted. We really want classics. And

(28:38):
what's really fun about that the emphasisis on gasoline powered automobiles. You know,
we know now technology is changing andthere's so much emphasis on the electronic
or the electric vehicle industry, butthere is something about these classic cars,
and particularly for our younger gender thathaven't seen some of these cars. You

(29:02):
know, we've got some Model t'scoming, We've got some amazing coops coming
from the nineteen thirties and forties.We've got some amazing custom cars, one
of the kind that are Europeans thathave entered the show this year. So
you know, it's an opportunity tosee things maybe you've never seen before.
But also as you mentioned this isthese are the pride and joy of their

(29:25):
owners, and so a lot ofthose people come and they want to talk
and they want to share, andpeople just enjoy that. So it's a
great day of fellowship and family entertainmentand learning about these great cars. Of
course. Yeah, I mean,like you said, there's so many.
Obviously the new it's not a crazyor a trend. It's where the future

(29:47):
of cars are going, is theelectric cars. And it is definitely something
that the kids maybe not have seenall these older cars, or if they
did, they maybe sol them inold TV shows or movies or whatever their
parents happen exactly YouTube videos. Idon't know what the kids are getting into
when it comes to YouTube, butthey're you know, they need to know
what this history lesson when it doescome to cars, and you know,
suicide doors or maybe I mean Deloriansaren't going to be in it because oh

(30:11):
no, I guess they would fitin there, right was that pre your
post? Is that seventy six?Maybe? Yeah, So then even Deloreans
with the way they used to openup, and so I mean, even
like you're talking about the bankhead Highway. Bonnie and Clyde would drive up and
down there, and obviously they wereat the speakeasy at the top of the
hill Terrace, and I imagine peoplewho have those cars want to come out
and show that off as well.So I love that, you know,

(30:33):
people get a history lesson when itcomes to just walking around a parking lot
and checking out the cars that areout there. And you know, there
are car shows every weekend. Peoplehave car shows, you know, in
in grocery store parking lots not farfrom here, and there's big car shows
that happen that are charity fundraisers indowntown port Worth and pal and Grand Prairie,
So you know, there are alot of car shows. We're trying

(30:57):
to create and experience that's a littledifferent from other car shows. So we
kind of are taking it up anotch. Our cars come and they stay
for the day, so the carsaren't coming and going, and we're adding
a level of experience and entertainment thatyou just don't see at other car shows.

(31:17):
And our focus is on actually makingsure the car owners themselves have a
fabulous experience, because if they do, then they'll come back every year of
course, and they'll tell their otherfriends and most of them are in car
clubs, and it will grow exactly. So you know, we're going to
have if we have decent weather onJune first, we invite everybody to come
out. We've secured the use ofthe parking lots at First United Methodist Church,

(31:41):
and we'll have a police officer helpingpeople across that intersection as pedestrians.
So you know, as we growthis event, we will be identifying nearby
parking where people can park and walk. So we're excited. We think that
this event will grow over time andit will be one of the things that

(32:04):
downtown Arlington is known for. Ilove that now speak about more about the
food and the live music. Whocan people look forward to when it comes
to music and also the food.So we're actually going to have a team
of DJs work in the event,and we are figuring out how to distribute
speakers on all kind of streets,right so our entertainment live entertainment may be

(32:28):
more strolling, and we have aband that's playing. I don't know that
it's been finalized, but there's goingto be live music at the NAP Heritage
Park and then we're also going tobook some local street performers to be over
on some of the other side streets. So we also are trying to get
a demonstration and a display from theUTA Engineering School for the little little cars

(32:54):
that they design and race. Oh, that's right, So we're working through
that we can make that happen,and then our awards ceremonies at two thirty.
There's a Motown review show that afternoonat the early time music call it
three and yeah, I mean it'smostly about the cars we are going to

(33:16):
have. We've invited two of ourdowntown restaurants, Fuzzies, Tacos and Cafe
Americana, to be our featured foodvendors this year. I still have been
there and I hear amazing things.Yeahs and Fuzzies will be there with their
tacos and nachos and yeah, sowe're excited. That's all. So you

(33:37):
talked about prizes. What prizes canpeople look forward to, you know,
hopefully winning and I saw that therewas definitely a bigger prize, but you
go through what they all are.So, yes, our judging is pretty
simple. That general public gets topick their people's choice. That's awesome.
So that's a popularity contest for thefavorite car on site, and then our

(33:58):
mayor selects the Mayor's Choice Award,and then we have a team of judges
that will be selecting the top tencars, not using any specific criteria.
We're not real fancy. You know, you've got to cover a lot of
ground to judge one hundred and fiftycars in an hour or two. So
we're picking the top ten cars,and out of the top ten, there'll

(34:19):
be a number one car and thewinning cars. All of the winning cars
will get a commemorative license plate,the Mayor's Choice, People's choice, and
the number one car get a handmadetrophy that's super cool by one of our
local artists. And then the numberone car, the best car that day,

(34:40):
gets the package for two to stayat the New Low's Hotel and go
see a Rangers game. That's amazing. Yeah, I walked through that Lows
the other day and I was justblown away. It was absolutely incredible.
Did you feel like you were inArlington? No, not at all?
Right, did you walk out onthe pool deck? No, I looked
at it. I was nighttime,so it was after the Ranger game,
and but no, I didn't Ineed to because it looked beautiful. I

(35:04):
encourage anybody who has not been inthat property to just go. You can
valet your car and say you're havinga meeting, you know, and you
get it stamped at the coffee shopor the bar and just go walk through.
Because if you walk out by thepool, there are these fabulous outdoor
covered decks that are an extension ofthe restaurant and bar, and then the

(35:27):
outdoor area by the pool it's thecabanas and it is amazing. Yeah.
Yeah, I remember walking around tothe bar around the restaurant and I was
like this, I feel like I'min a completely different like you know,
it feels like New York, yeah, very much, or even a fancy
hotel bar in LA or something likethat. It was crazy, and I
was just at nighttime. I can'timagine what it looks like during the day,
so I imagine that area is goingto be very I just goes the

(35:51):
high ceilings also come through me.I was like, where am I.
This is incredible. It's beautiful architecture. They did a great job. You
really don't get a full sense ofit if they're not super busy, right,
but when they're full and there's aconvention going on in the hotels book.
I did open some doors to seehow big the convention spot was and
I was like, wow, that'sthat's something else. So that'll that'll all

(36:14):
be, that'll all be the centerof the All Star Game. Yes,
in July. So we're going toget to see how all that works.
That's I can't. I'm so gladwe're get an All Star Game again.
I've been talking for a while aboutit, but I'm glad. I guess
what, thirty years later, wefinally get the All Star Game again.
Yeah. So if people do wantto sign up for it for you know,

(36:34):
register their cars, get in thecar show, how can they do
so? Sure, there is athere's something on event Bright. You can
find it on our landing page forthe for the car show on our website
for downtown Arlington, and there's aQR code and they can go in and
register. It's twenty five dollars entryfee. The entry fees benefit the Arlington

(36:55):
Police Foundation this year. I lovethat. And if you are a senior
or a veteran, there's a codeyou don't have to pay. Hey even
better. So yeah, and asI said, we have over one hundred
cars preregistered. I'm sure there's somefolks out there that aren't going to bother
to preregistered, and they're going tosurprise us. So we are. We

(37:15):
are going to be ready for thebiggest car show we've ever had. I
love it. Now we have asegment on the show. We call it
the Tournament of Toppings to find thebest pizza place in Arlington. What is
your favorite pizza place in Arlington.Oh, that is such a loaded question.
I mean there's so many. Becausewe have so many pizza places downtown,
I cannot have a favorite. Ijust can't have a favorite. Okay,

(37:39):
Well that's that's fair. Well,I guess if I could, I
could mention. Yeah, but ifI don't remember one of them, I'm
I get in trouble. Well,I think we did just cover that.
They're all fantastic Cone Rosa, wegot Mellow Mushroom, we got the new
Zeo's pizza that stays up until twoam. You got old school pizza.

(38:00):
We're getting a little Caesars. I'veheard that. Who else am I missing?
Oh my gosh, division started,divisions pieces started. There's good.
That is good. Word fire that'snew. Yeah, they haven't. The
spices they have on the bottom arereally good too. Yeah, that's good.
But there's there's lots of favorites there. We are. There's no shortage

(38:20):
of fantastic pizza when it comes tothe city around. I have a prospect
I've been working with who wants toput some restaurants here. He has multiple
concepts, and one of them isa really nice pizza place, and I
keep telling him, no more pizza. Pizza. We can never have too
much. Really well, for me, I think we can never have too

(38:40):
much pizza, but I would likemaybe a little more regional kind of pizzas
around here, Like we can't reallyChicago deep Dish. You're not getting that
here. And well there's one placeoff Collins North Arlington that which is Chicago
Pizza. But you know there's notthere, you know, East went Away.
But so there's not really good pizzalike at Chicago Pizza. Y.

(39:04):
Yeah, I mean that's why wehad the segment, so that we could
talk about pizza and go try differentpizza places. So I love that.
Sorry, I just can't have favoritechildren. It's fine, It's totally understandable.
So if people want to follow you, guys, online the Downtown Arlington,
find out what's happening. Find outobviously what's happening with the Doggy Depot
and the car show and then everythingyou know, the light up Arlington that's
going to happen in the July orend of June. How can they do

(39:27):
all the things? Oh gosh.Downtown Arlington dot org is our website,
and of course follow us on Facebook, Instagram. We have a newsletter you
can sign up for right that's onour website, and I think those are
really the primary channels. We've gotsome good following, and we're always looking
for more energy and more followers exactly. Maggie, thank you so much for

(39:52):
your time. We've been wanting tohave you on the show since I think
we started this thing, so I'mglad you finally made this happen, and
we would love to have you backanytime you're actually any have any free time.
I would love to talk to youanytime you got to do something on
a regular basis, because there isenough happening that we probably would not lack
something to talk about. I thinka moment with Maggie could really happen.

(40:13):
I love that figured perfectly. Hi, thank you so much for Maggie for

(42:38):
being on the show. I lovemoment with Maggie, So I think her
coming back on the show is definitelya thing we're going to be working on
because again, there is so muchhappening in the city of Arlington, let
alone in the downtown area, andthey are the you know, helping so
much as to what is going ondown there. And you get even more
awesome things in the future because shewas She hinted it some, but she

(43:00):
could not tell me on the recordor off the record what we can look
forward to. But also thank youso much to Joseph Fisher Schram with his
song twenty eight Days you just heard, and on top of the show,
you heard mel Garsig with his songback Road. While you're listening to local
music, make sure to go out. Every Monday is Trivia Night over at

(43:20):
Doctor Jekyls that starts at seven pm. Every Wednesday is Jambo's Barbecue Uta Jazz
Night and that is from five thirtyto seven thirty. Also, every Wednesday
is Trivia Night over at Division Brewingthat is from seven to nine. Get
there and try to win that belt. If you think that this is not
enough things happening during the week Donot worry every weekend. Every Friday that

(43:40):
is on our Instagram, you canfind out Friday get to find out at
least twenty things that is happening inthe city of Arlington over the weekend.
So definitely make sure to check allthat out. And while you're doing that,
make sure to eat local, drinklocal, and go rediscover your city.
Tag us and send those pictures overto us on Facebook Arlington Citizen Media,

(44:00):
Twitter a t X Citizen Media.Tag us on Instagram Arlington Citizen Media
and send us send those pictures theold fashioned way email Arlington Citizen Media at
gmail dot com. Also go toour website www dot Arlington citizen Media dot
com. Don't forget to subscribe andgive those five star reviews of the downtown

(44:21):
at Apple Music, Spotify, GooglePodcast, and also hit us on SoundCloud,
iHeartRadio and YouTube at dun of Alehas double of antiope and