Unpleasant service cuts have just begun. And extra aid from the state or federal governments is about as likely as having the Dallas Cowboys' rivals voluntarily hand over all their first-round draft choices. Although other cities in the Dallas area haven't had the same intensity of racial divisions to address, they're all being challenged to make tougher choices about services and taxes. The new and growing communities, from Richardson to Carrollton, Irving to Mesquite, Plano to Las Colinas, have monopolized regional economic growth for the last two decades. A high share of new high-wage service and manufacturing jobs has gone to the suburbs.
Significant employment continues to move outward.
The city of Dallas gained jobs during the booming early '80s but has seen only narrow, specialized growth since. By 2000, its population will be only a third of the region's. Television news may dwell on what's happening in the city, but all the numbers show most people live elsewhere. Yet no matter how vital the new-growth communities, it would be foolish for them to ignore Dallas, the city. It sets the Dallas image for the state, the nation, the world.