I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to “Save Deep Ellum”. When we were setting up for the mural competition I had a guy come in and talk to me for a while about it. The first time he came in he asked what the whole “Save Deep Ellum” thing was about and I told him that we “are trying to keep the neighborhood from become another West Village.” He came back the next day to say that after talking to me he took a bike ride over to West Village and had a pretty good time over there. “What’s wrong with West Village?” I replied with the premeditated line of “It’s a soulless commercial district that will lose it’s novelty quickly and just turn into another place struggling to get by, only it won’t have the help of a truly motivated neighborhood.” The more I thought about things the more I realized something, I like West Village. I really enjoy it. It’s got a Banana Republic and Ralph Lauren. The Magnolia is a great place to see a movie while you liquor up. If you climb to the top of the parking garage you get a really great view of Downtown.

So if I like West Village so much then why wouldn’t I want Deep Ellum to be the next West Village? Well, for one thing I can afford shit in Deep Ellum, something I can’t do in West Village. Thing is, at 21, if I can afford things out here, just about anyone can. It’s much bigger than just that. Deep Ellum has a soul. I had to buy cigarettes at lunch today so I walked to 7/11. On my way back I walked by the old Sambuca and noticed beer bottles sprawled across the parking lot. I saw a group of hipsters in jeans much tighter than mine walk past. I had a few flashbacks of coming out here in high school and downing vodka in the backseat of a car with a bunch of friends. That shit is real, and it’s what separates Deep Ellum from Mockingbird Station, Highland Park Village and West Village.

So what does “Save Deep Ellum” mean? It means to bring everyone together and to find compromises with property owners that DON’T destroy the historic integrity of the neighborhood. It means going out of your way to support a business here in this neighborhood instead of taking your money to the nearest faux-upscale development. It means going to Elm Street Bar instead of the Ghost Bar. Going to a gallery opening instead of a movie. It means sticking together, even when things get difficult.