The question posed in April’s cover story, "The $100 Million Question", might seem like it came out of left field. And perhaps it did, but we thought it might be good to explain the genesis of the story, and the discussion we hoped to provoke by writing it.

To hear more from publisher Rick Wamre, contributing editor Jeff Siegel and me about how this story came to be, listen to this Advocate Radio podcast. You can either download it (10.4 MB) or simply play it (a little more than 11 minutes).

In the podcast, you’ll hear me mention the ideas from architect Stephen Pickard of Basic Architecture and Interiors and urban planner Kevin Sloan of Kevin Sloan Studio that were discussed in the Oak Cliff Advocate cover story. Visit Back Talk Oak Cliff on Monday for a podcast interview with these two Winnetka Heights reisdents.

Mere months ago, neighbors did not like the city’s plans for what might happen to property in Oak Cliff that abuts the Trinity River. The Oak Cliff Gateway plan was too narrowly focused, they said, and didn’t look at the big picture. One major problem was a widened and extended version of Greenbriar snaking through the plan, which went against neighbors’ ideas of pedestrian-friendly development that would complement the future Trinity River park and amenities.

Now, however, the city seems to be on track with what neighbors want. David Whitley of the Trinity River Corridor Project and Bob Stimson of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce sat down with us recently to discuss what changed, and what to expect next from the Oak Cliff Gateway. (Firmer plans should be revealed at Tuesday’s committee meeting.)

Listen to or download the podcast here. It lasts roughly 16 minutes and is 14.7 megabytes to download.

A discussion with North Oak Cliff community prosecutor Ryan Presley piqued my interest in the new crime ordinance passed by Dallas City Council earlier this month. I ran into Presley at both the Bishop/Davis landuse study and Oak Cliff Gateway community meetings (side note: when I asked whether this was part of his job, he said no, but he likes to keep up on what’s going on in the neighborhood), and he mentioned the new ordinance, which gives police more teeth, so to speak, when dealing with multi-family complexes and their owners/managers.

Some of the ordinance’s details are still being hammered out, but in this podcast, Deputy Chief Rick Watson and Sgt. Sharise Hadnot of the Dallas Southwest Police Division give an overview of what it means, and why it’s important to Oak Cliff residents, whether they live in a multi-family complex or not. The podcast is about 10 minutes long and 15.6 megabytes to download.

The March cover story on Dallas’ trail system pretty much sticks to those 8- and 12-foot paved pathways that neighbors use to hike and bike, safely out of reach of zooming vehicles (at least, for the most part). But what if runners and cyclists and even parents pushing strollers could do so safely on actual streets?

The idea behind "complete streets" is making room for everyone — pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and mass transit (including light rail and streetcars). This concept doesn’t currently exist in Dallas, but plans are in the works for a Katy Trail-Arts Loop that would connect the trail to Downtown via existing and planned complete streets. (This plan is briefly discussed in the Preston Hollow cover story.) City Councilman Angela Hunt and Friends of the Katy Trail executive director Eric Van Steenburg sat down with us to talk about this plan, and when and where else we might see complete streets here in Dallas.

To download or stream the podcast, click here. It’s roughly 15-16 minutes and 21 megabytes. After the jump, watch a video interview with the commissioner of the Department of Transportation in New York, which is attempting to turn all of their roads into complete streets:

How do descriptions like “dire” and “unpalatable cuts” sound? That’s the word from Dave Levinthal, the ace city hall reporter for Dallas’ Only Daily Newspaper, who joined Rick Wamre and myself to talk about the impending crisis.  What’s going to happen? Can we save the 200 cops and the beefed up code enforcement that we’ve been promised? How will the council react to making cuts or raising taxes? And how worried should we be?

We also found a couple of minutes to discuss the 2011 mayoral race. To download or stream the podcast, click here. It’s about 21 minutes and 29 megabytes.

We invited Jim Schutze and Sam Merten of the Dallas Observer to discuss the city’s plan to build and own the convention center hotel. Our publisher, Rick Wamre, who has a few thoughts on the subject, joined in. Want to know what’s really behind the push to build the hotel? Worried about how much it’s going to cost? Feeling a little paranoid about how the city is handling this project? Then download or stream the podcast here. It’s about 22 minutes and 21 MB. (Best yet, we fixed most of the technical problems. Technology is a wonderful thing.)

And our timing couldn’t have been better. Dallas’ Only Daily Newspaper reports today that city officials have had much more difficulty than expected in finalizing a deal to operate the hotel – something the city wants to do quickly so construction can begin before May’s hotel referendum.