Anyone who has lived in Dallas, Texas for more than 15 years probably has some memory or an experience they had related to Valley View Mall. I know I have a million of them. One that pops to mine was from me, as a teenager, driving west from Garland on the newly opened 635 Intrastate…LBJ Freeway..in my 1966 VW and looking over to the right, just past the Preston Rd exit and saying..WTF is the huge development they are building???
Oh, the good old days when gas was 25 cents a gallon and the #5 burger at Keller’s Drive-In was $.85..cold beer was $.75. Doesn’t appear Dallas ..or anywhere for that matter…will ever go back to those days. Will they?
The Triple Threat Shopping Experience
Located in not so Far North Dallas, Valley View Mall was one of the three new malls to be built in the early 1970’s. Dallas has always been know for it’s shopping experience. In 1973, The Three Mall shopping tour included Towneast, Red Bird and then back to Valley View Mall.
Oh, of course NorthPark remained king of mall shopping even before Valley View Mall was developed. And just after Valley View Mall opened came the monster, Prestonwood Mall, who, in 2004, came to the same demise as Valley View Mall is destined to be this month..demolished.
Times Changes Everything.
The opening of The Galleria Mall in 1982, about a 3 wood golf shoot to the West of Valley View, brought in the beginning of the end for Valley View Mall. Just like a black hole, The Galleria sucked all of the business the VVM had captured over 30 years painting the older mall with the appearance of a ghost town.
When the Old Becomes New
Fortunately, once Valley View Mall is leveled the new Midtown Park development will begin. The new upscale complex of businesses and residential units has plans for a 40 acre park in the middle. This change to the New will erase all but the memories all us native Dallasites have of chopping one of the largest indoor malls in North Texas.
Let’s hope the new Midtown Park will offer up the new beginning of memories the next generation of Dallas natives will carry on into their future.
Who knows, maybe what I do will be part of that change. Let me know how I can help.
