Last week I wrote that suburban folks are sometimes put off by downtown Dallas.

I suggested that they were perhaps expecting too much from the central business district and might be better off sticking to those make-believe downtowns they are building out in the 'burbs.

Little did I know that my column would expose a great gulf between the townies and 'burbies and how they feel about the city center.

Seems that some residents who stick mostly to Dallas' satellite cities have nothing but contempt for downtown.

And pioneering center city people aren't of a mind to cut them any slack.

"If they don't like it, then don't come down," writes Dallas resident Mark Doty. "I would certainly appreciate the decrease in those people that don't know how to drive in a real city."

Irving resident Mike Mueller is a downtown Dallas fan and thinks some suburban types are unrealistic.

"What do these people expect? You're DOWNTOWN, not your neat little tract home in suburban Plano," Mr. Mueller writes. "All the aspects of a downtown don't bother me; as a matter of fact, I like them. Vibrant, eclectic and sometimes gritty."

Mike Hathaway of Dallas said he's sold on downtown and nearby north Oak Cliff.

"I laugh every time I hear someone complaining in a similar fashion about the panhandlers or how there's 'nothing to do' in Dallas," Mr. Hathaway writes. "While I do work in north Plano, I'd never want to live anywhere north of Woodall Rodgers again."

But don't even suggest the notion of living downtown to some of the suburban readers who got foamed up over my column.

Coppell resident Charles Jackson, who says he worked in the city center in the 1980s, isn't buying my suggestion to give downtown Dallas a chance.

"We will never be back to that hellhole known as downtown Dallas," he writes. "It doesn't matter how many of the columnists working for The Dallas Morning News write something trying to shore up downtown Dallas.

"We know they make you write this swill, and the only capital of value The Dallas Morning News has is the property they own in downtown Dallas," Mr. Jackson surmises.

Sean Bushe says my points about downtown making a visible comeback were pitiful.

"Your defense of downtown is noble but hollow," he says. "Fort Worth is already way ahead of Dallas," and San Antonio is the "gold standard" for center city renewal, Mr. Bushe says.

Developer Zad Roumaya, who's building homes near downtown in the Cedars neighborhood and along Fort Worth Avenue, isn't surprised to hear that some of my readers are really ticked off about downtown.

"I wager that most of those rants came from people that haven't even been to the central business district in over 10 years," Mr. Roumaya says. "It will continue to change for the better."

I guess that's the real question, isn't it? Will downtown continue to evolve with more residential units and retail and fewer derelict buildings?

And who will really benefit from the renewal – the folks who live in Dallas or suburban visitors who don't like the looks of things when they come calling?

Speaking of downtown, developer Craig Hall recently responded to my request for info about his property in the Arts District.

The former building site between Ross Avenue and Flora Street is right across the street from the symphony hall and has sat vacant since the 1980s.

Mr. Hall's been looking at what to do with the key tract for several years.

"We have worked and re-worked the design of a potential building for the site, but it is still a work in progress," he says.

"We are working with a couple of major potential tenants, but it is preliminary."