McDonald's serves up classical music to ward off street toughs

By JANINE ZUNIGA
Associated Press

DALLAS - A downtown McDonald's is hoping to give street toughs the boot by serving up a little Bach with its burgers.

Manager Michael Hom said Wednesday that he's trying to scare away only troublemakers with the piped-in classical music that wafts both inside and out of the restaurant.

"We planned it to lower the number of street toughs that occasionally loiter here," Hom said.
"We've got a lot of business clientele, and we're trying to make every effort possible to create an environment and atmosphere they feel comfortable visiting."

He's no aficionado, but Hom enjoys the classical Muzak tunes and says that "so far it seems to be working."

"We've had a lot of positive remarks from customers," he said. "There's been a handful of folks who don't care for it, but those really aren't paying customers."

Others like Cleo Pearson, a Dallas musician waiting nearby for a DART bus, said he thinks the whole idea is just a publicity ploy.

"Who can they say is undesirable?" Pearson said. "They just don't want undesirables here, but they have a place of business here."

The idea isn't new. 7-Eleven Food Stores use classical music to chase away loiters on the West Coast, and Stop 'N Go tried it for a while in Grand Prairie.

Lt. Jeff Cotner, commanding officer in charge of the central business district that includes the McDonald's restaurant, calls it crime prevention through environmental design.

"You can change the environment to make it safer," he said. "I guess depending on what type of music, you can foster people hanging around or foster people moving on."

The downtown restaurant shares the same few blocks with a bus station and a DART transfer point. In 1988, a homeless man shot and killed a police officer near the restaurant. And in 1993, violence at the Dallas Cowboys parade started there.

Cotner, who heard the music while dealing with some truants, said he understands what's behind the effort.

"I knew why they did it," he said. "The message I received was clear."

Some people laughed the music off, including two young men who walked by the Commerce Street location snickering as "The Blue Danube," a Strauss waltz, came out of a number of built-in speakers above their heads.

Others enjoyed it.

"I like it," said Arturo Mederano, 21, a Dallas gardener who was taking a lunch break at the restaurant with a friend. "It makes me feel relaxed."

Even Pearson, who disagrees with the idea, said he enjoys the music and thinks the "undesirables" will as well.

"It doesn't bother them," he said. "It's not going to run anybody off. If you play enough of it, they'll probably start to like it.

"It calms attitudes. It's not like that "boom boom" kind of music. It makes them feel like they gotta be a little bit respectful, that's all."