Guess who has the best Dallas views?

What would you pay for a place with a great view of downtown Dallas, American Airlines Center, the Margaret Hunt bridge, ... ?

Homes and condos with expansive downtown views like these can sell into the millions.

But hundreds of people a year get to live with views like this for free. And they don't necessarily enjoy it. Because these views are from the Dallas county jail. That's right. Our jail sits on some expensive real estate.

Since this jail fails inspections on a regular basis, I wonder how many years it will take before the county decides to sell it and open a new facility in a cheaper area? I'd consider it to be a better use of my tax dollars. I can imagine the condo conversion already. Or maybe a developer will just scrape it for new construction with access to the new Trinity River amenities.

By the way, these photos were taken when I did jury duty recently. I wasn't in jail.[where: 75230]