Storm News

Deep Ellum community rallies relief for Elan City Lights residents

Elan City Lights in better days.

Rendering courtesy of Greystar Properties

Some businesses around Dallas and Deep Ellum are collaborating on a relief effort for residents of the Elan City Lights building that was crushed by a crane in a storm on June 9.

The building was deemed uninhabitable, rendering its 500-plus residents homeless. Greystar, the building's owner, allowed residents to collect some of their personal belongings from the property, and may allow them to return. But according to estimates, that could take up to six months, if it happens at all.

Dallasites101, a local events and media company, organized the Elan City Lights Relief effort, in which it's culling various offers and donations.

"We feel for anyone who was devastated by the storm," the group says. "We started a crowdsourced Excel doc, so businesses and individuals may chime in with how they can help. Help can look like pet care, housing, transportation, clothing, and food."

Their crowdsourced Excel doc allows contributors to list companies, groups, and services. Donations offered so far include cheap rooms at local hotels, discounts on counseling sessions, apartment relocation services, free wifi, and coffee.

Donors can also reach out to them via donations@dallasites101.com.

So far, five businesses have volunteered to serve as drop-off points:

Jack Mason Brand, 3030 Canton St. #130, from 8:30 am-6 pm
CENTRL Office, 750 North St. Paul St. #200, from 8:30 am-5:30 pm
The Barre Code Dallas — Design District (clothing, shoes, and toiletries only), 1430 Dragon St. #25, hours of operation vary daily
Dallas Iron Fitness, 4101 Bryan St., hours of operation vary daily
Common Desk Deep Ellum, 2919 Commerce St.

Each location will verify that only displaced residents receive donated items. They'll also check for quality and share the inventory so that residents visit the right location based on their needs.

Jack Mason, a watch company, has warehouse space and is serving as the main receiving point. Alexis Smith, who works in their marketing department, says that donations have already surpassed their expectations.

"We've received everything from iPads to deodorant to brand new mattresses," Smith says. "It's not used goods. People seem to be going out and buying new things for others."

"They're our neighbors, and we wanted to help out," she says. "We met two people who'd just moved into their apartment on Wednesday, they went out and bought all new furniture, and that's all gone. Most of the people in the building were young professionals just getting on their feet."

Common Desk Deep Ellum has also set up a box to receive donations beginning June 13, which they'll transport to Jack Mason.

The most helpful items are gift cards to places like Target, Walmart, Uber, and Lyft. But clothes, food, reusable water bottles, phone chargers, dog food, kitchen supplies, toiletries, blankets, and pillows are all welcome.

"Residents can not currently access their apartments or cars," the company says. "That means, they have lost everything (for now) that they were unable to grab in the moment — it might be six months until they can access their belongings.

"Let’s come together to help our friends who have been affected."

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Hottest Headlines of 2025

The top 10 stories that defined city life in Dallas in 2025

Southern Methodist University class of 2029

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Southern Methodist University is the 103rd best college nationwide, and it ranked No. 5 in Texas, Forbes says.

Editor's note: Stories about city life were some of our most-read headlines of the year in Dallas. Readers devoured stories about suburbs, schools, and transportation, curious to see what made the best-of cut for scores of rankings. And, of course, we all needed to check in with the world's richest people and see which ones live in Texas.

Here's a look back at the most-read Dallas city life stories of 2025:

1. 5 Dallas high schools rank among America's best in 2025, per U.S. News. Five prestigious Dallas-area high schools are living up to their reputations for top-tier education after being ranked among the best high schools in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings.

2. 27 Dallas billionaires land on new Forbes list of world's richest people. More billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World's Billionaires List than ever before, according to Forbes. This year, 27 Dallas billionaires are among the richest people in the world, including Elaine Marshall, Lyndal Stephens Greth, and Jerry Jones.

3. Techy Dallas suburb is No. 1 hot spot for remote workers in U.S. A SmartAsset survey of cities with the biggest remote workforces has revealed Frisco is the No. 1 city with the highest share of remote workers in the nation. The study found over 40,000 Frisco residents work from home, which is more than a third of all of the city's workers aged 16 and older (117,193 total workers).

Person working from home Working from home comes with its own challenges, like picking which part of the couch to work from. Photo by Jodie Cook on Unsplash

4. 3 affluent Dallas neighbors dominate new list of wealthiest U.S. suburbs. Three well-to-do Dallas-area communities — University Park, Southlake, and Colleyville — are among the wealthiest suburbs in America in 2025, a report confirmed. The three affluent Dallas neighbors were lauded in GoBankingRates ranking of the 50 wealthiest U.S. suburbs, based on 2022 and 2023 average household income data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.

5. 4 Dallas-area universities make 2026 list of world’s best schools. The University of Texas at Dallas, University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, and University of Texas at Arlington are among the top 1,200 schools included in the QS World University Rankings 2026. The Princeton Review agreed, also naming SMU, UTD, TCU, and University of Dallas to its best-in-the-U.S. list, while Forbes named six DFW universities to its list of America's top colleges.

6. 11 cities around Dallas make list of best places to live in the U.S. Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

7. Dallas middle school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2026, per U.S. News. More than a dozen Dallas-Fort Worth elementary and middle schools have excelled on U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the best K-8 schools in Texas for 2026, with one that's first in class: The No. 1 best middle school in Texas is Dallas ISD's William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted.

8. North Dallas suburb lauded as 5th best U.S. city for working parents. Frisco already has a reputation as a great place for families and a top spot for remote workers, so it's no surprise that the city has clocked in as one of the best places in the country for working parents, too.

Frisco Frisco ranked No. 5 nationwide in a 2025 study. Visit Frisco/Facebook

9. City of Dallas to put a pause on curbside trash collection issue. In October, the city of Dallas put the curbside trash collection debate on hold. According to a release, the Sanitation Department temporarily paused implementation of an alley-to-curb program that was approved, in order to evaluate additional options for continuing alley service where residents strongly prefer it.

10. Dallas suburb proclaimed 8th best U.S. city to drive in, per report. Dallas roadways are no picnic, but in one neighboring town, it's easy street: A report by WalletHub puts none other than Plano on its list of the top 10 best U.S. cities to drive in for 2025.