Hot Hot 'Hoods

These 4 popular Dallas neighborhoods rank among America's best

Moss Farm-Forest Meadow ranks among the 20 best neighborhoods in the country.

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman

Where are the best places to live in Dallas? Real estate review site Niche has revealed the Best Neighborhoods to Live in America, and four popular Dallas 'hoods appear in the top 50, including one in the top 10.

Niche combined user rankings with data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI for the list. In order to rank the top neighborhoods, Niche considered areas located within a city and with a population of at least 1,000. The site then ranked the neighborhoods using 15 different categories; each was weighted and given an individual grade.

Some of the categories included:

Higher education (number of citizens with advanced degrees)
Cost of living
Housing costs
Reputation of nearby public schools
Diversity
Overall composite number (Niche survey responses scored on a 1-5 scale)
Crime and safety
Walkability

The site also examined lifestyle factors such as outdoor activities, nightlife, and average commute times.

Coming in at No. 8 on the list is Preston Highlands, in far north Dallas. The suburban neighborhood is served by Plano's public schools and boasts a median home value of $318,814. Moss Farm-Forest Meadow, in Lake Highlands, ranks No. 14 and features an urban neighborhood feel and median home value of $336,185.

Campbell Green, also located in far north Dallas, ranks No. 28, and Lakeview Heights, a little neighborhood tucked away in East Dallas, ranks No. 30. They round out Dallas' presence in the top 50.

In general, Texas fared quite well among the best neighborhoods in the U.S., making up 12 of the top 50. Joining Preston Highlands in the top 10 is Houston's Memorial (No. 10). Houston's University Place also appears in the top 50, at No. 20.

Austin has the most Texas neighborhoods in the top 50: Rosedale (No. 21); Allandale (No. 23); Old West Austin (No. 32); downtown Austin (No. 39); Windsor Road (No. 40); and Old Enfield (No. 42).

lists reports awards bests rankings

Downtown News

Dallas City Council approves major subsidy for new West End Lofts

Google Maps

805 Elm St. in the West End.

The Dallas City Council approved a $49 million incentive package for the development of the West End Lofts Project, a proposed mixed-use, mixed-income, and transit-oriented development project.

The project would take up three parcels within the historic West End: 805 Elm St., 711 Elm St., and 211 N. Austin St., directly south of the West End DART light rail station and directly north of El Centro (Dallas College).

Led by Sycamore Strategies, LLC, the estimated $103.2 million project will include 154 mixed-income apartments comprised of 56 efficiencies, 25 one-bedroom, 69 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom units to be constructed within the historic 805 Elm Street building and in a new 6-story building to be constructed on the existing adjacent surface parking lot.

Of the 154 apartments, 63 (41 percent) will be income-restricted and leased solely to households earning at or below median income.

The project will include residential amenities, ground floor retail/commercial space, the creation of an approximately 25,751-square-foot plaza and promenade, and approximately 140 parking spaces in the historic 711 Elm Street parking garage.

The project’s funding includes $54,224,085 in non-City sources, including equity in the form of low income housing tax credits and historic rehabilitation tax credits.

The City’s incentive package includes an amount not to exceed $28,275,676 in City Center TIF District funding as well as up to $20,724,324 from other economic development funding sources administered by the City’s Office of Economic Development, including general obligation bond proceeds from the economic development/housing propositions in the City’s 2012 and 2024 bond programs.

In a statement, Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said that the project will provide affordable housing and ground floor activation within downtown’s West End Historic District.

Prior to the City Council's December 11 approval of a subsidy for the project, it got a thumbs up from the City Center TIF District Board of Directors, with the added condition that best efforts be made to provide a minimum of two square feet per residential unit for pet relief facilities.

home-for-sale downtown