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Historic Dallas community rated No. 5 friendliest neighborhood in America

South Boulevard-Park Row Historic District is the No. 5 friendliest neighborhood in the nation.

www.aiadallas.org

Homebuyers and families yearn for tight-knit communities with neighbors that will look out for each other, and one Dallas neighborhood is getting credit for going above and beyond to fulfill that role: the friendly neighborhood of South Boulevard-Park Row Historic District.

South Boulevard-Park Row hits the spotlight via a new report from home improvement services website All Star Home, which named the locale the No. 5 most friendly American neighborhood.

The study determined its rankings based on how many positive Google reviews businesses received in 200 of the most-viewed city neighborhoods on Zillow in 2022.

According to the findings, 15.7 percent of Google reviews for South Boulevard-Park Row-area businesses were described as "friendly."

The historic Dallas community is situated north of S.M. Wright Freeway, and is bordered by Edgewood Street, Park Row Avenue, South Malcom X Boulevard, and South Boulevard.

The neighborhood is known for its beautifully-constructed homes and its Jewish history after the Temple Emanuel El moved to the area in 1913. According to the Texas Historical Commission's Texas Historic Sites Atlas, many early residents in the South Boulevard-Park Row neighborhood were prominent Jewish community leaders.

"The structures [in the neighborhood] feature a variety of popular architectural influences, representing details of the Midwestern Prairie, Mission Revival, Classical Revival, and Georgian styles," says the historical marker for the district. "A gradual migration of area residents to newer suburban developments began following the end of World War II."

The community also has historical roots for housing prominent Black leaders in the 1950s, the marker says.

"Residents here have included educators, lawyers, merchants, clergymen, doctors, and business executives," the marker says. "Since the early twentieth century the neighborhood has been a symbol of the growth, prosperity, and vitality of Dallas."

Other Dallas-area neighborhoods did not earn quite as friendly marks, with one neighborhood occupying the bottom slot on the list:

No. 55 – Cedar Crest
No. 78 – Oak Lawn
No. 94 – Far North Dallas
No. 95 – Southwest Dallas
No. 130 – Preston Hollow
No. 137 – M Streets
No. 170 – Northeast Dallas
No. 190 – Southeast Dallas
No. 200 – North Dallas

All Star Home also took a deep dive into the friendliest well-known businesses and retailers across the U.S. Several of the chains and big-box stores that are considered the friendliest have a presence around South Boulevard-Park Row, including Aldi, Starbucks, and more.

"Some trends emerged when [digging] into data for ten business types: Coffee shops, dry cleaners, and pharmacies ruled the top 10 friendliest list," the report said. "On the other hand, banks barely made it, and post offices got left off the list entirely."

Two other Texas neighborhoods made it into the top 10 friendliest American 'hoods: Kingwood in Houston (No. 2), and South Hills in Fort Worth (No. 10).

The top 10 friendliest American neighborhoods are:

No. 1 – Magnolia in Seattle, Washington
No. 2 – Kingwood, Texas
No. 3 – Highland in Saint Paul, Minnesota
No. 4 – Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, California
No. 5 – South Boulevard-Park Row Historic District in Dallas, Texas
No. 6 – Casas Adobes in Tuscon, Arizona
No. 7 – Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon
No. 8 – Catalina Foothills in Tuscon, Arizona
No. 9 – Rancho Penasquitos in San Diego, California
No. 10 – South Hills in Fort Worth, Texas

The report can be found on allstarhome.com.

housing neighborhoods reports dallas

Anna Land Buy

Cox Family sells 116 acres in Anna for mixed-use development

Courtesy photo

Anna, Texas

A major land sale in Anna is paving the way for new mixed-use development. According to a release, Frisco-based Rockhill Capital & Investments struck a deal with the Cox Family to acquire 116 acres at County Road 371 and SH-5, approximately two miles east of US-75.

Younger Partners Executive Managing Director John St. Clair, Vice President Tyler Hemenway, and Associate Davis Willoughby represented the seller in the transaction. The sales price was not disclosed.

Rockhill will sell fully entitled tracts of land to homebuilders, multifamily, and commercial developers.

The single-family portion will be built in phases with development of 325 single-family lots, says Rockhill Chief Development Officer Brent Libby in a statement.

“Construction will likely begin early in Q2 2025,” Libby said. “We’ve already sold 82 of the 116 acres to homebuilder Taylor Morrison and they should break ground first.”

The remaining acres are already being snapped up including 9.5 acres on SH 5 that is under contract to a commercial developer, and interest from a user/developer on the remaining 24 acres, which is zoned for multifamily.

The Cox Family owned the land for decades and had received multiple offers on the property over the years, but were never ready to sell.

“Ultimately, the family wanted to capitalize on the land market before unforeseen market factors took place,” said St. Clair of Younger Partners. “This deal took place at the right time with the right buyer.”

The acquisition nvolved a lengthy zoning process to acquire the land. Rockhill created a Public Improvement District (PID) on the single-family portion of the land, which helped the deal move forward.

Rockhill already has land holdings in nearby high-growth cities of Howe, Van Alstyne, and Sherman, and it ain't stopping here.

“We’ll continue to source and acquire land in the area where we can add value through entitlements, and either develop the property or hold it for some time and exit to another developer or end user,” Libby says.

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