Uptown

When you think Dallas, you don’t usually think, “Hey, let’s walk to dinner.”

Mark and Cammy Dickenson do. Since they moved in 2012 to an Uptown townhome on the Katy Trail from the Park Cities home where they raised their family, the couple rarely gets their car out on evenings or weekends.

“We either walk to a restaurant, take Uber, the trolley, or EFrogs [a street legal golf cart], which will pick us up at our front gate, take us to a restaurant, we text when we’re done and they’ll take us to Deep Ellum to see some live music. Then they’ll pick us up and maybe we’ll have a glass of wine at Cru, then walk a block away to our house. It’s opened up a whole new world to us. We’re having a blast.”

Prices in Uptown range from the $100,000s for a condo from the ‘80s to the penthouse at Museum Tower or the Ritz-Carlton, among the most expensive real estate in Dallas. Renting is also an option, as is any kind of multi-family living. Single-family homes are non-existent.

The neighborhood’s boundaries are Central Expressway on the east, North Haskell Avenue on the northeast, Katy Trail on the Northwest, Bookhout Street and Cedar Springs Road on the west, North Akard Street on the southwest, and Woodall Rodgers Freeway on the south.

uptown_map_Edit

“It’s a defined neighborhood and it has an identity,” says Realtor and resident Missy Woehr. “Most of the entertainment, restaurants, bars, are within the borders or just across the street from them. We’ve got more coming out of the ground vertically here than anywhere else. We have some of the highest commercial rates we’ve ever seen. Companies are relocating and want to be in the thick of things.”

Demographic statistics extrapolated from the U.S. Census Bureau show the population within Uptown has grown from 4,394 households in 2000 to a projected 10,274 in 2017, with 50% of residents classified as “young professionals.”

The greatest number of residents, 45%, are 25 to 34 years old, with 8.2% between the ages of 18 and 24, 18.3% 35 to 44; 7.7% 45 to 54, 5.7% 55-64, and 2.5% 65-74. While many lament the lack of families living in Uptown, it’s interesting to note than 10.4% of residents are 4 years old or younger. The missing element is school-aged children, of which make up just 1.2% of the local population.

Although Dallas ISD’s talented and gifted William B. Travis Academy magnet sits with in the neighborhood, other public schools options aren’t stellar. But an early childhood PTA is in the works among residents, who have recently created their own neighborhood association called TUNA, The Uptown Neighborhood Association.

Amy Gibson Tharp, president and executive director of Uptown Dallas, says those passionate about the area have four focus areas: safety, building community, mobility, and good urban design: “Studies show that Uptown residents have the shortest commute in the metro area, so we know that being close to work is something important among residents,” Tharp says.

Zachary Porter moved to the Knox-Henderson area when he moved to Dallas from Austin after graduating from the University of Texas. He and his wife, Emily Ray-Porter, moved into a high-rise condominium at the Ritz Carlton in 2013. The couple spends a lot of time their two dogs, Berkley and Kirby, in Klyde Warren Park, and Zachary trained for the New York City and Napa marathons last year along the Katy Trail.

Other favorites among residents include the M-Line Trolley extension, the new Whole Foods, Stanley Korshak, Ice House, Company Café, Meso Maya, Al Biernat’s, and Café Pacific.

“It’s the most energetic area in Dallas,” Porter says. ““We entertain a lot and when people come over, they sometimes say, ‘There must be something going on tonight. There’s a ton of people out and about.’ We have to explain that’s just the new normal now.”

Leave a Comment