Both Highland Park and University Park, commonly referred to as The Park Cities, are great options for potential homeowners who are moving to DFW and want to live close to downtown Dallas with all the benefits of residing within some of the great American suburbs. 

 

Developed succinctly, but with different urban plans, they have emerged as municipalities that rank in the highest of suburban attributes from low commute time, parks and recreation, and low crime.

Highland Park, and its 1,400-acre tract, was developed under the continual guidance of John Armstrong, considered the father of Highland Park, and his two son in law’s, after his sudden death in 1908. University Park, on the other hand, had dozens of developers and more than 100 lush subdivisions filled with parks. 

University Park followed the development patterns of other American Cities with the planning coming from the municipality and has a far larger number of smaller homes, duplexes and religious uses but still highly sought after.

The City of Dallas tried to annex the Park Cities twice in the early 1900’s. In 1919 when Highland Park announced they would be paving the roads to make them automobile friendly, it poised itself to become the first fully planned automobile suburb. 

University Park owes its growth to the institution of Southern Methodist University, whose location was made possible by a donation of land from the Caruth family in 1911, they beat out a Fort Worth group for this right. 

While Highland Park became a town of primarily single-family homes, University Park was housing a university and therefore needed resources to support this from residential developments, small commercial developments, and churches.

These two prestigious pockets in the city have demonstrated that people will pay large sums of money to live within miles of Downtown if they are protected with their own police and fire departments, given a good education with the highest rated public schools in Dallas, and do not fear major zoning changes occurring around them. 

We also cannot forget the glorious parks, meandering walkways and recreational facilities provided by each. One can experience all the advantages of a small town in the middle of a large city.

Christy BerryMarch 4, 2019