Fear, mistrust and an election hangover threaten west Oak Cliff master plan. Can it survive?
Fear, mistrust and an election hangover threaten west Oak Cliff master plan. Can it survive?
Dallas Council member Chad West says the goal is neighborhood preservation, but opponents contend that many residents are being left out of the discussion.
Students and parents cross Clarendon Drive after leaving Winnetka Elementary on Thursday. The school and the homes of the families whose children attend Winnetka are within the boundaries of the neighborhoods that are being considered in the West Oak Cliff Area Planning initiative.(Jeffrey McWhorter / Special Contributor)
Here’s a list of Oak Cliff parks and trails to visit this Earth Day
Residents can celebrate at one of many local outdoor spaces.
The Texas Buckeye Trail in the Great Trinity Forest.(Rose Baca / Staff Photographer)
Here are a few nearby outdoor spaces to choose from:
Elmwoof Dog Park: What started as a monthly-pop up in 2013 has become the first permanent off-leash dog park in Oak Cliff. The 0.3-acre green space is managed by the Elmwood Neighborhood Association.
2100 S. Edgefield Ave.
Runyon Creek Trail: The 2.7-mile trail begins at Glendale Park and extends to the UNT Dallas campus and the UNT-Dallas DART Station. Runyon Creek also passes through the Five Mile Creek Trail, Singing Hills recreation center and the Camp Wisdom DART Station.
The 180 homes do not belong to a neighborhood association, which has made getting input from every stakeholder difficult. But residents are trying to change that.
A resident in the affected area, who didn t want to be named, is creating a new neighborhood association called the S. Edgefield Neighborhood Association. Other nearby residents are trying to help get the neighborhood association running.
Hopkins, Yolanda Alameda, a representative of the Polk-Vernon neighborhood association, and the resident visited each of the 180 homes to let people know about the new neighborhood association.
“Some of them were very skeptical about the process and getting involved because they feel like they’ve been neglected and ignored for a very long time and that they’ve asked for things in the past, like street repairs and sidewalks and traffic calming measures and the city just has ignored them,” Hopkins said.