Redlining a neighborhood is very detrimental to the neighborhood, but it made homeownership for low-income groups more accessible. Bluelining a neighborhood is also very detrimental to the neighborhood, but it is devastating to low-income blacks and other lowincome groups that want to buy a home.
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The AIA Dallas Tour of Homes is the most important and beneficial home tour in Dallas. This AIA Tour of Homes combines the best of the other home tours in Dallas. The other tours of homes in Dallas have served many purposes for nearly 50 years. Legacy of Dallas Home Tours The Swiss Avenue Mother’s…
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The pandemic has us thinking about wealth and luxury in a more profound way—more than superficial opulence and privilege, but as a guiding force in determining homes that make us happy living, working and playing. Wealth and luxury impact homes and the real estate market more significantly than builder or industry design trends. Those with…
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Pandemic Changes Congestion Until the pandemic, people’s choices were largely shaped by their workplaces and commutes. A 25-minute drive to work could become an hour and a half at rush hour. One might have to wait 60 minutes to get their 7:00 p.m. reserved table for a 90-minute dinner. A 15-minute quick trip to buy…
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The recent challenges from the coronavirus force us to shelter at home and think of our home in whole new ways. Traditionally, when a buyer looks for a house to purchase, they are usually thinking about practical and financial criteria, like the square footage cost of the investment, how much house can they afford, are…
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Should the direction of Dallas urban growth continue to grow north? Does inserting low-income housing in North Dallas create an inclusive urban growth direction for Dallas? Does the direction of Dallas and its current goal of moving low-income wage earners closer to higher wage jobs in North Dallas increase or decrease wealth for low-income families? …
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In the 1920s, Northern Hills was described by the McNeny brothers much like I described the Northern Hills neighborhood in the 1986 book I wrote on the older neighborhoods in Dallas and in my 2020 video on Northern Hills. Regardless of where Northern Hills was in its evolution, in its infancy in the 1920s, re-emerging…
As cities increasingly become enclaves for the rich and reservations for the poor, the debate rages on how to create inclusive urban growth to make cities less economically segregated and more vibrant. In Dallas, the Trinity River gives a geographic definition to the high income and low-income neighborhoods, dividing the historically prosperous northern half of…
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Who would think low-taxed Texas would have tax on aesthetics, curtailing the construction of architect-designed homes? There are many unintended consequences of high taxes such as impeding economic growth or high tax rates reducing tax revenue collected (i.e., New Jersey and Connecticut). Only now do I realize that Texas’ high property taxes impede the building…
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What constitutes “super high-end homes” in the Dallas area? Recently Steve Brown reported in the Dallas Morning News that one part of the D/FW market that shows no sign of a slowdown is the super high-end homes. However, that depends on how you define super high-end homes. Three years ago I wrote that there was at least a…
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In 1990, when Dallas was going through its great economic depression, it actually had a chance to have more than just backyards and trees. It had a chance to have a version of New York’s Central Park. Southland Corporation had assembled 200 acres one small lot at a time. After the devastating economic downturn, this…
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Density is the Holy Grail of New Urbanism, from creating new zoning for granny flats, rooming houses, townhouses, duplexes, fourplexes and backyard two-story rental houses in established neighborhoods to encouraging dense mixed use development on undeveloped or redeveloped land. The advantage of urban density and the idyllic effect of density has been the battle cry…
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