CTroyMathis
03-16-2002, 01:58 AM
As Oak Lawn grows, so grow the pros and cons
03/16/2002
By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News
"Oak Lawn has gotten huge - dense and towering"
Progress surrounds Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood. It towers majestically – in the form of luxury high-rise condos – over parklike Turtle Creek. And it bustles along the ever-increasing retail and commercial businesses of Oak Lawn and McKinney avenues.
And it's housed in the single-family townhomes starting at $300,000 that gobbled up older, sometimes dilapidated multifamily structures.
Since the late 1990s, this area sandwiched between Dallas Love Field and downtown has experienced a massive transformation. And the boom is far from over.
That worries those who fear that the continued growth may overwhelm the diverse characteristics that have defined Oak Lawn for so many years. Others see the transformation into a cosmopolitan, urban space improving the area's desirability.
In addition to being known for many years as the center of Dallas' gay and lesbian community, Oak Lawn has always attracted large numbers of Hispanic and Asian immigrants because of the availability of affordable housing. Now, new development is attracting young professionals and even so-called "empty-nesters," older people whose children have left home.
Christy Kinsler, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said the new development is more expensive, making living there more difficult for moderate- to low-income people. That, she said, can have a negative impact on one of the area's biggest assets: its diversity.
"I'm a renter, and affordable housing is becoming a problem for me," she said. "And for folks at a much lower income bracket than I, it is even worse. Many of them are being displaced as homes are being torn down and replaced by more expensive housing."
Mark Shekter, a longtime area resident who also owns a realty company, said the commercial and housing boom "comes down to those three little words: location, location, location."
He noted that Oak Lawn is blessed with being not only close to downtown, but also near the fashionable Turtle Creek area. It has great retail and dining choices within walking or short driving distance. And more recently, it has benefited from the opening of the Katy Trail.
Development "is changing the character of the neighborhood, but the closer you get to downtown, the higher that land is going to cost," Mr. Shekter said. "Oak Lawn is still a very diverse neighborhood. There is room for everybody. ... I see Oak Lawn only as getting better."
But he noted that the economy will continue to be the driving force behind any new development.
'Excited and depressed'
Deb Elder, a longtime real estate agent, voiced concern about the high prices of some newer residential properties.
"There are at least six new construction properties built in 2001 that could not sell and are now ... for lease in anticipation of what the builders-owners hope will be an upturn," Ms. Elder said.
In the meantime, Veletta Forsythe Lill, the City Council member who represents most of Oak Lawn, said the loss of some of the older architecture "gives me some heartache."
"I'm alternately excited and depressed by ... [the development]," she said. "I'm excited by the interest generated in inner-city living and a little depressed about the loss of historic architecture. ... And we have lost affordable housing in the Oak Lawn area, and that means we have lost diversity of housing stock and residents."
One of the most dramatic demographic changes during the 1990s was the increase in the Hispanic population, especially recent immigrants. Hispanics make up about 40 percent of the area's population, having increased more than 50 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to census figures.
The number of Asian/Pacific Islanders more than doubled to 2,566 in 2000, compared with 1990, figures show. At the same time, the number of black people decreased by about 34 percent and the number of whites increased almost 24 percent.
'I love Oak Lawn'
But finding affordable housing for many of those families is becoming more difficult, said Maria Montes, who rents a house southeast of Love Field.
"Rents have definitely affected everyone, but the reality is, where do you go?" Ms. Montes said. "Every apartment complex is being upgraded, and as soon as that happens, rents go up."
She said it is not uncommon for people – including extended families – to share a house or apartment to afford the rent.
Still, Ms. Montes wants to stay.
"I love Oak Lawn," she said. "I love the great diversity you have here. There are Bosnians, Vietnamese, African-Americans, Hispanics and gays, and everyone seems to be getting along pretty well."
There is a limited effort to address affordable housing. The Maple Avenue Economic Development Corp., which began as a merchants group, has evolved into a nonprofit builder of homes for moderate-income people.
Roel Ornelas, the group's vice president of community affairs and marketing, said 12 homes were built in the last year and a half, all priced from the mid-$70,000s to the mid-$90,000s. Six more homes are planned at Maple and Wycliff avenues this spring.
"I see only good things happening as a result," Mr. Ornelas said. "Stakeholders are being born. Most of the people who have bought these homes lived in apartments in the area, and they wanted to stay here."
Rising rents
Maria Soriana is one of them. She, her husband and two children lived for years in a one-bedroom apartment. Now, thanks to the Maple Avenue group, they live in a new four-bedroom house just a few blocks away.
"We definitely wanted to stay here because it's so central to everything," Mrs. Soriana said. "Many of my husband's relatives who used to live near us in the apartments are now living in Pleasant Grove or other places because they couldn't afford to move anywhere around here."
Sandra Escamilla and her husband have lived in Oak Lawn-area apartments for about eight years, primarily because they want their children to attend Sam Houston Elementary and because it is close to her husband's work at a factory.
"We're thinking that maybe one day we'd like to buy a little house, but it would have to be far from here because we could never afford one around here," she said.
They already have had to change apartments because of rising rents in the area.
Ms. Lill said that in some areas of Dallas, such as Cityplace, Deep Ellum and downtown, private developers got tax breaks to set aside certain numbers of affordable housing units. But because of the economy and real estate market, private developers in Oak Lawn have needed no such incentives, she said.
No way to slow growth
Dean Carter, president of the Oak Lawn Committee, a group of area residents and businesspeople who monitor development, said the lack of affordable housing is a concern but so is trying to ensure that development is compatible with the neighborhood.
"I don't think there is any way to stop the area's development," Mr. Carter said. "What we're trying to do is to make sure that development is moving in the direction that was outlined by those who first had the vision of what this community was going to look like 20 years ago."
A 1983 planned development ordinance envisioned a community of tree-lined streets that contained single-family and multifamily housing within walking distance of entertainment, retail, commercial and dining facilities. Mr. Carter and many area residents say the current housing and commercial boom is turning that into reality.
"Our whole idea was to try to make a rational plan that would have mixed-use development," said Philip Henderson, a longtime member of the Oak Lawn Committee. "The biggest impact that it has had is on the landscaping. People are planting lots of trees."
People are also flocking to the nearby Katy Trail. Mr. Henderson, president of Friends of the Katy Trail, said the hiking and biking path has become immensely popular.
"It has become a whole different kind of urban recreational area ... that we have not had before," he said.
Mr. Henderson said the area's growth and development has been good.
"It takes time to rebuild a city and get all the features you need to get ahead," he said.
But Ms. Kinsler doesn't see it all as good news.
"Don't get me wrong. A lot of good has come out of all this. I certainly like the shops," she said. "But I think that Oak Lawn is just not as neighborhoody as it used to be. It has lost some of that neighborhood feeling."
Still, she plans to stay in Oak Lawn as long as possible.
"I just wouldn't do well in a suburban environment," she said.
03/16/2002
By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News
"Oak Lawn has gotten huge - dense and towering"
Progress surrounds Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood. It towers majestically – in the form of luxury high-rise condos – over parklike Turtle Creek. And it bustles along the ever-increasing retail and commercial businesses of Oak Lawn and McKinney avenues.
And it's housed in the single-family townhomes starting at $300,000 that gobbled up older, sometimes dilapidated multifamily structures.
Since the late 1990s, this area sandwiched between Dallas Love Field and downtown has experienced a massive transformation. And the boom is far from over.
That worries those who fear that the continued growth may overwhelm the diverse characteristics that have defined Oak Lawn for so many years. Others see the transformation into a cosmopolitan, urban space improving the area's desirability.
In addition to being known for many years as the center of Dallas' gay and lesbian community, Oak Lawn has always attracted large numbers of Hispanic and Asian immigrants because of the availability of affordable housing. Now, new development is attracting young professionals and even so-called "empty-nesters," older people whose children have left home.
Christy Kinsler, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said the new development is more expensive, making living there more difficult for moderate- to low-income people. That, she said, can have a negative impact on one of the area's biggest assets: its diversity.
"I'm a renter, and affordable housing is becoming a problem for me," she said. "And for folks at a much lower income bracket than I, it is even worse. Many of them are being displaced as homes are being torn down and replaced by more expensive housing."
Mark Shekter, a longtime area resident who also owns a realty company, said the commercial and housing boom "comes down to those three little words: location, location, location."
He noted that Oak Lawn is blessed with being not only close to downtown, but also near the fashionable Turtle Creek area. It has great retail and dining choices within walking or short driving distance. And more recently, it has benefited from the opening of the Katy Trail.
Development "is changing the character of the neighborhood, but the closer you get to downtown, the higher that land is going to cost," Mr. Shekter said. "Oak Lawn is still a very diverse neighborhood. There is room for everybody. ... I see Oak Lawn only as getting better."
But he noted that the economy will continue to be the driving force behind any new development.
'Excited and depressed'
Deb Elder, a longtime real estate agent, voiced concern about the high prices of some newer residential properties.
"There are at least six new construction properties built in 2001 that could not sell and are now ... for lease in anticipation of what the builders-owners hope will be an upturn," Ms. Elder said.
In the meantime, Veletta Forsythe Lill, the City Council member who represents most of Oak Lawn, said the loss of some of the older architecture "gives me some heartache."
"I'm alternately excited and depressed by ... [the development]," she said. "I'm excited by the interest generated in inner-city living and a little depressed about the loss of historic architecture. ... And we have lost affordable housing in the Oak Lawn area, and that means we have lost diversity of housing stock and residents."
One of the most dramatic demographic changes during the 1990s was the increase in the Hispanic population, especially recent immigrants. Hispanics make up about 40 percent of the area's population, having increased more than 50 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to census figures.
The number of Asian/Pacific Islanders more than doubled to 2,566 in 2000, compared with 1990, figures show. At the same time, the number of black people decreased by about 34 percent and the number of whites increased almost 24 percent.
'I love Oak Lawn'
But finding affordable housing for many of those families is becoming more difficult, said Maria Montes, who rents a house southeast of Love Field.
"Rents have definitely affected everyone, but the reality is, where do you go?" Ms. Montes said. "Every apartment complex is being upgraded, and as soon as that happens, rents go up."
She said it is not uncommon for people – including extended families – to share a house or apartment to afford the rent.
Still, Ms. Montes wants to stay.
"I love Oak Lawn," she said. "I love the great diversity you have here. There are Bosnians, Vietnamese, African-Americans, Hispanics and gays, and everyone seems to be getting along pretty well."
There is a limited effort to address affordable housing. The Maple Avenue Economic Development Corp., which began as a merchants group, has evolved into a nonprofit builder of homes for moderate-income people.
Roel Ornelas, the group's vice president of community affairs and marketing, said 12 homes were built in the last year and a half, all priced from the mid-$70,000s to the mid-$90,000s. Six more homes are planned at Maple and Wycliff avenues this spring.
"I see only good things happening as a result," Mr. Ornelas said. "Stakeholders are being born. Most of the people who have bought these homes lived in apartments in the area, and they wanted to stay here."
Rising rents
Maria Soriana is one of them. She, her husband and two children lived for years in a one-bedroom apartment. Now, thanks to the Maple Avenue group, they live in a new four-bedroom house just a few blocks away.
"We definitely wanted to stay here because it's so central to everything," Mrs. Soriana said. "Many of my husband's relatives who used to live near us in the apartments are now living in Pleasant Grove or other places because they couldn't afford to move anywhere around here."
Sandra Escamilla and her husband have lived in Oak Lawn-area apartments for about eight years, primarily because they want their children to attend Sam Houston Elementary and because it is close to her husband's work at a factory.
"We're thinking that maybe one day we'd like to buy a little house, but it would have to be far from here because we could never afford one around here," she said.
They already have had to change apartments because of rising rents in the area.
Ms. Lill said that in some areas of Dallas, such as Cityplace, Deep Ellum and downtown, private developers got tax breaks to set aside certain numbers of affordable housing units. But because of the economy and real estate market, private developers in Oak Lawn have needed no such incentives, she said.
No way to slow growth
Dean Carter, president of the Oak Lawn Committee, a group of area residents and businesspeople who monitor development, said the lack of affordable housing is a concern but so is trying to ensure that development is compatible with the neighborhood.
"I don't think there is any way to stop the area's development," Mr. Carter said. "What we're trying to do is to make sure that development is moving in the direction that was outlined by those who first had the vision of what this community was going to look like 20 years ago."
A 1983 planned development ordinance envisioned a community of tree-lined streets that contained single-family and multifamily housing within walking distance of entertainment, retail, commercial and dining facilities. Mr. Carter and many area residents say the current housing and commercial boom is turning that into reality.
"Our whole idea was to try to make a rational plan that would have mixed-use development," said Philip Henderson, a longtime member of the Oak Lawn Committee. "The biggest impact that it has had is on the landscaping. People are planting lots of trees."
People are also flocking to the nearby Katy Trail. Mr. Henderson, president of Friends of the Katy Trail, said the hiking and biking path has become immensely popular.
"It has become a whole different kind of urban recreational area ... that we have not had before," he said.
Mr. Henderson said the area's growth and development has been good.
"It takes time to rebuild a city and get all the features you need to get ahead," he said.
But Ms. Kinsler doesn't see it all as good news.
"Don't get me wrong. A lot of good has come out of all this. I certainly like the shops," she said. "But I think that Oak Lawn is just not as neighborhoody as it used to be. It has lost some of that neighborhood feeling."
Still, she plans to stay in Oak Lawn as long as possible.
"I just wouldn't do well in a suburban environment," she said.