Hampton Hills Neighborhood Association » Around Oak Cliff

housing the homeless

Garinns — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:06:03 +0000

As you may have heard, the Dallas Housing Authority plans to open 100 apartments at its 180-unit Cliff Manor building on Fort Worth Avenue to longtime homeless people who have mental illnesses and addictions. The agency, which operates public housing throughout Dallas, has 52 vacant units ready at the building and will make the rest of the 100 apartments available as current residents move out, according to MaryAnn Russ, the housing authority’s president and chief executive officer.

Cliff Manor is situated about 2.5 miles from Hampton Hills. Consequently, we won’t be directly impacted by the plan. Moreover, it’s located in City Council District 3, which accounts for District 3 Councilman Dave Neumann’s intense interest in the project. But our neighborhood is not an island. Every Oak Cliff neighborhood connects to another, so we owe it to ourselves to understand the debate and determine what, if any, action we need to take.

As we’ve followed the debate, we’ve learned that opponents to the plan object to it for the following reasons:

Council 3, which includes parts of West Dallas and North Oak Cliff, already has a disproportionate number of housing authority properties compared to other districts.
Cliff Manor is less than 200 feet from Stevens Park Elementary School.
Jobs in Oak Cliff are scarce, so it would be difficult for 100 people to find work in the neighborhood.
Fort Worth Avenue is undergoing redevelopment and there is some concern that developers could pull out for fear that the change would adversely affect property values.
There’s no clear “exit strategy” if the plan doesn’t work.
The quality of the building is outdated, and the neighborhood already has a high amount of crime.

Proponents of the plan make the following points:

The residents who would move to Cliff Manor are people who’ve done work to prove that they are responsible enough to live on their own with help.
A full-time caseworker would be on site for them. The housing authority has hired a property manager who also has a background in social work. And all the staff is trained to deal with the particular problems these residents are likely to have.
There would be zero tolerance for drug abuse or violent crime among residents.
Properties adjacent to successful permanent supportive housing communities in New York City and Fort Worth have increased in value.
Homeless people are often misunderstood. Statistics indicate that they are unlikely to be criminals.

town hall meeting

Garinns — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:24:29 +0000

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and District 3 Councilman Dave Neumann will host a town hall meeting on June 21 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed use of Cliff Manor on Fort Worth Avenue as permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless. The meeting will be held in Methodist Dallas Hospital’s Hitt Auditorium. We urge you to attend and participate in the debate. It’s worth noting that Oak Cliff has the highest percentage of affordable housing units of all the City Council districts.

oak cliff gets jazzed

Garinns — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:52:35 +0000

Cameron Smith’s jazz series at Bishop Arts Theater Center continues May 8 featuring Marc Antione and Brian Simpson with Tom Braxton. Harvey Mason will headline the June 5 concert with Joe McBride. Shows are at 7 and 9:45 p.m. Call 214-948-0716 for more information.

dso to perform free concert

Garinns — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:48:27 +0000

The Dallas Symphony will perform a free community concert at 8 p.m. June 1 at Kidd Springs Park, 711 W. Canty St. Conductor Rei Hotoda will lead the following pieces: Williams’ The Cowboys Overture; Anderson’s Fiddle-Faddle; Copland’s “Hoe down” from Rodeo; Rossini’s Overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie); Verdi’s “Anvil Chorus” from Il trovatore; Copland’s An Outdoor Overture; Gliere’s “Russian Sailors’ Dance” from The Red Poppy;Strauss’ On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Waltzes, Opus 314; and Badelt’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” from Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl. Children’s activities will be available. Bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnics. If it rains, the event will be held inside Kidd Springs Recreation Center.

recycling roundup

Garinns — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:13:30 +0000

Dallas goes green on Saturday, April 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with its Spring Recycling Roundup. Simply bring items to one of four locations and they’ll be hauled off for recycling.

Recyclables include:

Electronic items such as televisions, video games, cellphones, computers, calculators and printers

Toys

Paper

Glass

Clothing

Hardback books

Scrap metal

Auto and alkaline batteries

Small appliances

Fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs

Tires

Plastics

Clean Styrofoam

Packaging foam

Bubble and shrink wrap

Plastic bags and packaging (without food residue)

Mattress sets

Any gently used furniture

Used cooking oil

Do not bring:

Household chemicals

Paint

Building supplies

Water beds

Locations:

Elliott’s Hardware
4901 Maple Ave.

Everglade Park
5100 Jim Miller Road

Central Market
5750 E. Lovers Lane

Fretz Park
6990 Beltline Road

For more information, call the Recycling Hotline at 214-670-4475.

oncor to meet with customers

Garinns — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:59:51 +0000

City Councilmember Delia Jasso reports that Oncor representatives will meet with customers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Kidd Springs Recreation Center, 711 W. Canty St., and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Kiest Park Recreation Center, 3080 S. Hampton Road. The company’s Mobile Experience Center will be set up to educate consumers about the benefits of the new Smart Meters. Customer service representatives will be on hand to address concerns about high electric bills and other Oncor-related matters.

here come the streetcars!

Garinns — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:22:58 +0000

The city will receive $23 million to build a starter streetcar system that will include a spur into Oak Cliff. Service will likely include stops at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, the Oak Cliff Gateway area and multiple residential areas.

storm debris cleanup could take weeks

Garinns — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:19:26 +0000

City Manager Mary Suhm said this morning that she expects fallen tree limbs and other debris from last week’s snow storm could take another four or five weeks to clean up.

Brush can be put on the curb and will be picked up on normal garbage days. No need to call 311.

The city won’t issue any citations until March 15.

friends in need

Garinns — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:31:02 +0000

The Friends of Oak Cliff Parks and the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League are encouraging residents to contact City Councilmembers about a potential re-allocation of bond funds away from a previously funded restoration project at Kiest Park Memorial Gardens.

The Council had previously allocated $250,000 to restore/rebuild the historic WPA (Works Progress Administration) pergola at Kiest Park, a project that would allow for the application process to begin to place the gardens on the National Register of Historic Landmarks — a great honor for Oak Cliff and an asset to area property owners. District 3 Councilmember Dave Neumann wants to take the money and apply it to the park’s trail system, which has already been funded through the trail system’s master plan.

Dating to the 1930s, the stone and timber pergola frames the view of the “water rill,” a small stream that follows a linear course. The stone-lined water rill is 280 feet long with 10 terraced pools that trickle down from a fountain at the north end to a quiet reflecting pool and a goldfish pond at the south end. The entire water rill is lined on both sides with flower beds, flowering shrubs and tall trees that create outdoor rooms, much like an Italian garden.

taco loco

Garinns — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:32:04 +0000

If you’re crazy about tacos, check out TacOCliff, a blog dedicated entirely to tacos in Oak Cliff. Bloggers David and Alison Thompson have made it their mission to try a new taqueria every Sunday and report their findings to the hungry masses. Burp!