Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, March 6, 2009 Page: 44 of 60
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CIS hanging
North Oak Cliff is
teeming with popular
(and affordable)
new gayborhoods
By David Taffet
When redevelopment began
moving across the Trinity River to
Oak Cliff, bargain hunters
skipped over two blighted neigh-
borhoods closest to Downtown in
favor of promise a little farther
out. Renovators in search of archi-
tectural gems and bargains
ignored Lake Cliff and Kidd
Springs in favor of Kessler Park
and Stevens Park and continued
south to Winnetka Heights,
Elmwood and Hollywood Hills.
Now, some of the city's best
deals can be found in these neigh-
borhoods closest to the Trinity,
Phillip Archer is one of the
area's biggest boosters. Several
years ago, he and his partner
bought a new townhouse in Kidd
Springs, along Bishop Street.
Within the Kidd Springs neigh-
borhood is the Miller and
Stemmons Historic District, which
is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. Included are
243 Craftsman, bungalow and
other styles built during the first
half of the 20th century.
Just over the Jefferson Street
Viaduct is Lake Cliff, among Oak
Cliff's oldest and most neglected
areas. Queen Anne, Colonial
revival, Tudor, Prairie and
Craftsman style homes that sur-
round the man-made lake have
recently been rescued from
decades of neglect.
Archer says most people are
surprised to find any building
activity in Oak Cliff. New con-
struction in his Kidd Springs neigh-
borhood is different than in Oak
Lawn, he says.
"In Oak Lawn they traded in an
old Corvette for a new Jaguar.
We're restoring the Corvette,"
Archer says. And where the
Corvette is rusted beyond repair,
"we're adding a few new sports
cars."
Because of strict zoning guide-
lines, Archer says his new home
reflects the community, "designed
to blend in with the neighbor-
hood: Prairie style with crown
molding and six inch trims around
the flooring, traditional banisters
with square spindles."
n addition to style that he says
will still be appreciated 100 years
from now, Archer enjoys lower
utility bills in his 2,200 square
foot home than he did in his
1,600 square foot 1960s-era
Irving ranch house. Triple pane
windows, high efficiency heat and
air, extra insulation and Energy
Star appliances v/ere not what he
first expected when he decided to
return to Oak Cliff.
What drew him here were the
Bishop Arts District and Kidd
Springs Park as well as the
planned trolley and Trinity River
development.
The trolley will be built in three
phases, running from the
Tyler/Vernon DART station,
through the Bishop Arts District
and crossing the river to connect
with the McKinney Avenue line.
Bishop Arts is North Oak Cliff's
most vibrant new entertainment
and shopping district where
Cedar Springs favorites Hunky's
and Cafe Brazil have both
opened. For those who miss the
Oak Lawn Italian restaurant
Marco's, its parent, Vitto, is one of
the area's oldest. Hattie's,
Tillman's Roadhouse and Vera
Cruz are among the area's
favorites and just blocks from here
on Davis Avenue stands the origi-
nal Gloria's, better known for its
Oak Lawn spin-off.
For shopping, gay-owned
stores include Bishop Street
Market, reminiscent of some of the
recently closed Oak Lawn stores.
Two of Dallas' oldest parks pro-
vide plenty of recreation space.
Built in the early 1900s to stimu-
late Oak Cliff's economy after the
1902 recession, Lake Cliff Park
had an amusement park with a
mile-long roller coaster, a casino
and three theaters including a
2,500-seat opera house. Today,
Lake Cliff Tower, once a resort
hotel, has reopened as luxury con-
dos. Trails for hiking circle the
1 20-year old lake
The 31-acre Kidd Springs Park
includes a small spring-fed lake, a
Japanese garden built in 1969
and its newest feature, a butterfly
garden started in 2006. Archer
says James Kidd first purchased
and settled the property in the
1 870s.
"The park dates back to 1 895
when it was a private park for the
Kidd Springs Fishing and Boating
Club, becoming part of Dallas
Parks and Recreation in 1947,"
Archer says
But Archer is most excited
about is the proposed Trinity River
development.
"I'd love to see something
along the lines of Austin. In the
morning, grab a cup of coffee,
walk down to the levee. See horse
trails, bike trails, hiking, sculling.
It's the perfect companion to
what's opening in the Arts District
later in 2009," he says.
As promise of the recreation
area in the Trinity River bottoms
continues, work has begun on the
first of the new Calatrava bridges.
Archer hopes it draws attention to
the south side of the Trinity, but
calls it "our own bridge to
nowhere." Rather than connecting
downtown to Oak Cliff, it replaces
the Continental Street Bridge,
dumping onto a rundown West
Dallas street next to a cement
plant.
Archer would have preferred
the first span to be a replacement
on 1-30. If built, that Calatrava
bridge will serve as a new land-
mark entrance to Oak Cliff. While
he's optimistic the first bridge will
spur development and bring new
fortune to West Dallas, he hopes
for the same in the near future for
his neighborhood.
Dallas Voice • Defining Homes a 03.06.09 • Dallasvoice.com
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, March 6, 2009, newspaper, March 6, 2009; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth239054/m1/44/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.