Picture it. It’s a sunny weekend morning in Dallas, and you have the following options waiting just outside your door:

1. Take a stroll through Uptown’s West Village shopping center, or along McKinney Avenue.
2. Catch a movie at the Magnolia Theater.
3. How about a run along the banks of Turtle Creek, or on the three-mile-plus Katy Trail?
4. Take a trolley ride into downtown Dallas.
5. Or perhaps best of all, let the day take you where it may!

This is definitely not the Dallas of old! Recreation meets art, architecture, and relaxation in Dallas’s very in-demand (and no longer trendy) mecca known as Uptown. Long known for their affinity for suburban life, more and more Dallas residents are choosing a more urban lifestyle in this live-work-play environment … one which has really been over 20 years in the making.

Uptown is roughly bordered by Blackburn Street to the north, Woodall Rogers Freeway to the south, Central Expressway to the east, and Turtle Creek Boulevard to the west. Housing options are eclectic and plentiful, from multi-level townhomes (some with rooftop gardens or viewing decks) to single-floor condominiums to high-rise units, all with an emphasis on low-maintenance, “in the heart of it all” living. What you won’t find is a huge supply of traditional, single-family homes, but to those wanting to leave suburban life behind, that matters little. What matters most to the typical Uptown resident is having dining options, unique shops, the arts, and recreational activities within walking distance of his or her home.

Just for example, during any given week, you can visit the highly successful Klyde Warren Park for a “standing” tour of the Dallas skyline, attend a workshop on filmmaking, or attend an exercise “boot camp” on the Ginsburg Family Great Lawn. And let’s not forget the gourmet food trucks standing by during lunchtime, with people reading in the open-air library amid the sound of live music in the background.

The aforementioned Katy Trail is another resource unique to Dallas, with over a dozen trailheads, four major entrance plazas, and scenic views of native trees. It connects the American Airlines Center to numerous points heading north, and is located along the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT, or “Katy”) railroad line. For those familiar with New York City, it’s not unlike what has been done with the High Line on Manhattan’s West Side.

The migration to this exciting urban core of Dallas is not slowing anytime soon. Construction is booming in Uptown, with over 20 multi-story projects underway, including residential, office, and mixed-use projects. The DART light rail is nearby at the Cityplace station, and can take you south to downtown and points beyond, or north to Mockingbird Station, the Park Lane Station, and even to the Richardson telecom corridor and downtown Plano.

End your day with dinner or drinks at a sidewalk bistro, an evening performance in the Arts District or a production at the Turtle Creek–adjacent Kalita Humphreys Theater, one of only three surviving theaters designed by the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright. With so much to offer, it’s easy to see why Dallas’s Uptown area has become one of the area’s hottest housing destinations. Clearly, things are looking up in Dallas!

Image Source: Flickr/Bonita de Boer

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