Elm Thicket, Dallas

Elm Thicket/North Park has undergone extensive social and physical change from 2000-14. The African American population has dropped by half from 62% of the neighborhood’s population in 2000 to 32% in 2014. In the same time, the Hispanic population has risen dramatically, from 26% to 42.5%. The white population has doubled from 11% to 19.5% of the neighborhood’s population.[1]

Population by Race
Race	2000[1]	2010[1]	2014[1][4]
Black	61.6%	39.8%	31.96%
Hispanic	26.0%	35.7%	42.53%
White	10.9%	20.5%	19.50%

• Housing Type
  • Predominantly single family with a cluster of duplexes. Some apartments and condominiums.
• Housing Tenure/Occupancy
  • Even split of renter and owner occupancy.
  • Concentrations of single family renters on the western side.
  • 7.3% Vacancy rate
• Housing Conditions
  • Most housing is in average condition.
  • Pockets of poorer condition duplexes in the northwestern section.
• Property Value
  • Rising property values on the eastern portions, slower growth on the western side.
• New Construction/Improvement Activity
  • A dozen new single-family homes constructed 2012-2014.
  • High amount of home improvement activity throughout, especially in southeastern section.

Elm Thicket/North Park is home to several religious houses of worship:

• Bethany Missionary Baptist Church
• Church of the Living God CWFF
• Greater Zion Baptist Church
• Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church
• New Jerusalem AME Church
• North Park Church of God in Christ
• North Park CME Church
• North Park Missionary Baptist Church
• Whitlow Missionary Baptist Church
• St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church
• St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church

For Catholic residents, Elm Thicket/North Park is within the parish boundaries for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (Iglesia Católica de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro).[6]

Originally a freedmen's town, Elm Thicket/North Park became, in the early 20th century, home to black working- and middle-class families. From the 1920s through the 1950s many modest and larger frame and brick single-family houses were built.

In 1944, construction of Elm Thicket Park began on land owned by neighboring Love Field airport, but temporarily loaned to the Dallas Parks Department until needed for airport expansion. In 1950 a 9-hole golf course was constructed also on land owned by the airport. The Hilliard golf course, was dedicated in the 1950 by the Dallas Negro Golf Association as the nation’s first Negro golf course.[7] In 1954, the land upon which the 9-hole golf course and adjoining Elm Thicket Park were situated, was repossessed by the City of Dallas as part of the airport expansion and rerouting of roads to serve the expanding city.[8]

In the early 1960s it was a racially tense neighborhood that was divided by poor whites and well to do blacks.[9]

Through the early 1970s many blacks flocked to Elm Thicket/North Park and it became a close knit community creating many businesses and revenue for the area.

In the 1980s there was a downfall in the area and it fell victim to a sharp increase in crime. "The area suffers a plague of dope-house crime: dealers, hookers, robbers, plain punks out in the street acting like they own the ground."[10]

With support of the neighborhood's Crime Watch group and residents, the Dallas Police Department, in 2004, began to apply the "broken windows" police concept to address the blight afflicting the neighborhood.[10]

In the Spring of 2016, Elm Thicket/North Park was included in Dallas' Neighborhood Plus Plan. Adopted in 2015, Neighborhood Plus is a citywide neighborhood revitalization plan for the City of Dallas to alleviate poverty, fight blight, attract and retain the middle class, increase homeownership and enhance rental options.[1]

In 2017, as part of the Neighborhood Plus program, residents of Elm Thicket/North Park were given an opportunity to share their stories, gather historical photos and archive information to help the neighborhood tell the story of this historic and dynamic part of the city. Interviews were recorded and combined into videos and published on YouTube.[11]

The neighborhood is served by Dallas Independent School District public schools:

• K. B. Polk Center for Academically Talented and Gifted (Pre-K-5)
• Edward H. Cary Middle School (6-8)
• Thomas Jefferson High School (9-12)

Sudie L. Williams Talented and Gifted Academy (located next door in the Bluffview neighborhood) serves academically talented and gifted students in grades four through six (expanding to eighth grade by 2020). Admission to Williams is based on academic achievement and an application is required.

Henry W. Longfellow Career Exploration Academy (located next door in the Greenway Parks neighborhood) serves students in grades 6-8 selected through the magnet process. The students receive the same basic middle school program offered in all Dallas Independent School District middle schools. However, special focus is placed on the exploration and development of each student's interests and abilities.

• Providence Christian School of Texas (Pre-K-8)
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School (Pre-K-8)

Elm Thicket is in the Dallas County Community College District, which offers academic, continuing education, and adult education programs through seven community colleges and 14 campuses in Dallas County.