Recently, I got a wild hair to ditch the single-family lifestyle and join some of my urban pioneering buddies in an area just north of downtown Dallas called Uptown. I was attracted to the walking lifestyle of the area and being near pedestrian-friendly restaurants, theaters, museums, galleries, antique stores, and more.

Most of the homes for sale in Uptown are three-story townhomes, known in other parts of the country as row homes. There are a few high-rises and renovated Victorian and prairie-style homes, but for the most part, it's brick or stone facades built right up to the sidewalk with entries too small to be called stoops. Many of these less than five-year-old homes don't even have a tree in front.

And some of them are over $1 million.

At first glance, some of these shared-wall homes appear spare and modern, until you look closer. They're downright barren, with no greenspace at all.

Fortunately, not all Uptown housing is so utilitarian. Some housing borders the Katy Trail, a city-wide improvement that has made a biking-hiking trail out of old railroad tracks, but most residents on the opposite border have only one park to share among hundreds of units of housing. And it's an athletic field, not a park, and it borders Central Expressway, an eight-lane generator of pure urban noise and grime.

Uptown has done a lot of growing lately with very little community enhancement since Post Properties, formerly Columbus Realty, Inc, first formed a partnership with the city in 1988 to revitalize the area. Since then, the city of Dallas has allowed developers and builders to do what they want. The city doesn't require builders to include any greenspace with their housing. Therefore, high returns are obtained through putting large but narrow homes on very little land.

But now what seemed like a bright idea is too much of a good thing. More townhomes and apartments are being crammed onto the remaining small lots and greenspace is becoming a thing of the past.

It seems hip to shuck such responsibilities as yardwork, for a carefree townhomes or condo lifestyle, except in Uptown, the neighbors have done the same. There are almost no yards to mow, but there are also none to enjoy.

That's why community parks, pocket parks and dog parks become so important in an urban setting.

It hasn't seemed to hit city planners that Uptown residents are giving up a lot to make the city's dream of revitalization come true. They are spending more per square foot on less land than in any other area of the city and climbing up and down stairs to join walls with strangers. They have to be given a reason to do this, or otherwise, they become the first investors in the next generation's slums.

Let's face it - this is Dallas, not New York. In Dallas, shared wall living is a choice, not a necessity, because only blocks away, people can buy single-family homes with plenty of yard.

Dallas is new to being a dense population center, and it's becoming clear that the city doesn't understand how to handle its new role, because city planners have stubbornly decided that there is no payoff in greenspaces, and damn any gol-durned environmental pyschologist who says otherwise.

They don't realize that what makes the walking communities of Washington D.C., Chicago, Portland, New York and other cities so great are the frequent greenspaces adorned with fountains, benches, and other pedestrian-friendly perks. These delights invite people to gather, linger, and enjoy their community. This forms a community bond stronger than any neighborhood name like Uptown could give it.

Incredibly, Dallas hasn't budgeted one dime for Uptown to have a greenspace, despite a considerable windfall gathered in impact fees and property taxes.

And that makes lack of greenspace a problem. Greenspaces don't put any money in builders' pockets, and the city doesn't want to maintain them, so the only people who want them are residents.

And almost no one is listening to them.

I was vaguely aware that Uptown didn't have enough greenspaces for its dense population, but I didn't know yet what that meant until I actively began shopping for homes in the area.

I soon learned.

There are almost no public spaces. You can't sit down outdoors and read a book without paying a latte grande tariff. There's no place to walk a dog except vacant lots for sale which will soon be gone.

The city says a greenspace is being put in at Good-Latimer freeway to serve Uptownites, but it is not within walking distance for most residents, nor is there parking for those willing to drive to it. And situated under two freeways, it's hardly relaxing - it's noisy enough to bring down the walls of Jericho.

A concerned resident, who also happens to be a Realtor, has been monitoring the situation, because she wisely equates environmental psychology with property values. She says that the city of Dallas is not really interested in protecting the property values of Uptown residents, as it said when it first started giving developers tax incentives to rebuild Uptown. Now, the city just wants property taxes, without putting any more maintenance money forward.

And the city is getting plenty of taxes from Uptownites. In 1998, a study of the area showed that average Uptown residents earn about $99,000 annually, making it one of the most wealthy neighborhoods in the city. No new townhomes are being built under the high 200s. Most properties are yielding 10 times or more what they did in property taxes only ten years ago.

Uptown residents have told the city repeatedly that they want more parks and greenspaces, yet, to date, the city has said no to helping Uptown residents with a park solution in at least three cases over the last two months:

1. A pocket park on Worthington Street was going to be donated by a corporation if the city would maintain it as a park. The city said no.

2. Another property, too small to build housing upon without special easement restrictions lifted from the city, is available for sale on Colby Street. Local residents have looked into buying the property and donating it to the city if the city would agree to maintain it. The city said no.

3. TXU Energy has a greenspace that a local Uptown association looked into leasing as a pocket park, again depending on support from the city. The city said no.

If Uptown is a walking community, residents need to be able to take a walk or walk their dogs to parks within walking distance. They shouldn't have to rely on merchants to sit down outdoors. And they shouldn't have to buy city property to donate to the city to maintain.

Going to the dogs

And then, there is the problem of dogs. Lots of people in Uptown have dogs, and some very big dogs, at that.

The result is that what should be an urban oasis is quickly being turned into a desert of concrete with any remaining greenspaces bleached yellow with dog urine and blighted with dog droppings.

The point was unpleasantly made to me as I shopped for homes with my Realtor one day.

A very attractive townhome for sale on Thomas Avenue boasted one of the few community swimming pools in the area. (Pools are another thing builders don't want to bother with as long as townhomes are selling briskly without them.) As my Realtor took me into the complex to view the pool, I was impressed that most of the townhomes not only had street views, they also had views of the landscaped pool. What a deal, I thought.

Suddenly, a neighbor let out her two Dalmations out who both ran to the landscaping around the pool to do their business.

The dogs came up to me sniffing and smiling, and I reached down to pet them. The owner, spotting me for the dog lover that I am, cheerfully told me about all the other dogs in the complex, including at least three labrador retreivers, two shelties, and a new Mastiff puppy.

It dawned on me as I looked around that all these dogs had about ten square yards to relieve themselves - three to four times daily. Naturally, my attention was drawn to the landscaping around the pool. It was already ruined with bleach spots. There was also an abandoned dog dropping hardened in the sun. The dalmation owner noticed it, too, and said, "Ooops, guess I'll have to send out another e-mail to the residents."

I decided in that instant that despite it's great location in the heart of Uptown, a townhome in this particular complex wasn't for me.

I'm a dog owner, too. But, I knew I would never fit in. I personally feel that community living doesn't include forcing dogs on one another. There should be some common space, especially around a swimming pool, that is off limits to dogs. These residents clearly don't agree. They have nowhere else to take their dogs.

I was disheartened. My Uptown urban tribe, whom I was anxious to join, couldn't believe that I passed up a chance at a great townhome with a pool. (It was their chance at a pool, too.)

A few weeks passed, and I found another solution. I did buy a townhome in Uptown after all, but on the fringes. My new digs, pardon the pun, overlook historic Oak Grove Cemetery. I jokingly call it my Central Plot apartment, with hardwood floors and lots of "slab" granite.

Living by a cemetery would upset some people, but I loved the idea. What changed my mind? This townhome offered easy walking access to the amenities I wanted, but the builders were smart enough to know that this location would take some extra selling. The units come with a small fenced yard, and an interior courtyard for residents, something few other Uptown community properties have. Kudos to the homebuilder, Perry Homes, for providing a little greenspace for homeowners.

While a cemetery isn't exactly Central Park, at least no one will build there or hopefully, desecrate the area. But before anyone gets the notion to turn Oak Grove into a dog park, allowing a dog to soil a public place is a fineable offense. The trouble is, no one is around to write citations.

Is there a solution for Uptown?

If the city of Dallas can't or won't make the improvements that residents want after paying impact fees and sky-high property taxes, maybe the city could collect fines from Uptown's errant dog owners to fund greenspaces. The potential could be enormous. So many dogs, so many fines....

Now that's what I call urban renewal.

Published: March 19, 2004

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.