The roun DTA ble

On a sultry summer morning, several longtime neighborhood residents gathered at the Advocate offices to define Lake Highlands once and for all. After some coffee, Danish and scattered small talk about summer vacations, we got down to business.

The gues Ts

Bill Blaydes is a longtime Lake Highlands resident who has lived in his Dartridge home since 1978. His three children all graduated from Lake Highlands High School. He preceded Jerry Allen as the District 10 councilman.

s teve Wakefield is the former president of the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association and has lived in Lake Highlands for 30 years. He lives in the Woodbridge neighborhood, north of LBJ, which is not part of the Lake Highlands High School attendance zone.

Bryan Mc c rory grew up in Oklahoma City and moved here in the ’80s. He has lived in Lake Highlands, east of Plano Road — the forgotten part of Lake Highlands, he jokes — for 25 years. He recently was elected president of the Exchange Club of Lake Highlands.

Gin G er Green B er G ’s Lake Highlands roots run deep. Her parents were Mr. and Miss Lake Highlands in 1970. After a brief time away, she moved her family — including a 6-month- and 3-year-old — to the Woodbridge neighborhood about three years ago. She is an attorney, a public relations account director, a member of Lake Highlands Junior Women’s League, Lake Highlands Area Early Childhood PTA and 2011-2012 Auction Chair for St. James Episcopal Montessori School. She says she aims to set up the next generation of Lake Highlands for success. She also has served on the Lake Highlands Area Historical Association.

a lan Walne just celebrated his 40th reunion from Lake Highlands High School (he and Greenberg’s parents were schoolmates) and has lived here since 1956, when his dad founded Herb’s Paint and Body at the corner of Northwest Highway and Easton. He grew up on the L Streets, which were brand new when he moved in. Walne’s parents moved into a home on Caribou Trail when he was in junior high; today he lives a few doors down from that house. He has served on the Dallas Park Board, City Council and now serves as the chairman of the Skillman Corridor TIF committee. His children graduated from LHHS, moved away, moved back and live in White Rock Hills.

DisT ricT 10

Advoc Ate editor: the Advocate website has a map of Lake Highlands, our delivery area of the Lake Highlands Advocate magazine, to be exact, but there are no official lines. What, physically, is Lake Highlands?

Green Ber G: I think the easy answer is the Lake Highlands High school attendance area, but that’s too short and shallow to really correctly answer the question.

Advoc Ate e ditor: Because that doesn’t include the Woodbridge neighborhood, where you live Green Ber G: Correct.

Walne: ginger brings up an interesting point, because I agree that is the core, but Lake Highlands is a bigger area than that. You’ve actually got shoreview, behind the police station, that is part of the DIsD attendance zone. that goes back to the time, post-WWII, when the L streets were being built, that there was an African-American shanty type town — it was called Little Egypt* — and when Richardson IsD and Dallas IsD were deciding attendance lines, RIsD didn’t want that.

When we went through [city council] redistricting we tried to make sure all ofLakeHighlandsattendancezone was in District 10, so that the community would have that commonality.

ApArT men Ts

Blaydes: Lake Highlands had about 28,000 apartment units when the Walker Consent Decree* forced affordable housing. [Apartment owners] were required to make 20-40 percent of their property affordable. With almost 30,000 apartment units in District 10, guess where everyone who needed affordable housing came? Families started moving into homes meant for only adults no playgrounds, no schools.

Walne: the second tier to that is that there was a time (in the ’80s) when landlords could rent to adults only, and that was a popular thing for apartment owners to do in those days. Later the federal government said, “No. You can’t do that.” then families began living in one- and twobedroom apartments, in communities that were never intended for children.

Lake

Mockingbird AT&SFRR

There are several reasons to replace your aging, inefficient system now.

There were enough schools for homeowners’ kids, but then when kids started living in the apartments, there were not enough schools to accommodate them.

Advoc Ate editor: While we are on the topic, do we consider the apartment complexes part of the Lake Highlands community?

Greenber G: Yes.

Manufacturers will be raising prices 5% before the year end, now is the time to take advantage of current pricing.

Walne: Yes.

Mc c rory: Yes.

blaydes : Absolutely.

Experts are predicting that energy prices will continue to rise. Efficient AC equipment will continue to pay dividends many years into the future as energy prices continue to rise. High Efficiency Systems carry much longer warranties these days, which saves you money later on repair costs. Federal Tax Credits will not last forever – take advantage of those savings while you can.

Wakefield: I will say this, because I think we all agree: The attraction of Lake Highlands is the feel of community. Physically they are, no question, part of Lake Highlands, but the problem is turnover in tenants they get this six-month deal and then move on — or in ownership, so I don’t know that people in the apartments necessarily feel that sense of community.

Mc c rory: I would completely agree. Being a part of YMCA athletics and band and athletics at the schools, I have experienced the struggle to get apartment community folks to participate, because of the challenges that many of them are facing. They don’t always stay, for one thing. They are a very mobile group. When you found someone who lived there who did feel the sense of community, you pulled them in. Perfect example is the Shorter family. John Shorter [a popular LHHS football player] graduated in 2008 with my son. His parents were very involved. But normally it is a problem getting [apartment renters] connected. Sometimes they work two jobs; they have single parents, sometimes no car. But the cool thing about it from my perspective is that our kids — that is, the homeowners’ kids — were exposed to a more diverse environment. We are no Southlake or Coppell. Lake Highlands has a richness and diversity because of the apartments. Walne: Yeah, but you have two different issues. Are they a part of the community? Yes. But as to the issue of how engaged they are in community, I think there has been a strong effort by people like Steve [Wakefield], Bill [Blaydes], others

* liTT le egyp T, at the intersection of northwest highway and abrams, was deeded to former slaves just after the Civil war. it remained a distinct community until the early 1960s, when developers began buying surrounding land for retail development. The little egypt families eventually sold their homes to developers. much of the community remained in tact but moved to south dallas.

—Texas sTaTehisToriC al a ssoCiaTion

There are several reasons to replace your aging, inefficient system now. Manufacturers will be raising prices 5% before the year end, now is the time to take advantage of current pricing.

Experts are predicting that energy prices will continue to rise. Efficient AC equipment will continue to pay dividends many years into the future as energy prices continue to rise. High Efficiency Systems carry much longer warranties these days, which saves you money later on repair costs. Federal Tax Credits will not last forever – take advantage of those savings while you can.