LIVE LIKE A LOCAL
By David Muscari
University Park and Highland Park rival America’s most well-heeled communities — and for good reason.
Highland Park native Matthew Stafford makes his mark in the NFL
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D A L L A S H OT E L M A G A Z I N E
PARK CITIES A Luxury Enclave
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restigious, conveniently located, and infinitely walkable, the Park Cities are an affluent pair of independent towns nestled in the heart of the city of Dallas just five miles north of Downtown. Highland Park and University Park together form a unique district of just over 31,000 residents that boasts the highest per capital income in all of Dallas-Fort Worth as well as its own police forces and a top-ranked joint school district. The Park Cities are saturated with elegant homes and grand estates on lushly landscaped properties along tree-lined streets, some of which are named for distinguished colleges like Bryn Mawr, Colgate, and Amherst. In 2019, the median household income was $211,136 in Highland Park and $198,438 in University Park. To say the housing market is
red-hot and sales are recordbreaking is no exaggeration. The average home sale price in the Park Cities is up 20.5 percent to $2 million while inventory is down nearly 70 percent against a year ago, according to Lucinda Buford, executive vice president at realtor Allie Beth Allman & Associated. At the center of Highland Park is one of America’s finest luxury shopping meccas. Highland Park Village opened
Lela Rose, a Dallas native and established New York fashion designer who created the ensembles worn by sisters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush Coyne to the
THE UNIQUE DISTRICT OF JUST OVER 31,000 RESIDENTS BOASTS THE HIGHEST PER CAPITAL INCOME IN ALL OF DALLAS. in 1931 with distinguished Spanish-style architecture and a variety of stores. A few decades later, the open-air center began to offer almost exclusively high-end boutiques. Its elegant mix features many of the world’s top fashion brands -- Chanel, Hermes, Alexander McQueen, Cartier, Carolina Herrera, Dior, Goyard, Tom Ford, Harry Winston, and more. The Village also showcases
presidential inauguration of their father, George W. Bush. Dining experiences at the Village are primarily upscale, including Bistro 31, Café Pacific, Fachini, and the Honor Bar. A few blocks away, the Shops at Highland Village features Kelly Mitchell Fine Jewelry and Elizabeth W fashions plus variety of specialty boutiques and restaurants. Over in University Park, the Plaza at Preston Center presents a bevy of independent