As the university has sought to expand its student base and campus, residents residing the closest to the university met with Bellarmine representatives on an ad hoc basis to address areas of concern such as street, rather than campus parking, and the building of a stadium in close proximity to houses on an adjoining street.

From this effort, the Good Neighbor Working Group was formed with Bellarmine to ensure their expansion and plans for growth did not adversely affect the integrity of the neighborhood.

Early landowners included the Norris, Duker and Stevens families, after whom streets in the neighborhood are named.

Further contributing to the unusually high density for a neighborhood mostly of single family homes, Deer Park includes two pedestrian courts whose long rows of houses, with no conventional street, are accessible only by alleys and sidewalks running through the short front yards.

Due to the lack of geographical obstacles such as steep hills or creeks, the entire neighborhood was developed in a rather uniform and quick manner.

Shotgun houses and 2½ story Victorians, more modest than those on the east side of Bardstown Road, make up the majority of the stock in the oldest sections, while modest craftsmen-style houses dominate streets further out, and a few small ranch style homes can be found west of Norris Place.