Vickery Meadow, Dallas
Vickery [1] is an ethnically-diverse neighborhood consisting almost exclusively of apartment complexes in Northeast Dallas, Texas, United States.
The Midtown Improvement District states the neighborhood is bounded by Northwest Highway, Royal Lane, Central Expressway, and Abrams.
The City of Dallas Office of Economic Development states that the boundaries of the Vickery Meadow Tax Increment Financing district, which was established in 2005, are “the east side of the intersection of US 75 (Central Expressway) and Park Lane and extends eastward along Park Lane to the ‘Five Points’ intersection at Park Lane, Fair Oaks Avenue and Ridgecrest Road.” [2] Leslie Minora of the Dallas Observer described it as "a dense swath of about 100 apartment complexes cradled by NorthPark Center and Whole Foods to the west and Half Price books [sic] to the south.
[4] With the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the demographics shifted to a mostly low income, immigrant population from Latin America and other countries around the world.
In 2014 the Dallas City Council member representing Vickery, Jennifer Staubach Gates, referred to it as "kind of the melting pot of America".
In the early 1900s before World War I, John E. Vickery laid out and promoted a townsite, which received a post office in 1912.
Ten years later the community had 200 residents, six food and drug stores, four automobile repair shops, three churches, a bank, a cotton gin, a dining hall, and a public school.
[6] In 1988, the U.S. federal government passed the Fair Housing Act, which, under most circumstances, prohibits any policy that excludes families with children from living in an apartment complex.
The passage of the act— which forced the complexes to admit children— and a rental market recession, caused a decrease in rent prices and a shift in the area's demographics throughout the 1990s.
Immigrants and refugees from Mexico, Central America, Bosnia, Burma, Bhutan, and parts of Africa moved into the apartment complexes.
[10] In October 2014 Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who lived in the vicinity of Vickery, contracted ebola as part of an epidemic.
[17][18] In 2005, the City of Dallas established the Vickery Midtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to improve the real estate market and encourage economic development in its area.
It is located on the east side of Park Lane, extending from U.S. Route 75 (Central Expressway) to the "Five Points" intersection.
[6] Vickery Meadow attracts refugees because of its inexpensive housing, access to health care facilities, and public transportation.
The core Vickery Meadow area, known as the Midtown Improvement District and consisting of 2.86 square miles (7.4 km2), had 40,646 people.
The Vickery Midtown Improvement District said that the true Hispanic and Latino population may be higher due to illegal immigration.
The proposed attendance zone for Hotchkiss was a triangular area bounded by Fair Oaks Avenue, Northwest Highway, and White Rock Creek.
[43] In 1992 federal judge Barefoot Sanders blocked the reopening of Hotchkiss,[44] so school board members filed an appeal with the 5th U.S.
Hotchkiss, Kramer, Robert E. Lee (now Geneva Heights), Preston Hollow, and Dan D. Rogers elementary schools.
[51][52] Before Lowe opened, Hexter, Lakewood, and Preston Hollow elementary schools served sections of Vickery Meadow.
"[61] In 1997 the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church started Literacy Achieves (formerly Vickery Meadow Learning Center) as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Programs include a computer lab for skills training, ESL classes, after school tutoring, new family assistance and a youth summer soccer league.
Heart House Dallas, founded in 2000, is a non profit organization that runs a free afterschool educational program that provides a safe haven and academic support to at-risk children, while encouraging them to become good citizens.
Heart House Dallas works primarily in the Vickery neighborhood and serves children in grades K-8 from various apartment communities.
Various events happen all year round such as group meetups, live musicians, game nights, author talks, and more.
[68][69] Chili's, a popular American restaurant chain, was founded in the Vickery Meadows area of Dallas, Texas.
This original restaurant quickly became a local favorite, offering a casual dining experience with a focus on hamburgers and Tex-Mex cuisine.
The success of this initial establishment in Vickery Meadows paved the way for Chili's expansion into a global chain, with the neighborhood holding a special place in the company's history as its birthplace.
