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The 10 Best Neighborhoods of Dallas, Based on Where D Magazine Staffers Call Home

By Jason Heid |
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Who doesn't get excited when visiting the Bishop Arts District?   Photo by Nathan Vaughn/Flickr
Who doesn’t get excited when visiting the Bishop Arts District? Photo by Nathan Vaughn/Flickr

Over the weekend, the Morning News reached the ultimate destination of its Best Neighborhoods project by releasing its list of the overall best places to live in the area, with Southlake taking the top spot and most of the rest of the Top 10 in the exurbs. Unfair Park called the places ranked “really rich, really white, and really far away.”

They might have leveled the same criticism about our own D Magazine Best Suburbs list (which we last did in 2012), though I’d point out in our defense that we were only considering suburbs, not places within Dallas city limits as did the DMN. We unofficially ranked Dallas as a whole between No. 36 and No. 37 on our list, but that’s not actually fair to the many great individual neighborhoods of the city. Those neighborhoods are where the vast majority of the people responsible for the words and images you read on this website and in our magazines — our editorial and art staff — live.  Therefore, we need to give Dallas its due.

Rather than spend time crunching data sets to give you our scientific recommendations, I’m basing this ranking on the simplest of facts: where do we live? After all, we’ve told you how great Parker is, but the fact that none of us call it home has got to mean something, right?

So, here you go: The Top 10 Neighborhoods of Dallas, based on nothing other than where the greatest concentrations of D Magazine staffers and contributors live.

With the exception of, you know, France, is there any better place in the world to celebrate Bastille Day than in North Oak Cliff?   photo by apbutterfield/Flickr
With the exception of, you know, France, is there any better place in the world to celebrate Bastille Day than in North Oak Cliff? photo by apbutterfield/Flickr

 1. North Oak Cliff 

We know that some of you will see this as an invitation to leave derogatory comments about hipsters, and we do not care.

No, this is not what Oak Lawn looks like every weekend.  photo by William Neal
No, this is not what Oak Lawn looks like every weekend. photo by William Neal

2. Oak Lawn 

Who needs Uptown’s tiny, overpriced apartments when you can head just a little bit north?

If you're a live music fan, why not leave near the Granada?   photo by Neff Conner/Flickr
If you’re a live music fan, why not live near the Granada? photo by Neff Conner/Flickr

3. Lower/Lowest Greenville 

The M Streets are included in our definition of this neighborhood. So, no, none of us are actually living inside of a bar. Not as an official residence, at any rate.

There are some awe-inspiring corners to downtown, including Thanksgiving Chapel.  photo by Cordey/Flickr
There are some awe-inspiring corners to downtown, including Thanksgiving Chapel. photo by Cordey/Flickr

4. Downtown 

Can you blame us for wanting to walk to work?

5-10. (Tie) Northeast Dallas, Park Cities, Upper Greenville, Uptown, Coppell 

OK, so two of those aren’t strictly speaking part of the city of Dallas. Just wanted to demonstrate that we’re not entirely against the idea of the suburbs.

Unranked: East Dallas, North Dallas, Deep Ellum, and Carrollton.

I freely admit that our preferences are not exactly a representative sample of all the people of Dallas. We are, as a group, whiter, younger, and have fewer children than typical North Texas households. But even if you don’t buy this as a definitive ranking of the city’s best neighborhoods, you’ve got to admit it would be an improvement on what the Morning News came up with when it designated the top spots for “urban sophisticates.” (Valley Ranch?)

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