Lake Highlands

Overview

Lake Highlands touches Richardson on the north, Garland on the east, White Rock Lake and East Dallas on the south, and Lakewood and North Dallas on the west. The neighborhood is bisected southeast-northwest by I-635 and is bordered on the south by Northwest Highway and White Rock Lake, and on the west by White Rock Creek or Central Expressway. On the north and east, the neighborhood ends at the city limits of Richardson and Garland.

Compass

Relation of Lake Highlands to other places:

Topography

The neighborhood differs from the rest of Dallas and the surrounding area, which is mostly flat. Lake Highlands has hills and valleys, with street elevations that can vary by 50 feet, which offer scenic views of downtown Dallas.

White Rock Lake, a reservoir constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, is located on the south side of Lake Highlands. The lake and surrounding park is a popular destination for boaters, rowers, joggers, and bikers, as well as visitors seeking peaceful respite from the city at the 66-acre (267,000 m²) Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, located on the lake's eastern shore. White Rock Creek feeds into White Rock Lake, and then exits on to the Trinity River southeast of downtown Dallas. Trails along White Rock Creek are part of the extensive Dallas County Trails System.

Subdivisions

The following neighborhoods are generally considered part of or closely connected with Lake Highlands.

Demographics

A total of 87,860 people lived in the neighborhood's 14.60 square miles, according to the 2014 U.S. census estimate—averaging 6018 people per square mile. The median age for residents was 34.7.

According to the 2014 Census estimate, 48.2% of the population was White, 30.8% was Black, 6.0% Asian, 15.0% from two or more races. 24.6% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin.

48.8% of residents are male, 51.2% are female. 72.5% are age 18 or over. 34.6% have never been married, 50.0% are married, 4.5% are widowed, and 10.9% are divorced.

The median household income in 2016 was $44,539. 31.8% of Lake Highlands homes are detached, single-family houses. The median owner-occupied home value is $266,181. The average household size is 2.38. Homeowners occupied 39.7% of the housing units, and renters occupied the rest.

Education

Lake Highlands residents aged 25 and older holding a four-year degree amounted to 36.6% of the population in 2016, considered high when compared with the city and the county as a whole, as were the percentages of residents with a bachelor's or a postgraduate degree.

Public Education

The Lake Highlands area is one of few areas in Dallas not within the Dallas Independent School District; most of the area is served by the Richardson Independent School District. The RISD portion of Lake Highlands is served by the following schools:

Colleges and universities

Shopping

Recreation and parks

Nestled in the arms of White Rock Creek, Lake Highlands boasts a labyrinth of parks and recreational opportunities that make it one of Dallas' finest neighborhoods in which to live, work and play. Access to over 875 acres of parks, 26 miles of trails, disc golf as well as traditional baseball, soccer fields and playgrounds give a wide variety of outdoor sports.

White Rock Lake is located on the south end of Lake Highlands. Recreational activities on the lake include kayaking, canoeing and standup paddleboarding, available by rental. The park surrounding the lake features a 9.33 mile trail for hiking, running and bicycling. The White Rock Lake Dog Park is also located on the north side of the lake on Mockingbird Lane.

Government and infrastructure

Lake Highlands is represented by Councilman Adam McGough on the Dallas City Council. At the State level, Senator Don Huffines and Senator Van Taylor represent the area on the Texas Senate. Representative Linda Koop and Representative Jason Villalba serve on the Texas House of Representatives.

The United States Postal Service operates the Lake Highlands Post Office, Northlake Post Office, and Richland Post Office within the Lake Highlands area.

Economy

Lake Highlands is home to the headquarters of Texas Instruments (TI). TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the No. 2 supplier of chips for cellular handsets after Qualcomm, and the No. 1 producer of digital signal processors (DSPs) and analog semiconductors, among a wide range of other semiconductor products.

Major business areas near Lake Highlands include the Platinum Corridor, Preston Center, and the Telecom Corridor.

Libraries

Lake Highlands is served mainly by the Audelia Road Branch of the Dallas Public Library. Built on its current site in 1971, the building was renovated and expanded in 2004.

Transportation

As the majority of Lake Highlands was developed in the late 20th century, the primary mode of local transportation is the automobile and the area has a low density compared with neighborhoods built in the early 20th century. Efforts made by the City of Dallas and Dallas Area Rapid Transit to increase the availability of alternative modes of transportation have received varying degrees of support from residents of Lake Highlands. Since 1996, two light rail lines flanking Lake Highlands have been constructed and well received.

Lake Highlands' road network was developed according to the street hierarchy school of urban design. Roads in the area are separated into major limited-access highways, high-capacity principal arterial roads, mid-capacity minor arterial roads, mid-capacity collector roads, and minor streets. The most organized of these systems is Lake Highlands' modified grid plan of principal arterial roads, which runs on a standard N/S/E/W grid.

Highways

The routing of limited-access highways through Lake Highlands is based on the area's proximity to Dallas' downtown freeway loop, as Dallas' freeway system was built according to the hub-and-spoke paradigm.

Additionally, two separate beltways arc across Lake Highlands: in order from their proximity to downtown:

Thoroughfares

Major thoroughfares include:

Light rail

DART began operating its light rail lines in Lake Highlands in 1996: The Red Line connects Lake Highlands to downtown, Uptown, Richardson, and Plano. The Blue Line connects Lake Highlands to downtown, Uptown, East Dallas, and Garland. The Orange Line runs to DFW Airport, Irving and Las Colinas, Dallas Love Field, the Medical District, Victory Park, downtown, Uptown, Richardson, and Plano.

Lines and stations in Lake Highlands include:

 Blue 

 Red   Orange 

Notable Lake Highlanders

Media

"Lake Highlands Chamber of Commerce is working to develop and grow business in LH. They can be found on Facebook under Lake Highlands Chamber and on LinkedIn under LH Community (part of the LHCC).

"Lake Highlands Advocate Magazine" is a local community magazine and daily news blog.

"Lake Highlands Today" is a local community website.

The Dallas Morning News is the local citywide newspaper.

Lake Highlands People was a local community newspaper, not currently being published.

The Lake Highlands edition of Black White Read online community newspapers was a local community website, not currently being published.