0:00

This episode brought to you by KidBiz

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and the Biz . To learn more , visit

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KidBizUSAcom . And

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Kathy L Wall State Farm Agency

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Learn more at KathyLWALLcom

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. And Stuart Orango Oral Surgery

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Learn more at SAOralsSurgeonscom

0:16

. Welcome

0:24

to the Bubble Lounge . I'm Martha Jackson and

0:26

I have been noticing there are a lot of newcomers

0:29

to the park cities . There's a lot of people

0:31

thinking about moving here , there's a lot of people

0:33

that have moved here , and we

0:35

had two sisters from Chicago who

0:37

literally moved to the park cities after

0:39

listening to the Bubble Lounge podcast and

0:41

they loved everything that this wonderful community

0:43

had to offer . And it occurred to me that we

0:45

haven't done a newcomers episode in

0:48

a couple of years , so we felt like we

0:50

were due for a new one . So I invited my

0:52

friend , jackie Converse of Allie Beth Alman

0:54

, and also an expert to Allie Things Park Cities

0:56

, to take us along on an audio

0:58

journey of everything in the neighborhood . She

1:01

walks us through each section of

1:03

the neighborhood and tells us what makes each

1:05

part unique and what they have to offer from

1:07

shopping to restaurants , to the types

1:09

of homes , to the schools , to everything

1:11

you need to know . So if you're thinking about moving

1:14

to the park cities , this is the perfect episode

1:16

for you to listen to , jackie . Welcome

1:18

to the show .

1:19

Thank you for having me .

1:20

So I don't even know your story . Why did you move

1:22

to the park cities and how long have you lived here ?

1:25

I have lived here since 1996

1:27

, and I came to go to SMU . I

1:29

grew up in Naples , florida , builder

1:32

daughter and decided SMU

1:34

. I wanted a school where I was going to probably

1:37

stay , and not stay in Florida , so

1:40

I loved the change of seasons

1:42

. I love the traditional buildings at SMU

1:44

and it was a great experience

1:46

.

1:46

Well , I think a lot of SMU students end up

1:49

staying here because they love it so much .

1:51

I think so . Well , and it's in this . To

1:54

me it's funny . I used to call Naples

1:56

Florida the bubble and I

1:58

moved from one to the next . So

2:01

there you go .

2:02

Yeah , I think every community has its own little

2:04

bubble , but our neighborhood , everyone

2:06

knows it as the bubble , because people are born here

2:08

, they graduate from high school A lot

2:10

of times , they go to SMU and then they move right

2:13

back . They never leave the place , you know Right

2:15

. I mean , there's really no reason to we

2:17

have everything we need right here . We really

2:19

do .

2:20

It's such a safe and close-knit

2:22

community . It's a city within a city

2:25

, it's close to downtown , it

2:27

really has everything and I've loved it .

2:30

Well , what I like about it is there's just so many local

2:32

businesses , you know , like there's not a lot

2:34

of chains , and that's what I think really sets

2:36

it apart is so many families

2:38

have their own businesses right here in the park cities

2:40

.

2:41

There are a lot of entrepreneurs here

2:43

in Dallas and in the park cities

2:45

.

2:45

Well , like you were saying , it feels safe . I mean , bad

2:48

things can happen anywhere , so definitely don't let your

2:50

guard down , but it's definitely a very safe

2:52

environment .

2:53

It's still a city , so for sure You've

2:55

got to watch where you are and be aware

2:57

of your surroundings wherever you go . But I

3:00

think , where there's so

3:02

few places , it seems like that would be in

3:04

an urban area where you can be confident

3:07

that , yeah , your kids can go ride their bike to the

3:09

local coffee shop and they're going to be okay

3:11

, right , right .

3:12

Well , speaking of your kids riding their bikes to the coffee

3:14

shop , I always tell my kids you can't get

3:16

away with anything in this neighborhood because there's

3:18

always people watching . I mean , we're

3:21

everywhere , you know , and if you run

3:23

a stop sign on your bike , you're going to

3:25

hear about it .

3:26

You will hear about it . There are those Facebook

3:28

groups that you will hear about it .

3:31

I know you always see these posts , these

3:33

, and it's always the eighth graders . It seems like these

3:35

eighth grade boys were on their e-bikes

3:37

and they were doing this and that and running

3:39

stop signs and so yeah , just

3:41

be aware you can't get away with anything around here .

3:43

You cannot , and I think my kids may have taken

3:46

like the opposite direction of that and

3:48

mostly stay home and hang

3:50

out with their friends at home so that they can't get in

3:52

trouble .

3:53

Yeah , nobody can see them there . Well

3:56

, there's a lot of ways to get involved here

3:58

, and I would say just like

4:00

jump right in . I'm a little bit reserved

4:03

or shy when I get into a new situation

4:05

, and so I want everyone to like learn from

4:07

my experience . Don't be that way . It's like just

4:10

jump right in , Don't wait for formal invitation

4:12

and just get involved with your preschool

4:14

associations . Every one of the five

4:17

elementary schools has their own preschool association

4:19

, and that was really the key to me getting

4:21

plugged in and , to this day , most of the people

4:24

I know I met in the preschool association

4:26

. That's very true .

4:27

So we lived in Preston Hollow first

4:29

and then that's where

4:31

Charlie was born , and then we moved into

4:34

the Park Cities and truly

4:37

the minute that we moved is when I joined the Armstrong

4:39

Broadfield Preschool Association and have

4:42

been plugged in since and getting

4:44

involved at Broadfield Elementary and then doing

4:46

cafeteria duty and just as

4:48

much as you can getting involved . I

4:51

can remember when I first started my real estate

4:53

career I was doing a tennis

4:56

lessons once a week and at some point I realized

4:58

I actually have to get to work . So

5:01

let's use the connections that I've

5:04

made and just focus on work for

5:06

a while and show up

5:08

to work , show up to this volunteer , dress

5:10

ready to go and show . Yeah , hey

5:12

, I'm here and I have some knowledge to impart , and

5:15

let's . If you're ready to sell a house , let's

5:17

do it .

5:17

Yeah , for sure . Well , I think it's

5:19

funny because at the elementary school level they

5:22

want you to volunteer for everything , Like you are

5:24

up at that school all the time for

5:26

cafeteria , the library , artwork

5:28

yes , I mean anything and everything

5:31

. And then as you get to middle

5:33

school kind of lowers definitely

5:35

want you for cafeteria .

5:37

Then high school , they don't want to see you except

5:39

for the cafeteria except for the cafeteria

5:41

which , I'm embarrassed to say , I have yet

5:43

to do . At the high school , have a sophomore

5:46

, but I do

5:48

my duty at the middle school still . So oh

5:50

, wow well , that's great .

5:51

Well , anyone out there ? They definitely need

5:53

extra help because those lines really get backed

5:56

up . So please do it . Yes , you

5:58

can find the time . If we

6:00

can do it , you can do it Absolutely . So something you

6:02

and I both have in common we came all the way

6:04

from Preston Hollow I mean , it's literally just right

6:06

over the Northwest Highway , but

6:09

something drew us over here . But what I

6:11

think is interesting is literally

6:13

the park cities which encompasses Highland

6:15

Park and University Park . It's just an eight

6:17

mile radius . But even within

6:20

that little bubble , I tend

6:22

to stay around Snyder Plaza and

6:24

I'm up and down lovers lane all day , every

6:26

day . But come to find out there's actually

6:28

more parts of the park cities . There

6:30

are . Well , and I live close to Highland

6:33

Park Village , so that's my sure

6:35

.

6:36

So no , I get it and you know

6:38

we're going from the middle school to

6:40

the high school down to back to Highland Park Village . That's

6:42

kind of my route Right , unless I'm going

6:44

outside to for work . But

6:48

no , so I love I

6:50

do live in Highland Park and I have loved

6:52

doing that . I love we've

6:54

got the Blue Zone news that we receive . And

6:57

then the police station did a

6:59

DPS 101 where you can the

7:01

city you have to be a citizen of HP and

7:03

you can . It was quarterly

7:06

, every each quarter you meet for

7:08

a couple of hours and you learn about the three

7:11

departments within the police station . So

7:14

you learn in town hall does

7:16

their own thing . Where you learn about construction and I've

7:18

done that too the construction

7:20

department , the judiciary

7:23

, you know , with the jury

7:25

, they have their own jury and judge

7:28

and jail they do . They serve

7:30

Babas .

7:31

Yes fun fact , that is true

7:33

.

7:35

But back to the police station . This

7:37

DMS , the Highland Park police , are

7:39

all three their EMS , their police

7:42

and their fire , which is very unique

7:44

for a police station to have all three

7:46

. When you do the

7:48

DPS 101

7:51

, I got to put on a firecoat

7:53

and hat and put out a small fire

7:55

behind , close by here

7:57

actually , and then with

7:59

the police section of it I

8:01

got to do they have these life size

8:03

video simulation where you can go

8:05

in and you take one of their guns

8:07

and you simulate

8:10

a domestic violence situation

8:12

. I did get killed , but I killed

8:14

her first , and

8:18

then you get to see the 911

8:21

call center . You got to and

8:23

then you know tour the ambulance and go

8:25

on a speed chase

8:28

with the police officers in their car

8:30

. It's very cool to see the

8:32

inner workings of our police and

8:34

you know they sometimes

8:36

get a bad rap for being overprotective

8:39

. But you know , living here , even

8:42

in UP or HP , there's

8:44

a two minute call If you need help they are

8:46

there .

8:48

So that is so true . I mean , we've had

8:50

our alarm go off accidentally and they

8:52

are there so quickly before you can even

8:54

cancel it . Basically .

8:55

Over Elzer's worst nightmare setting off a home

8:57

owner's alarm in the park cities because they

8:59

will arrive immediately .

9:01

I would imagine that's probably their biggest call

9:03

, that they get all day , every day . I just I

9:05

feel for them . But I think that's so

9:07

great that she went through that program

9:09

and I'm pretty sure UP has something very similar and

9:11

I would love to look into that . But it's so

9:14

important , especially in a small town

9:16

like this , just to kind of know how it all works

9:18

it really is .

9:19

It was cool to see the inner

9:21

workings and I need to put a little collage

9:24

of photos that I have from it together

9:27

and just show it off , because it was me .

9:29

I would love to see that that's really cool .

9:30

It was fun . Another

9:33

another thing about the HP police

9:35

is they're one of the . There

9:38

are only 670 police stations

9:40

in the US have this gold standard

9:42

in public safety accreditation

9:44

. It's called the Kalea accreditation

9:47

. I hope I'm saying that right , but they

9:50

have to do 480

9:52

standards and safety compliance in order to

9:54

qualify , so it's

9:56

one of the top . I think it is the top

9:59

accreditation that you can get for a police force , so

10:01

I think that's really cool .

10:02

That's very impressive .

10:04

And , of course , when you're moving

10:06

here , property taxes are the lowest in Dallas

10:09

County HP , I think , has the lowest

10:11

, and then UP and then Dallas . So

10:13

even though our property values might be , a little

10:15

high we do have the lowest

10:17

property taxes in the county , so that's always

10:20

a good thing . Yeah , I've always found that fascinating

10:22

.

10:23

But what I love is there's just so many little sections

10:25

to it . There's Preston Center , there's

10:27

Inwood Village , snyder

10:29

Plaza , highland Park Village all these

10:31

neat places to visit .

10:33

I love that there are those little different sections

10:35

of town where any given

10:37

night you can say , well , where are we going to dinner this

10:39

night ? And you can pick something completely

10:42

different from steak to barbecue

10:44

, to sushi , to just American

10:46

, to pizza .

10:48

We have everything ? Yeah for sure . And I always

10:51

tell newcomers just like each week

10:53

pick a different little area and just kind of

10:55

hone in on that and get to know the businesses

10:57

and try the restaurants and pop

10:59

in and go shopping and all that .

11:01

And there's always new ones coming too .

11:03

I know there's been a lot of great new ones

11:05

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13:59

. So , jackie , I know that

14:01

you work with a lot of newcomers to Dallas

14:03

and the Park Cities and I was

14:05

wanting to know , like how do you describe

14:08

the different areas to them ? I'm sure they

14:10

are kind of specific what they're looking

14:12

for , and then you probably plug them into

14:14

the different area that matches their needs .

14:17

Well , I try to , and so there are

14:19

. As you know , we have five elementary

14:21

schools in the Park Cities .

14:22

I think that's amazing . I mean eight miles

14:24

, five elementary schools . It's crazy

14:27

.

14:28

But it's cool at the same time and each one is

14:30

so unique in their own little culture

14:32

. So it's trying

14:35

to help a newcomer figure out what

14:37

personality for the elementary school fits

14:39

them best . What

14:42

is it close to ? Lake Boone is up

14:44

close to North Park Mall

14:47

. You've got homes up there that

14:49

people love to be in

14:51

and it's walking distance

14:53

to so many different things

14:55

up there . You've got churches and you've got

14:58

the North Park Mall . You've got there's a grocery store

15:00

, there's Tom Thumb , there's Barnes Noble

15:02

bookstores . In other spots you've

15:04

got higher elementary and that's close

15:06

to Preston Center , and Preston Center

15:08

has two different sections to

15:10

it across Preston and you've

15:13

all the different restaurants and shops

15:15

, great shopping , so much to do there

15:17

. And you've got jewelry stores

15:19

. You have banks , you have the

15:21

UP libraries up there . You have

15:24

amazing restaurants , um

15:26

florist shops and there's

15:29

Suzies and Suzy Cakes and for

15:31

some you know national

15:34

brands and um um . Then

15:37

, for University Park

15:39

, you've got Snyder Plaza , of course , and

15:41

I know y'all have talked a lot about Snyder because

15:43

y'all live there but so

15:47

much is changing there and

15:49

it's getting so cute too . I

15:52

love the changes . I love Ramble

15:54

Ram and I love Foxtrot and I love , I

15:57

love the Demore still there . I think it's pretty

15:59

sure it is . It is , and

16:02

you've got a gas station right there too , and

16:04

then the bike shop you've got , and then obviously

16:06

, I feel like there's a coffee shop in every one

16:09

of these little sections of town .

16:11

And another Tom Thumb .

16:12

I feel like each section almost has its

16:14

own Tom , Its own Tom Thumb yes , except

16:16

Hallam Park Village got rid of theirs , but

16:18

we do still have the

16:21

coffee shops , which is great . And

16:23

then , like Siddles , you can go in

16:25

and Hallam Park Village and grab some

16:27

breakfast to go . And

16:30

then , of course , hallam

16:33

Park Village is like in Beverly Rodeo

16:35

Drive and Beverly Hills with all of the high

16:37

end shops .

16:39

And right now it's especially beautiful . During

16:41

the holidays , every tree is lit

16:43

up and it is breathtaking .

16:45

It's beautiful and that's also

16:47

and you know , another reason why I love the Park . Cities is

16:49

like last Sunday UP had their tree lighting

16:51

and then HP will have their tree lighting

16:53

tomorrow night with the old Pekong tree

16:55

. So that's also Bradfield Elementary over

16:58

there and then Armstrong Elementary

17:00

is in Old Hallam Park

17:02

and Old Hallam Park has

17:04

SMU kind of straddles , that

17:06

with UP a little bit , but it's also down

17:08

by Knox Henderson . You've got

17:11

all the shops and restaurants down in

17:13

Knox Henderson which has completely changed

17:15

in the last few years . You have amazing

17:18

new restaurants down there and

17:20

restoration hardware has completely shifted

17:23

gears and created there A

17:25

beautiful gallery for furniture

17:27

and then the rooftop restaurant and

17:30

Katie Trail .

17:31

You've got Katie Trail and walking trail .

17:33

Yes , which used to be

17:35

a train track , isn't

17:37

? that crazy , it is crazy . And now it's this

17:39

beautiful trail that is perfect

17:42

for walking your dog or riding your bike or

17:44

running and dropping off

17:46

and grabbing lunch along the way . So

17:48

there's so many great opportunities

17:51

here in the Park Cities . Another

17:55

thing we both each have our own community pool

17:57

. You can join

17:59

in the summer . Up has

18:01

the slide and the kiddie pool and then

18:03

you've got HP . We're

18:07

kind of lucky , spoiled maybe

18:10

, because we have the old , like 1950s

18:12

looking resort type pool that

18:14

is just quaint and quiet and

18:16

is one big pool and then a small

18:18

kiddie pool and then there's

18:21

also the snack shop there , but you've

18:23

got the lifeguards , but it is pretty

18:25

much one big lap pool when

18:27

. So we get the opportunity to also

18:29

be able to go to UP , but UP can't come to HP

18:32

pool .

18:32

Okay , that's rude , so

18:35

there's always perks . Both

18:38

pools are a great place , especially when you have

18:40

young kids , to get plugged in and meet other

18:42

moms and other kids , because in the summertime

18:44

that's what you do with the young kids .

18:46

One of our favorite things to do . My kids

18:48

have said if we

18:50

ever move , we would rather just move around in HP

18:52

because we love going to the HP

18:55

pool so much because that's where the

18:57

friends do go and it's quieter

18:59

there . But on the other hand , if there's

19:01

a big group of friends they love going to the UP pool

19:04

for the slide and hanging out

19:06

and being a little bit more rowdy .

19:10

Two areas that I don't ever seem to get to

19:12

, even though they're not that far , are South Highland

19:14

Park and West Highland Park . Can you talk to us about

19:17

those two areas ?

19:18

Sure , it's mostly regarding

19:20

the houses and what you would want and

19:22

what you're wanting to move into . And because

19:25

you know , east , in South

19:27

Holland Park , you have gorgeous

19:31

homes on third

19:33

to half acre lots . Sometimes people

19:35

have made double lots to where they have an acre

19:37

. There's a 32 million dollar home in that

19:39

area . Okay , that's the one I want , right , um

19:43

. And then you move a little bit further west

19:45

and you've got a little bit more reasonable home

19:48

pricing around four to nine

19:50

million maybe that's a bargain , right

19:52

. And then a little bit even further

19:54

west towards Whole Foods , you have

19:57

multi-family and you there's condos

19:59

and becomes a little bit more urban , but

20:01

you still are in the district and you

20:03

a little bit of more affordable

20:05

homes as you get towards the tollway , um

20:08

, great place where families

20:10

really love to go if they're starting out

20:13

, because it's the kind of affordable part

20:15

of Highland Park . Um , lot sizes

20:17

are a little bit smaller . They might be anywhere

20:19

from 50 to 70 foot wide

20:21

by 137

20:23

to 160 deep

20:26

, um , not

20:28

to get specific . Then

20:30

you've got West Highland

20:32

Park , which is still

20:35

Highland Park , and you still have the police and

20:37

town hall and all of that , but it is not in the

20:39

school district okay , that is what I've always found

20:41

strange , and I was literally talking to somebody

20:44

who was thinking about moving here the other day

20:46

about that .

20:46

I don't understand . It's literally just on the other

20:49

side of the tollway right and it's called

20:51

West Highland Park .

20:52

They get the police , but not the schools right

20:54

, so it's divided by the tollway , as

20:56

you said , and they the

20:59

values are a little bit lower over

21:01

there because it doesn't have the schools , but

21:04

you still get the tax break on

21:06

being in a town and have this town of Highland

21:09

Park get snow and you

21:11

still get the immediacy of

21:13

the police in the fire department . So

21:16

there's still the benefits of living in

21:18

Highland Park , even though it's not

21:20

.

21:21

HPISD and it's super close

21:24

to Lovefield Airport .

21:25

Oh my gosh it's literally five

21:27

minutes and I have clocked it because there's

21:29

a Chick-fil-A right there and on

21:31

Saturday mornings at 10.25

21:33

. I have made it by 10.30 to get this

21:36

chicken minis that's awesome

21:38

.

21:39

So when we first got married , we couldn't quite

21:41

afford to move the park cities even though

21:43

I was dying to move here and so we looked over

21:45

at Devonshire , which is , you know , extremely

21:47

close , in a great area of town .

21:50

I love Devonshire and it has turned over

21:52

quite a bit recently in value

21:55

because homes have been torn down and rebuilt

21:58

. So kind of the new starter

22:00

home area would be Briarcliff

22:03

and even that has started to turn over and get

22:05

new homes built . But

22:07

you know you're talking anywhere from 800,000

22:11

to two and a half million in

22:13

those homes included with Devonshire

22:16

. A little bit further south is Greenway

22:18

Crest and the Bird Streets across

22:20

Inwood . So you've got Greenway Crest

22:23

is , um , it's bordered by

22:25

University and Inwood in the tollway

22:28

, and then also another village

22:30

in Wood Village , which has

22:32

its own amazing shopping . It's got its own

22:35

Trader Joe's and it's

22:37

got Eatsies , which is one

22:39

of our gems of Dallas , um

22:42

local market and then different

22:44

shops and restaurants there

22:47

as well . Um , you've

22:50

also got a local Tom Thumb right there at Inwood

22:52

and University yes , there's

22:54

like one on every corner , one

22:57

in every village . So

23:00

Greenway Crest , just in that little

23:02

section , is a great starter home area

23:04

because there still are some homes that haven't

23:07

been torn down and rebuilt so

23:09

it's kind of a hidden niche . That

23:11

is just north of

23:14

Helen Park , of

23:16

West Highland Park , and then

23:18

between Greenway Crest

23:20

and West Highland Park is Greenway Parks

23:22

. I love that area which is such

23:25

a special area . They have their own

23:27

neighborhood HOA . A lot

23:29

of the homes are on a green belt , so

23:31

they you extend the land . Um

23:34

, those lots are a

23:36

little bit shallower , but then you have the green belt

23:38

, so it doesn't feel like the lot is shallow

23:40

because you have this beautiful park setting

23:42

that you're sitting on and they

23:45

have their own neighborhood watch and they've

23:47

got yoga in the park every Saturday . They

23:49

have their own Halloween tour

23:52

every Halloween , where you

23:54

know they open their homes for the kids to

23:56

just do their neighborhood and it's

23:58

that's another very special area

24:00

yeah , I think that area is just beautiful

24:03

, but I've never understood why it's not considered

24:05

Highland Park , right ?

24:06

it's just like this little pocket

24:08

thrown in it is .

24:09

It's just the other side of the tollway , but

24:11

it's , you know if you

24:13

don't , and it is City of Dallas . All

24:15

those Devonshire , greenway , crest , bear

24:18

, cliff , bird Streets , those are all City

24:21

of Dallas . But that

24:23

helps , sometimes helps people if they are

24:25

looking to start their family

24:27

and move into the park cities . Those are

24:29

some great areas where there are opportunities

24:32

to purchase a home that

24:34

is still a little bit more affordable

24:36

a little bit more affordable . Yeah , then and then

24:38

you know , build your nest egg

24:40

and then use that equity to move into the park cities

24:42

when you're ready .

24:43

Yeah , that sounds like good advice . You know what

24:45

area we missed Volca States

24:47

.

24:47

Oh my gosh , not affordable whatsoever at

24:49

all an amazing area , amazing

24:52

area so those properties

24:54

, they can go anywhere from an acre

24:57

to two acre to . I think there might be one that's

24:59

four acres and those obviously

25:02

think about 32 million dollar home . Um

25:05

, I know for a fact

25:07

one of those sold for 19 million a

25:09

couple years ago and that was

25:11

at the time one of the highest price homes to

25:14

sell and they're

25:16

beautiful and one of the best

25:18

places to go for any of the holidays

25:20

to visit those homes , because

25:22

they go all out for Halloween

25:24

, for Christmas , for

25:27

I think even Valentine's

25:29

Day , I mean , you name it Any excuse

25:31

.

25:33

Yeah , definitely drive through there during the holidays

25:35

because the Christmas lights are amazing , it's

25:37

phenomenal and don't miss the Turtle

25:40

Creek Lane .

25:41

Ladies , home Turtle Creek

25:43

Lane and lovers , she is

25:45

amazing with all the decoration that she

25:47

does .

25:47

Yes , every single holiday . You can count

25:49

on her yard to be really over the top and

25:51

beautiful , completely so

25:54

. Most of us move here for the schools

25:56

because there's some of the best in the country and

25:59

that's what brings us here initially . But as our kids

26:01

get older like I'm on my last kid

26:03

who's a freshman in high school , so he'll be done

26:05

with the schools here in a few years . What

26:07

do most people do when they become empty

26:09

nesters ?

26:11

A lot will either stay in the home

26:13

where they were , but just because they want their kids

26:15

to come home from college or their

26:18

grandkids to come home and be able to see

26:20

where their kids were growing up . And

26:22

some will downsize

26:24

. And I've had

26:26

so many people looking

26:29

for a master bedroom

26:31

downstairs because as

26:33

they age , they don't want to have to deal with

26:35

stairs . Stairs are awful , right For the older

26:38

people . They are so like

26:40

um you know

26:43

, they may downsize just to have a smaller house

26:45

and stay in the park cities . Some

26:47

have sold and gone downtown . There's

26:49

some amazing condos downtown

26:51

that you can their luxury

26:54

. They have their valet , they have their you

26:56

know concierge service where they'll

26:58

go and run to the grocery store for you . So

27:00

there's some huge benefits

27:02

to that . Sometimes those people do move

27:05

back . They get the urban life and the

27:07

condo life and they're like you know what we miss the

27:09

park cities . We're going to move back and

27:11

then they just might find something smaller with

27:13

a you know , the primary bathroom , bedroom

27:15

downstairs there

27:17

is a pull , I think , even for young

27:20

and old , to find something a little bit

27:23

smaller and more manageable than a McMansion

27:25

is . Sometimes they're called because

27:28

, um , just with a little

27:30

bit more organization , just thinking

27:32

that it might be a little bit more affordable but

27:34

at the same time keeping

27:36

the family close . You're not all sprawled

27:39

out across an acre property

27:41

, but I

27:44

love those smaller homes that maybe

27:46

3,000 to 4,500 square feet

27:48

.

27:49

Obviously , everything we've talked about today . We

27:51

both love this community so much . I mean

27:53

, how many places can you find

27:56

within a large major city that

27:58

has all the amenities that we have here , that

28:00

community feel ? So many options

28:02

, starter homes up to empty nester

28:05

options . I mean , this place is pretty amazing

28:07

, it's pretty amazing .

28:08

It may cost a little bit more than

28:11

the city of Dallas to move into , but once

28:13

you're here your property taxes are the

28:15

lowest in Dallas County and you

28:17

can get really anywhere . You've got

28:19

a big city like Dallas

28:22

, but then you have University Park and Highland

28:24

Park , which is still a very small

28:26

town . Feel there's , I

28:29

think last count , 8,000 residents

28:31

in Highland Park . I want

28:33

to say there's 20,000 in UP

28:36

. I could have that completely wrong . I

28:38

think you're about right . But

28:41

you can get anywhere . You can get to Frisco

28:43

in 25 minutes . You can get

28:45

to DFW Airport in

28:47

30 minutes , depending on traffic . You

28:50

can get to Love Field in five

28:52

, to at the closest in five

28:55

minutes and then from the furthest section , 20

28:57

minutes of the Park Cities , You've

29:01

got the Dallas Galleria Mall . You

29:03

can get there in 15 minutes 10

29:06

if I'm driving .

29:07

That's impressive

29:10

.

29:11

You can get to downtown in five minutes . It's

29:13

just a very great

29:16

small town feel , community

29:18

feel , and if you need

29:20

anything , this community will rally

29:22

around you . They say it takes a village

29:24

to raise your kids and this

29:27

community really truly becomes a

29:29

village if you are in need and

29:31

I've seen that time and time again where they rally

29:34

around their own and so when you move

29:36

here you become part of us and

29:38

it's it's a great feel you

29:40

you end up loving walking

29:42

the tree line streets , all the mature

29:44

trees and seeing all the beautiful homes

29:47

and the sidewalks and curbs

29:49

, and then you can get

29:51

from one village to the next and enjoy

29:53

all the restaurants and shops and and

29:57

all the events , like tomorrow night

29:59

, if you're in town , go to the Holland

30:01

Park tree lighting ceremony . It's from

30:03

six to eight . Santa will be there on his fire

30:05

truck and the

30:08

HP choir will be there and

30:10

you can get your hot cocoa and

30:13

see all your friends and

30:15

just enjoy a beautiful night

30:17

that they do annually .

30:19

Absolutely . It's the perfect community event

30:21

. Well , Jackie , how can people find

30:23

you ?

30:25

I am on Instagram . My Instagram

30:27

is at jacksyconv

30:29

it's kind of complicated

30:31

J-I-C-K-S-I-E

30:34

, c-o-n-v , or

30:36

at JackieConversecom . You

30:39

can email me and call me .

30:41

Perfect . Well , thank you so much for being here today

30:43

and sharing all your wisdom about the park cities

30:45

. Thank you for having me . This was fun

30:47

, of course . Well , that's been another episode

30:49

of the bubble lounge . I'm Martha Jackson , and we'll

30:51

catch you next time .