National Night Out in Texas was October 2, 2023 and in Dallas a number of neighborhoods hosted block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and community gatherings, safety seminars

Cities around the world face an unprecedented challenge: the increasing demand for housing. To meet this demand while maintaining historical and architectural assets, urban planners and architects increasingly turn to principles of adaptive reuse.

Dallas is sprawling, vibrant, and in need of equitable housing. Affordable housing, homelessness, work force housing, and housing inequality are pressing issues that require community activation and individual activism to galvanize change.

May 2024, residents will vote on a $1 billion Capital Bond Program. This is a city issued debt that will support key infrastructure projects in five categories, Streets and Transportation

Join us in making a difference on North Texas Giving Day, September 21, 2023!

Within the heart of South Dallas, is perhaps the most significant historic district, the Queen City district. This remarkable neighborhood stands as a testament to the legacy of the early African-American settlers who established their community here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

DCH recently spent some time in Atlanta to see some of our contemporaries and their work to improve housing affordability and attainability in metropolitan areas. Good Places

As the population in Dallas continues to grow, the need for sustainable housing solutions becomes increasingly important. Building green and reducing environmental footprints are not only crucial for preserving our planet but also for creating healthier, more energy-efficient homes. DCH explores sustainable housing practices in Dallas and examines the strategies developers are using to build environmentally friendly and energy-efficient homes, even on a mixed-income budget. What are some of the sustainable design features, renewable energy options, and green building certifications can be incorporated to build more sustainable homes in Dallas? DCH explores. 

As housing is increasingly constricted, due to supply chain shortages, and shortages existing prior to the Covid 19 Pandemic, federal agencies, state agencies, municipal agencies will need to work in concert to find and apply equitable housing solutions.

We discussed the development of West Dallas last week and this historical context can servea as a reminder of the challenges faced by its residents, in terms of affordable housing and gentrification.

Understanding the early development West Dallas is essential to creating plans for equitable future development of the area. The context history adds including systemic redlining, agriculture, and industrial trends underpin the need for mixed use housing to maintain the rich community culture and protect affordability. 

For over 30 years, Dallas City Homes (DCH) has been a non-profit leader in promoting and developing mixed income housing.

At DCH, highlighting case studies where we see progress and innovation in addressing housing inequalities and access to housing is one way that we can bring fresh ideas to the housing conversation in Dallas.

The Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund (DHOF) is an investment vehicle promoting fair housing  through the creation and preservation of affordable housing options for Dallas residents. The fund aims to create or retain housing units for households earning at or below 120% of the area median income of the City of Dallas. (to understand income calculations, see our blog here) The DHOF leverages municipal funds with private capital to drive much-needed development in Dallas, and DCH is one of the recipients of its fund. 

The housing paradigm in the United States is complex, and the issue is not isolated to a specific region. Dallas especially is experiencing the effects of the housing paradox, with rising housing costs and critical zoning issues limiting access to affordable options. As part of our mission, DCH seeks to develop attainable housing and preserve affordability in developing communities of Dallas. In this blog, we outline how Dallas differs from other metropolises that suffer from an unsustainable housing paradigm. 

Adaptive reuse is simply put, the process of converting old or abandoned buildings for new uses. It has consistently been gaining in popularity and we see no slowing of this trend following the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts in how populations are living and working. Beyond the use of space and models of consumption, we also see community demand for preserving historic buildings and promoting sustainable development in urban areas. DCH is a believer in preserving community architecture, sustainable development practices, and keeping community culture, but many doubt the affordability of these practices. We would like to explain the concept more fully and relate how it can be both affordable and ethical to employ adaptive reuse principles. 

Happiness, health, and housing are interconnected and well-researched to improve and inform housing policies. As a nonprofit working to alleviate housing pressures and preserve communities in Dallas

The second annual DCH Spring Festival was last weekend and we had an absolute blast. We really enjoyed ourselves and spent quality time outside meeting neighbors and connecting them with vendors and community resources.

As we continue to spotlight Fair Housing Month and commemorate the 55th anniversary of the enactment of the Fair Housing Act and establishment of HUD,

DCH advocates for the adherence to fair housing practices and dismantling of discriminatory practices in Dallas. This month is Fair Housing Month and the US Department of Housing is commemorating the 55th Anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act. To bring more awareness to housing equality we would like to share the background and context of the Fair Housing Act and the legacy of its’ passage.