Heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, teddy bears and red roses galore — you know the drill, it’s February, and love is in the air.
And with all that sappy sentiment you really can’t help but see the world — including our neighborhood — through rose-colored glasses.

In fact, ask just about any Preston Hollow resident how he or she feels about our neighborhood, and you’ll hear nothing but lots of love — the schools are top notch, the neighbors are friendly, and the community cares.

But let’s be honest: Every great love, even the love for our neighborhood, eventually reaches the end of its honeymoon stage. Sure, we’re all crazy about Preston Hollow, which is obviously why we choose to live here. But there’s always room for improvement. And while neighbors say they wouldn’t change much, there are a handful of pet peeves we absolutely love to hate.

Chances are, a few of them will ring true with you.  

 

STREETS, ALLEYS AND TRAFFIC

 

SLOW DOWN, JOE TRASHMAN

“We’ve had issues with trash truck drivers speeding down neighborhood streets and hitting fences. And the non-repair of potholes is a problem, and some the alleyways are full of potholes that don’t get fixed. In fact, alley repair is non-existent.”

—Ed Bright

 

“Some of the streets around here are pretty bad because of the potholes. It seems like our tax dollars should be able to fix things like that. Hear that Laura Miller? I’m also tired of our high property taxes and City of Dallas garbage trucks driving 40 mph down our neighborhood streets.”

—Jenene Justice

 

NOT YOUR PERSONAL AUTOBAHN

“The only thing I don’t like is all the people who pass through Preston Hollow. I live right off Walnut Hill, so there’s a ton of traffic during the rush hours. I’m near the tollway, and what I really don’t want to see is a southbound exit at Walnut Hill because that would bring about 5,000 more cars every day. When we fought the city on it, they put it off for five years, but that doesn’t mean they won’t eventually build it. It would be good for Northwest Highway, but it’d be bad for those of us who live in this neighborhood.”

—Susan Williams

 

“I don’t like it when people speed down our streets like it’s Central Expressway — or when people think the stop sign is just a suggestion, not a law. I wish they’d be a little safer when they drove through our neighborhood.”

—Dana Cagle

 

 

MCMANSIONS

 

PROPERTY TAX BLUES

“The annual re-assessment of property taxes in the Preston Hollow neighborhood due to the MANY new-home builds going on … even though some of us still own our vintage ’50s houses! The property taxes are huge here, but they never seem to fix the potholes!”

—Dawn Hall

 

YOU STARTED IT

“It wouldn’t be so bad if [the new homes] were at least aesthetically pleasing, but in my opinion they’re really not. And what’s funny is that first wave of this happened about 13 years ago, and now the same people who did it 13 years ago are upset that it’s still being done today.”

—Charlie Papaceno  

 

SIGN AND NOISE POLLUTION

 

UNENFORCEABLE EDICTS

“Perhaps one of my silliest pet peeves is the city sign pollution in this neighborhood. We’re a little more plagued by it because we live near a park. My favorite sign is the one that reads ‘No dogs off leash, $50 fine’, and there go people with their dogs off leashes. When we call the police, they tell us it’s a 311 call, but they can’t respond immediately, so there’s really no way for us to control these violations, which makes the signs completely meaningless.”

—Ed Bright

 

THE WHIRLYBIRDS ARE COMING!

“I have an irrational fear of helicopters. It’s not a fear of flying in one; it’s a fear of the physical thing. It’s better if they’re sitting on the ground, but when they hover over my house waiting to land at Medical City — which is pretty much in my back yard — I’m very uncomfortable. When we built our house five years ago, a neighbor told us that the helicopters weren’t an issue. Maybe not for him. And, speaking of Medical City, we have a lovely view of the new large bright red neon emblem they’ve affixed to their building.”

—Melanie Pinker

 

CITY EMPLOYEES

 

IT’S YOUR JOB TO CARE

“Some of the more serious pet peeves are some of city employees who absolutely detest neighborhood associations. I’m not talking about our elected officials, just some of the city employees — those in public works and transportation to be exact. They can’t stand to have anyone question what they’re doing, so there’s been a real struggle between them and our neighborhood association.”

—Ed Bright

 

SIDEWALKS

 

PATH

“Sidewalks would be a good thing. We don’t have them. I’m guessing we don’t have them because of the age of the neighborhood. It would be nice to have sidewalks for bikes and strollers.”

—Janet Brady

 

OVERGROWN YARDS

 

EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD HAS ONE

“Knee-high weeds are my pet peeve. Every beautiful Preston Hollow neighborhood has one old house with a happy crop of dandelions and Johnson grass. Unfortunately, in our neighborhood, that house is across the street from me. No owner has lived in the house for over 15 years, and there is always a red code-violation sign in the yard. I will throw a champagne party the day someone buys that house and tears it down.”

—Jeannie Flores 

  

PETS

 

HYGIENE, PEOPLE!

“I really don’t understand people who don’t pick up after their dogs — especially when it’s on a school or church property. Kids are playing there, so it needs to be a clean place. It seems inconsiderate to not pick up after your dog on public property.”

—Louisa Meyer

 

DOGS LIKE PARKS, TOO

“I’d like a dog park. We used to go to Hillcrest High School, but a lot of us weren’t picking up the mess, so we got evicted. It would be nice to have a fenced-in area.”

—Virginia Smith

 

It’d also be nice to have our own dog park. It’d just need to be a fenced-in area with some seating, so it’s not like it’d cost the city a lot to build and maintain it. And I think a lot of dog owners in the neighborhood would use it.”

—Charlie Papaceno  

 

PUT A LEASH ON IT

“People who don’t leash their pets, that’s a big pet peeve of mine. It can be dangerous to other dog walkers and it is just plain rude and selfish! I’m also bothered by people who don’t clean up after their dogs. And I don’t understand people who let their cats out when they know we have red-tailed hawks and coyotes that hunt around here. It really just puts their pet at danger.”

—Jenene Justice

 

SCHOOLS

 

PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE

“People don’t send their kids to their neighborhood schools, which is really unfortunate because everyone ends up going to different private schools. It would be nice if neighborhood kids could all share one public school, instead of going to a bunch of separate private schools. And our neighborhood schools really are great schools.”

—Dana Cagle

 

SCHOOLHOUSE BALK  

 “I think it’s comical when people buy a house next to a high school, then complain that the stadium lights are too bright or that the PA system is too loud during football games. We’ve even gotten complaints from people who don’t like banners we’ve hung at W.T. White. Why would someone knowingly buy a house right next to a high school stadium then complain about it afterwards? I just don’t understand that. “

—Louisa Meyer

 

RESTAURANTS

 

WHERE CAN A GIRL GET A MUNCHIE?

“My top pet peeve is that none of the restaurants in the neighborhood stay open past 10 p.m. We have all these great movie theaters nearby, but when you get out of the movies, there’s no place to go eat a late dinner.”

—Debbie Sherrington

 

 

                     

SIDEBAR:

CALL SOMEONE WHO CARES

We’re quite willing to give our elected officials an earful, filling their email inboxes and bombarding them at our neighborhood grocery store. Here’s what they’re hearing from us:

 

Edwin Flores, Dallas ISD Trustee

972-925-3720 or edwinflores@yahoo.com 

“Most of the complaints I receive are from parents who feel that the Dallas Morning News and other news sources are not fair in their coverage of the district.

There is a lot of great news about Dallas ISD. For example, 38 percent of our schools are recognized or exemplary, which is the highest percentage of the urban districts in Texas … we [also] have the top-ranked high school in the country.

A lot of the parents in this neighborhood have the choice to send their kids to public or private school, and the majority elects private schools. The parents who elect to send their kids to public schools tell me they feel like they are looked down upon in some ways, like there’s something wrong with them for choosing a public school.

But there’s not — anyone who takes the time to really get to know these schools will see that there are some great things going on there … and a lot of that isn’t getting covered.

I guess that’s my personal complaint, and the complaint I hear most from neighborhood parents.”

 

City Councilman Mitchell Rasansky, 214-670-3816 or 214-670-7057

 

Councilman Rasansky did not return phone calls for comment on this story.