Took a very nice walk early this evening at Exall Park on the edge of Bryan Place in downtown Dallas. Beautifully green and open, with a pleasant mix of sunny and shaded areas on this perfect spring day. Shared by walkers, joggers, families and pets, it was just crowded enough to feel safe and relaxed.

M and I happened across the neighborhood by accident last year, when what we thought was a through street became a twisty turny route through the well-groomed but unpretentious little enclave. Would love to live there if we get to stay in Dallas when M finishes his master’s.


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They have an active neighborhood association, with lots of social events and neighborhood security monitoring:

Bryan Place, named after Dallas’ founder, John Neely Bryan, began as a bold vision by developer Fox & Jacobs to create an intimate, neighborly community in the heart of Dallas’ inner city. Built in the early 1980’s, Bryan Place was the first of such in-town East Dallas neighborhoods in a half-century of mass suburbanization. Fox & Jacobs sought to recreate a neighborhood of East Dallas’ past, with little traffic, pedestrian friendly streets and elegant homes within an un-walled community. Even at its conception, the builder was confident there would be lots of revitalization taking place around the neighborhood.

On the evening of June 10th, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will hold a free outdoor performance at Exall Park as part of its annual Parks Concert Series.