Bachman/Northwest Highway Community Association

Quality of Life in Bachman

January, 2000

Recently a Northwest Police Officer commented to me that after having been to two other areas of Dallas, he was reminded of the changes in our own Bachman area over the past few years. As he drove through the streets of the other neighborhoods, he saw ads posted on light poles, abandoned vehicles, graffiti, yard sales in public places, litter everywhere, etc., etc.

Sometimes we take for granted what we see (or don’t see) on a day-to-day basis. However, I’m sure if you think back, you’ll remember having seen all these same problems and probably a few others in our community. I can remember also seeing drug dealers and prostitutes working openly around boarded-up apartment properties. Although we still have a lot to work on, we need to take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come.

Thanks to our Northwest Police Department, we have very little violent crime anymore. We have a reduction in gang presence and graffiti. Abandoned vehicles are towed from our streets.

Thanks to our City of Dallas Code Compliance Department, all metal frame signs and light pole ads have been removed from along Northwest Highway. Yard sales are kept to two per year per home, with no more sales in public places. Vehicles are no longer allowed to be sold from streets and vacant lots.

Thanks to Park & Rec, we’re getting a new walk-up park on Overlake at Community and new ‘pod’ parking at Bachman Lake Park. Plus, we now have neighborhood outreach extensions of the ‘Send A Kid To Camp’ program and ‘After School Programs’. We are also working on Early Childhood Development programs in cooperation with the DISD.

Thanks to City Council, we have our Urban Design Study and future dredging of Bachman Lake. We are currently getting much needed sidewalks at Saldivar Elementary and we have a traffic feasibility study to consider four-way stops and other safety issues on Community Drive.

Thanks to the City Plan Commission, we will soon have fewer alcohol-related businesses.
Good things are happening in Bachman. Daily it becomes a better community in which to live and work. Working together we will continue to improve our quality of life.
Linda Neel