University Park

University Park is on Dallas North Tollway, U.S. Highway 75, and Loop 12 five miles north of downtown Dallas in central Dallas County, bordered by the city of Dallas on the north and east and Highland Park to the south. Together, University Park and Highland Park are known as the Park Cities. While each city has its own police and fire departments, they share the Highland Park Independent School District, headquartered in the more populous University Park. University Park has an area of 3.69 square miles. As of 2020 it had a population density of more than 6,800 persons per square mile, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the state. The median age in 2010 was twenty-nine.

 Its name originated because of its location adjacent to Southern Methodist University, which was attracted to the area by donations of land from Alice Armstrong and W. W. Caruth, Sr. SMU officially opened in 1915, and homes were built around the campus to house teachers and staff of the university. Water came from the university’s artesian wells, and sewage lines were connected to Dallas's lines in Oak Lawn. By 1924, with more than 380 homes in the area, the university could no longer afford to supply water and sewer lines to residential areas. The cities of Dallas and Highland Park refused to annex the University Park area because of the financial burden of laying new sewer lines and supplying garbage removal and police and fire protection. Therefore, in 1924 the city of University Park was incorporated with a population of 1,200. The first city government consisted of a mayor and five aldermen, but on April 6, 1926, residents voted to adopt a commission form of city government, which the city still retained in 2021. On August 16, 1924, a $150,000 bond election was held to set up fire protection and to finance water and street improvements. The town organized its own garbage-disposal system in 1925. Snider Plaza, a popular shopping center, opened in 1927, although it remained largely undeveloped throughout the Great Depression. A zoning board was appointed in 1929 and a planning commission in 1932. Leonard Volk, a prominent Dallas merchant, had already purchased a large tract of land in 1924, south of Lovers Lane along Turtle Creek, and began developing a neighborhood that would include some of the most expensive homes in the Dallas area. It was originally called Brookside but was later known as Volk Estates. After World War II, University Park experienced a residential building boom.