CULTURA SIN FRONTERA
CULTURA SIN FRONTERA
CULTURA SIN FRONTERA
CULTURA SIN FRONTERA
Oak Cliff Neighborhood Faces an Uncertain Future
DALLAS – South of downtown, where the long, creeping shadows of city high-rises can’t reach, brightly-painted panaderias and thrift stores line the narrowing roads. Lowriders cruise down the boulevard with freshly waxed paint and gold rims ablaze in evening light.
When the workday draws to a close, the neighborhood stirs. A porch becomes a kitchen, playground and living room. It’s not uncommon to find families of three or four generations conversing on one doorstep.
This is Oak Cliff, a vibrant pocket of Dallas, one of many minority-majority cities in the U.S. As Texas has become more diverse in the last few decades, so has this patch of the city, in which Hispanics (63%) and non-Hispanic Black people (7%) now make up a significant portion of the population, according to 2021 Census Bureau estimates.
Like many urban areas across the country, Oak Cliff – covering a wide swath of the city about the size of Seattle – was born from a tangled history of discriminatory housing practices, socioeconomic disparities and immigration. The South Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago underwent similar demographic shifts – as did Ferguson, Missouri and Dover, New Jersey.
But there is more change coming. Sleek, trendy apartment complexes tower over homes generations in the making. According to the Dallas Morning News, almost 40% of homes sold in Dallas in 2017 were bought by house flippers, investors, developers and builders. A report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition shows Dallas was among a list of 20 of the most intensely gentrifying cities from 2013-2017, the top three being San Francisco, Denver and Boston.
The change has forced many residents to make painful decisions about whether to stay in the only place they've ever called home, or to pack up and start a new life somewhere more affordable.
Kids watch their teams play baseball at Kiest Park in Dallas, Texas.
Raul Gutiérrez Alvarado (left) and his nephew, William Domínguez Gutierrez, pose for a portrait outside of their Oak Cliff home. Gutierrez has lived here with his family for four years – they are originally from Michocán, Mexico.
Ezekiel Garcia poses for a portrait while sitting inside his lowrider on Jefferson Boulevard. He’s a member of Rollerz Only, a Dallas car club.
A man walks by a furniture store on Jefferson Boulevard.
Brianna Hinguanzo tends to a client at the Master Barbers Institute.
Jose Melendez and his daughter, Diana Melendez, shop for quinceañera dresses at Kristie’s Boutique.
A house is flanked by new development on the northern edge of Oak Cliff, in the Bishop Arts District. In 2022, an entire block of rental homes was razed to make way for new apartment complexes.
Tereso Ortiz opened Casa Guanajuato, a community center offering programs from boxing classes to citizenship courses, in 1994. “Many times, they’ve tried to buy this place. They’ve offered good money, but this isn’t for sale,” Ortiz says.
Claudia Rangel and her 12-year-old son, Damien Olguin, pose for a portrait inside Casa Guanajuato. They’ve lived in Oak Cliff for 12 years. The neighborhood is big on family, Rangel says. “I feel like everybody looks out for each other.”
Trees and rooftops peek out from behind a mural at Casa Guanajuato. Open for about 25 years, it has become a community hub, hosting English classes, boxing lessons, family reunification programs, cultural events and more.
Parkgoers watch a baseball game in Kiest Park.
Kids sell lemonade outside of their home in North Oak Cliff to save money for school uniforms and supplies.
Lowriders cruise down Jefferson Boulevard, where every Sunday locals gather to admire the customized vehicles.
Gloria McCoy (front) and her sister Joann, sit on their front porch in South Oak Cliff. McCoy has lived in her South Oak Cliff home for 50 years now, watching city ordinance vehicles bump along the same potholes she’s been asking them to address for years. If wealthier families moved in, there’d be change – but it shouldn’t be that way, McCoy says.
New apartments are constructed on Melba Avenue, on the edges of the Bishop Arts District.
Shaun Montgomery of the Tenth Street Residential Association poses for a portrait at the Greater El Bethel Baptist Missionary Church.
The Dallas skyline is seen from “The Bottom.” This historically Black section of Oak Cliff was one of the few places in Dallas where Black people could live during segregation.
Sunday service begins at the Greater El Bethel Baptist Missionary Church in the Tenth Street Historic District.
Pearlina Bates doesn’t enjoy being photographed. Wanting a framed photo of her, her husband enlarged her drivers license image. This is the only photo she has of herself, which adorns the living room of her South Oak Cliff home.
A multi-million dollar construction project takes place on Van Buren Avenue for future housing. A small apartment complex used to sit here, as well as an open field where neighborhood kids played soccer.
Kids end the day playing soccer at Lake Cliff Park.