Lower Greenville – Dallas, Texas
Lower Greenville is a neighborhood in Dallas, Texas with a population of 7,237. Lower Greenville is in Dallas County and is one of the best places to live in Texas. Living in Lower Greenville offers residents an urban suburban mix feel and most residents own their homes. In Lower Greenville, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many families and young professionals live in Lower Greenville and residents tend to be liberal. The public schools in Lower Greenville are above average.
Lower Greenville is a neighborhood in east Dallas, Texas (USA), west of Lakewood. Specifically, the neighborhood is adjacent to Greenville Avenue south of Mercedes Avenue, and north of Belmont Avenue. The area south of Belmont Avenue is often, and more specifically, called “Lowest Greenville,” and the area north of Mockingbird Lane is called “Upper Greenville.” “Lower Greenville” is also used to refer to the neighborhoods surrounding Greenville Avenue, including Vickery Place, the Belmont Addition, Glencoe, Greenland Hills (the “M Streets”), and Stonewall Terrace. It straddles Dallas Council Districts 14 and 2.
Often grouped with the nearby Knox-Henderson neighborhood, Lower Greenville has long been known as a go-to destination for some of the best restaurants and nightlife that Dallas has to offer. But in recent years, residents of the area have banded together and gone out of their way to instill a sense of community amongst the area’s many diverse residents.
Lower Greenville provides a bustling, walkable neighborhood with local restaurants, bars, and retail. The cross streets of Ross and Belmont form the epicenter known as “Lowest Greenville” with more than 25 establishments in a short block radius. Continue up to Mockingbird to “Upper Greenville” for even more local gems overlooking the street, which are always filled with young professionals who work and live in the popular neighborhood.
History
In the early 20th Century, Greenville Avenue was one of the most important roads in Dallas, serving the new residential areas in East Dallas and playing the part that the North Central Expressway (US 75) plays today. Before the construction of the North Central Expressway in the 1950s, Greenville Avenue was the main route from Northern Dallas into downtown, with the H&TC railroad occupying the current location of the North Central Expressway. In the 1910s, Goodwin Avenue was at the far north end of Greenville Avenue and served East Dallas including the Belmont Addition and Vickery Place Addition.
In the 1920s, the Greenland Hills Addition was platted North of Vickery Place, and Mockingbird Lane became the northern boundary of the City of Dallas. Before the mid-1920s, Greenville Avenue was known as the “Richardson Road” or the “Richardson Pike”. Before the construction of the North Central Expressway in 1950, Greenville Avenue was the main route to Richardson, Plano, and McKinney, and north to the states of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
It is for this reason that the “Lower Greenville” area was developed as one of the most important centers in Dallas for shopping and restaurants, especially the area comprising “Lowest Greenville” in modern times. The arrival of the automobile in Dallas was via Greenville Avenue, and even today the Lower Greenville Avenue area is a hot spot for automobile and motorcycle enthusiasts. This is especially true for what is arguably the center of the Lower Greenville area, the intersection of Goodwin Ave and Greenville Ave, which has been a popular gathering spot and watering hole since at least the 1930s.
The Granada Theater was built on Greenville Avenue in 1946 and was originally a movie house. Today, it is an important music venue. It has been wonderfully preserved and still looks just like this illustration in a news story from 1946.