University Park

Welcome to University Park

University Park is bordered by the city of Dallas on its north, east, and west sides, and by the town of Highland Park to the south. The two towns together form the Park Cities, an enclave surrounded by Dallas just north of downtown. It's compact, about 3.69 square miles and roughly 25,000 residents, and almost fully built out. Housing here is single-family, not condos or lofts. The stock runs from 1920s-through-1950s Tudors, Georgians, and Colonial Revivals to new custom estates on teardown lots, most on classic city lots around 50 by 150 feet. It fits families who want established, walkable streets and Highland Park ISD. The honest trade-off is cost: median sale prices ran roughly $2.4 million in 2025.

University Park sits entirely inside Highland Park ISD, one of the most sought-after districts in Texas, and that district is a big part of why people buy here. HPISD runs eight campuses shared with Highland Park:

• Elementary (K–4): University Park Elementary · Robert S. Hyer Elementary · John S. Armstrong Elementary · John S. Bradfield Elementary · Michael M. Boone Elementary. Your assigned campus depends on your street.
• Intermediate (5–6): Arch H. McCulloch Intermediate School
• Middle (7–8): Highland Park Middle School (McCulloch and the middle school share one building)
• High (9–12): Highland Park High School, located in University Park

For a town this size, University Park keeps a real park system, 13 parks in all. Centennial Park (renamed from Goar Park in 2024 for the city's 100th anniversary) sits behind City Hall on Vassar Drive, with walking trails that feed into the surrounding neighborhood. Curtis Park is the largest at about 9.5 acres, near Lovers Lane and Turtle Creek Boulevard, with tennis courts, ballfields, walking paths, and the Holmes Aquatic Center. Williams Park on University Boulevard has a Turtle Creek-fed lake, pickleball courts, and Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture. Caruth Park, Burleson Park, and Germany Park round out the neighborhood green space.

The signature event is the Park Cities Fourth of July Parade, run by the Rotary Club of Park Cities every year. It steps off at Highland Park Town Hall, heads up Preston Road, and ends at Centennial Park with a free family festival: music, food, and a kids' bike-decorating contest that starts at the Park Cities YMCA. Beyond the Fourth, the city keeps a Special Events calendar, and the SMU campus in the middle of town runs its own year-round slate of lectures, exhibits, and athletics.

Snider Plaza has anchored University Park since the 1920s, a walkable shopping square across from SMU with longtime spots like The Ivy House and Zest Café next to newer arrivals such as Bar Sardine. On campus, the Meadows Museum holds one of the largest collections of Spanish art outside Spain, with Goya, Velázquez, and Picasso, and the George W. Bush Presidential Center (opened 2013) draws visitors with its full-size Oval Office replica.

University Park grew up around Southern Methodist University, which opened in 1915 on what was then rural land north of Dallas. Homes clustered near the campus, and SMU supplied their utilities until 1924, when the growing population outran what the school could provide. Residents asked to be annexed by Highland Park, then by Dallas. Both said no, citing the cost of running utilities and services out that far. So on April 24, 1924, voters approved incorporation by a five-to-one margin. The new town started with 515 acres, 380 homes, and about 1,200 residents. It grew fast, past 20,000 people by 1945, and became one of the most established addresses in the region. University Park marked its centennial in 2024.

University Park is for families buying the schools and the location as much as the house, and willing to pay for both. One thing to check early: because all five elementaries feed the same intermediate, middle, and high schools, your specific street decides your elementary, so confirm the assigned campus before you fall for a listing. And watch the split between original 1920s-to-1950s homes and new teardown construction, because it drives both the price and what you'll spend after closing.

• City of University Park — official city site, parks, and special events
• Highland Park ISD — district, campuses, and attendance boundaries
• Snider Plaza — neighborhood shopping and dining directory
• Rotary Club of Park Cities — the annual July 4th parade