Areas to Avoid / Crime, Dallas

There are a lot of very bad areas in Dallas, but any major city has a few so most people know what to look for, observe your surroundings and think rationally, if it looks bad then dont go walking around. Im a white male living in a north suburb of Dallas, I've been everywhere in Dallas, my drug addiction to coce led me to bad areas, i then got on heroin and that led me to even worse areas, places you dont ever want to see. Nothing ever happened to me but thats probably cause it looked like i was jonesing when i was in these areas. My relative was murdered in a suburb of Dallas thats not in a bad area, thugs decided to go there to rob, so you see the moral to this?? It happens anywhere!!!

Some ppl are rite bout dallas but some r wrong the best spot is also the worst spots oak cliff is one place u dnt want to mess with cuz dats my hood n we gets to da real west dallas it goes dwn to south dallas u better cum wit it east dallas to.north dallas is the best spot thats were most of the ppl wit money lives like george washington but north is bad to because thuggs go there to snatch purses,make u drop out(drop everything u got money phones n clothes),rod ur house ect.....becuase we kno u got wat we need everywhere in dallas is safe if u thuggin.

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So I gather by reading the places to avoid in Dallas, TX I should stay in my car & don't stop, don't get out, drive as fast as I can thorugh Dallas. If you believed all this crap no one would ever leave their house or apartment. There are so many beautiful areas of Dallas & I think most are peaceful and quaint. The cops need to be more concerned about the safety of the citizens than about the next Police Women of Dallas episode. Prevention is the answer and I am one citizen of Dallas who practices what I preach.

If I could give anyone moving to Dallas a tip, just don't live in an apartment. This is an extremely dangerous city and apartments are the most dangerous part, especially at night. Also don't joke yourself into thinking your in a good area, apartments are like little islands of hell and as soon as you step onto that property, the demographics drastically change. If you wan't the urban experience, move to New York, Dallas is just not the city for that, you will be around lots of crime and thug lowlifes, trust me on this move to the suburbs.

in my mind the most dangerous area to go to in all of dallas in the hood at the north east corner of hampton and singleton in west dallas. That place has hookers walking up and down the streets and people selling heroin on the street corner.

Living in dallas can be dangerous= TRUE
you will most likely endure some kind of theft of property=TRUE
when you drive through oak cliff and everyone has bars on their windows...
that means its probably not safe=True

get your CDL if you live here. Dont make yourself an easy target.

Amount of personal property theft while living in dallas for 2 years.
2 bicycles off the patio cabled up with 2 heavy cables
1 2006 Suzuki motorcycle stolen off mockingbird lane
18 door dings
50 bums asking for money
No violent activity to date.

It's interesting that people are describing others as racist for pointing out the bad parts of town. No, we're not racist, the bad parts are the bad parts I don't care what race the people are that occupy them. I drive all over the Dallas area and I know where the bad areas are. Most people have pointed out Oak Cliff, South Dallas and North Dallas around Skillman and I-635. For the most part this is correct. Anywhere that you see a lot of working class apartments in big D are places to avoid. It's unfortunate and it wasn't always this way, but many of those are now section 8 properties. I wouldn't recommend walking around most parts of the city because you could be in a good area and run into the ghetto in a short time.

Oak Cliff has some really cool stuff, interesting historic architecture and some great restaurants. The area to go to is called the Bishop Arts District and the immediately surrounding area. That is a good area, but I would not walk around much outside of that area, especially alone. The rest of Oak Cliff is hit or miss. There are some good neighborhoods in the north around Stephens Park. Once you get deep in the neighborhoods there is nothing to see outside of the historic areas. East of I-35 should be avoided. That is also where the Dallas Zoo is located. If you're going to the zoo, go there by car and do not walk around the neighborhoods surrounding it.

Oak Lawn: This area is recently gentrified and is known for gay bars, shopping and restaurants. The area where the bars are is safe to walk around. Do not venture into the surrounding neighborhoods on foot, however. There is a reason that the high end houses have large fences and gates surrounding them. If you go, make sure to park in a well lit area close to where you are going to be. Like most of Dallas, you will see bums, prostitutes and druggies at some point. This area is known to have drugs, so keep that in mind if you plan to walk around.

Fair Park: The Fair Park complex itself is okay and there are some things to see year round. It is also kid friendly with the Science Place and an aquarium. You can park on the property, but sometimes it's pay only, which is worth every penny. Do not venture into the surrounding neighborhoods on foot. Directly across from Fair Park on the North side is a small section of bars and restaurants which is safe. This includes the area where New Amsterdam bar is but it is only about a one block area. I recommend going to this area for night life since it is really laid back. By car directly north of this area is Deep Ellum. This is a cool, historic area with some bohemian type bars and restaurants, tattoo parlors and the like. It was very scary for the last three years or so until last year. This area is now pretty safe, but I would only advise going by car, parking near where you're going to be and leaving by car. During the day it is okay to walk around the populated areas, but not by night since the ghettos are within walking distance. The area where Trees is located is okay to walk around at night, but only where you see other people around. Steer clear of alleyways and watch for people approaching you that you do not know.

From Fair Park directly South, East and West are areas to avoid. You can drive around during the day to look at architecture, but I would not walk. Dallas has beautiful art deco buildings, but unfortunately, most are in bad areas.

Lower Greenville Avenue/Lowest Greenville Avenue: Lower Greenville directly south of Mockingbird has some nice areas, cool houses and restaurants/bars. This is a short drive from Deep Ellum. It's okay to walk around during the day, but even though the houses are big and nice, I do not recommend it at night unless you know your way around. There have been a lot of robberies at gunpoint in recent years. Lowest Greenville is best to be avoided these days. It has been taken over by gang bangers. It used to be the place to be, but no more. During the day is fine (and there are some good restaurants), but not after dark. This includes all of the area directly surrounding Taco Cabana. Very close to the West of this is the Knox/Henderson area. Henderson Street turns into Knox when you cross I-75. Walking around near the bars/restaurants is fine during the day and walking around Knox Street is fine even at night. Henderson bars should be driven to and walking only around the populated areas at night. This is a cool area, but there are a lot of ghetto apartments on the south side.

There really isn't much reason for going to North Dallas except for the Galleria mall. If you go there, you should go by car and not walk around the surrounding area. Also note that Dart buses run through the Dallas area, so you can ride on those, but they do not run very late at night. If you get caught somewhere late, there are a lot of cab companies in Dallas.

Old East Dallas: The Lakewood area has some bohemian bars and restaurants and beautiful architecture. I would avoid walking the neighborhoods at night, but during the day it isn't that bad. The bottom line is not to do much walking around unless it's an area where you see a lot of other people. You can also find yourself in a bad neighborhood quickly at any point.

Other areas of interest: Downtown Grapevine and Southlake are safe at all hours and have good shopping and restaurants. Grapevine has some good architecture. These towns are near DFW airport. Plano and Mckinney to the North of Dallas are also safe. East Plano has some bad areas, but not terrible. Arlington (where Cowboy stadium, 6 Flags and Texas Rangers ballpark is located) is similar to Dallas. There are a lot of bad areas and it is best to get around by car. Waxahachie, which is 30 minutes South of Dallas has beautiful Victorian homes and an old downtown. It is safe to walk around as long as you avoid Martin Luther King Junior Blvd.

Dallas is a high crime city, this much is true. I'm a white female and I've lived here almost all my life, born in Arlington, lived in most of the bad neighborhoods listed here. I can't see what you'd want with some of them, but if you're just driving through you'd be safe anyway. The ones in the north and northeast are just boring, nothing to see. But South Dallas, both West and East has some stuff worth looking at if you're intrepid. And if you're brave enough to get around a city like Detroit or St. Louis in the bad parts then Dallas is no worse than anything there. Most people who live there are from there or know people from there. Most new people move into the North but don't think that means the North doesn't get some real crime. In my experience one of the most dangerous areas is Park Lane, despite the scary look of Oak Cliff in areas, or especially down Cockerel Hill towards Jefferson. The main thing about those areas though is what are you going there for? That's what you need to know because I wouldn't recommend milling around lost anywhere in this city really.

Deep Ellum is pretty much safe now, downtown, uptown is cozy, and I've stumbled around drunk in alleys in Fair Park with nothing but a discussion with a bum to show for it. Highland Park is super safe (if you are white) but I don't recommend being non-white there unless you're East Asian maybe.

The only time I was ever a victim of crime was in an apt in the Skillman/Audelia area on Royal Lane in Northeast Dallas. Some crackhead crawled into my window bedroom intruder style and didn't guess that I might have company. Truth be told I think he just meant to steal some stuff, but whatever. I felt more danger living there than the West Dallas area. Some friends used to throw amazing parties in these warehouses in south Dallas around 20. The worst thing that ever happened was some drug addicted lady begging for money for electricity in her apt.

Whoever said a lot of the gang activity is actually in Arlington was right, although that's not saying there's no gangs or anything in Dallas. The thing is they're all over the city really, even up the tollway around Marsh. Arlington is clotted with tourist stuff and there aren't really "bad parts" in the coherent sense because there aren't really established neighborhoods. Just use your judgement when you look around. South of the Trinity a lot of the old buildings have not been torn down and you can see some of Dallas's age showing, which is cool. I live close to there and go out to take pictures some times. Yeah there are some areas it's better to have a guy with you, but there's just some really unique things to see that are a part of Dallas history. Oakland cemetery for instance is in a bad area, but it's worth seeing some time.

Anyway, recognize that you could be a victim of crime and make sure you have a plan, have a place to go, have a reason and way to get there and back... and that will make a big difference. If you look like a target you'll probably end up a target.

Now get out there and enjoy the city. Follow the streetlights, if there's plenty of lights and plenty of people you're probably in a safe area :)