Dallas annexed this neighborhood almost 50 years ago — now residents say they feel forgotten

From KERA News:

David Carranza, president of the Kleberg Neighborhood Association, drives near the Kleberg-Rylie Recreation center in southeast Dallas. The roads are bumpy and don’t have sidewalks.

“There’s all your old, old mobile homes, junky looking places and stuff,” Carranza said, gesturing. “No one really supervises them. There’s sometimes even just dirt roads instead of streets.”

This area has an old rural feel that’s very different from the rest of Dallas.

Carranza points to a wooded area that sits on land where the city of Dallas ends and Dallas county begins. He said he’s observed people dumping trash and even living here.

“Every time that stuff happens here, the city can only do so far and then the rest is county and no one cares,” Carranza said.

Since he moved here four years ago, he’s been trying to talk to the city of Dallas about the lack of adequate infrastructure in Kleberg – with little success.

Hickory Creek is just one of many issues impacting this part of Dallas. The creek is shallow and bridged by two rusty sewage pipes about seven feet above the water.

“This is what people are walking over,” Carranza said. “This has broken several times.”

Carranza said heavy rains flooded the creek and much of the neighborhood during the 2022 floods, which saw up to 14 inches of rain. One nearby resident had to be evacuated by helicopter when the water inundated her home.

Narrow roads, lack of sidewalks and heavy flood risk have plagued Kleberg for years – with little help from the city.

Kleberg was once its own town with its own mayor and local government; it was the largest community in Texas with no property taxes.

Dallas annexed it in 1978. Almost 50 years later, residents there say they feel forgotten.

Jose Morales has lived in the neighborhood since 1968, when Kleberg was still its own town. He said there have been some improvements. The rec center was built in 1989, and a library came in 1995. Before it became a part of Dallas, the tap water tasted bad and had to be boiled, Morales said.

“Since we got the city in there the water tastes a little better but if we still don’t drink the water we go to the store and buy something like that – bottles of water,” Morales said.

But residents in the majority Black and Hispanic neighborhood say not a whole lot else has changed since Kleberg was annexed.

Jessica Ramirez, vice president of the Kleberg Neighborhood Association, wonders why it is taking so long to see improvements in this part of the city. She grew up at Brookside Village, a mobile home park on Lasater Road, right across the street from a new housing development in the city’s farthest southeast corner.

Ramirez said she’s seen development and infrastructure improve in nearby Balch Springs and Mesquite – but not in her own neighborhood.

“It’s very disheartening to see here in my community that nothing changes,” she said. “As much as they’re changing, we’re not keeping up.”

Residents have tried to work with the city on these issues but communication has been sparse, they say.

KERA made several attempts by email, phone and in-person to talk to District 8 city council member Lorie Blair about residents’ complaints about the infrastructure in Kleberg. Her office didn’t follow up with requests.

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, whose district includes Kleberg, also didn’t respond to requests.

Residents say the city is planning to develop the area – including building a new gas station and an apartment complex.

Sabrina Cooper bought a house here six years ago. She told KERA that despite the issues, Kleberg is a good place overall to raise her kids.

“I take pride in Kleberg, being a citizen of [the] Kleberg area,” Cooper said. “It’s a nice area, nice and peaceful. It ain’t just really bad.”

She just doesn’t want the neighborhood to be neglected any longer, she said. She wants to see Dallas take care of Kleberg like it does other parts of the city.

“We’re getting bigger every day by the day,” Cooper said, “so we like just to see them come this way and let us know we’re being heard.”

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