Around the World on Lawndale

The most interior street in the neighborhood hosts this event as a fundraiser for the SPV Neighborhood Association. Residents contact our Social Chair and share the “country” they wish to represent. Their contribution could be a delicious native food for sampling; some form of entertainment, like music or indigenous dance; or arts/crafts presentations and collections. Although most patrons of this event are residents, tickets have been sold to friends, family and other Oak Cliff residents.

Movies @ Barberry Commons

Bring out the lawn chairs and beverages! Our free movie event brings back classics like “Casablanca,” favorites like “The Wizard of Oz,” and newer DVD releases like “Mad Money” or “The Other Boleyn Girl.” And bring a lunch sack – we supply the popcorn, too!

National Night Out

From safety awareness and meeting your local police officers, to shaking hands with firefighters and greeting your neighbors, this national event is BIG in SPV. Residents bring food and drinks, and almost always we are bestowed donated goodies from our wonderful eateries in Oak Cliff. Sometimes music, sometimes games, and last year a raffle and auction make this happening one to circle on the calendar!

Progressive Dinner

In the crisp (usually) winter air, you can see a group of neighbors strolling from one house to another at our Holiday Progressive Dinner. This fundraiser adds to the wonderful season as residents are not only treated to fantastic food, but also to the bevy of grand decorations at each home along the route. Many people remembered the unique culinary idea from childhood, when this party-style peaked in the 70s. Today, SPV brings back that super way to supper and fellowship with neighbors.

Annual Clear-the-Clutter Yard Sale

For more than a decade this event brings out droves of people – great numbers in residents selling wares, and lots of buyers and browsers. Held in April and marketed with newspaper ads, flyers, word-of-mouth and sometimes partnering with other Associations, we make the big, one-day sale a “must do” for serious garage-sale hounds as well as that just-looker. Many visitors simply park their vehicle and walk the streets…usually leaving with a great bargain they just couldn’t live without.

Shopping, Eating & Playing in the Cliff

North Oak Cliff has spanned almost two decades of bringing unique, boutique, franchises and famous names in retail, dining and services to our area. With the resurgence of Winnetka Heights in the late 70s and 80s, our “hidden city” has blossomed most recently in the last decade.

Here are some tidbits about those places we go as Stevens Park Village residents:

• For the home do-it-yourselfer, we sport both Home Depot and Lowe’s near us.
• Need to fill the pantry? Tom Thumb, Minyard’s, Fiesta, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Carnival, La Michocana, Cost Plus, Mi Supra and Jerry’s Super Market fill the bill when searching for food. In addition, Ann’s Health Food Center on Zang offers organics and hard-to-find items.
• Prescriptions? Convenience items? Check Walgreen’s or CVS; both are within walking distance.
• The Chalk Hill area, Pinnacle Park, offers retail, services and dining: Subway, dentists (2), Radio Shack, Best Buy, Staples, IHOP, beauty suppliers and salons, Ross and Marianne’s, Golden Corral and Chili’s, and one of only two free-standing Starbucks in Oak Cliff.
• In the same area, you can get food, fast: Taco Cabana, McDonald’s, Panda Express, Whataburger, Sonic, KFC/Taco Bell. Closer to Stevens Park Village are: Popeye’s, Williams Chicken, Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut, (another) Taco Bell, Sonic, Domino’s, several tacqueria’s, Jack in the Box, Wendy’s, and even our Luby’s has a drive-thru.
• Food requiring stepping out of a vehicle is available at Pollo Fiesta, El Ranchito, Charco Broiler, Pollo Salsa, Pit Grill, El Fenix and we’ve been a draw recently for more than five Chinese Food Buffets to open nearby. And along with our renovated Belmont Motor Hotel has come “The Cliff Café.”
• Service with a smile can come from: Al’s Auto Body, Pep Boys, O’Reilly and Auto Zone.
• We’re rollin’ in dough with: Chase, CitiBank, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, Nation’s Bank and Bank of America.
• Our close-by Bishop Arts District has a life all its own. From mercantile and antique stores, boutiques, art gallery, craft and artisan shops…to restaurants (Tillman’s Roadhouse, Grill 400, Hattie’s Vitto’s Chan Thai, Brooklyn, the Barking Dog, Café Brazil (soon), Gloria’s (the original) and Vera Cruz. Near the same area we dine at Kavala and Norma’s. The “District” is popping with renovation, so visit one weekend, then the next and you might find something new.
• Needing assistance? Try the Department of Social Security, the main Post Office (Sylvan & I-30), our Hampton Road Clinic and a local VFW.
• Methodist Hospital is close by and a bit further south, we have the Illinois DART rail station.
• Not officially in Oak Cliff, but an easy drive is the outlet center near the intersection of I-35 and Inwood. Its lease spaces include Crate & Barrel, the Interior Alternative and a mattress outlet featuring Sealy, Simmons and other name brands.
• When you want some play time, join us at one of our many parks in North Oak Cliff: Kiest Park, Kidd Springs Park, Stevens Park or Lake Cliff Park. We’re also near the Dallas Zoo and the newly constructed SPCA facility.
• Fore!? Course nearby include Stevens Park Golf Course, Cedar Crest Golf Course and the Dallas National Golf Club.