An apartment complex in Lake Highlands (Skillman-Audelia) just introduced a 9 p.m. curfew in an effort to deal with ongoing crime problems, according to this WFAA piece.

I can understand why some of the apartment residents are upset — I’d get defensive too if suddenly someone told me, a rent-paying adult, that I had to go in by 9. On the other hand, if I was a parent with school-age kids living in the complex, I’d be eternally grateful for the new rule—I often drive through the area at night and see loitering crowds near these and other LH area complexes. I don’t know that they are necessarily doing anything wrong, but it can get noisy.

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The curfew might be a little too strict — 9 is pretty early and it’s barely dark during the summer and it sounds as if the curfew includes weekends. But I give the property owners kudos for attempting to take some sort of action considering that this area is near one of Dallas’  worst crime hubs. It likely won’t alleviate crime right away, but an early curfew could make a difference in the type of renters they get from here on out.

People looking for certain sorts of trouble will not lease at an apartment with a 9 p.m. curfew, no? Hey, it’s worth a shot.