Facebook is not just for sucking your valuable time. It’s a place where, if utilized correctly, you can become as informed as you want to be about our neighborhood, get to know your neighbors, boost your safety and security and conveniently buy and sell things, to name a few. Here are a few pages that help our editors stay in the loop.
1,630
Lake Highlands residents belong to “Lake Highlands Forum,” a closed group for residents of Lake Highlands and area business and property owners. If you fit the bill, request to join. It is a group for discussion of all things Lake Highlands. The rules are, stay on topic and civilized. Plug your business, but not obnoxiously so, suggests the group’s admin.
2,273
folks follow the Facebook page of “Adam McGough, Dallas City Council, District 10” where the Lake Highlands-representing city counselor interacts with users and answers questions when he can. He shares information about public input meetings, charity fundraisers and developments at City Hall.
4,317
members belong to the “You Know You’re From Lake Highlands If,” a public group featuring nostalgia, vintage photos and lively discussions about current events. It’s a page for “anyone who grew up in Lake Highlands and remembers the good old days,” admins note.
10,328
members belong to the “Lakewood, Dallas” group. It is a closed group, but, as evidenced by the large membership, the admins aren’t all that discriminating. Though it’s called “Lakewood, Dallas,” much of the fodder involves the greater White Rock area. Discussions frequently lean witty and amusing, while informative — just have a thick skin if you inject yourself into said conversations.
10,993
Facebook users belong to the “Lake Highlands Online Garage Sale” page, a closed group that is easily accessible by requesting to join. There are many good Facebook pages for buying and selling locally. This is the one created specifically for Lake Highlands residents. The first rule of these types of pages, which will save you much grief, shame and possibly eviction: Read. The. Rules. They are pinned at the top of the page.
BONUS
6,376
Facebookers follow the “Lake Highlands Advocate” page, where readers can see the stories of the day. Remember, every week the Lake Highlands Advocate posts 10 or more stories that you will not see in the printed magazine. They all show up on our Facebook feed, where you can comment and see what other readers have to say.
What we’re reading
104
Dallas Library cardholders checked out “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End” from the Audelia Road Branch Library in 2016, making it the top non-fiction book in circulation at the branch in 2016.
367
borrows of the Forest Green library’s two copies of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School” last year,
making it the top juvenile fiction book.
75
times “A Tree Is Nice” was checked out from the Audelia library in 2016, the top juvenile non-fiction item in circulation, followed closely by “Ninja, Go!” with 69 borrows.
792,002
Total 2016 circulation between our neighborhood’s branches.
Clean eating?
In some big cities, such as New York and Boston, restaurants’ food inspection grades are posted in windows. In Dallas, diners have to dig a bit deeper for the details of an establishment’s latest food inspection scores. If this snapshot isn’t enough, dive into the city’s database, where you can search by restaurant name or address, at dallascityhall.com/departments/codecompliance/restaurantandbar.
2,139
food service inspections — out of some 20,000 citywide — were recorded in the Lake Highlands-area zip codes 75231, 75238 and 75243, January 2015 through November 2016 (includes routine, follow-up and complaint-related inspections, all conducted by a licensed sanitarian from the City of Dallas Consumer Health Division).
13 resulted in failing scores
(.6% of all LH-area inspections).
TWO
of those who failed did not pass upon re-inspection
(.09% of all LH- area inspections).
Fifty-four
neighborhood establishments received passing, but not good, scores (2.5% of all LH-area inspections).
2,061
inspections ultimately resulted in
“good” or “very good” grades (96% of all LH-area inspections).
*Yelp based its list of “The Best 10 Restaurants near Lake Highlands” by using an algorithm that considered both the number of reviews and the star rating for each location. Food inspection scores only represent a snapshot of the facility at the time of inspection, note Dallas Code Compliance specialists.
