Amber LaFrance relishes Dallas’ Bishop Arts District for its safety but now grapples with rising homelessness, affecting her sense of security.
DALLAS — Amber LaFrance says what first drew her to Dallas’ Bishop Arts District was something she had never experienced before.
“I really had never lived anywhere that I felt like safe as a single woman,” said LaFrance who’s lived in the Oak Cliff neighborhood for six years.
That feeling of safety and the sense of community that came with it, is what she hoped would keep her rooted in the neighborhood.
“I felt really connected to the community here,” said LaFrance.
But now, she said that connection feels fractured, replaced by growing concerns about safety both around and inside her apartment complex.
LaFrance lives in the Victor Prosper Apartments in the Bishop Arts area. She said she began noticing a large number of unhoused people gathering near her building.
“There was a huge amount of people facing homelessness near my building, sleeping in my garage every day, sleeping on the benches. Sometimes I would be yelled out, confronted, followed,” she said.
According to LaFrance, the situation didn’t stop outside. She says people were also sleeping inside the complex.
“I was made aware of 10 homeless people sleeping between my garage and inside the stairwells and inside the actual hallways,” she said.
Her concerns intensified after a whistleblower posted flyers with QR codes linking to a video showing individuals inside and around the complex, including security interacting with someone inside the building.
“As a survivor of rape and sexual assault, it’s disturbing to me on another level because I know a lot of young women move into this neighborhood,” said LaFrance.
At Dallas City Hall, the Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee met with City Council. They said Dallas has an average of about 3,500 unhoused people daily, with shelter capacity nearly full.
The committee acknowledged the challenges of enforcement and assistance.
“It’s really hard to go to a place where you’re working to get them to comply and get into a shelter and then at the same time offer all the assistance,” said the Office of Housing and Community Empowerment.
LaFrance said she had personally called both 911 and 311 about the situation. However, the city of Dallas told WFAA it could not confirm any notifications or complaints in that specific area.
The committee said it is working to improve response times to 311 calls, which typically take about seven days to assess and up to 21 days for resolution.
“It’s a very frustrating issue for our residents who do want to assist you in locating where there’s issues, but they do want resolution before 28 days,” said Cara Mendelsohn, Dallas City Council District 12 and Housing and Homelessness Solutions Chair.
WFAA reached out to Victor Prosper Apartments and its development company, Alamo Manhattan, for comment regarding safety concerns but had not received a response at this time.
LaFrance said changes are needed.
“They need more surveillance and more security,” she said.
Despite the concerns, she said her connection to Bishop Arts remains strong.
“I have zero plans of leaving this neighborhood. Like I love it so much and I feel so connected to it,” said LaFrance. “But if it becomes unsafe, I won’t have a chance. I won’t have an option, and I would have to leave, you know.”