A strong and thriving community prospers from its core values.

Core values define the community and therefore determine whether a community grows or withers.

Lake Highlands is a community with rock solid core values.

Our first and foremost core value is quality education. Without question, this leads to a better quality of life for all.

A second core value is the belief that every citizen should feel safe. And thirdly, perhaps one of the best core values we have as a community, is the desire to serve our fellow man.

Our schools, PTA groups, service clubs, home owners’ associations and Volunteers in Patrol have done a yeoman’s job of creating and reinforcing these values over the years.

Lake Highlands is comprised of a diverse population of approximately 100,000 folks. We have slightly over 14,000 residential homes in our community and 24,000 apartment homes. Our community is home to both millionaires and folks who have no food in their kitchen cabinets.

We have three generations of families that call this community home, and we have families that have just moved here from all over the world.

Some families moved here from other parts of the city because they have heard of our great education system. They're seeking to improve the long term quality of life for their children.

Again, we are diverse, and at the end of the day that is what makes our community special and gives us the potential to be even better.

Without question, there remains much to do as we strive toward our full potential, and this is the reason that I recently asked over fifty top leaders to join me in a meeting held at Lake Highlands High School that I termed the “Imagination Summit."

Joining me were Mayor Tom Leppert, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm, elected officials from the state, county and city, and trustees from RISD.

Also attending were local leaders from non-profit agencies, various foundations, community service clubs, and the banking industry.

Representatives from DART, local law enforcement, the Parks & Recreation board, Dallas Housing Authority, and the Greater Dallas Apartment Association also participated in the summit.

The purpose of our gathering was to make these leaders aware of our strengths, while also making them aware of our needs - particularly the need in our high density multi-family community for after school programs and learning activities.

Lake Highlands is a proud community. We take care of our own, but it is time we get our fair share of the services being provided to other areas of the city.

The next step is to create, from the summit attendees, a very high-level task force to address density issues and how we can best serve our community in insuring a better quality of life in a safe environment.

These are exciting times for Lake Highlands. All we need is a little imagination to build on the core values already in place.

You can read more about the Imagination Summit, which took place in February, by clicking here.