Hidden City

Philip Haigh, Executive Director of The Loop Dallas, joins the podcast to talk about the ambitious effort to connect Dallas through a 50-mile trail network. From discovering the bike-friendly culture of Oak Cliff to leading one of the city's most transformative public space projects, Philip shares how trails can change the way people experience their neighborhoods and their city.

The conversation explores the future of transportation in Dallas, the hidden green spaces many residents never realize exist, and the vision behind connecting landmarks like White Rock Lake, the Trinity River Audubon Center, and communities across the city. Along the way, Philip discusses Parkdale Lake, the challenges of building urban trails, and why creating more ways to move through Dallas might shape the city's next chapter.

In this episode, we explore the story of 10th Street, one of the most important surviving Freedman’s Town landscapes in the United States. Long before I35 cut through Oak Cliff, 10th Street was a thriving African American community built by formerly enslaved people and their descendants. Through churches, schools, businesses, homes, and family networks, residents created a neighborhood where generations could live, work, worship, and build a future together.

We trace the rise of neighborhood institutions while looking at the people who shaped the community and the lasting impact they had on Dallas. We also examine how roads, urban renewal, and decades of disinvestment fractured the neighborhood, and how descendants and preservationists are working to recover and protect its history today. This is a story about resilience, memory, and why 10th Street still matters.

Our research for this episode leaned heavily on the work of Kinkofa, a platform designed specifically to document and preserve Black history. Learn more about their work to preserve 10th Street History at tenthstreethistoricdistrict.com and follow them on socials ( @kinkofa ) or on their website: www.kinkofa.com

Sean Springer, founder of Springer Design Studio, joins The Hidden City to talk about his journey from studying sculpture at RISD to building a woodworking and design practice rooted in craftsmanship, healing, and creativity. Sean shares how working with reclaimed wood shaped his artistic path, the philosophy behind his handmade objects, and why materials like wood still feel deeply alive to him.We also talk about fatherhood, creative community at Tyler Station, learning through physical work, and the ways art, design, and movement can reconnect us to the world around us. Along the way, Sean reflects on collaboration, injury and healing, and the inspiration he draws from Oak Cliff and beyond.

Illustrator and designer Zach Stuef joins The Hidden City to talk about moving from Michigan to Dallas, building a creative life through illustration, and why he still starts every project with pen and paper. We talk about collaboration, theology, concert posters, Oak Cliff creative community, and the tension between handmade art and AI-generated work.

Savannah steps in as co-host for this episode as we dig into Zach’s creative process, personal projects, and the ideas and places that continue to shape his work.

Dallas once had a real plan to become a port city, with boats traveling from the Gulf of Mexico all the way up the Trinity River into the heart of Dallas. In this episode, we trace the strange and ambitious history of the “Port of Dallas” and how Oak Cliff sat directly in the path of that dream. From devastating floods and disappearing bridges to the construction of the Oak Cliff Viaduct and the reshaping of the Trinity itself, this is the story of how Dallas tried to engineer its way into becoming something it wasn’t and how Oak Cliff still carries the marks of that vision today.

Two years after her first appearance on The Hidden City Podcast, April Allen returns as Halperin Park prepares to officially open in Oak Cliff this weekend. Recorded inside the park just days before opening, this episode captures a full-circle moment for one of Dallas’ most ambitious community-led projects.

April, President & CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, shares what it took to bring the park from early renderings to reality, the emotional weight of reaching opening weekend, and how neighbors helped shape nearly every detail of the space. From the 12th Street Promenade reconnecting divided neighborhoods to the native landscaping, gathering spaces, and future plans for Phase Two, this conversation explores how Halperin Park was designed with Oak Cliff at its center. We also talk about opening weekend festivities, local partnerships, and why April believes this park will change how people experience both Oak Cliff and Dallas itself. This episode features sneak peeks of the new park, aerial footage, and an early look at one of Dallas’ most significant new public spaces.

Frank Reaugh played a major role in shaping how people see Texas. His pastel landscapes of open prairie, longhorns, and wide skies captured something quieter and more honest about the state.In this episode, we follow his path to Oak Cliff, where he helped build the early art scene and taught a generation of artists at his studio near Lake Cliff Park. It’s a look at how one artist paid attention to the landscape long enough to change how people understood it, and how that legacy connects back to Oak Cliff.

The streetcar didn’t just run through Oak Cliff, it helped build it.

In this episode, we trace how early rail lines in the 1880s made Oak Cliff feel close enough to grow, shaping where people gathered and where businesses took root along Jefferson. We follow its evolution into a larger system, the decisions that led to its disappearance in the 1950s, and its return decades later.

It’s a story about transit, but also about how a neighborhood forms, and how something as simple as crossing the Trinity can change what a place becomes.

Most people know 7-Eleven for Slurpees, Big Gulps, and late-night snack runs, but the company’s story starts in Oak Cliff.

In this episode, Doug and Grant trace 7-Eleven’s roots from an Oak Cliff ice dock to a global chain, following the local people and neighborhood needs that helped shape the modern convenience store. Along the way, they also get into the company’s larger impact, from the way it changed everyday shopping to the role products like the Slurpee played in making 7-Eleven part of American culture.

David Cervantes, founder of Elyse Build, joins The Hidden City to talk about his work building and restoring homes across Oak Cliff. He shares about his journey from working his way up through construction crews to now leading projects that focus on older properties and the process of bringing them back to life.

We talk about learning through experience, building a business rooted in relationships, and what it looks like to take on projects that require both preservation and practicality. Along the way, David reflects on the crews he works alongside, the challenges of growing a company, and the role his work plays in shaping the future of Oak Cliff.