Greenland Hills

Greenland Hills—known to nearly everyone as the M Streets—is one of the most recognizable historic neighborhoods in East Dallas. Established in 1923, it contains an unusually concentrated collection of Tudor Revival cottages, along with Craftsman, Spanish Eclectic, Neo-Colonial, Minimal Traditional, Ranch, and later Contemporary homes.

The architecture is often what people notice first. Steep gables, patterned brickwork, stained and leaded glass, decorative chimneys, arched entries, and porte cocheres appear from one block to the next. But the larger impression comes from the collection: houses that differ in detail while still sharing a compatible scale and relationship to the street.

The M Streets did not retain its character by accident. Residents made a collective decision that the streetscape itself was worth protecting.

That decision led to the creation of the M Streets Conservation District in November 2002. Its standards govern many of the exterior elements visible from the street, including building scale, setbacks, rooflines, windows, porches, materials, fences, and additions. The goal is not to prevent the neighborhood from changing. It is to help new construction and renovation respond to the character already there.

The result is a combination that has become increasingly difficult to find this close to central Dallas: historic architecture, active sidewalks, tree-lined residential streets, and everyday access to Greenville Avenue. Depending on the block, residents can walk to coffee, dinner, fitness, or an evening out, then return to streets that feel distinctly residential.

The M Streets are neither a secluded enclave nor a fully car-free urban district. They occupy a more intimate middle ground—close to Downtown, Uptown, SMU, and the Park Cities, but still shaped by cottages, porches, sidewalks, and the familiar rhythms of an established neighborhood.