After a long evening of dinner and dancing in uptown, Christina Ryan, a resident of West Village, found herself circling the blocks trying to find a legal and convenient parking spot.

“Parking is a nightmare,” said Ryan.

What was once grassy land is now one of the most thriving developments in the entire city of Dallas. At the intersection of Lemmon and McKinney avenues, just one mile North of downtown, is the center of Dallas’ West Village neighborhood. Close in vicinity to one of the nation’s state of the art city centers, Victory Park, West Village is known for a more family friendly blueprint. The social metropolis that 1,500 of Dallas’ working professionals choose to reside is also one of the city’s most reputable employers, employing 143,000 people combined with its uptown connection.

“Parking makes this industrial hot spot one of the most inconvenient in the Dallas area,” said Cassie Gill, a former resident of West Village. “The noise level is surprisingly tolerable, however people are constantly honking and yelling our their windows out of frustration, either over a parking spot or bad traffic,” said Gill

In 2001, when West Village opened its open-air, urban neighborhood, it took off running and has since developed two additional phases that include more retail, more restaurants, and you guessed it, more apartments. However, the evolving development is only three stages complete, with its largest expansion on the way.

“Parking is great at West Village,” said Missy Wyszynski, a marketing representative for the West Village.

Wyszynski was surprised to hear of the parking complaint.

“There is a garage attached to Borders Bookstore that has more than enough available parking at all time.”

The Borders garage offers one level of free parking that is not nearly enough on the weekends and like most Dallas roads, it is on a hidden one-way street.

“I have had to park in the Borders parking garage before after circling the area for 20 minutes and not finding any parking,” said Ryan.

Ryan admitted to her lack of patience but with everyone on the same nine to five schedule, people aren’t so friendly after a long workday.

“I’m lucky enough to have underground parking as a resident but I’m also witness to tourists tailgating me into the garage Thursday through Sunday,” said Ryan, “especially in the evening hours making my paid parking inaccessible.”

Ryan, a recent SMU graduate, is a fraction of West Village’s 45 percent residents who have received a bachelors degree or higher.

“This is not just a melting pot of people who lead different lives,” said West Village apartment manager, Matt Cain. “Everyone, give or take a few, is on the same work hard, play hard schedule.”

With that said, the high caliber of opportunity is genuine in this in-town neighborhood and from an economical standpoint, West Village has an enduring spirit. But will the next phase of this ‘city dwellers lifestyle’ include additional parking for visitors?

“I hope they build a parking garage solely for visitors,” said Ryan. “It would benefit everyone and make it a much more potent environment.”

Although Ryan said she doesn’t plan to move anytime soon, she hopes West Village will crack down on parking violators and think about adding additional parking before they add another restaurant or residential high-rise.

“My favorite part of West Village is the bustling weekends and the great restaurants,” said Ryan. “It’s a great place to live, especially if your car is parked legally.”

“West Village caters to a demographic that I relate to and the marketing possibilities are endless,” said Wyszynski. “There are no cons that I can think of.”

Although, your chances of a great time in West Village may be better off with foot-traffic, don’t let that stop you from experiencing the trendy lifestyle. If the creative edge, multi-cultural atmosphere isn’t enough to sell you, maybe the family-friendly environment is an easier pill to swallow.

“It is timeless and it keeps getting better,” said Wyszynski. “You can’t go wrong.”