Live, work and play in DeSoto — a progressive community with a small-town feeling, rich in diversity and the cultural arts. Located in the “Best Southwest,” (the southwest corner of Dallas County), DeSoto offers fine housing, friendly neighborhoods, a great school system, expanding health facilities, multiple family and sports parks and restaurants and shopping. Nestled in an area sometimes referred to as the Hill Country of North Texas, DeSoto is peacefully sheltered from big-city congestion, but has all the benefits of a “small-town” atmosphere.
The largest of four communities in Best Southwest Dallas County, DeSoto exemplifies the advantages of living and working in the area with five key attributes: tremendous housing values, shorter commutes, clean air, excellent schools and quality health facilities and services. With a population of more than 53,000, DeSoto is a diverse community of neighborhoods and families where planning for the future is a priority.
The city is constantly improving its park system to accommodate many active youth sports programs and family activities. Public safety is a priority in DeSoto as well, evidenced by the state-of-the-art police facility and recent passage of a bond election, which includes renovations and improvements of two fire stations. DeSoto was one of the first departments in the state to put body cameras on every officer.
DeSoto Town Center exhibits the innovative thinking of city leaders. In the early 1990s, officials converted an abandoned strip center into The Town Center. It has become an anchor of the community, housing city administrative offices, the recreation center, civic center, library, a “Black Box” Corner Theatre and an outdoor amphitheater.
The City of DeSoto has been studying ways to revitalize the Hampton Road Corridor, the main artery through the city’s central business district that had begun to look old and dated. In 2015, voters passed a bond issue authorizing the purchase of underutilized properties along the corridor. These are being cleared and made available for modern development.
The city council and staff stand ready to continue facilitating the economic health and growth of our community. A national developer partnered with the City of DeSoto to develop a mixed-use project just west of DeSoto Town Center (the former parking lot for the city complex) that features 35,600 square feet of retail space, one- and two-bedroom residential units and a 360-space parking garage. This concept embraces the new urbanism trend with a mix of retail and residential units. It provides consumer traffic for retail establishments both during the day as patrons visit the library, city hall and recreation center and in the evening as Town Center residents return home to patronize shops and restaurants in the development.
As the city continues to boom with new businesses, DeSoto maintains its sense of community. Annual events — such as the DeSoto Living! Festival, Juneteenth and Fourth of July Celebrations, Crawfish Festival and other events — keep DeSoto’s hometown spirit alive.
A rallying point for the DeSoto community is its dynamic public school system, which has achieved success academically and in a variety of extracurricular activities. With public and private schools and a vast number of colleges and universities in the area, DeSoto residents take pride in academic achievement. Great schools, great people and a great location — residents have it all in DeSoto!