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Richardson Information
Richardson is a city in Dallas County and Collin County, Texas. As of the
2000 census, the city had a total population of 91,803. The city of Buckingham,
after being completely surrounded by Richardson, was annexed into the city in
1996.
In the 1840s, settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky began arriving in the
Richardson area which was inhabited by Comanche and Caddo Native American
tribes. Several of the earliest families clustered around an area later named
Breckinridge in honor of John C. Breckenridge, a Confederate Secretary of State
and General, and Vice President of the United States from 1857-1861. The town
was situated near what is now Richland College and consisted of a general store,
a blacksmith shop and the Floyd Inn.
Richardson Interurban Depot, 1908After the American Civil War, the new railroad
bypassed Breckinridge and an area to the northwest of Breckinridge became the
new center of activity. William J. Wheeler donated land for the town site and
railroad right-of-way, but declined to have the village named in his honor.
Instead the town was named for railroad contractor E. H. Richardson, who built
the line from Dallas to Denison.
Richardson was chartered in 1873. Originally, there were three businesses: a
general store, a post office and a drug store. In 1908 the Interurban, an
electric railway, began service north to Denison, Texas, south to Waco, Texas,
southeast to Corsicana, Texas and west to Fort Worth, Texas. By 1910, residents
had seen their first telephone, electric light and gravel street, and had grown
in number to about 600. In 1914, a red brick schoolhouse, presently home to the
administrative offices of the Richardson Independent School District (RISD), was
built.
In 1924, the Red Brick Road (Greenville Avenue) was completed, bringing an
increase in traffic, population and property values. The following year the town
incorporated and elected its first mayor, Thomas F. McKamy. All taxable property
was assessed at a value of $515,292, and a total of 15 businesses were in
operation. Bonds were issued and in 1926, waterworks were completed so homes
could be furnished with indoor water. A sewage treatment plant was then
constructed, the volunteer fire department began operating and, soon after,
utility franchises were awarded to Lone Star Gas and Texas Power and Light
Company. By 1940, the population stood at about 740 but after World War II, the
city experienced a new surge in population. By 1950, the city boasted a
population of approximately 1,300. Additional municipal services, such as
emergency ambulance, police protection and parks and recreation facilities,
became available to residents.
In 1951, Collins Radio opened a Richardson office, ushering the city into the
electronic era. U.S. Highway 75 opened in 1954 and the agricultural city of the
past became a community of shopping centers and homes. In 1955, Richardson’s
first police department was organized; consisting of a chief and two officers.
On June 26, 1956, voters adopted a home rule charter and a council-manager form
of government that still operates today. Door-to-door mail delivery became
available to the 5,000 residents and funds were approved for a park and city
hall. Also in 1956, Texas Instruments opened its offices just south of the
Richardson border and land values increased dramatically as the city made
significant advances in population and economic status. More than 500,000 people
moved into the Dallas area in the period between 1940 and 1960.
In 1969, Erik Jonsson and other Texas Instruments executives donated the
Southwest Center for Advanced Studies to the state and it became part of the
University of Texas System called University of Texas at Dallas. In 1972, the
population stood at approximately 56,000, and this same year the Richardson
Independent School District had an enrollment of approximately 32,000 students
in 16 elementary schools, seven junior high schools and four high schools. On
January 8, 1991, Richardson High School student Jeremy Wade Delle fatally shot
himself in front of his English class, an incident that inspired the Pearl Jam
song "Jeremy."
In 1992, two incidents of violent crime took the lives of teens from the city's
Berkner High School. On Nov. 6, 1992, student Sean Cooper, 17, was shot and
killed near the school by gang members after they fired into a crowd after a
football game. On Nov. 25, 1992, student Fred Banzhaf and recent graduate Justin
Marquart, both 18, were killed during the robbery of the Herman's World of
Sporting Goods store in Richardson where they worked.
Today the city is no longer the bedroom community of the ’50s and ’60s, but is
itself at the heart of a significant employment center, the Telecom Corridor,
where more than 80,000 people work each day. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit
(DART) completed construction on three light rail stations for the city in the
late 1990s.
In the spring of 2000, City of Richardson officials broke ground on the Eisemann
Center for Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations at the Galatyn Park
Station urban center, named after Richardson philanthropist and businessman
Charles W. Eisemann.
The city is home to a sizeable Asian American population, with large Chinese
American and Vietnamese American communities contributing to the character of
the city. There are notable concentrations of Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese
American businesses along Greenville Avenue, particularly between Arapaho Road
and Belt Line Road. A shopping center there displays a sign declaring the area
to be "DFW Chinatown," though the area is rarely referred to as such by locals,
as there are other concentrations of Chinese American businesses of similar size
(if not larger) in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area. A large number of
Vietnamese American establishments can also be found in the area of Richardson's
historic downtown. The city is also home to a number of Indian American
businesses.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for a Place...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.