Stop Playing Politics With Joppa, Start Fixing What We Live With Every Day

Shalondria Galimore is a fourth-generation resident of the Joppa community, president of the South Central Civic League, and founder and CEO of the Melissa Pierce Project, Inc. She submitted the below op-ed.

As a fourth-generation resident of Joppa (pronounced “Joppee”), I carry a deep pride in where I come from. Our community’s history and the generations of families who built their lives here deserve respect, investment, and attention. Yet today, Joppa seems to hold more value as a political talking point than as a neighborhood where real people face real challenges every single day. 

City leaders have recently announced plans to explore whether Dallas has the resources to shut down two long-operating manufacturing plants in southern and West Dallas, an effort that could cost the city hundreds of millions. The fact that such an expensive undertaking is even under consideration makes it difficult for Joppa-Joppee residents to accept repeated claims that there are “limited resources” for safe roads, reliable transportation, or long-promised community infrastructure. If the city can explore massive expenditures elsewhere, it can certainly invest in the people who already live here. 

For months, our community has been torn apart by road construction. Heavy machinery sits idle for days at a time. Roads are closed without notice. Residents go hours without water service. Trash from work crews blows into our yards. Construction dust coats our trees, porches, and cars. And we’re being told this disruption will continue until May 2026. 

That is an extraordinarily long time for any neighborhood to endure torn-up roads, debris, and dust. And let’s be honest: this kind of prolonged upheaval would never be tolerated in many other parts of Dallas. Joppa residents deserve the same urgency, respect, and basic consideration the city offers elsewhere. 

These frustrations are magnified by the fact that our community has only two ways in and out and our primary bridge is unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists. Ensuring safe, reliable access to a neighborhood is not a political favor; it is a fundamental public safety responsibility. The city promised a solution years ago: a pedestrian bridge. We were told in 2020 that construction would be completed in 2024. But now, as 2025 draws to a close, building hasn’t even begun. Fact: The project has already been fully funded for years. 

The pattern continues with public transportation. Joppa has been cut off from DART service, with “low ridership” cited as justification. The city’s on-demand ride-share alternatives may look good on paper, but on the ground, they are difficult for older residents to navigate and entirely inaccessible to anyone under 18. Simply put, they are not a substitute for reliable, traditional public transit. 

And still, we wait on another long-promised investment: a multi-purpose center, something this community has worked toward for years. The city has shown interest, but only “gap funding” has been offered. In 2021, city leaders even announced a $250,000 Brownfield grant, to be paid with EPA funds, to clean up asbestos and mold at the proposed site. Four years later, that money has yet to be released. What was once presented as progress now feels more like a photo-op than a real commitment to Joppee’s future.

The message from Joppa is simple: stop treating our community as a political prop. Finish the roadwork. Build the pedestrian bridge. Restore dependable public transportation. Release the funds promised for the multi-purpose center site. 

It is time for the city to turn promises into real progress, for the people who call Joppa home, for the generations who deserve a future as strong as the legacy. And that legacy matters: Joppa is a historic Freedman’s Town, recognized by the Texas Historical Commission as one of the most intact Freedman’s Towns still in existence. 

It’s time to put respect on the name. J-O-P-P-A.