A North Texas university wants to expand its campus, but nearby residents are concerned about its plans.
Residents are asking the university to halt the demolition of properties bought by Texas Woman's University to make room for future growth.
"It was a nice residential street with very nice houses mostly build in the '20s," Grove Street resident Keith Shelton said. "It has changed a lot."
Shelton's neighboring homes have been replaced by empty lots. His street is just a block away from TWU.
Since 2005, the university has purchased 37 properties and torn down most of the homes.
"There wasn't anything I could do about it, but we just slowly saw our lifestyle diminish because of the destruction and traffic and everything else," Shelton said.
TWU said it has no immediate plans for the empty lots. Its master campus plan has no time line, and it has not forced residents from their properties.
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"Being a state institution, they don't have to play with us," Denton Councilman Kevin Roden said. "They have the power of eminent domain."
He said the university's plan could mean the demolition of a historic neighborhood east of TWU, which has homes built in the early 1900s, as well as a part of Austin Street.
