Residents, TCU, city are working to revive a once effective neighborhood program
As a newly formed neighborhood alliance aimed at addressing complaints of residents who live near TCU gains momentum, some community leaders say a much older, yet still useful program has been cast aside.
TCU’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, formed in 2015 by city, residential and university leaders, was created to inform new students who are often living on their own for the first time how to be good neighbors. It provides them with resources that allow “all neighbors to live and experience Fort Worth in a safe, comfortable manner.”
Members most commonly raise concerns to students about loud, over-the-top parties in their neighborhoods and try to find common ground, especially as more students begin moving off campus and into historically residential areas. Residents in neighborhoods near TCU’s campus have long butted heads with the city and university about parties and what should be done about them.
But now, many who live around TCU have told the Star-Telegram the program has lost its effectiveness. As a result, a new group, the Safe Neighborhood Alliance, was formed in late 2025. Residents are still figuring out how the two groups should support each other. Ultimately, both groups recognize they want the same outcomes. Leaders of both groups say they want to work together.
Earlier this month, Neighbor to Neighbor program leaders met with city and TCU officials to discuss ways to revive the program, members told the Star-Telegram.
“The Neighbor to Neighbor program was designed to help neighbors and students have open communication, but after COVID, it kind of dropped the ball,” said Lexi Lovett, a member of both the Neighbor to Neighbor program and the Safe Neighborhood Alliance who lives in Bluebonnet Hills. “Now it is just not an effective program in any way. I could still believe in the program if it was updated, but right now it’s just not effective.”
Others still believe in Neighbor to Neighbor. From 2015-2020, members of the program, like Martha Jones, say the program was making a sizable difference in neighborhoods like Bluebonnet Hills, Westcliff, Westcliff West, Paschal and University West. But during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when students left campus for remote learning, the program lost its steam.
Jones strongly believes the Neighbor to Neighbor program can be rebooted and even more effective than it was before the pandemic if it is given the chance. But it will take a community, city and university to be on board, she said.
“I’m an advocate for the Safe Neighborhood Alliance too, I think it has a purpose,” Jones said. “But I also want to see the Neighbor to Neighbor program be rebooted. It helped students learn to be good neighbors. It helped neighbors reach out to students. And I still feel strongly that it can eliminate a lot of problems.”
At its peak, the Neighbor to Neighbor program held quarterly meetings on TCU’s campus that were well attended by city council members, students, residents and university leaders. But attendance has dropped, and so has the frequency of the meetings.
Instead, some residents of neighborhoods surrounding campus have turned to the Safe Neighborhood Alliance. It has grown to over 20 members, and some told the Star-Telegram that they already believe it has filled the gaps left by the Neighbor to Neighbor program in recent years.
Leaders of the Neighbor to Neighbor program and the city are both taking steps toward trying to update the program and get it back to a point where students regularly show up to hear resident concerns. On Jan. 14, the Neighbor to Neighbor group met with TCU leaders, with city officials and law enforcement also present to discuss ways to revitalize the group and be more effective going forward.
Jones said she believes that meeting was successful. She thinks the newly formed Alliance and Neighborhood to Neighbor program can work in tandem, with the Alliance focused on enforcement and safety, and the program focused on starting productive dialogue between students and neighbors to find solutions.
Fort Worth City Council member Michael Crain, whose district includes most of TCU’s campus, has previously been involved in discussions between aggravated residents and university administration. He has told the Star-Telegram in the past that he planned to take a more active role in rebuilding the effectiveness of the Neighbor to Neighbor program.
TCU representatives have also been involved in trying to reboot the program. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Mike Russel told the Star-Telegram he was not aware of the Safe Neighborhood Alliance but believes the university’s Neighbor to Neighbor program can still be helpful in addressing issues, like noise complaints. He said the school takes every complaint seriously.
“Keeping open communication about issues affecting students and neighbors is helpful to everyone,” Russel wrote in a statement. “TCU responds to every complaint or concern about any TCU student behavior off campus. For loud parties, if we know the names of the students who hosted the party, and we have credible information linking them to a policy or law violation, the Dean of Students office initiates our conduct process.”
Complaints from neighbors near TCU started decades ago, but as the student body has increased and more students moved into neighborhoods that were historically residential, those complaints became louder.
“The goal is to get rid of bad behavior, period,” Jones said. “And that’s on both sides, both the Neighbor to Neighbor program and the Safe Neighborhood Alliance. That’s what both of our goals are, is to provide more safety for the neighborhood. So that’s how I see it. I see both groups working together to get the outcomes everyone wants.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 11:58 AM.
