City hunting

Dallas named among 25 best places to live by U.S. News & World Report

Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the best places in America to live.

U.S. News & World Report has unveiled its newest Best Places to Live in the USA, and Dallas-Fort Worth ranks as a top spot.

The site, which compared the 125 largest metros in the country, ranks DFW at No. 21. According to U.S. News, the city must “have a good value, be a desirable place to live, have a strong job market, and a high quality of life.”

DFW, which also ranks No. 9 in places to retire, doesn't perform as well as it did in 2018 (No. 18) or 2017 (No. 15), but U.S. News lauds the Metroplex for "offering both big-city excitement and quiet, suburban living."

"[T]he Dallas-Fort Worth metro area offers an interesting mix of Texas pride and cosmopolitan offerings," the report says. "The cowboy life still exists in Fort Worth, while Dallasites love the trendy local bars and numerous retail shops. And no matter which part of the Metroplex they call home, sports fans rally together behind their professional sports teams."

DFW also has the "small-town feel of Friday night football games and backyard parties" in its suburbs, the report adds.

"In those areas, residents can bump into their friends at the local Tex-Mex restaurant, children ride their bikes and joggers hit the pavement for evening runs," the site says. "But even in DFW proper, many people exude that Texas friendliness with a wave or a 'hello' to strangers."

For the third year in a row, Austin topped the list. The Live Music Capital of the World is also the only Texas city to make it into the top five. Denver, Colorado, took silver, and Colorado Springs took bronze, with Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Des Moines, Iowa, securing fourth and fifth best, respectively. Then there's DFW, and Houston, following at No. 30. San Antonio closes out the pack at No. 34.

So how’d Austin get to No. 1 on the list? How does any city get on this list?

U.S. News surveyed 2,000 American residents to weigh various factors about their cities. “These factors include quality of the job market, housing affordability, if people are actually moving to the areas, net migration, [and] desirability as well,” explained U.S. News Real Estate editor Devon Thornsby.

Quality of life is a huge component of the methodology. Things like high school education quality and average morning commute time factor into that category. Even with the city’s ongoing struggles with affordability and mobility, the pros still outweigh the cons for Austin residents.

Austin, with its technology boom, slew of universities, migration from other parts of Texas and the country, and general desirability, is caught in a perfect storm.

But other cities provide a good warning. “The biggest factor keeping places like New York City and Los Angeles from getting on the list is cost of living,” Thornsby said. “As a ranking that’s trying to help anyone make a decision, we have to take a realistic look at what people can afford there.”

Thornsby credits Austin’s “three-peat” win in large part to how much cheaper to live Austin still is than in Silicon Valley or New York City, where many of our transplants come from, as well as the overall culture.

“A lot of young professionals love the idea of being able to live in a part of the country that isn’t already so established with professionals,” she said.

Here are some quick stats for DFW:

Population: 7,104,415
Average annual salary: $51,250
Average high/low temperatures: 76.6 degrees/55.8 degrees
Median age: 34.6 years old
Median home price: $248,375
Average annual rainfall: 36.1 inches
Unemployment rate: 3.5 percent
Median monthly rent: $1,022
Average commute time: 28.1 minutes

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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