City News Roundup

Trinity River fantasies and early voting fuel this round of Dallas city news

Now that Ebola has hit New York, it no longer has to be Dallas' fault. But we do have Ebola updates as well as a bunch of transportation-related news that we'll try to distill into the kind of bite-sized chunks that make this Friday column wrapping up the Dallas news of the week such a breezy-yet-transfixing read.

Trinity River fantasies
Gail Thomas, director of the Trinity Trust, a nonprofit that's involved in the development of the Trinity River Corridor (and has only 1,400 likes on its Facebook page), made a fanciful presentation to the Dallas City Council on October 20, describing an entertainment complex that ~~couldn't~~ could possibly be built in the levees, with $76 million that they don't yet have. The list of amenities included spray parks, fire rings, a climbing wall, a BMX track, kayak rentals and a disc golf course.

Putting aside its odd fixation on striped shirts, the presentation was misleading and did not address a number of reality-based questions, including the fact that it showed a four-lane road instead of the six-lane road that is actually being proposed, that it showed an additional lake not there, and that there would be no way to access the complex.

In this week's Ebola news
Now free of the Ebola virus, nurse Nina Pham is out of the hospital in Maryland and headed back to Dallas. On her way out of town, she got to meet President Barack Obama, who gave her a hug. Soon she will be reunited with her darling dog Bentley, who has perhaps received even more attention than she has. It's quite a fuss but maybe it reinforces the value of animals and the positive role played by Dallas Animal Services and its support group, Dallas Companion Animal Project.

Would Pham be amused by the Halloween decorations draped over one townhouse in the Park Cities? A homeowner has installed an Ebola-themed Halloween theme that includes hazmat trash cans, neon cones and caution tape. Too soon?

Yes to more bike trails
The Regional Transportation Council, an arm of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, approved a plan to expand bike and walking trails around Dallas. The nearly $20 million needed to finance them will come from Dallas County and the City of Dallas, and it will be spread out over the next few years. There's a list of about 30 bike and pedestrian projects that officials hope will link all the trails together as well as to DART rail stations.

Addison has had it about up to here with DART
After waiting 31 years and contributing more than $220 million, the City of Addison is considering pulling the plug with DART. After learning that it could be another 20 years before Addison gets a rail line, Mayor Todd Meier and city staffers are going to explore alternatives. Addison helped form DART in 1983; pulling out would require a citywide election.

Addison sits along the Cotton Belt line, but DART has said it can't even begin to start running trains until 2035. An alternative plan — to pave the area where the train would go and run buses instead — doesn't appeal to Addison or other cities in Collin County.

RIP L.M. Kit Carson
L.M. Kit Carson, award-winning screenwriter/actor/producer whose extensive and varied credits include writing the screenplay for Texas Chainsaw Massacre and co-writing Paris, Texas, died on October 20 after a long illness; he was 73. His son Hunter posted a goodbye on Facebook; Robert Wilonsky shared some memories, as did film critic Matt Zoller Seitz.

Early voting NOW
Early voting has begun in anticipation of voting day, which this year falls on November 4. In this election, we're voting for our U.S. senator and a number of U.S. representatives, a large number of judges, some state senators and state representatives. But the big ones are the races for governor and lieutenant governor. This is not the place to get political, so just go vote for Wendy and Leticia, and be done with it.

Dallas County has 25 full-time early voting locations in libraries, schools, city halls and recreation centers throughout the county; the list is here. With the strict new photo ID law, all registered voters are now required to present an approved form of photo identification. That includes a driver's license, personal identification card, passport and, of course, a concealed handgun license. The period to vote early runs through October 31. DO IT.

Trinity River fantasy has a pastoral two-lane road.

Photo courtesy of City of Dallas

Trinity River fantasy has a pastoral two-lane road.

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income news

What it takes to be a middle class earner in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025

Photo by J King on Unsplash

Being a middle class earner in Dallas is harder than it used to be.

Maintaining a middle class status in Dallas-Fort Worth only gets harder as the years go on, and the income ceiling to even be labeled as such has just risen even higher. So says SmartAsset's annual "What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America" report for 2025.

According to the latest findings, middle-class income in big cities has a wide range: Depending on where the city is located, it it can be as low as $49,478 or as high as $71,359. This is up from 2024, when middle-class incomes started at $47,568.

Among Texas cities, Plano holds the No. 1 spot on the list with the highest middle-class income ranges.

A household in Plano would need to make a minimum of $72,389 but no more than $217,188 to be considered "middle class" in 2025. Last year, the necessary salary range to maintain a middle class designation in Plano was between $63,651 and $190,004 a year.

The report used a variation of Pew Research's definition of a middle class household, stating the salary range is "two-thirds to double the median U.S. salary." To determine income limits, the report analyzed data from the Census Bureau's 2023 one-year American Community Survey, where the most recent data was available.

New to the 2025 edition, SmartAsset also determined the middle class income thresholds for all 50 states.

Arlington, Virginia has the highest middle class income range in the country, with households needing to make between $93,470 and $280,438 a year to be labeled "middle class."

Middle class earners across Dallas-Fort Worth
Dallas households will also have a hard time maintaining a "middle class" designation, as the city climbed from No. 213 last year to No. 59 this year. Earners would have to make between $46,743 and $140,242 annually to be considered middle class in 2025. Last year, they would have needed to make between $43,596 and $130,800 a year.

In a shift from the 2024 report, SmartAsset decided to analyze only the top 100 most populous U.S. cities, after previously ranking 345 cities. That means Dallas-area suburbs like Allen and McKinney – which were among the top 40 cities with the highest middle class income threshold nationwide in 2024 – were left out of this year's analysis.

Here’s what it takes to be middle class in other DFW cities:

No. 43 – Irving: $52,885 to $158,670 yearly
No. 46 – Fort Worth: $51,383 to $154,164 yearly
No. 55 – Garland: $47,815 to $143,458 yearly
No. 61 – Arlington: $46,134 to $138,416 yearly

Elsewhere in Texas
On the opposite end of the scale, middle class earners in Lubbock have one of the smallest income ranges necessary to be labeled middle class in Texas: Between $36,297 and $108,902 a year. The city ranked 92nd nationwide.

The study says cost of living changes, rising inflation rates, and shifting wages nationwide have made it more difficult for Americans to maintain their "middle class" status.

"For middle-class Americans, the dream has long been a life of reasonable comfort — a stable home, the ability to save enough money to retire, and enough left over for periodic splurges like family vacations, updated cars, or home improvements," the report's author wrote. "But with living costs surging over the past few years, that dream is getting pricier."

Here’s what it takes to be a middle class earner in other Texas cities:

No. 18 – Austin: $60,995 to $183,002 yearly
No. 73 – Corpus Christi: $43,421 to $130,276 yearly
No. 75 – Houston: $41,754 to $125,274 yearly
No. 78 – San Antonio: $41,544 to $124,644 yearly
No. 82 – Laredo: $40,476 to $121,440 yearly
No. 86 – El Paso: $38,208 to $114,634 yearly

In SmartAsset's state-by-state analysis, Texas has the 23rd largest middle class income range. Texas households would need to make between $50,515 and $151,560 to be labeled "middle class" this year. The median income for a Texas household in 2023 came out to $75,780.

The No. 1 state with the highest income range required is Massachusetts, with middle class households needing to make between $66,565 and $199,716 yearly in 2025.

income middle class status reports smartasset dallas plano fort worth