City News Roundup

Big boom coming to East Dallas and more city news this week

East Dallasites need to prepare for a big boom, and freeway aficionados get a chance to see TxDOT up close and personal. Here are some of the biggest things that happened in city-of-Dallas news this week:

Sam's Club implosion
Despite neighbor protests, Trammell Crow is taking the next club-footed step on its dastardly plan to build a Sam's Club in East Dallas with a building implosion scheduled for February 1. Executive VP and general counsel Scott A. Dyche wrote a "Dear Neighbor" letter outlining its game plan, which will begin at 8 am on a Sunday morning, when it blocks off Carroll Avenue between 75 and Coles Manor Place.

They describe the noise level as "similar to or less than a thunderstorm overhead."

"There will be a loud, albeit brief, series of explosions and noise as the building collapses, as well as a temporary dust cloud in the immediate vicinity," the letter reads. "You should close your windows and outside vents, and turn off your heating/AC for 30 minutes. We also recommend that you bring your pets indoors during the implosion and for a period of 30 minutes thereafter."

Even if you don't live in that neighborhood, doesn't that seem horribly galling?

Animal cruelty unit
New Dallas County district attorney Susan Hawk went to the SPCA in a photo-op to announce her intent to expand the Animal Cruelty Unit in her office. The unit was started in 2012 and currently has one prosecutor and one investigator. She's planning on adding a second prosecutor, plus a community liaison to work with animal rights advocates and solicit funding.

Freeway shopping list
Armed with a $1.6 billion purse granted to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in the November 2014 election, officials are making their shopping list of road projects to build. Those include a direct roadway between State Highway 360 and Interstate 30 in Arlington, and connectors between the Dallas North Tollway, I-30 and Woodall Rodgers Freeway. TxDOT will hold meetings for public input on January 20 at 4 pm at its Dallas and Fort Worth district offices.

No love for Southern Gateway
Dallas City Council members Scott Griggs and Dwaine Caraway held a meeting on January 13 to discuss the Southern Gateway Project, TxDOT's attempt to improve traffic flow on I-35E in Oak Cliff. The design includes converting some HOV lanes to toll lanes, widening main and frontage lanes, and more.

The project would rebuild I-35 from Colorado Boulevard to US 67 and add reversible toll lanes, the first toll lanes in Dallas south of downtown. So if you didn't want to deal with the traffic, you could pay to bypass it, similar to what's being built on the LBJ Freeway and I-30.

The meeting attracted about 80 people; none of them like the idea.

Before the Sam's Club can be built in East Dallas, implosions must happen.

Photo courtesy of Trammell Crow

Before the Sam's Club can be built in East Dallas, implosions must happen.

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family values

Dallas sees Texas' biggest one-year jump in cost of raising kids

Courtesy of SmartAsset/iStock

Raising a child in Dallas will cost parents over $23,000 this year.

Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, and a new study has determined Dallas parents are saddled with the second-highest costs for childrearing in Texas, with expenses jumping higher than any other metro statewide since 2025.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth have grown 4.5 percent since last year, totaling $23,340 for a family of three in 2026. That's over $1,000 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,414 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the cost for raising a child in Dallas:

Cost of childcare: $10,736
Cost of food: $1,826
Other expenses: $10,778

Though Dallas has the second-steepest costs for raising a child in Texas, the metro is actually much more affordable than most other places in the U.S.: DFW ranked 39th in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the 10th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a family.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-New Braunfels is the most affordable metro in the Lone Star State for raising a family, and it's the third-most affordable place for raising a child nationwide. San Antonio parents will spend $21,393, or $448 more than last year, on their childrearing costs.

Houston also ranked among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child, landing in 7th place nationally, with childrearing costs adding up to $22,605 in 2026. That's only $737 more than last year.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

family dallas fort worth arlington smartasset reports livability