Not-so-easy living

Dallas-Fort Worth saw 8th highest spike in cost of living in U.S., report says

DFW’s housing market is one of the hottest in the nation.

Photo by Sawitree Pamee/EyeEm, Getty Images

The period from 2010 to 2020 was not kind to the wallets of people in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Among major U.S. metro areas, DFW saw the eighth biggest increase in the cost of living from 2010 to 2020, according to a new analysis of federal data by Filterbuy. During that 10-year span, the cost of living in DFW rose 20.3 percent, the analysis shows. The Seattle metro area led major metros with a 23.2 percent jump in the cost of living from 2010 to 2020.

Here’s a further breakdown of the numbers for DFW:

Overall cost of living compared with the average — 5.1 percent higher.
Cost of goods compared with the average — 3.3 percent higher.
Cost of housing compared with the average — 12.1 percent higher.
Cost of utilities compared with the average — 13.3 percent higher.

Despite those figures, DFW remains a more affordable alternative to places like New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, and Miami.

“DFW’s housing market is one of the hottest in the nation. As more and more professionals move to DFW, the downtown rental rates have risen. Home prices have also climbed over the past few years and [continued] to rise in 2021, as the demand for homes increases,” U.S. News & World Report says.

“Still, the Dallas-Fort Worth area offers a better value than similarly sized metro areas when comparing household costs with median household income.”

Three other places in Texas made Filterbuy’s top 30 for the steepest rises in the cost of living among major metros:

In the 12th-ranked Austin area, the cost of living climbed 17.8 percent from 2010 to 2020.
In the 14th-ranked San Antonio area, the cost of living grew 17.4 percent from 2010 to 2020.
In the 28th-ranked Houston area, the cost of living increased 14.9 percent from 2010 to 2020.

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Weed News

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Dallas over decriminalization of marijuana

Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife

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The City of Dallas has been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for its efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

According to a release, Paxton has sued the city for adopting a city charter amendment that would decriminalize marijuana-related offenses and prohibit police from enforcing Texas law.

That amendment was Proposition R, or Dallas Freedom Act, which decriminalizes possession of four ounces of marijuana or less. Voters passed the amendment in the November 5 election, with 67 percent voting in favor.

The lawsuit, filed against the Dallas City Council, alleges that Proposition R is unconstitutional and violates Texas drug laws criminalizing any amount of marijuana.

Paxton says that cities can't "pick and choose which state laws to follow." He's proposing a permanent injunction to stop Proposition R from going into effect.

"The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them," says Paxton in a statement. "This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”

Before the recent election, possession of two to four ounces of marijuana could result in a punishment of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Ground Game Texas, the activist nonprofit that has also helped get marijuana decriminalization on the ballot in elections across Texas, first got the issue on the ballot in July with the necessary 50,000 signatures.

Dallas is not the only city to be sued; Paxton also filed lawsuits against five other cities in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos in January for their ballots and policies decriminalizing marijuana.

Both Austin and San Marcos had a judge overturn their cases, according to a FOX 4 report.

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