City News Roundup

Preservation notches wins and more heroic tales in Dallas news

The Victorian-era "Browder House" gets saved.

The conversation in Dallas this week centered on debates about what we should do with the things we have: Fair Park, a Victorian home, and the Meadows building. These were the top stories in Dallas news:

Future of Fair Park
On January 26, there was more talk about what to do with Fair Park at a panel discussion hosted by the Dallas Architecture Forum. The level of interest is high; the event drew a full house.

Comments from attendees, including those who live in the surrounding neighborhood, wondered why it is gated off to the public. Opening it to the public is a painful reminder of the deteriorating condition of the buildings; renovation will require big money. Its sole user, the State Fair of Texas, isn't much help, but people have ideas such as a blues festival or children's programs.

Mayor Mike Rawlings is promoting the idea of privatizing it, which will be on the agenda at a discussion on February 8, from 5-7 pm, in the Hall of State at Fair Park, Margaret and Al Hill Lecture Hall.

Old house saved
Time Warner Cable comes to the rescue on the Victorian home off 30 near the Ramada Plaza Hotel it was planning to demolish. Take that, U-Verse! Time Warner will pay to move the house to another location, described by Landmark Commission director Katherine Seale as the "perfect fit." She won't yet reveal which benevolent developer is providing the land — so coy — but his or her identity will be revealed at the Landmark Commission meeting on February 1 at 1 pm. Such mystery, such intrigue, who could it be.

Meadows building
That Landmark Commission meeting is going to be a hot event, because also in attendance will be GlenStar Properties, the new owners of the Meadows Building, off 75 near Lovers Lane. GlenStar will explain why it is a good idea and not a bad one to demolish the two-story annexed portion of the building, in order to make room for a driveway.

According to an email from a GlenStar representative, the integrity of the Meadows Building complex has been considerably diminished over the last 25 years, most evident in the annex building. The company says the demolition of the building is part of a program of "thoughtful restoration and preservation."

$25 BlackBerry
A January 22 audit found that the city does not follow appropriate procedures when it comes to outgoing council members and the stuff they take with them when they go. In the most recent graduating class, some left owing money, others left with electronics and furniture they got at a cut-rate deal.

At the time of the audit, Tennell Atkins and Vonciel Jones Hill left office with water bills pending, and Sheffie Kadane still owed $837.14 in property taxes. (Everything's paid up now.) Vonciel got off with a BlackBerry for $25, and Jerry Allen scored an iPad 3, for which the audit could find no record of payment at all.

city-news-roundup

happy go lucky plano

Dallas neighbor dazzles on new list of happiest cities in America

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

undefined

A new happiness study has ranked Plano one of the happiest cities in America this year, and it once again landed on top as the happiest city in Texas.

Plano has moved up on the list and ranks as the 16th happiest U.S. city in 2026. Last year, it was 17th.

WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.

Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Plano across the three key dimensions:

No. 15 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
No. 22 – Community and environment
No. 72 – Income and employment

Plano and its residents have continued improving their city year after year, whether its through opening new bakeries and restaurants, inviting fun pop-ups for locals, or having a strong job market.

Plano's happiness far outshines the rest of North Texas; according to WalletHub, Irving is the 70th happiest city in the country, the third-happiest in Texas, and the second-happiest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Garland ranked farther behind as No. 92 nationally, and more DFW cities ranked even lower: Grand Prairie (No. 106), Dallas (No. 111), Fort Worth (No. 113), and Arlington (No. 119).

The report additionally found that Dallasites spend the third-most amount of time at work in the nation. The city ranked No. 180 in the national analysis of U.S. cities with the "fewest work hours."

WalletHub also emphasized that money doesn't buy happiness — after a certain point.

"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."

Six-figure earners in Plano aren't necessarily as happy as those who don't make as much, as a separate financial study from SmartAsset revealed these big earners are only taking home about $72,653 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.

This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:

No. 39 – Austin
No. 128 – Houston
No. 135 – Lubbock
No. 137 – El Paso
No. 140 – Laredo
No. 143 – Amarillo
No. 150 – Brownsville
No. 154 – San Antonio
No. 155 – Corpus Christi

wallethub plano reports