Not so pumped up

Dallas lags this far behind in ranking of country's healthiest cities

Austin, not Dallas, is the healthiest city in Texas.

Photo courtesy of Together We Run

While one Texas city is running away with an important accolade, Dallas is lagging way behind.

A study released February 10 by personal finance website WalletHub puts Austin in 11th place among the country’s healthiest cities and first place in Texas. Dallas creeps over the finish line in 92nd place.

And with one exception — Plano, which earned a spot at No. 40 — the cities in DFW aren't winning any medals for fitness. They rank as follows:

Fort Worth, No. 117.
Arlington, No. 135.
Irving, No. 136.
Grand Prairie, No. 137.
Garland, No. 141.

To determine which regions prioritize residents’ well-being, WalletHub compared 174 of the most populated U.S. cities across 43 key indicators of good health. The data ranges from cost of medical visits to fruit and vegetable consumption to fitness clubs per capita.

Dallas scored poorly in overall health (No. 134), but didn't do too badly in the category of food (No. 35). In "fitness," it clocked in at a so-so No. 72, but for green spaces, it tumbled to No. 115.

Most of Plano's scores were higher, with "health" earning a coveted ranking of No. 10. It also scored lower than Dallas in food (No. 69), but higher in fitness (No. 36) and green spaces (No. 52).

Perhaps not surprisingly, outdoors-loving Austin held the same positions (No. 11 and No. 1 in Texas) in WalletHub’s 2019 study of the healthiest cities in the U.S. The city scores highest in the green space (No. 13), fitness (No. 15), and food (No. 16) categories of the study. More specifically, Austin appears at No. 3 for most healthy restaurants per capita and No. 5 for most running trails per capita.

However, the Capital City lands at No. 40 in the health care category. Despite this, the the City of Austin says, “Austin is a relatively healthy city."

As for other big cities in Texas, Houston came in at No. 82. Among all of the cities, Houston ranks 173rd for mental health counselors per capita. San Antonio clocked in at No. 103.

Ranking above Austin in the WalletHub study are: San Francisco (No. 1); Seattle (No. 2); San Diego (No. 3); Portland, Oregon (No. 4); Washington, D.C. (No. 5); New York City (No. 6); Denver (No. 7); Irvine, California (No. 8); Scottsdale, Arizona (No. 9); and Chicago (No. 10).

The Rio Grande Valley city of Brownsville ranked last, at No. 174.

Interestingly, Laredo has the lowest cost per doctor’s visit, $58.33, which is 3.3 times less expensive than in Boston, the city with the highest at $191.62, Wallethub says. Whereas, Amarillo has the lowest average monthly cost for a fitness-club membership, $10.17, which is 8.1 times less expensive than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $82.83.

health lists fitness wallethub rankings

Convention Center News

Dallas City Council drops $142 million for convention center re-do

Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center has opened as a warming center in Dallas.

Courtesy photo

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The Dallas Convention Center got a big infusion of cash for its imminent makeover. According to a release, the Dallas City Council awarded more than $187 million in contracts for construction projects in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas (KBHCCD) Master Plan.

The contracts are as follows:

$141.5 million contract to Perkins&Will and Populous for architectural, engineering, and design services for the Convention Center Expansion West of Lamar (Component 1)
$42 million in city contributions and $31 million in federal funding, including $20 million from the Reconnecting Communities grant program awarded through a partnership with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). This funding will be used to construct the foundations for three deck caps, as well as the capping and foundation of the Lamar crossing, near the KBHCCD.
$3.7 million to Metropolitan Infrastructure, PLLC, a Dallas-based M/WBE firm to oversee the renovation of Pioneer Plaza and Cemetery.

Convention and Event Services is leading a team of architects, engineers, and other contractors to design a Convention Center district from Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station to Old City Park that will connect surrounding communities, meet convention attendees’ evolving needs.

"The City Council has made a transformational investment to realize the vision for a reimagined Convention Center district,” said Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. “The local and global expertise of our project partners will be instrumental in creating a facility that not only meets current and future convention demands but connects the surrounding residential community and serves downtown workers, benefitting Dallas economic growth and social vibrancy for generations."

With more than 40 conventions booked in the facility scheduled to open in 2029, the new KBHCCD expansion plans include
800,000 square feet of Exhibit Hall space 170,000 square feet of Ballroom space, including a 100,000-square-foot largest ballroom 100,000 square feet of Meeting Rooms and 2,000 parking spaces.