Growing stature

Delightful Dallas neighbor blossoms as one of America's most livable small cities in 2022

Flower Mound's wellness and recreational activities earn applause.

Facebook/Flower Mound Parks and Recreation

The mound of accolades keeps piling up for Flower Mound.

The Dallas suburb has been named by personal finance website SmartAsset as one of the most livable small cities in the U.S. This year’s SmartAsset study positions Flower Mound at No. 5, down one spot from its 2021 ranking.

SmartAsset’s analysis compared 286 cities (with populations between 65,000 and 100,000) across 11 metrics related to home affordability, job opportunities, health care accessibility, income equality, and entertainment density.

The study notes that Flower Mound Flower has the eighth lowest poverty rate among the 286 cities (3.8 percent), as well as the 14th lowest income inequality and the 19th lowest housing costs as a share of median household income (17.65 percent).

The Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce describes the city as “a family-oriented community that prides itself on maintaining a small-town atmosphere while embracing and fostering a dynamic economic development environment.” Among the suburb’s attributes are its central location, low tax rate, and top-notch school system, along with an “unsurpassed quality of life” that has garnered national attention, the chamber says.

Aside from the SmartAsset ranking, Flower Mound has collected recognition from several other sources.

For instance, Money magazine last year awarded Flower Mound the No. 4 spot on its list of the 50 best places to live in the U.S.

“Locals say Flower Mound still has a small-town feel, but it’s growing quickly,” Money noted. “The city saw the highest job growth of any place on our list over the last five years. It also comes in second for the highest projected job growth over the next five, just after Round Rock down near Austin.”

Among other honors for Flower Mound is the 2020 Voice of the People Award for Excellence in Recreation and Wellness from the International City/County Management Association along with Polco, an online community polling and survey platform.

“Flower Mound’s leaders work tirelessly to involve residents in planning for the future of recreation and wellness opportunities in their town,” says Damema Mann, director of national engagement at Polco.

Topping the SmartAsset list of small cities again this year is O’Fallon, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Other North Texas cities ranking high on the SmartAsset list (but not nearly as high as Flower Mound) are Mansfield, No. 35; North Richland Hills, No. 78; and Rowlett, No. 103.

Elsewhere in Texas, cities ranked by Smart Asset are:

Cedar Park (Austin metro area), No. 44.
Georgetown (Austin metro area), No. 63.
Atascocita (Houston metro area), No. 85.
New Braunfels (San Antonio metro area), No. 86.
Missouri City (Houston metro area), No. 90.
Temple (Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metro area), No. 96.
Harlingen (Brownsville-Harlingen metro area), No. 113.
Victoria (Victoria metro area), No. 146.
Edinburg (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area), No. 172.
Pharr (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area), No. 173.
Bryan (Bryan-College Station metro area), No. 175.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics