City News Roundup

Dallas City Council puts VisitDallas on the ropes and more city news

Despite "promotion" from VisitDallas, the Dallas Convention Center still operates at a loss.

Photo courtesy of Dallas CVB

The Dallas City Council had much to mull over this week, including updates on VisitDallas and housing for the homeless. Meanwhile, Dallas has reached the final chapter in its Confederate statue saga.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

VisitDallas on watch
At the May 15 Dallas City Council meeting, city staff and VisitDallas officials presented 20 measures they are taking to correct numerous accounting and contract issues identified in an audit of the tourism board that was published in January.

Some council members support a contract extension with VisitDallas including Casey Thomas, Tennell Atkins, Kevin Felder, and Rickey Callahan. But no vote was taken.

The briefing covered a number of corrective actions proposed to bring accountability to the agency that can't explain how it uses tax dollars. VisitDallas will now be under weekly scrutiny on key performance metrics, such as economic impact, bookings, and convention rentals. The city will also begin monthly checks on compensation and expenses.

Among the fixes: hiring two outside firms (one for the city, one for VisitDallas) to ensure proper goals and metrics are in place.

The contract with VisitDallas expires in 2020, and some council members are pushing for an open-bidding process.

"My sense is that competitive bidding fixes a lot of things," said District 14 representative Philip Kingston. "If everything you told us is true, and all these wonderful structural reforms can be implemented, and the city of Dallas will have near-perfect oversight of all this, then it would merely make you all the strongest possible bidder. Right?"

Homes for homeless
The Office of Homeless Solutions presented strategies for creating housing and emergency shelter for homeless individuals. In 2017, Dallas voters approved a $20 million bond for housing the homeless.

The plans included three sites where apartments can be built.

Adam McGough complained that the area around the location proposed for his district is already plagued by crime, and a homeless housing development may worsen crime rates.

Phillip Kingston said there would be no problem with the two sites on Haskell Avenue in his district. He also proposed additional sites, including one in Uptown used by Dallas Water Utilities to access the Mill Creek Tunnel.

Sites are being chosen using four criteria, including access to public transportation, parks, and libraries. A main factor is a tricky calculation of several economic factors known as the Market Value Analysis, or MVA, which uses a scale to indicate economic stability.

Homeless Solutions also presented a plan to allow churches and other organizations to use their facilities to provide shelter during extreme cold and hot weather, IE below 32 degrees between December and March, and above 100 degrees between June and September.

Council is expected to vote on the inclement weather shelters on May 22.

HUD budget
The city of Dallas will approve the proposed Housing and Urban Development consolidated plan on May 22, but before that, City Council discussed amendments during a briefing May 15.

The plan is a $30 million budget, which provides affordable housing, homebuyer assistance, homeless shelter, and other programs.

Residents will have a final opportunity to weigh in at a public hearing at the May 22 council meeting.

Confederate demolition
At its meeting on May 16, the City Plan Commission unanimously affirmed that the Confederate Monument should be removed from Pioneer Cemetery near City Hall. The CPC vote was the final hurdle to clear before the five towering statues can be pulled up from the historic cemetery.

The demolition permit was already approved by City Council and the Landmark Commission, with the CPC hearing final appeals from Confederate monument supporters. CPC buried the decision at the very end of the agenda, forcing public speakers to wait out a marathon eight-hour meeting chock full of zoning requests. Supporters of Confederate monuments also paid $700 to protest the demolition permit.

The monument is already draped in thick sheets of black plastic, and city staff is in the process of choosing a contractor to yank it up. The city has budgeted $500,000 for the removal and storage, anticipated to take place in the summer.

Pedestrian safety
TxDOT is increasing its consideration of bicyclists and pedestrians in the development of transportation projects, as part of design, construction, and maintenance of state roadways and in the development of federally funded transportation projects. Part of that is this online survey citizens can take to help prioritize topics such as sidewalk conditions and disconnected facilities. Deadline for the survey is June 7.

Freeway closure
The nightly eastbound closure of US 175 (C.F. Hawn Freeway) that began May 9 has been extended through May 24 to set bridge beams on the north and southbound bridges. The closures will take place from 10:30 pm to 6 am. Eastbound lanes of the highway will close nightly at the intersection of SH 310.

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A+ for Plano

Surprising Dallas suburb makes new list of best college towns in U.S.

Southern Methodist University students at a football game

Southern Methodist University/Facebook

Dallas knows how to show out.

Dallas' spirited neighbor Plano has entered the spotlight as the No. 16 best midsize college town in the U.S., while Dallas ranks among the best largest college towns, a new study by WalletHub has proclaimed.

While Plano might not be thought of as a "college town," it is home to primary campuses of Collin College (Spring Creek Campus and the Courtyard Center); Collin College has an annual enrollment of over 60,000 students. To qualify for the study, a city must have a university or college population of at least 7,500 students.

To determine the best college towns, WalletHub analyzed 415 cities based on their "wallet-friendliness," social environment, and academic and economic opportunities for college graduates. Cities are ranked overall and are sorted into one of three population categories: large, midsize, and small cities.

Several North Texas cities were represented across the three rankings by population, but none ranked higher than Plano. This Dallas suburb ranked as the 54th best college town in the nation overall, and ranks as the third-best college town in Texas.

Out of the three key dimensions, Plano ranked highest for its academic and economic opportunities – landing 25th nationally. This category analyzed Plano's quality of higher education, the earning potential for college graduates, unemployment rates, job growth rates, the share of part-time jobs and median income of part-time workers, and more.

In the remaining two categories for its "social environment" and "wallet friendliness," Plano respectively ranked 223rd and 271st nationwide. The social environment ranking compared the number of students per capita, the share of single people, crime rates, and the number of cafés, breweries, festivals, and shopping centers per capita, among others; the wallet-friendliness category examined local housing costs, student loan debt per person, the adjusted cost of living for young people, and other financial factors.

"As student living expenses can reach over $39,000 per year, it’s important to find the most bang for your buck," the report's author wrote. "Therefore, it’s best to live in a city with a reasonable cost of living, along with good academic and work opportunities. The ideal city should also provide a fun social environment to help students deal with the stress of college."

Dallas ranked as the 35th best large college town in the U.S., and it ranked 108th overall regardless of city size.

This is how the rest of North Texas fared in the report:

Denton – No. 77 overall, No. 23 among midsize cities
Fort Worth – No. 100 overall, No. 31 among large cities
McKinney – No. 110 overall, No. 31 among midsize cities
Richardson – No. 139 overall, No. 57 among small cities
Irving – No. 141 overall, No. 39 among midsize cities
Carrollton – No. 150 overall, No. 42 among midsize cities
Arlington – No. 189 overall, No. 53 among large cities
Grand Prairie – No. 230 overall, No. 71 among midsize cities
Garland – No. 265 overall, No. 83 among midsize cities
Mesquite – No. 317 overall, No. 111 among midsize cities

Other top college towns in Texas
Austin once again topped the list as the No. 1 best college town in America, boosted by the city's wealth of local colleges and universities and the local economy. The Capital City has outshone obvious contenders like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, for five years in a row, and it also tops the large cities list.

According to the report's findings, Austin has the 15th best academic and economic opportunities for college students and graduates, and the 16th best social environment. WalletHub commends Austin for having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and the "34th-best annual job growth rate," while also offering students ample ways to "de-stress after class."

"On top of that, Austin ranks 22nd in the nation for the quality of higher education among more than 400 cities in our study," the report said. "It also has the 112th-cheapest in-state tuition (including room and board), at $34,651 per year."

Four other cities in the Lone Star State appeared on the overall list of America's best college towns: College Station (No. 37), San Antonio (No. 72), Houston (No. 73), and Lubbock (No. 83).

In the rankings by city size, San Antonio ranked as the No. 2 best large college town in Texas and 23rd in the U.S., with Houston right behind as the third-best statewide and 24th nationwide.

San Marcos, a college town between Austin and San Antonio, ranked as the No. 2 best small college town in Texas, and 54th best among the small colleges nationally. In the overall list regardless of city size, San Marcos ranked 132nd nationally.

The top 10 best college towns in America for 2027 are:

No. 1 – Austin
No. 2 – Ann Arbor, Michigan
No. 3 – Charlottesville, Virginia
No. 4 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 5 – Atlanta
No. 6 – Tampa, Florida
No. 7 – San Diego
No. 8 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 9 – Orlando
No. 10 – Charleston, South Carolina

college towns reports wallethub dallas plano

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A+ for Plano

Surprising Dallas suburb makes new list of best college towns in U.S.