City News Roundup

Lakewood Theater and high speed train bracket this week's news in Dallas

Budget talks for the city of Dallas are underway, with citizens offered a chance to meet their council members in person. Trains were in the news, and so were local videos and city logos. These are the high points of city news in Dallas this week:

$treet repair$
Discussions about the budget began this week with a painful discovery about the city's street repair situation. At the city council meeting on August 19, confusion reigned over exactly how much money is being allocated towards street repair, and where it's coming from.

To get the streets right again, the city needs to spend $900 million. That won't be happening this year. To stop the worst deterioration, city staff requested $16.7 million, but then asked for another $7.3 million at the meeting.

"We need $121 million just to avoid our streets getting worse," noted city council member Scott Griggs. "This crisis is getting critical. Deferred maintenance has caught up to us."

High speed rail
The notoriously silly North Central Texas Council of Governments has set in motion a project to develop high speed rail that would connect to the Fort Worth-to-Houston line when it opens "and could eventually offer access to a third corridor stretching from Oklahoma to South Texas."

The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) approved the expenditure of $4.5 million for planning, design, project development and preliminary engineering. The money will come from the Regional Toll Revenue funding account.

This is not the previously planned privately-funded high-speed rail being developed by Texas Central to run between Dallas and Houston. This would be a high speed speed train linking Fort Worth to Houston and other metropolitan areas in Texas, because "the North Central Texas Council of Governments continues to play a role in planning activities." They still matter!

The train would ostensibly make it easier for riders from Fort Worth, even though the Trinity Railway Express already covers that route. Facebook commentator Wylie H Dallas calls it "possibly the single dumbest, most wasteful idea yet. High speed rail operates at speeds in excess of 150 mph. Running such a line between Dallas & Ft. Worth, with a stop in Arlington is just bizarre and wasteful."

Historical Lakewood Theater
The owners of the Lakewood Theater were ordered to halt renovation until the city can determine the building's historical significance. Construction crews were spotted throwing theater seats into a dumpster. The theater will now be evaluated by the Landmark Commission to determine if it merits historic landmark status.

Video time
The peak of the arch was installed on the Margaret McDermott Bridge, aka the I-30 bridge. The piece, which weighs 192 tons, was raised by jacks in a 4-hour process that was compressed to a one-minute video by the Dallas Morning News. The arch is not functional; it's for decorative purposes only. The bridge will allow pedestrian and bicycle traffic in and out of downtown Dallas, the floodway and Oak Cliff.

Dallas Animal Services made a video to show the behind-the-scenes operations at the shelter. An adorable Papillon mix named Pattycakes is relinquished by her owners, examined, spayed and then adopted by new owners. DAS takes in more than 100 animals every day during the summer.

New logo
Meanwhile, the city is working on a branding campaign, including an update to its 43-year-old logo of a stripey blue D with a tree in the middle. The alternative would be the D with the star cut-out used by the Dallas Visitors & Convention Bureau, but Frontburner offered a forum for alternate alternatives.

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population explosion

7 booming Dallas neighbors see biggest population growth in U.S.

City of Denton, TX - City Hall/Facebook

Denton had the biggest population growth rate in Dallas-Fort Worth from 2022 to 2023.

Denton, Mansfield, McKinney, and more North Texas cities are among the fastest-growing places in the country, according to a new population growth study by SmartAsset.

The report, "These Cities Saw the Largest Growth in Population – 2024 Study," examined U.S. Census population estimates for 2023, 2022, and 2018 to determine one-year and five-year population changes for 610 U.S. cities with populations of at least 65,000 residents in 2023 (where the most recent data was available).

Silver Spring, Maryland had the No. 1 biggest population boom nationwide from 2022 to 2023, SmartAsset found. The Washington, D.C. suburb grew 12.86 percent year-over-year, bringing the city's total population from 75,313 to 84,996 residents in 2023.

Denton took the lead over all other Dallas-Fort Worth cities with the 16th-largest one-year population growth rate in the U.S., at 5.32 percent. Denton gained over 8,000 residents from 2022 to 2023, bringing the city's total population to 158,361 in 2023.

This should come as no surprise to those who already live in Denton, who may know their hometown was ranked one of the safest suburbs in America.

Mansfield trailed close behind with a 4.16 percent increase in population during that same period, which landed it the No. 26 spot in the one-year population change analysis. The city gained 3,189 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 79,775 residents in 2023.

McKinney appeared farther down the list as No. 49 with just a 2.89 percent one-year growth rate from 2022 to 2023, and a total population of 213,504 residents.

Only four other Dallas-Fort Worth cities appeared in the top 100 fastest growing cities in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023:

No. 61 – Frisco (2.48 percent increase)
No. 72 – Rowlett (2.48 percent)
No. 73 – Lewisville (2.17 percent)
No. 99 – Flower Mound (1.73 percent)

The report suggested major population shifts in communities like Denton or Mansfield can result in "a variety of interwoven economic and social impacts."

"The magnitude of the population change can affect demand for businesses and services, which in turn may impact costs – or even the availability of such amenities," the report's author wrote. "Similarly, the relative age of the population can determine the strength or weakness of the local job market, as well as have an impact on local culture, economic trajectory, tax base and more."

Fast-growing cities elsewhere in Texas
Texas cities dominated the top 10 list of cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023.

New Braunfels, a San Antonio suburb, ranked No. 2 nationally with an 12.49 percent one-year population boom, and a 29.68 percent growth rate from 2018 to 2023. The city gained 12,318 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 110,961 residents in 2023.

Just two spots behind New Braunfels is the North Austin suburb of Georgetown (No. 4), which grew 11.34 percent to 96,317 residents in 2023. According to the report's five-year population change analysis, Georgetown ranked seventh with a 29.85 percent growth rate.

The Houston suburbs of Atascocita and Conroe ranked No. 5 and No. 9, respectively. Atascocita's total population grew to 119,502 residents in 2023, which represented a 11.03 percent growth rate from 2022, and a whopping 38.56 percent population increase since 2018. Conroe's 6.73 percent one-year population increase paled in comparison, but the city grew 23.49 percent during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

The top 10 U.S. cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023 are:

No. 1 – Silver Spring, Maryland
No. 2 – New Braunfels, Texas
No. 3 – Glen Burnie, Maryland
No. 4 – Georgetown, Texas
No. 5 – Atascocita, Texas
No. 6 – Pine Hills, Florida
No. 7 – Elgin, Illinois
No. 8 – Lehi, Utah
No. 9 – Conroe, Texas
No. 10 – Dale City, Virginia

population growth reports smartasset dallas fort worth denton suburbs mansfield