City News Roundup

See what's behind the curvy pink wall and more Dallas city news

The famous pink wall is only vaguely pink.

Photo courtesy of Candy's Dirt

UPDATE 9-16-2019: This column originally had an item about The Tourism Public Improvement District, but due to a number of inaccuracies, the item has been removed. In addition, a statement that Casey Thomas serves on the VisitDallas Board of Directors is incorrect, and has been struck-through where it appears in the story.

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The Dallas City Council had a busy week, approving a street design program, and putting the Pink Wall issue to bed.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

Ethics complaint
Casey Thomas is heading to the hot seat.

A Dallas attorney has filed an ethics complaint against the City Council member for not disclosing concert tickets he received from VisitDallas.

Thomas did not report tickets he received for at least six events at the America Airlines Center. Thomas, ~~who serves on the VisitDallas Board of Directors~~, used the tourism bureau's box suite for a Maverick’s game, an appearance by Michelle Obama, and several concerts, including Justin Timberlake, Sam Smith, Bruno Mars, and R. Kelly, the complaint alleges.

Elected officials are supposed to report disclose gifts valued at $50 or more.

According to the complaint filed by retired lawyer Barry Jacobs, the passes from VisitDallas were part of pattern and Thomas expected the gifts to continue.

"Accordingly, by his acceptance of the gifts and his (inferable) anticipation of future gifts, Councilman Thomas gained an economic interest in VisitDallas," Jacobs alleges in the complaint.

Thomas will appear before the Ethics Advisory Commission at City Hall on September 17 at 9:30 am.

Pink wall
The saga of the zoning changes for the high-rises and residents behind the Pink Wall at the Northwest Highway and Preston Road has finally come to an end. On September 11, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved the Planned Development District 15 to resolve years of hand-wringing over concerns about increases in density and traffic.

Preston Hollow will get a large new park and approval to build a 21-story apartment building, says Candy's Dirt. Compromises on the deal include height restrictions topping at 240 feet on Northwest Highway. Previously the track was zoned for unlimited height based on zoning plans from the '60s.

The plan also allows City Council to meet its obligation of adding housing, whether it's affordable housing, market-rate, or a combination of both, Chad West noted. This is one of the few neighborhoods in town that can handle added density without displacing current residents, he said. Two residential high rises are in the area.

Councilwoman Jennifer S. Gates has played referee for constituents sourly divided on future development. The issue has been discussed at dozens of public meetings in the 30 months of negotiations.

Street design
The Dallas City Council approved the latest street design manual, which consolidates and streamlines several old documents. The new Street Design Manual emphasizes walkability and alternative transportation, such as bicycles or scooters.

In 2016, Dallas adopted the Complete Streets Manual to provide guidance on streets. While many of street improvements since and several more underway use the complete street model, however, the document was not a requirement. City streets have been built using the 21-year old Paving Design Manual.

The updates were merely symbolic now, though, since the Street Design Manual was required. However, Councilman Chad West proposed increasing sidewalk widths in commercial areas from 4 feet to 5 feet, with a preferred width of 6 feet. There are waivers still, such as protecting trees and a variety of other exceptions.

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population report

Booming Dallas suburb was the fastest-growing city in the U.S. in 2024

City of Dallas - City Hall/Facebook

Dallas' population has grown to nealry 1.33 million residents.

The Dallas suburb of Princeton grew faster than any other city in the United States in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new population report said Princeton's population has more than doubled in the last five years. The city saw a dramatic growth rate of 30.6 percent from July 2023 to July 2024, now boasting a population of just over 37,000 residents. The suburb is located 42 miles northeast from downtown Dallas.

The report also revealed Dallas retained its No. 9 spot on the list of the 15 most populous cities in the U.S. Dallas gained more than 23,000 residents during the one-year period, bringing the city's population to 1,326,087 people in 2024.

Elsewhere across North Texas, Fort Worth surpassed 1 million residents and eclipsed Austin as the 11th largest city in the nation. Fort Worth had the fifth-highest numeric increase in population last year, 23,442 residents, to bring the city's total population to 1,008,106 residents.

Houston and San Antonio were the only Texas cities to have higher numerical growth rates than Fort Worth. Houston gained 43,217 residents – the second-highest increase nationwide – while San Antonio ranked No. 4 in growth with an additional 23,945 residents.

Austin has yet to surpass the 1 million population threshold and has a population of 993,588 residents, the report says. The city now ranks 13th on the list of most populous U.S. cities after ranking 11th in 2024.

Sandwiched between No. 11-Fort Worth and No. 13-Austin is San Jose, California, whose population of 997,368 puts it in the 12-largest spot.

Fastest growing U.S. cities
Six additional Texas cities made the list of fastest-growing U.S. cities, with several in the DFW Metroplex:

Fulshear, near Houston (No. 2) with 26.7 percent growth (54,629 total population)
Celina (No. 4) with 18.2 percent growth (51,661 total population)
Anna (No. 5) with 14.6 percent growth (31,986 total population)
Fate (No. 8) with 11.4 percent growth (27,467 total population)
Melissa (No. 11) with 10 percent growth (26,194 total population)
Hutto, near Austin (No. 13) with 9.4 percent growth (42,661 total population)

The Austin suburb of Georgetown's growth has continued to slow since 2023, and it no longer appears in the list of fastest-growing cities. However, it did surpass 100,000 residents in 2024.

San Angelo, a small city in West Texas, also surpassed the 100,000-population threshold.

Most populous U.S. cities in 2024
New York City maintained its stronghold as the biggest in America in 2024, boasting a population of nearly 8.5 million residents. Los Angeles and Chicago also retained second and third place, with respective populations of nearly 3.88 million and more than 2.7 million residents.

"Cities in the Northeast that had experienced population declines in 2023 are now experiencing significant population growth, on average," said Crystal Delbé, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. "In fact, cities of all sizes, in all regions, showed faster growth and larger gains than in 2023, except for small cities in the South, whose average population growth rate remained the same."

The 15 populous U.S. cities as of July 1, 2024 were:

No. 1 – New York, New York (8.48 million)
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California (3.88 million)
No. 3 – Chicago, Illinois (2.72 million)
No. 4 – Houston, Texas (2.39 million)
No. 5 – Phoenix, Arizona (1.67 million)
No. 6 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1.57 million)
No. 7 – San Antonio, Texas (1.53 million)
No. 8 – San Diego, California (1.4 million)
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas (1.33 million)
No. 10 – Jacksonville, Florida (1 million)
No. 11 – Fort Worth, Texas (1 million)
No. 12 – San Jose, California (997,368)
No. 13 – Austin, Texas (993,588)
No. 14 – Charlotte, North Carolina (943,476)
No. 15 – Columbus, Ohio (933,263)

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