City News Roundup

Butts out for cigarette smokers and more top Dallas city news

Smokers will soon have one less place to light up in Dallas.

The city of Dallas made life a little less friendly for cigarette smokers, and in case you haven't heard, we elected a new president. Here's what happened in Dallas news this week:

Blue Dallas County
President Donald Trump won the state of Texas with 53 percent of the vote, but Dallas was one of the few counties, and the only county in North Texas, to vote blue. Hillary Clinton won Dallas County by nearly double, earning 61 percent of the vote versus Trump's 35 percent. Frontburner breaks it down district-by-district, with Jennifer Staubach Gates' district 13 being staunch Trump territory.

Texas state Representative Kenneth Sheets, who was the Republican incumbent in East Dallas, lost his seat to attorney Victoria Neave.

Smoking ban
At its November 9 meeting, the Dallas City Council approved a long-sought-after smoking ban. The agreement makes smoking illegal in most Dallas parks, starting in March. Fines for violating the ordinance could be as much as $200.

Approved by an 8-6 vote, the ban is not as complete as some council members would prefer. Earlier this year, the Quality of Life Committee supported a ban without exemptions, amending the Park and Recreation Department’s original recommendation. The agreed-upon exceptions from the parks department were reintroduced during the meeting. They include city-owned golf courses, the Elm Fork Shooting Range, and park events in leased spaces like the State Fair of Texas and the Dallas Arboretum, who will be able to establish their own smoking rules.

So, why reintroduce the exceptions? According to the Dallas Observer, some feared the ban would make certain city-owned facilities less popular. City council member Rickey Callahan, who sponsored the amendment, claimed that golfers like to smoke and, faced with a smoking ban, would instead go to courses without bans. Ditto shooting sports.

HUD deadline
Dallas City Hall has the rest of the month to prove the city spent nearly $30 million dollars properly on 54 affordable housing projects. According to the Texas Tribune, a letter sent from HUD stems from an internal audit that found the city does not have proper documentation to show why city employees steered federal funds to particular projects and how they later followed through on compliance.

In a letter sent to city manager AC Gonzalez, Shirley Henley, a HUD community planning and development director in Fort Worth, said that her agency's main concern is finding documentation that would confirm whether the city's approach to distributing federal funds was correct.

Affordable housing has been a hot topic in Dallas as a result of a conflict between the city and landlord HMK, owner of more than 300 low-rent homes in West Dallas.

Pay hike for police and fire
After nearly a year of discussion, the city has reached an agreement with Police and Fire to increase salaries by 27 percent for newer officers. The increase is aimed at keeping young officers in Dallas. Tenured officers also will receive a pay increase.

Police and fire department members will vote on the deal, and then it goes to the Dallas City Council. Three years ago the city approved an agreement that increased stagnant wages for police and fire department members for the first time in years.

politics city-news-roundup

Settling Down

Dallas named one of the 50 best places to retire in the U.S. in 2026

Visit Dallas/Facebook

undefined

Dallasites getting ready to give up the daily grind are already living in the right place for their next chapter in life. Dallas has just been named the third-best city to retire in Texas, and it lands as the 50th best city in the U.S. for retirement living, according to a new WalletHub report.

The study examined 182 U.S. cities and ranked them based on 45 "retirement-friendly" livability metrics across four categories: affordability, activities, quality of life, and health care.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Florida dominated the top 10, with Orlando, Miami, and Tampa locking in the top three spots and Fort Lauderdale ranking eighth on the list.

Dallas fared best in the categories for "activities" and "affordability," respectively ranking 39th and 69th. The activities category analyzed attractions and entertainment venues for seniors, like the number of per capita museums, theaters, book clubs, senior centers, and bingo halls; whereas the affordability rank encompassed the local cost of living, taxpayer-friendliness, the costs for in-home services, and other factors.

Costs were a significant factor in the rankings, as many retirees live on a fixed income. Finances and affordability also play a huge part in determining where to live once it's time to put up those work boots, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said.

"As a result, the best cities for retired people are those that minimize taxes and expenses, as well as have good opportunities for retirees to continue paid work for extra income, if they choose to do so," he said. "In addition, the top cities provide high-quality health care and offer plenty of enjoyable activities for retirees."

Dallas fell behind in the "quality of life" (No. 119) and "health care" (No. 130) rankings, but it wasn't enough to tank the city's overall performance.

In fact, Dallas is the Metroplex's No. 1 city for retirees, with six more DFW neighbors earning spots on the list:

No. 75 – Plano
No. 78 – Fort Worth
No. 91 – Grand Prairie
No. 101 – Garland
No. 107 – Irving
No. 124 – Arlington

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin topped the list as the No. 1 best place to retire statewide, and it ranked No. 23 nationwide. San Antonio claimed the No. 2 spot statewide and was the only other Texas city to rank among the national top 50.

wallethub reports retirement dallas city life rankings