Meet Drs. Anita and Olivia Carleo

Visionary sisters help Dallasites see value of preventive eye care

Editor’s note: This is the first in a new promoted series called CultureMap Rx, in which you can get to know Dallas’ top healthcare experts. First up: Drs. Anita and Olivia Carleo from Vision Veritas.

Q: What inspired you to become an optometrist?

Anita Carleo: I was pre-med in college, studying to be a doctor. Over Christmas break one year, my older sister, Olivia, brought equipment home from optometry school. She taught me how to look in the back of the eye. It was when I saw my mom’s optic nerve for the first time that I knew this was the field of healthcare I wanted to pursue. I’ve never looked back.

Q: What are the most common mistakes you see people making when it come to eye health?

Olivia Carleo: The most common mistake is that people think they don’t need annual eye exams because they don’t have problems with their vision. People with perfect vision still need annual check-ups to look for freckles or melanomas on the retina, holes or tears that could cause a retinal detachment, or signs of glaucoma or macular degeneration. All of these conditions are oftentimes asymptomatic in the early stages, and only become evident to the patient when it has progressed to the point of irreversible damage. A big part of eye care is prevention.

Q: How often should people go to the optometrist, and what should they expect from their initial visit?

OC: Yearly eye exams are recommended. The doctor will determine if a glasses prescription is needed and will also check the health of the front and back of the eye. Patients will be dilated to give the doctor the best view of the inside of their eye, and the dilation may blur the patient’s near vision for a couple of hours. A patient should expect to be at the doctor’s office for about an hour.

Q: Can you tell us about one of your memorable patient experiences?

AC: It’s always wonderful when a child gets a pair of glasses and sees clearly for the first time. In many cases, parents don’t know their child isn’t seeing clearly, and the child doesn’t know to voice their problems because they don’t know it’s not normal. Getting them in a pair of glasses is like opening their eyes to the world for the first time. It really is quite rewarding to change a life so substantially by just prescribing a pair of glasses.

Q: What frame styles are trending right now?

OC: Right now people are choosing frames that make a statement. The “geek chic” look, in which frames are thicker and bigger, has been in for more than a year now. This season, round frames are making a comeback. All the lines we carry are coming out with round shapes, some big and some small, both in regular prescription glasses and sunglasses.

Anita and Olivia Carleo, sisters and owners of Vision Veritas.

Courtesy photo

Anita and Olivia Carleo, sisters and owners of Vision Veritas.

family values

Dallas sees Texas' biggest one-year jump in cost of raising kids

Courtesy of SmartAsset/iStock

Raising a child in Dallas will cost parents over $23,000 this year.

Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, and a new study has determined Dallas parents are saddled with the second-highest costs for childrearing in Texas, with expenses jumping higher than any other metro statewide since 2025.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth have grown 4.5 percent since last year, totaling $23,340 for a family of three in 2026. That's over $1,000 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,414 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the cost for raising a child in Dallas:

Cost of childcare: $10,736
Cost of food: $1,826
Other expenses: $10,778

Though Dallas has the second-steepest costs for raising a child in Texas, the metro is actually much more affordable than most other places in the U.S.: DFW ranked 39th in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the 10th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a family.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-New Braunfels is the most affordable metro in the Lone Star State for raising a family, and it's the third-most affordable place for raising a child nationwide. San Antonio parents will spend $21,393, or $448 more than last year, on their childrearing costs.

Houston also ranked among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child, landing in 7th place nationally, with childrearing costs adding up to $22,605 in 2026. That's only $737 more than last year.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

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