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    Scrooge-like stature

    Dallas suburb gets big lump of coal on list of best Christmas cities

    John Egan
    Dec 23, 2019 | 9:05 am
    Christmas on the Square
    How could a town with a tree this pretty make the naughty list?
    Photo courtesy of The City of Garland

    With a made-for-the-holidays name, you’d think Garland would be one of the country’s best cities for Christmas. But by one measure, that’s not so. Garland sinks to a Grinch-level No. 93 in a new ranking of the 100 largest U.S. cities for celebrating a festive and affordable Christmas.

    Personal finance website WalletHub compared the 100 cities based on 33 metrics, such as Christmas events per capita, average price for a ticket to a Christmas party, and shopping centers and outlet malls per capita.

    WalletHub, which released the list December 17, loaded all of that data into five carts: traditions and fun, holiday observance, generosity, shopping, and costs. In the shopping category, Garland ranks 98th out of 100. Garland’s last-place showing in one basket — gift shops per capita — drags down its shopping score.

    The city performs slightly better in the traditions and fun category (No. 96), observance category (No. 84), and costs category (No. 70). Its best position comes in the generosity category (No. 46).

    To be fair, Garland isn’t a bah-humbug ’burb. For instance, Garland’s Christmas on the Square makes spirits bright with more than 100,000 holiday lights (and made CultureMap's list of must-see lights in the area), while Bass Pro Shops hosts Santa’s Wonderland, and Magic 11th Street presents the Magical Christmas Candlelight Home Tour.

    Here are the overall rankings for other cities in Dallas-Fort Worth:

    • Dallas, No. 18
    • Fort Worth, No. 49
    • Plano, No. 59
    • Arlington, No. 85
    • Irving, No. 87

    At No. 13 on the WalletHub list, Austin unwraps the gift of being the No. 1 place in Texas for celebrating Christmas. It receives a No. 8 ranking in the shopping category and a No. 16 ranking in the traditions and fun category. But it earns lower grades in the observance (No. 44) and generosity (No. 73) groupings.

    Elsewhere in Texas, Houston holds the No. 23 spot overall, with San Antonio at No. 25. Among the 100 largest cities, Atlanta shines as the star atop the Christmas tree with a No. 1 ranking.

    wallethubrankingslistsholidays
    news/city-life

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    Merry & bright news

    Dallas makes Santa's nice list as 2nd most festive U.S. city in 2025

    Amber Heckler
    Nov 28, 2025 | 11:15 am
    Klyde Warren Park Christmas tree
    Getty Images
    Dallas sparkles and shines for the holidays.

    In merry and bright news, Dallas has landed a coveted spot near the top of a 2025 ranking of America's most festive cities.

    Home services platform Thumbtack analyzed holiday light installation requests from customers from October 2024 to 2025 to determine the most festive U.S. cities. Rankings were based on the "relative frequency" of requests after being adjusted for the population of each state and metro area.

    Dallas comes in at No. 2.

    Dallas has been resting easy at the top of Santa's nice list since 2022. But the city's festive spirit has yet to dethrone Austin, which has held on to the top spot for four years in a row.

    There's plenty of dazzling shows illuminating Dallas-Fort Worth for the holidays, including drive-thru light parks and CultureMap's very own ice rink at Main Street Garden in downtown Dallas.

    Other festive holiday events happening around Dallas include many more local ice rinks, pop-up bars, plus volunteer opportunities to give back to the local community. Readers can also keep up with all of Dallas' holiday happenings in CultureMap's season-long editorial series.

    Other big Texas cities like Houston and San Antonio also all landed top-10 spots, proving the Lone Star State is much more festive than the rest of the country.

    "From Texas to Florida, the South is setting the standard for holiday spirit, and in true Texas fashion, bigger is definitely brighter," the report said. "Mild winters and a strong sense of community keep the Lone Star State shining at the top."

    Thumbtack's top 10 most festive U.S. cities in 2024 are:

    • No. 1 – Austin, Texas
    • No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
    • No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
    • No. 4 – Las Vegas, Nevada
    • No. 5 – Sacramento, California
    • No. 6 – Houston, Texas
    • No. 7 – San Francisco, California
    • No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
    • No. 9 – San Antonio, Texas
    • No. 10 – Atlanta, Georgia
    festive citiesholidayschristmasrankingsdallas
    news/city-life
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