Hometown glory

Irving edges out New York and San Francisco as the most diverse area in thecountry

The Academy of Bangla Arts and Culture in Irving is one of the city's manydiverse offerings.
Photo courtesy of Susruta Chatterjee
The Academic Decathlon team at MacArthur High School in Irving is anotherexample of the area's diversity.
Photo courtesy of Irving ISD
The 75038 zip code in Irving was recently rated the most diverse neighborhood inthe country with no group out of four garerning more than 26 percent of thepopulation.
Courtesy photo

Texas stereotypes just got a little more outdated. Not only are our cities largely devoid of cowboys and cattle ranchers, but they're also more culturally diverse than New York and San Francisco.

Real estate website Trulia has declared Irving's 75038 zip code as the most diverse neighborhood in America. The study, as reported in Forbes, looked at the 100 most populous metros in America.

The 75038 zip code in Irving has no ethnic majority; the area has a near even breakdown across four races.

Just east of DFW Airport and under Highway 114, the zip code includes the neighborhoods of Broadmoor Hills and Song. The area has no ethnic majority and basically has an even breakdown across four races.

Trulia’s report lists the ethnic makeup in a swath of Irving as 26 percent Asian, 25 percent black, 23 percent Hispanic and 23 percent white.

Diverse neighborhoods tend to spur higher population growth and a faster rate of price growth than more homogeneous neighborhoods, the report found. Most of the diverse neighborhoods were not in the heart of the city or particularly well-known to outsiders. What’s more, they’re not typically dense neighborhoods.

Behind Irving, Queens in New York and the Treasure Island neighborhood of San Francisco finished out the top three.

The only other Texas representative, Lakemont, was No. 4 on the list. Houston also ranked fourth in overall metro diversity, though California carried the top 10 with four cities (including No. 1 San Jose).

The South is considerably varied, especially compared with New England and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

On the least diverse side, Pittsburgh had the highest concentration of whites at 87 percent. El Paso got Texas on the list with the least diverse metro with a non-white majority. The West Texas city is 82 percent Hispanic.

Overall, California and Hawaii were the most diverse states. But the South is also considerably varied, especially compared with New England and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, which were found to be the least diverse.

Ironically, the Trulia report says that as diverse neighborhoods grow and prices increase, it could actually result in less diversity. On average, blacks and Hispanics have lower incomes than whites and could be pushed out of areas where rent and home values go up suddenly.

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Fun times in the city

Dallas swings a spot on new list of most fun cities in U.S. for 2024

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Dallas just wants to have fun, according to WalletHub's new ranking of the most fun cities in America in 2024.

The annual report ranked Dallas No. 31 out of 182 U.S. cities.

WalletHub's experts compared each city using 65 metrics to determine their level of "fun." Metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

According to the study's findings, Dallas was 24th nationally in the category for nightlife and parties, and ranked No. 39 in the "entertainment and recreation" category. That may be especially alluring for anyone who wants to explore the city's vast entertainment opportunities (especially during the holiday season), family-friendly recreational activities, top dining destinations, and more. Plus, Dallas is home to entertainment juggernauts like the State Fair of Texas and TopGolf.

Dallas performed poorly in the overall cost category, earning No. 114 out of all 182 cities. However, this category mostly compares flat costs rather than affordability based on local cost of living.

Potential new Dallasites should do their research before deciding to move here, rather than basing their decision on short trips and vacations alone. But we won't blame them for wanting to live in one of the best cities in the world.

"The top cities offer affordable options for year-round fun for their residents, which is good for residents’ wallets and their mental health," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo in the report.

Austin (No. 6) and Houston (No. 9) were the only Texas cities to earn a spot in the top 10 most fun U.S. cities list. Austin moved up one spot from last year, while Houston made a 10-place jump.

Other fun-filled Texas cities that made it in the top 100 are El Paso (No. 53), Fort Worth (No. 55), Plano (No. 78), Arlington (No. 79), and Corpus Christi (No. 99).

The top 10 most fun U.S. cities are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Austin, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 9 – Houston, Texas
No. 10 – New York City, New York

Cities were evaluated based on the number of attractions per capita, nightlife activities per capita, the average prices for eating at a restaurant or buying a movie ticket, and more. Data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Trust for Public Land, and the Council for Community and Economic Research, among others.

dance clubs fun cities nightlife parties recreation wallethub