Editor's note: The top Dallas news of the week begins with a big accolade for an area city. Plus, a massive mixed-use development is on its way to McKinney, and we introduce you to the Tastemaker Awards nominees for Dallas Bar of the Year. Get the details on our most popular stories below, then visit our event planner for weekend fun.

1. Dallas-Fort Worth suburb blooms as No. 1 best place to live in U.S. One Dallas-area city took the top slot on a new list of "the 100 Best Places to Live in 2025." The list — from relocation marketing platform Livability.com — put Flower Mound at No. 1 for its appealing size and affordability.

2. Massive mixed-use development coming to key intersection in McKinney. McKinney is getting a new $1.3 billion mixed-use development. Called Long Branch, it will be a 155-acre project at the northwest corner of US-75 and the future 380 bypass, consisting of housing, retail, office, grocery, and hospitality.

Long Branch development planned for McKinney Rendering courtesy of Creation

3. 10 best bars in Dallas for 2025 craft cocktails and community. It's time to toast the 2025 Bar of the Year nominees in our annual Tastemaker Awards. The list includes new and not-so-new bars, ranging from a subterranean lounge to a bar perched high in a downtown hotel.

4. 6 Dallas bars unveil new on-trend cocktail menus for spring 2025. Dallas restaurants regularly roll out menus these days that follow the season, keeping things fresh by taking advantage of whatever's being harvested. But bars are getting in on the action, too, unfurling creative drink menus that make the most of seasonal ingredients and flavor trends.

5. Wildlife authorities now find avian flu in mammals in Texas Panhandle. The avian flu creeps closer and closer: According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), recent testing has detected Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in mammal species in Texas including foxes, raccoons, striped skunks, and domestic cats located in the Texas panhandle.