Pocketbook pain

This desirable Dallas suburb led the way for sky-high rent hikes in 2021, says report

The higher the rent, the further out of reach a down payment can be.

Photo by Krisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty

A recent New York Times article suddenly shot Euless to superstardom as the best place to live in the U.S. But now it has another, more dubious claim to fame: It's the Dallas-Fort Worth city with biggest sticker shock for renters last year.

An analysis by the Zumper website of rents in 14 DFW cities found the typical rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Euless jumped a whopping 25.3 percent from December 2020 to December 2021. That ranks as the steepest increase among the 14 cities. A one-bedroom apartment in Euless currently rents for $1,140 (which is low compared to some other local cities, like Frisco — keep reading).

Irving and Lewisville weren’t far behind Euless for the year-over-year rise in rent for a one-bedroom apartment. In Irving, the typical rent went up 24 percent to $1,290. Lewisville saw the typical rent for a one-bedroom apartment climb 23.8 percent to $1,300.

Only one of the 14 cities witnessed a single-digit rise in the rent for a one-bedroom apartment in December 2021 compared with December 2020. In Fort Worth, rent increased 6.7 percent to $1,120.

By comparison, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Dallas climbed 14 percent from December 2020 to December 2021, landing at $1,380.

Meanwhile, the Zumper analysis shows the region’s highest December 2021 rent for a one-bedroom apartment was in Frisco ($1,530, up 21.4 percent from December 2020). Next in line were Richardson ($1,460, up 15 percent) and Plano ($1,430, up 19.2 percent).

At the other end of the scale, Arlington claims the cheapest rent for a one-bedroom apartment — $1,000, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier. Arlington is preceded by Denton ($1,050, up 10.5 percent) and Garland ($1,090, up 17.2 percent).

The rise in DFW apartment rents reflects more demand than supply. From 2010 through 2020, North Texas has ranked first for apartment demand among U.S. metro areas, according to RealPage, a supplier of apartment data and analytics.

A new report from ApartmentData.com shows the December apartment occupancy rate in DFW stood at 93.4 percent. That was the highest occupancy rate among the state’s four major metro areas.

“In what has been a remarkable bounce-back year for the multifamily industry nationally, the Dallas-Fort Worth market has been the leader in both new supply and apartment demand,” ALN Apartment Data reported in October.

rent reports

Pastry News

These Mardi Gras pastries in Dallas beat regular King Cake by a mile

Dusty Biscuits

King Cake beignets from Dusty Biscuits Beignets

Mardi Gras in 2023 is February 21, and that means king cake, the flashy seasonal treat that has been a New Orleans tradition since 1870.

With its proximity to Louisiana, Dallas has always had a bounty of king cake options from which to choose, everywhere from supermarkets to local bakeries. Whether any of those king cake options are any good is another topic.

NewOrleans.com says that a prototypical king cake is somewhere between cinnamon roll and coffeecake, and is "frequently packed with fruit fillings and decadent cream cheeses."

Hm. That might be true in New Orleans — but Dallas king cakes always seem dry and bready, with the trademark garishly colored sugar that's so crunchy, it hurts your teeth.

It's almost as awful as kolaches.

Fortunately, Dallas has some creative king cake spinoffs that celebrate the spirit of king cake without forcing you to actually eat king cake.

Here are four:

la madeleine king cake danish King Cake Danish from La MadeleineLa Madeleine

Mardi Gras Danish at La Madeleine. The French bakery chain first introduced this seasonal pastry in 2019. It's described as a flaky Danish with a strawberry & cream cheese filling, topped with a fondant glaze and dusted with purple, yellow, & green sugar. It's basically croissant dough, fashioned into a Danish-like round shape, similar to their other Danish offerings such as lemon-blueberry Danish and ham & Swiss cheese Danish. $3.99, and it'll be available through March 7.

Overeasy king cake cupcakes King Cake cupcakes from Overeasy, festively iced.Overeasy

King Cake Cupcakes at Overeasy. The breakfast-and-lunch spot at the Statler Dallas hotel is doing special, house-made King Cake Cupcakes, featuring a vanilla cupcake topped with a colorful vanilla creme swirl rendered in the signature colors, and topped with a plastic baby. But you'll have to be quick because these are available for one day and one day only: on Mardi Gras day itself, February 21. You can enjoy them at the restaurant or get them to-go. The cupcakes are $2.99 each, $13.99 for a half-dozen, or $22.99 for a dozen. Best to order ahead of time by calling 469-320-8998.

Empire king cake Empire Baking Co King Cake is filled with cinnamon and pecans.Empire Baking Co.

Brioche King Cakes at Empire Baking Co. Dallas' premiere bakery is doing King Cakes for the first time. It being Empire, it's not like the others. They use a brioche dough into which they roll layers of cinnamon, chopped pecans, and a brown-butter glaze — almost like a giant cinnamon roll. It's then iced and dusted with sugar, but with a ratio of more icing and less sugar than the usual King Cake. They're selling them at both their Inwood Village and SMU locations on Fridays-Saturdays through February 19, then on Monday, February 20 and Tuesday, February 21. $35.

Dusty Biscuits king cake Dusty Biscuits' beignet version of a king cake.Dusty Biscuits

Mardi Gras beignets at Dusty Biscuit Beignets. Fort Worth beignet shop does one of the most clever New Orleans crossover items, combining two NOLA favorites — King Cake + beignets — into one. Fluffy fried beignets get drizzled with a sweet cream cheese glaze, dusted with cinnamon sugar, then colored powdered sugar. They're such a signature that they do them year-round, and are 3 to an order for $6. During the Mardi Gras season, they also do a mini-king-cake version, using their same beignet dough, but in a traditional round, with an iridescent purple plastic baby in the center. A mini-cake is $12 and officially serves 2 to 4.

holidays desserts