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2 Dallas-Fort Worth towns top America's best places for young families

Few cities in America are better for families than Flower Mound and Mansfield.

Photo courtesy of Flower Mound Parks and Recreation

When starting a family, there's a lot to consider, and a new study might help answer one of the biggest questions: Where should we live?

Apartment List analyzed more than 500 U.S. cities to find the best places for young families in 2019. The site considered safety, rent affordability, education quality (high school graduation rates among public schools), and child friendliness, ultimately naming two Dallas-Fort Worth towns at the top of the list: Flower Mound (No. 4) and Mansfield (No. 9).

Flower Mound shines with an A-plus rating (weighted score of 92.76), performing best in high school graduation rate (97.4) and safety (97.3), and faring well in rent affordability (87.5) and child friendliness (81.3). Flower Mound is on a roll, as another study just named it the safest city in Texas.

Mansfield stands out with an A rating (weighted score of 89.54), earning its highest marks for safety (95) and child friendliness (90.7), while having good standing for its high school graduation rate (88.2) and rent affordability (83.9).

In all, four of the top 10 spots go to Texas cities, with Cedar Park near Austin at No. 7 and League City near Houston at No. 8.

Texas' largest cities, however, don't look so hot compared to the other 500-plus studied, scoring especially poorly in safety and high school graduation rates. Dallas ranks No. 205, with a weighted score of 54.86 and a B. Fort Worth, also earning a B, lands further down the list with its No. 240 ranking and weighted score of 51.82. Between them is Austin, No. 208, with a score of 54.62 and a B. Houston ranks No. 400, with a score of 37.55 and a C, and San Antonio isn't that far off, ranking No. 450, with a score of 31.91 and a C.

But those rankings shift significantly in a second list that compares the 50 largest cities in the country, for families only eyeing urban areas. Four Texas cities place in the top 10 of that list, too: El Paso (No. 2), Dallas (No. 5), Austin (No. 6), and Fort Worth (No. 8).

On the overall list, the top two spots go to Fishers and Carmel, Indiana. On the other end of the spectrum, Santa Cruz, California, ranks worst, with abysmal scores for high school graduation rate, safety, rent affordability, and child friendliness.

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Real Estate News

Dallas real estate developer pleads guilty to bribing 2 city officials

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Dallas developer Sherman Roberts

Dallas real estate developer Sherman Roberts pleaded guilty on November 12 to conspiracy to commit bribery, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Roberts, 70, who previously helmed City Wide Community Development Corporation, was indicted in December 2020. According to court documents, Sherman bribed two city council members — Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and City Council member Carolyn Davis — to support loans and low-income housing tax credits for his apartment projects.

In return for several thousand dollars in cash – plus the promise of future payments after her city council tenure ended – Davis lobbied for Roberts' real estate projects, including Serenity Place, Runyon Springs, and Patriot’s Crossing.

She promoted Serenity Place to the City Housing Committee, demanded other developers also seeking real estate funding withdraw their applications in order to increase Roberts' chances of success, recommended Serenity Place receive a 9 percent low income housing tax credit, and voted to approve a $1.9 million loan from the city of Dallas.

“Right now you and me are making money,” Roberts texted Davis shortly after the vote.

Later, she repeatedly reached out to ask for more money — "just a few dollars" — and he agreed.

Davis and Roberts then met with Caraway to address a problem with the Patriot's Crossing project. In return for several hundred dollars cash and a $2,000 monthly stipend, Caraway agreed to stop the city from issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for the Patriots Crossing project and to deliver the project for Roberts.

“How much is the project worth?” Mayor Pro Tem Caraway asked. “Once you’re successful with this project, don’t forget about me.”

“I won’t forget about you,” Mr. Roberts responded. “That’s where the money is… the money has never been an issue.”

Roberts now faces up to five years in federal prison. He is slated to be sentenced on March 12, 2025.

Caraway pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.

Davis pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning an agent of a local government receiving federal benefits, but passed away in a car crash before she could be sentenced.

Roberts was one of three real estate developers charged in connection with the bribery scandal. Devin Hall, the developer behind the Grand Park Place apartment project, pleaded guilty in August 2020. Ruel Hamilton, the AmeriSouth Realty Group executive who backed the Royal Crest housing project, is awaiting retrial on conspiracy and bribery charges.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch is prosecuting the case with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Max.