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Dallas City Council approves ForwardDallas plan on future development

Downtown Dallas Skyline

Photo by R K on Unsplash

After three years of debate, the Dallas City Council voted 11-4 in favor of ForwardDallas, an update to its 2006 comprehensive land use plan, which will decide how and where the City of Dallas should grow over the coming decades.

The plan was built around Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Connectivity, Housing Choice and Access, Economic Development and Revitalization, Community and Urban Design.

ForwardDallas was originally adopted in 2006. Since then, Dallas has undergone unprecedented growth. By reimagining how the City uses its land, it has identified new opportunities to design spaces that offer equitable access to resources, reinforce the strengths of our communities, and foster continued growth as a thriving, accessible city for all.

Today’s vote follows nearly three years of stakeholder feedback, including more than 200 in-person events, and more than 70 virtual events. The ForwardDallas 2.0 website has had more than 25,000 visits and 1,600 web map comments. The first full draft of the plan was published for public review in September 2023. The Dallas City Council Economic Development Committee, City Plan Commission (CPC), and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee (CLUP) provided guidance to the plan’s evolution and final approval for the City Council to consider.

The council took hours to vote, addin numerous amendments along the way.

Voting in favor were Chad West, Zarin Gracey, Adam Bazaldua, Jaime Resendez, Jaynie Schultz, Tennell Atkins, Kathy Stewart, Paula Blackmon, Omar Narvaez, Gay Donnell Willis, and Paul Ridley. Voting against were Carolyn King Arnold, Cara Mendelsohn, Jesse Moreno, and Mayor Eric Johnson.

“ForwardDallas 2.0 is a collaborative effort that could not have been achieved without the hard work of City of Dallas staff, elected and appointed officials, and our many residents who participated through feedback,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, who also serves as the Chair of the Economic Development Committee. “This critical and much needed update creates a path forward for our City while addressing decades long, systemic land use issues. It considers the City’s future growth, provides protection for existing neighborhoods, and addresses head on historic environmental and social inequities.”

“This journey began with the goal of developing a strategic roadmap to support Dallas’ growth and social vibrancy while preserving the quality of life for all. We appreciate Chair Atkin’s leadership, the support of the City Council, the City Plan Commission, Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee and our residents for the feedback and guidance they have provided over the last three years,” said Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. “We look forward to implementing ForwardDallas 2.0, reporting out on it and being held accountable for its progress. Finally, I want to thank our City of Dallas team who championed this effort. Their level of engagement to ensure every voice was heard is a testament to their unwavering dedication to our City and delivering Service First, Now!”

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Hottest Headlines of 2025

Popular suburbs move into Dallas' hottest real estate headlines of 2025

Photo courtesy of City of McKinney

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Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, we look back at the 10 most-read real estate stories in Dallas for 2025 — including new honors for several local suburbs, market trends, and all-important Walmart news. These are the 10 hottest real estate headlines of 2025 in Dallas:

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 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. The suburb also claimed the No. 7 spot in a ranking of America's most livable small cities.

2. North Dallas neighbor ranks as No. 1 most affordable city in U.S. A Dallas suburb landed on top of a list of the most affordable places to live: McKinney ranked No. 1 based on its relative cost of living and high median household income.

3. 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. The development has 80 acres slated for active development, and will unfold over the next decade in four tracts.

4. Dallas-area suburb ranks as 3rd best place to live in Texas in 2025. The Dallas-Fort Worth mid-city of Coppell has been ranked the third best place to live in Texas in 2025 by rankings and review website Niche.com. The survey determined the best places to live in based on crime rates, public school rankings, the local cost of living, job opportunities, and more using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, and others.

Coppell, Dallas suburb Coppell was ranked the third-best place to live in Texas for 2025. City of Coppell, TX Municipal Government/Facebook

5. 11 Dallas suburbs soar as fastest-growing U.S. cities in last decade. It's no secret that Dallas-Fort Worth's population is growing faster than most other metros in the U.S., but now several surprising Dallas neighbors have been named among the top 10 fastest-growing suburb nationwide over the last decade. Celina nearly led the nation with an astonishing 314 percent increase in population from 2014 to 2023, according to a growth study by marketplace platform StorageCafe.

6. Dallas neighbor is the No. 1 fastest-growing affordable city in U.S. A national study has declared Texas is home to the most affordable, fast-growing cities in the country, with Dallas suburb Frisco taking the lead at No. 1. Frisco and five more Dallas neighbors ranked high on GoBankingRates.com's list of "50 Most Affordable, Fastest-Growing Cities in 2025."

$Millennials moved to Texas more than any other state in 2019, with Frisco being\na top choice.$ Frisco is the most-affordable, fastest-growing city in the country. Photo by Roger Robinson/Visit Frisco

7. Dallas neighbor beckons movers as top U.S. suburb with small-town feel. Wylie, a city less than 30 miles from downtown Dallas, ranked as the No. 7 most highly sought-after U.S. suburb of 2025 in MoveBuddha's national survey. In addition to being recognized as the 7th most desirable American suburb, Wylie also ranked as the second-most desirable suburb to move to in Texas.

8. 2 Dallas neighbors rank among fastest-growing wealthy suburbs in U.S. Celina and Prosper, two boomtowns north of Dallas, are among the top three fastest growing affluent suburbs in the country. The cities' affluent status was unveiled in a GoBankingRates' study ranking the "30 Fastest-Growing Wealthy Suburbs in America" for 2025.

The Old Celina Park in Celina, Texas Celina is the No. 2 fastest-growing wealthy 'burb in America. Photo courtesy of celina-tx.gov

9. 6 Dallas suburbs make top 10 list of best Texas cities to move to. Advisors at ConsumerAffairs, a customer review and news platform, ranked the 50 most populated Texas cities across five main categories — affordability, safety, economy, health care and education, and quality of life — to determine which were the best places to move to. Each city was given a score out of 100 possible points. Four of the top five best places to move to in Texas are located in Dallas-Fort Worth: Allen (No .1), Frisco (No. 2), Plano (No. 3), and McKinney (No. 4). Two more DFW suburbs, Mansfield (No. 6) and Richardson (No. 10), rounded out the top 10.

10. Booming Celina hits the big time with its first Walmart Supercenter. The city of Celina is getting its first mega Walmart: According to a release, it will be a Walmart Supercenter located at the northwest corner of Preston Road (Highway 289) and the West Outer Loop. The store has been in the works for a few years, but the Celina Economic Development Corporation celebrated the opening in a groundbreaking on April 16.