"Probably for every man there is at least one city that sooner or later turns into a girl. How well or how badly the man actually knew the girl doesn't necessarily affect the transformation. She was there, and she was the whole city, and that's that."
― J.D. Salinger, A Girl I Knew

Dallas Skyline at Night

I know very well not to take an article that lists "The Best Places to Live" very seriously.

However, I did stumble across one that caught my eye. I saw an article in the Dallas Morning News that referred to another article in the New York Times.

The times noted that, EVERYONE IS MOVING TO TEXAS, and said that of the top ten best places to live in the United States, seven are in North Texas.

The list (North Texas Cities in Bold):

  1. Euless
  2. Woodlawn, Ohio
  3. Edgecliff Village
  4. Garland
  5. Grand Prairie
  6. Mesquite
  7. DeSoto
  8. Cedar Hill
  9. Brooklyn Center, Minn.
  10. Forest Park, Ohio

My wife is from Grand Prairie, I worked in Garland (and now live almost on the border) for a couple decades, and lived in Mesquite for a while. So, I know a bit about the Texas cities on this list and feel free to comment.

The interesting thing is that, for someone that lives here, these are not the best cities in North Texas. Most people would list Plano, Frisco, or some of the other more outer-ring suburbs. I am a big fan of Richardson, where I live, and cite its extreme diversity, high tech industry, and cycling infrastructure (of course) as small, but important, items that set it above its neighbors.

When I look at this list, the biggest thing that jumps out at me are the cities listed are generally not built out. That means that on at least one side, there are cotton fields waiting to be plowed under and concreted over. That tends to drop the cost of housing somewhat. Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, and Garland all are considered a bit less expensive and a bit less desirable that their neighbors.

Euless is next to the massive DFW airport - the article mentions that the city boasts large numbers of Tongan residents - many immigrated to work at the airport and contribute to the dominant High School Football teams in that area.

I know little about Edgecliff Village - a tiny enclave in Fort Worth - may visit the next time I'm in those parts.

All in all, an interesting take... but I'm sure there are a few people who still manage to be happy even though they live somewhere that the New York Times doesn't think is in the top ten.