Dallas, TX
Housing report highlights need for more rental units in Dallas
The latest housing data shows Dallas’ progress in adding more rental properties falls well short of demand.
And the pain is being felt most by those who are trying to find affordable housing as the city tries to find a solution.
Fast-rising home values have an impact beyond homeowners. Renters feel it too, both in rising per month cost with fewer able to enter into home ownership.
It’s two of the findings from the latest Dallas Housing Needs Assessment.
Updated data from Dallas’ Housing and Community Development Department looks at available rent inventory at a variety of price points.
The report presented to the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee, Dallas has added 66,000+ apartments at or above $1500 per month. However, in the same five-year time period (2017 – 2022) there’s been a loss of 100,000 units priced at or below $1000.
“You’ve got a lot of people that can’t afford any more than that,” Mark Melton said.
Merk Melton is a tax attorney who started the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, a pro bono service for tenants facing eviction, during the pandemic in 2020.
“Their income didn’t go up by 30 or 40% like rents did,” Melton said.
The data also looks at the impact on renters based on income.
A server making about $30,000 could afford a rent of $757 per month, according to the report. In the scenario, a hypothetical restaurant server would either need a roommate, spend 160% of their budget or move outside of the city.
Some on the 5-member Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee argued the report undercounts the amount of affordable housing in Dallas.
“To say that the only option is to have a roommate or move to Mesquite or Arlington is ridiculous,” Cara Mendelsohn said.
Councilmember Chad West said by any measure Dallas is behind in the goal of providing more housing as population is forecasted to continue increasing in the coming decades. “We should be to meet our projected goals of building 20,000 to 25,000 new units per year,” West said. “We’re barely doing 10 percent of that. It’s a huge problem.”
Dallas, TX
2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule officially announced
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
Dallas, TX
Dallas Approves $180,500 for New Botham Jean Boulevard Street Signs
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
Dallas, TX
World Cup volunteers receive uniforms, new tickets released
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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