Why We Love the Dallas Suburbs

Meline Chalian 2023
Dallas –
Looking to plan the perfect day trip? Or are you looking to start a brand-new life? Here’s a list of 11 suburbs in Dallas’ surrounding areas that are worth a visit.
By Zac Crain, Mike Piellucci, Brian Reinhart, Tim Rogers, and Kathy Wise | 
  • 2021 population: 133,251
  • Population growth over the past 10 years: 9%
  • Median home sale price: $410,000
  • School district demographics: 18% Black, 55% Hispanic, 11% White, 11% Asian
  • T.E.A. school grade: B (88 out of 100)
Carrollton’s biggest growth spurt was in the 1980s, during which the population more than doubled and much of the city’s infrastructure was developed. Things have slowed down a bit in the last few decades, but the city is still rapidly improving itself, adding parks among its rolling hills and building on its reputation as one of Dallas’ most diverse and inclusive suburbs. According to a 2021 U.S. Census estimate, 28 percent of residents here are foreign born, a higher percentage than in Dallas, Richardson, Frisco, Addison, Farmers Branch, and Lewisville, and just a fraction shy of Plano.

If you want to understand Carrollton’s diversity and its appeal to residents from around the world, look to its houses of worship. On a single block of Old Denton Road, you’ll pass one of North Texas’ largest mosques, a Vietnamese Christian church, and a Syrian Orthodox church. Around the corner is St. Mary’s Orthodox Church of India. (Yes, India has an Orthodox community that traces its roots back to Christianity’s first century.) Just south of downtown is the Sri Guruvayurappan Hindu Temple.

The city’s new crown jewel, though, is St. Sarkis Armenian Orthodox Church, on the border with Plano. Consecrated in April 2022, the church and adjoining community center were designed by architect David Hotson and project architect Stepan Terzyan, a member of the congregation. The result is a warmly minimalist mixture of Armenian architectural tradition and geometric calm. On the exterior, 1.5 million centimeter wide icons form a dazzling tapestry. Like snowflakes, the icons are unique, as each represents a victim of the 1915-1917 Armenian genocide and provides a silent protest to the persecution that continues in the Caucasus today.

The town square was platted more than a century ago, in 1900, but the last few decades have brought restoration and upgrades. DART now operates along the old Dallas-to-Denton rail line. Bike trails connect the station to a variety of neighborhoods. Downtown itself, sitting in the shadow of an enormous new I-35 overpass, crams in traditional antiques malls alongside an ax-throwing joint, a Cane Rosso location, and the acclaimed 3 Nations Brewing Co., which pulls its many taps inside a restored 70-year-old grain shed.

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2023/may/why-we-love-the-dallas-suburbs/