Matt Goodman

"A 'priority two,' which is considered the second-most serious and can include domestic violence incidents, took officers an average of 32 minutes to get to in 2020. In 2025, that average was about 179 minutes."

Kelli investigates officer staffing decisions and their impact on response times.

Still one of my favorite things we published on the @dmagazine.bsky.social site.

Tommy Lee Walker Declared Innocent of 1953 Murder DA Henry Wade sent him to the electric chair. Today his son wept as county commissioners cleared his name.

Read @timmytyper.bsky.social on Tommy Lee Walker, the innocent man who Dallas County yesterday admitted was executed for a crime he didn't commit in 1953. www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

This Church Could Be Your Home In Dallas, long known as "the buckle of the Bible belt," churches are considering turning land and buildings into affordable housing. Charlotte, North Carolina, shows us how to pull it off.

In Dallas, churches are exploring transforming excess land and old buildings into affordable housing. The movement is part of a national trend, but Charlotte is the model for how to get it done. @sharongrigsby.bsky.social took a trip to teach us a thing or three. labreportdallas.com/p/faith-base...

A Dallas Megadonor, a New Nonprofit, and the War on ‘Housing First’ A scheme to relocate the unhoused out of one Texas city's downtown sheds light on a larger right-wing takeover of federal homelessness policy.

New from @stevanzetti.bsky.social: A Dallas megadonor, a new nonprofit, and a scheme to relocate the homeless out of downtown shed light on a larger right-wing triumph over “housing first.” www.texasobserver.org/dallas-texas...

The Housing Crisis Simmering in Lake Highlands The Dallas tax rolls this month received an enormous bump, which may spell trouble for 20 aging apartment complexes around Interstate 635.

It's generally good news when your appraisal district adds nearly $3 billion to the tax rolls, like Dallas did this month. But what if that precedes a wave of defaults and foreclosures of affordable apartment buildings? Let's take a drive through Lake Highlands. labreportdallas.com/p/the-housin...

twisted tea

North Texas Cities May Find Leaving DART Is Quite Hard - D Magazine Plano, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, and Irving are all weighing leaving the transit agency. Before the matter lands on May ballots, here's how that has gone historically.

If you want to understand the suburban war on DART—there's some absurd stuff in here, and elected officials seemingly ignore evidence showing the public actually wants the transit service—you won't find anything better than this @thetexanrhino.bsky.social piece. www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

The Stubborn Story of a Challenged Apartment Complex Volara in Oak Cliff, once the most violent apartments in Dallas, last year became a tale of success. In 2025, police say it has returned to its old ways. What happened?

Dallas will likely end 2025 with its fifth straight decline in violent crime, in part by focusing on tiny geographies that account for most of it. What's that look like in practice? And what can't the cops solve? @kellixsmith.bsky.social on Volara in Oak Cliff: labreportdallas.com/p/the-stubbo...

I.M. Pei’s Dallas City Hall at risk after City Council votes to explore alternatives The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to formally explore alternatives to the current City Hall building designed by I.M. Pei, with City Manager Kimberly...

Yesterday's City Hall vote remains weird. Why is Councilman Ridley's idea not the first thing done? "One stipulation called for city officials to focus primarily on getting an independent facility condition assessment of City Hall before considering relocation." www.dallasnews.com/news/politic...

Mayor Eric Johnson finally whipped some votes. (And Bethany's story is a must-read on how the Dallas City Council and its police department rebuffed ICE.)

The mayor of Just Asking Questions.

AND the mayor is missing from the meeting he called.

Why Starbucks is Coming to South Dallas The story of how Forest Forward came to understand the significance of inviting a national chain into its ambitious redevelopment of the Forest Theater.

Starbucks is coming to South Dallas. But the real story is why the nonprofit leading the overhaul of the Forest Theater believed the national brand to be its best neighbor. @sharongrigsby.bsky.social on a new approach for economic development in the Sunny South: labreportdallas.com/p/why-starbu...

IDK guys, I kind of feel like we're operating on someone else's timeline on this. Yes, it's true the discussion about deferred maintenance of 1500 Marilla has been going on for years, but the suddeness of the "we could just tear it down" talk seems basketball shaped.

From Councilman Chad West's email newsletter, about Dallas' efforts to keep the Mavericks and Stars in town. I thought we literally had The Sports Mayor?

A DART board member tells me Farmers Branch and Highland Park will also discuss holding withdrawal elections from the agency. Much of the broader coverage has focused on the suburbs itching to bail. Here's a profile of a group fighting to keep—and improve—DART. labreportdallas.com/p/dart-s-big...

The Free Man, Reveler’s Hall say city demanded they quit charging a cover for live music Despite being in business for years and offering live music for just as long, the owners of two businesses, one in Deep Ellum and another in Oak Cliff's Bishop Arts District, say the city recently inf...

Of all the things going on at City Hall, I'll never understand Dallas' seemingly random insistence on enforcing ticky tack rules that make it harder to run small businesses. www.dmagazine.com/micropost/th...

"The city, it should be noted, had no problem spending $140 million to restore the Cotton Bowl, a building that essentially hosts one marquee event per year."

Texas suburbs resist new state law allowing more apartments Suburban officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have enacted rules aimed at curtailing a sweeping new state law to allow more apartments.

And @joshuafechter.bsky.social's analysis of how the suburbs are fighting the bill is a must-read for you housing heads. www.texastribune.org/2025/09/03/t...

The New Law of Building in Texas State lawmakers passed a bill that makes it legal to build multifamily or mixed-use developments in areas zoned for commercial use. How will this change Dallas-Fort Worth?

I wrote about the bill for @labreportdallas.bsky.social
(Social accounts will come to life soon!) About how Dallas planners are embracing the new reality while suburbs seek to limit the developments. And, of course, how it quiets public opposition to multifamily. labreportdallas.com/p/senate-bil...

The bill, SB 840, has no requirements for affordability. There is also no designation for rental or ownership, which means condos and townhomes are fair game. Developers can now build housing on about 43 percent of land in Dallas that previously required a zoning change.

ForwardDallas, the city’s updated land use plan that Council approved last year, envisioned density along transit corridors. And transit corridors have a lot of commercial zoning. Here’s a heat map from our data scientists showing commercial properties near job centers.

🧵In Dallas and 18 other cities, the Texas Legislature has made it legal for developers to build multifamily or mixed-use projects on any land zoned commercial, retail, office, or warehouse without a zoning change. Like here, on Columbia Ave. in East Dallas.

Next Thursday! This is going to be a lot of fun. (also, "may" LOL)

In North Dallas, a New Future in a Shuttered School County officials are finally paying close attention to the Esperanza neighborhood in Far North Dallas, beginning with a new vision for Dobie Pre-K.

Dobie Pre-K will soon be a hub for services in Esperanza. To understand the significance of local government finally paying attention here, @kellixsmith.bsky.social spent weeks with residents to learn about resilience and community in this pocket of North Dallas. labreportdallas.com/p/esperanza-...

Do this in front of Dallas City Hall

The Controversial Art of Building More Housing A pair of public-private tools are driving the production of most new affordable housing in Dallas. So why is Dallas City Hall growing concerned?

Come for the arson, stay to better understand subsidizing affordable housing in Dallas. labreportdallas.com/p/the-contro...

The full website goes live in the fall. We’ve hired @kellixsmith.bsky.social, one of Dallas' best reporters, as a staff writer. Email newsletters go out every Wednesday. We want to help Dallas understand what’s working, what’s not, and why. Join us! (Also it’s free.) labreportdallas.com/subscribe

Why CPAL is launching a nonprofit newsroom with Sharon Grigsby & Matt Goodman The Lab Report is co-founded by longtime local journalists Sharon Grigsby and Matt Goodman. This is why the Child Poverty Action Lab is investing in a new publication.

The Lab Report is an editorially independent division of the nonprofit Child Poverty Action Lab, which does critical work to help Dallas curb childhood poverty and make the region better for families. Our publisher, Alan Cohen, introduced the idea here. labreportdallas.com/p/publisher-...