Ready for takeoff

Fort Worth soars in new ranking of best cities for adventure-seeking retirees

Who says you have to slow down after retirement?

Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

Fort Worth flies near the top of a new ranking of the best U.S. cities for travel-obsessed seniors, and so does Dallas.

Cowtown checks in at No. 5 on the list, compiled by personal finance website SmartAsset, while Big D lands at No. 3. Sandwiched between them, at No. 4, is Houston.

“Dallas and Fort Worth are great options for retirees looking for somewhere affordable, with low taxes on retirement income and access to the wider world,” according to SmartAsset. “Both cities rank in the top 10 for their availability of international flights, domestic flights, and international destinations. Normally, to get that kind of access, you need to move to a more expensive city like Los Angeles or New York.”

Aside from the availability of flights, Fort Worth boasts the lowest senior poverty rate in the U.S. and ranks 19th lowest for property crimes, according to SmartAsset. Those factors mean seniors in Fort Worth “do fairly well,” the website says, and they need not worry about leaving home to go globetrotting.

Dallas scores well in terms of the number of domestic and international flights available and ranks in the top 10 for unique international destinations. It also shows up in the top 20 for low median housing costs.

Houston also fares well in the SmartAsset ranking, thanks, in part, to its attractive housing costs.

“Living in Houston should not limit your traveling options, either. Houston ranks in the top 10 in all of our flight availability metrics,” SmartAsset adds. “However, two problems may hold back travelers in Houston. Flights out of Houston rank on the expensive side, and Houston lacks travel agencies to help plan that dream trip.”

Joining the Texas trio in the top five are Las Vegas (No. 1) and Phoenix (No. 2).

rankings lists

Election News

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wins in Texas race against Colin Allred

Ted Cruz

Senator Ted Cruz

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz won a third term as the senator from Texas in his race against Democratic U.S. Rep Colin Allred on Tuesday.

Texas witnessed one of the most expensive and closely watched Senate races in history as the candidates raised more than $160 million combined this election.

An Allred victory would have given Texas its first Black senator and boost the Democrats' chances of maintaining their narrow Senate majority. Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.

The Associated Press proclaimed Cruz the winner. As of 10:39 pm, Cruz had 5,580,956 votes or 53.8 percent, while Allred had 4,563,546 votes or 44 percent; Libertarian Ted Brown drew 231,050 votes or 2.2 percent.

Allred is a Dallas native and former NFL linebacker who played college football at Baylor before entering politics. After suffering a neck injury in a game against the Dallas Cowboys, he enrolled in law school at the University of California, Berkeley.

Allred got into Texas politics in 2014 while working as a voter protection lawyer for then-gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis and the Democratic political group, Battleground Texas. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, defeating long-time Congressman Pete Sessions.

According to the Associated Press, Democrat Julie Johnson won the U.S. House seat that Allred vacated to run for the Senate. Johnson is a trial attorney who will be the first openly gay member of Congress from Texas. She served three terms as a state lawmaker, where she championed LGTBQ rights at the state Capitol. She has also said that women's health care would be a priority of hers in Congress and that she would vote to put abortion rights in federal law.
___________________________

Read the full story at KVUE.com. This story also includes a short passage from coverage by the Associated Press..

election politics voting