Ranking It

New list of best cities to live in America puts this North Texas suburb on top

Once again, people proclaim their love for Plano.

A new list of the best cities to live in America has surfaced, and — not surprisingly — Texas is all over the top 25. We have five of the best cities, according to Niche.com, with our closest competitor being California, with four.

Niche.com analyzed publicly available data and aggregated user reviews to determined these rankings. The stats for the 228 cities on the list looked at higher education rates from the U.S. Census Bureau and Niche's own grades for cost of living, diversity, crime and safety, commute times, jobs, weather, nightlife, outdoor activities, health and fitness, public schools, and family friendliness.

Plano takes North Texas' top honor at No. 7, with a Niche grade of A-plus and nearly 500 user reviews. The only areas where the suburb receives lower than an A are in outdoor activities, weather, cost of living, and crime and safety, though its number of violent and property crimes is still way below those of the nation as a whole.

Richardson is No. 12, with a grade that's slightly lower than Plano in health and fitness but curiously higher for outdoor activities. According to Niche, both are excellent for families and diversity.

No. 6 The Woodlands, just outside of Houston, is ranked the best in Texas. Its crime and safety score is mysteriously absent, but the public schools, jobs outlook, and family friendliness all pull in A-plus grades to make up for it. Even the city's notoriously humid weather is looked upon favorably — or at least the 229 users who've reviewed the city feel alright overlooking it.

Affordable, entrepreneur-friendly Round Rock gets the No. 16 nod, drawing in high scores for everything but crime and safety and ... cost of living. And neighboring Austin isn't far behind at No. 22, taking a bigger hit in those same two categories (theft seems to be a major problem in the Capital City). But more than 1,000 people are willing to declare their love for Austin, which is by far the most reviews in the top 25.

So which city does Niche declare the best? Ann Arbor, Michigan, despite a few B grades and even a C for weather. Clearly they've never lived in Texas.

rankings bests texas

Death Penalty

Tarrant County man gets death for murder of convenience store owner

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office

Christopher Turner

A man received the death penalty for his 2020 cold-blooded execution of a convenience store owner.

According to a release from the office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Christopher Karon Turner, 48, to death on November 20 for executing convenience store owner Anwar Ali during a robbery. Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Charles Boulware and Allenna Bangs represented the state.

On March 27, 2020, at around 6:15 am, Turner, a convicted felon, wore a surgical mask and a glove and entered the Super Big Country Mart in an unincorporated area of Tarrant County south of Fort Worth. There, he held a gun to the back of Anwar Ali, the 62-year-old store owner, and walked him through the store.

Ali did everything Turner demanded, including opening the cash register to give him money. And yet Turner forced Ali into the bathroom and onto his knees, and shot him in the neck. Ali was discovered, dead in the bathroom, about an hour later.

Turner fled the store in Ali's Toyota minivan with the money from the register and Ali's wallet. In the van, he found more than $50,000 cash in a black bag. Over the next few days, Turner went on a shopping spree, buying cars, jewelry, drugs, clothes, and more. He and others used cash and a credit card that belonged to Ali.

Turner fled to Colorado where U.S. Marshals arrested him. On his body they found a firearm which was determined to be the murder weapon.

"This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder," Boulware told the jury. "From the moment he was charged with this crime, he has tried to escape responsibility."

Bangs noted that before this trial began, Turner obtained the names of jurors and their telephone numbers, and gave them to an inmate charged with murder. At the trial on November 20, as Bangs addressed the jury, Turner tried to hold up a sign to the jury but was handcuffed by Sheriff's deputies who removed him from the courtroom, while he yelled out "she lied."

Ali came to the United States from Pakistan decades ago to pursue the American dream. Ali's son, Hussein, spoke in the courtroom after the death penalty was announced. "Thank you for giving us justice," Ali said. "I hope there are no more devils like this person."