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A new law passed in Texas on June 12 will finally put an end to a criminal plague: The state has enacted a ban on temporary paper license plates.

The law will go into effect on July 1, 2025, and will replace all paper tags with temporary metal plates.

Introduced by Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, House Bill 718 will let car dealerships keep temporary metal plates on hand for new car buyers, thereby eliminating the need for temporary paper plates.

Paper tags are supposed to be used on a temporary basis, while car buyers wait to receive their permanent plates. But scammers were obtaining car dealer licenses, then printing up hundreds of thousands of temporary paper tags and selling them to people hoping to avoid paying for insurance and car registration.

Texas' temporary paper plates gave the state a black eye because they became a crime problem not just in Texas but nationally, turning up on cars involved in crimes in Texas, New York, and beyond. In a 2021 investigation, the FBI found more than a half-million fraudulent paper tags, sold by just three people to buyers across the country.

An investigation by NBC5 found that it was easy for someone to create a fake auto dealer entity and print the fake tags, due to poor screening by the DMV, which was allowing even people using stolen identities to get a Texas car dealer license.

The Texas DMV tried to crack down, including suspending car dealers suspected of selling fraudulent tags on the black market. So then counterfeiters began making and selling totally fake tags.

HB718 was the rare bill that wormed its way through the legislature in one session; Goldman said he was "shocked' it made its way through the process so quickly, as Texas elected officials generally prefer to stretch these things out for years.

But there's still going to be a delay: Even though the law has been passed, it will not go into effect until July 2025, ostensibly to give the DMV, county tax offices, and auto dealers time to create a new system.

It was initially designed to go into effect in September 2023, then March 2025, but the final bill bumped the deadline back to July 1, 2025. That's thanks to The Texas Independent Automobile Dealers Association, who were "concerned" about having an adequate supply of metal plates in such a short time frame. "TIADA worked with other stakeholders to express this concern and in response, the sponsor of the bill moved the effective date of the proposed law to make it effective 2 years from now," their statement says. Change is harrrd.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Community Arts Center

City of Fort Worth presents The Future of Fort Worth Community Arts Center

The Fort Worth Community Arts Center is a unique and special space in Fort Worth providing a quality event, visual, and performing arts venue for all of the community. This historic and dynamic arts complex boasts eight galleries, artist and performance studios, and office suites for nonprofit arts organizations and is managed by Arts Fort Worth on behalf of the City of Fort Worth.

In view of pre-existing repair needs, the City Council has appointed a task force to determine future uses of the City-owned building at 1300 Gendy. A public meeting will be held to determine the future of the Fort Worth Community Arts Center where visitors can share their thoughts and concerns with the task force.

Hearsay

Fine-dining restaurant co-owned by Arlington mayor debuts at Choctaw Stadium

Restaurant openings

A sexy new restaurant and speakeasy has opened in Arlington: Called Hearsay, it's from a high-profile partnership and is located at Choctaw Stadium, where it celebrates its grand opening on March 3.

Hearsay will feature upscale Southern cuisine, craft cocktails, a speakeasy-style bar and lounge, and a rooftop cigar patio overlooking the Choctaw field.

Dishes include Cajun boudin balls, oysters, fried alligator, fried cheese curds, lobster Mac & cheese, salads including Caesar and wedge, gumbo, stuffed quail, lamb chops, short ribs with jalapeño cheese grits, crab cakes, shrimp & grits, ribeye, NY strip, and filet mignon.

Brunch features benedicts, chicken-fried steak, corned beef hash, chicken & waffles, biscuits & gravy, avocado toast, pancakes, croissants, and oatmeal.

Hearsay is the brainchild of Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, partnered with the Texas Rangers and Champions Club Texas. Ross is also an owner of Mercury Chophouse Arlington. Isn't it grand to be mayor of Arlington.

Champions Club Texas is part of Knighted Ventures, a California-based hospitality and entertainment company, and has a wide array of entrepreneurial ventures — from co-founding the Bay Area Panthers professional indoor football team to its venture in PM Studios, an award-winning video game company.

Champions Club Texas CEO Roy Choi says in a statement that Arlington has been on their radar.

"Arlington is a world-class entertainment destination, and its growth has been on my radar," Choi says. “The investment in Hearsay is an opportunity to be part of that growth with a truly innovative concept. “With its fine dining options and unique amenities such as the cigar patio, Hearsay is a perfect fit for our portfolio. I believe in Jim Ross’ vision and the opportunity to be in business with him, alongside the Rangers, is a huge win.”

Champions Club Texas is launching other new hospitality destinations in Texas including a full-service hotel, lounge, bar, and private-membership poker in Houston.

A second location is planned for Dallas, featuring an upscale restaurant with Connie Trujillo, of III Forks legacy, as executive chef. The multipurpose venue will also feature a private-membership club with a variety of events and game offerings.

“Roy and the Champions team have provided a big spark for Hearsay by bringing their extensive hospitality expertise to Arlington,” Ross says. “I’m glad they share the same vision for our great city and look forward to partnering with them as we celebrate Hearsay’s grand opening.”

Hearsay will be open for dinner from 5-10 pm, plus Sunday brunch from 10 am-4 pm, and eventually lunch. They'll also feature live music with a blues & jazz lounge.

Photo by Martha Kaplan / courtesy of Wild Surmise Productions, LLC and Sony Pictures Classics

Documentary Turn Every Page deep-dives into historic publishing partnership

Movie Review

There have been many famous partnerships in the world, from musical ones like Hall & Oates to business ones like Bill Gates and Paul Allen. But one of the more underrated partnerships is that between authors and editors, a relationship that can be mysterious for those not well versed in the process.

The new documentary Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, takes deep dive into the ineffable bond between Caro, author of The Power Broker and four (and counting) biographies of Lyndon B. Johnson, and Gottlieb, his longtime editor at publishing company Knopf. Caro is notorious for taking his time with his books, releasing only one about every 10 years since 1974.

The film, directed by filmmaker (and daughter of Robert) Lizzie Gottlieb, features a variety of “talking head” interviews from people as diverse as Conan O’Brien, TheNew Yorker editor David Remnick, and President Bill Clinton, but cedes the majority of its time to hearing from the two men themselves. Both have lived extraordinary lives, but – despite their strong connection – in very different ways.

It would be fair to call Caro “obsessive,” as his career has focused on hefty non-fiction tomes devoted to just two men. The Power Broker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning, 1,300+ page book about urban planner Robert Moses, goes into great detail about how Moses shaped the landscape of New York City, and not always for the better. He has also published four volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, all detailing Johnson’s life before he was president. The yet-to-be-published fifth volume is highly anticipated, to say the least.

In addition to the books of Caro, Gottlieb has edited books by Joseph Heller (famously providing the title number for Catch-22), John Cheever, Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Bill Clinton, and many others. Astonishingly, he has also had time to write eight of his own books, serve as editor of The New Yorker, program both the New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, and more.

Lizzie Gottlieb gives each man plenty of space to tell their own story, with perhaps a slight bias toward her father. Caro is 87 and Gottlieb is 91, yet neither shows any significant mental decline. In fact, their ability to recall the many important moments of their lives and continue to ruminate at a high level is intimidating, and a testament to their intellectualism.

Among the many amazing stories that made the cut of the film are how Gottlieb had to get Caro to cut 350,000 words – or around 700 pages – from The Power Broker just for it to be small enough to be bound, and another about how Caro, in his extensive research about LBJ, discovered just how Johnson literally stole a primary election in his first run for the Senate.

The mark of any good documentary is its ability to engage viewers who may not be intimately familiar with its central subjects. While it’s the professional lives of Caro and Gottlieb that are most notable, the film includes just enough information about their personal lives to make them into full human beings, unlocking what for many have been mysterious figures.

Turn Every Page may be most interesting to those who have read and loved Caro’s books over the past five decades, but there’s enough there to open the film wide for the uninitiated. The lives of Caro and Gottlieb are large, and the documentary provides a great glimpse into how they became that way.

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Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb is screening at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, February 24-26.

Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
Photo by Martha Kaplan / courtesy of Wild Surmise Productions, LLC and Sony Pictures Classics

The young author and editor in Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb.

Twitter/John Whitmire

Fort Worth Juneteenth crusader Opal Lee honored with portrait at Texas Capitol

Texas heroes

Dr. Opal Lee, the treasured 96-year-old Fort Worth activist known as "The Grandmother of Juneteenth," now has her portrait hanging alongside other Texas heroes in the state Capitol in Austin.

Lee's portrait was unveiled in a ceremony in the Texas Senate chambers on Wednesday, February 8. According to reports from inside the chamber, the crowd gave her resounding applause.

Lee becomes just the second Black American whose portrait hangs on the walls of the state Capitol, behind Barbara Jordan, the first African-American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and first Black congresswoman from the South. It's also reportedly the first time the Texas Senate has hung a new portrait in the chamber.

Jess W. Coleman was the artist commissioned for the painting.

Opal LeeOpal Lee at the portrait unveiling.Photo courtesy of National Juneteenth Museum

"This will be a historic and significant day in the history of Texas and for the Texas Senate," State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) told Austin TV station KVUE. "Ms. Lee will forever be an example of a person willing to work tirelessly for a cause they truly believed in. She shows also that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams!"

Dean of the Texas Senate John Whitmire (D-Houston) tweeted photos with Lee at the unveiling and wrote, "A historic day in the Texas Senate celebrating a truly remarkable Texan. Opal Lee proves that one person can make a difference."

As for the woman affectionately known as "Ms. Opal" around Fort Worth, she told DFW's Fox 4 that she was humbled at the honor.

"I don’t know how to feel," she said. "I pinch myself to be sure it’s really happening, you know? My portrait next to Barbara Jordan’s in the Senate, in the Capitol!"

Juneteenth crusade
A recognition of Juneteenth is something Lee has dedicated much of her later life to. In 2016, a then-89-year-old launched Opal’s Walk 2 DC, a two-an-a-half-mile walk that evoked the two-and-a-half years it took for slaves in Texas to learn they were free. She gathered 1.5 million signatures on a petition to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

She was by President Joe Biden's side at the White House when he signed a law declaring Juneteenth a holiday on June 17, 2021. The Juneteenth National Independence Day, which commemorates freedom for the enslaved via the abolition of slavery in the United States, became the 12th legal federal holiday — the first new one since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983.

Opal LeeOpal Lee talks to reporters at the portrait unveilingPhoto courtesy of National Juneteenth Museum.

Lee also has worked to make Fort Worth home to the National Juneteenth Museum. It is planned for the Rosedale Street spot that currently houses Lee’s Fort Worth Juneteenth Museum, which has served the community for nearly two decades, including as a filming location for the 2020 movie Miss Juneteenth.

Lee talked about the museum at her February 8 portrait unveiling, telling reporters, "Years ago, I had a vision that one day Juneteenth would be celebrated by all…I want Juneteenth to be a day that is never forgotten. In 2025 we plan to open the National Juneteenth Museum. I want all of you to come visit it. It's going to be a place for people to travel from all around the world to collaborate, share ideas and learn about one of the greatest moments in history… The day our ancestors learned about our bridge to freedom and the power of change.”

In 2022, Lee was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination letter, U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) wrote, "As an advocate, Ms. Lee’s hopes to establish Juneteenth as a national holiday went far beyond just recognizing the day that the final enslaved people were notified of their freedom. It is also a symbol of her hope that we as Americans can come together and unify against social issues that are plagues on our nation such as homelessness, education inequality, and food insecurity to name a few."

Photo courtesy of Vsevolod Maevsky

Renowned Ukrainian ballet dancer who fled war stars in Dallas-Fort Worth 'Nutcracker'

World stage

On February 24, 2022, Ukrainian-born dancer Vsevolod "Seva" Maevsky lay in bed, nursing a back injury at his home in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he was a member of the world-famous Mariinsky Ballet.

Vsevolod "Seva" Maevsky

Photo courtesy of Vsevolod Maevsky

Vsevolod "Seva" Maevsky gave up his career with Mariinsky Ballet to help his family flee Ukraine.

The phone rang.

It was a friend and former Mariinsky colleague, calling from Mexico.

“In your country, Ukraine, now is war,” the friend told him.

Seva phoned home to Kyiv.

Russian military forces had invaded the country. Family members wanted to leave.

Seva wanted to help, but it meant saying goodbye to the Mariinsky - his dream ballet company and dance home for the last four years.

“I really had no choice,” he says. “I had to help my family.”

But at 24 - a man of combat age - Seva could not go back to Kyiv, as he would not be allowed to leave once he entered Ukraine.

Instead, with little money, few possessions, and still suffering from debilitating back pain, the dancer journeyed from Saint Petersburg to Turkey to reunite with his mother, brother, two sisters, and a niece fleeing Ukraine.

There, they would try to make a plan for the future - whatever the future should look like.

Conflicting worlds
Ten months later, Seva is sharing his story ahead of his unlikely appearance as a guest principal artist in the Tuzer Ballet’s Nutcracker performances December 17-18 at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.

His engagement as the Nutcracker Prince with the respected Tuzer Ballet likely would not have come about had Seva not found himself displaced from both his homeland and his adopted home country - and seeking opportunities to perform where he can.

In a virtual video interview from Seva’s new temporary home of Dresden, Germany, he makes two things clear: 1) He will not complain about his personal situation because many of his countrymen and women have it much worse, and 2) Out of respect for his friends in both Ukraine and Russia, he does not want to discuss politics of what he calls “a stupid war.”

“To be honest, sometimes it’s so hard when I start to think about it because, yeah Ukraine’s my home, but Russia, I have a lot of friends,” he says.

In fact, Seva says, the day he told his Mariinsky director that he would be leaving Saint Petersburg to help his family, he was met not with a “goodbye,” but with a big hug.

“It was difficult because I grew up there and everybody was so kind to me,” he said of the company he’d come of age with since he was 19.

Born in Kyiv, Seva achieved early success as a ballroom dancer, partnered with his sister from the age of 5. It was his mother’s dream for him to dance ballet, so she enrolled him in the Kyiv State Ballet School. Seva went on to win several international awards and competitions, including the prestigious Gold Medal Grand Prix Kyiv (Ukraine) in 2016. He earned a scholarship to study with the Ellison Ballet in New York and then, in 2018, won the Gold Medal at the acclaimed Youth America Grand Prix New York.

Then came the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet, one of the biggest and most respected companies in the world (rivaled only by Russia’s famed Bolshoi).

Determined to help
But in the spring of 2022, Seva suddenly found himself in Turkey without work, without income, without the routine of rehearsals and performances with one of the world’s pre-eminent ballet companies.

Determined to help his mother and siblings - who were struggling with employment and finances - he took out a loan with friends, searched for auditions, and reached out to ballet contacts around the world to help him find dance work. Yet his crippling back pain persisted, and he felt his 24-year-old body falling out of shape.

“I had to do something because I had to help my family and I had to just keep going because it's my profession,” he says. “It was hard. I remember I did my second audition and (I was) not in shape… I was disappointed. I was like, okay what happened with my body, I’m losing everything here. It’s really important for dancers, if you want to improve yourself, you just keep going.”

Seva’s first performance after he left Russia ended up being in Orlando, Florida. The Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), which he’d won in 2018, invited him to perform at their gala in April 2022.

“I was so happy to be back on the stage, to be back (in) shape,” Seva says.

Gala performances with companies in Switzerland and Italy followed, and on May 1, he moved to Dresden and started with the Dresden Semperoper Ballet. He proudly paid off his loan in three months. “I’m so thankful to the director and teachers here, that I can keep going,” he says.

Seva is also working with a manager who is focused on helping artists, displaced by war, find opportunities in America. On November 12, Seva performed in a sold-out concert in Los Angeles called “Reunited in Dance,” featuring renowned dancers from around the world impacted by the war in Ukraine.

From Dresden to Dallas
Seva connected with Dallas’ Tuzer Ballet through Lauren Lovette, another guest principal dancer in the Tuzers’ Nutcracker. Lovette is the choreographer in residence at the acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company and performs as a guest principal dancer around the world.

Tuzer Ballet co-founder Pat Tuzer says that when a couple of the dancers from prior years’ Nutcrackers became unavailable this year, a friend recommended Lovette, who recommended Seva.

"We're really excited to have someone of his caliber joining us,” Tuzer says. “He's a citizen of the world with the experiences he has already had at such a young age. It will be wonderful."

Pat and Tanju Tuzer’s ballet company has the longest running Nutcracker in Dallas-Fort Worth, back for its 41st holiday season. They describe their Nutcracker as “a blend of global inspiration and local brilliance,” with technically difficult choreography inspired by their international training in Hamburg, Germany - along with more than 400 original costumes and professional sets that transport audiences to a magical wonderland.

Seva will rehearse in New York for several days before flying to Dallas-Fort Worth for the weekend performances. It will be his first time in North Texas.

“I really appreciate it, this invitation to be back on the stage in USA,” Seva says. “I'm really happy and to be honest, USA was from my childhood like a dream… Dallas is a new place for me, and I think we will do everything great and I just want to be thankful for that opportunity.”

As for his family, Seva’s brother and mother have remained in Turkey. His sisters, remarkably, have gone back to Ukraine.

“I know it’s so dangerous for them still,” Seva says. “They’re like, ‘We’ll just see what happens.’ I hope everything will be okay.”

With the unprovoked war dragging on and instability throughout Ukraine and Russia, Seva is not sure what his own future will hold. It’s been two years since he stepped foot in his homeland of Ukraine, and he also misses his friends in Russia tremendously.

“I don’t have, like, exactly plans,” he says. “I have some offers to keep going and to maybe change companies next season, but we’ll see. I just want to dance, I just want to improve myself, and help my family.”

'Art helps'
Coincidentally, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet premiered exactly 130 years ago, in December 1892, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. What has now become a holiday tradition around the world features themes of growing up, conquering fears, and finding beauty in lands around the world.

They are themes that resonate offstage with Seva.

“Art, and in this case, ballet, help people to forget for a while about problems outside,” Seva says. “They come to see this performance and they see me, like, as a prince in Nutcracker, for example, and they think about this. Art makes people think in a better way.

“With this situation (in Ukraine) ... we can change it if we will start thinking in a different way, like a more peaceful way, and art helps with this.”

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Tuzer Ballet presents "The Nutcracker," 2 pm December 17 and 18 at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts, Richardson. Tickets: $20-$80 through the Eisemann Center website.

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CultureMap Emails are Awesome

'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Yellowstone news

Yellowstone fans, get your comfy shoes ready - there'll be a long line for this one. Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler" on Yellowstone, and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, will meet fans and sign autographs at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

The event will take place from 4:30-6:30 pm only on Friday, February 3. Location is the 6666 Ranch booth near the south end of Aisle 700 in the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall.

According to a February 2 announcement from FWSSR, "fans will have the opportunity to snag an autograph as well as purchase some distinctive Yellowstone and 6666 Ranch merchandise while also enjoying all the features the Stock Show offers."

The event is free to attend (with paid Stock Show admission) and open to the public.

It's the second year in a row for Hauser to appear at FWSSR; in 2022, he and fellow cast mates drew huge crowds.

Sheridan, a Paschal High School graduate, is no stranger to Fort Worth; he lives in a ranch near Weatherford and filmed 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone, in and around Fort Worth. Currently, another spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, is filming in North Texas.

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is winding up its 2023 run on Saturday, February 4.

Mr Gatti's Pizza returns to home turf Fort Worth with new location

Pizza News

A Fort Worth-based pizzeria concept has opened a location in Fort Worth: Mr Gatti's Pizza has opened a restaurant off Camp Bowie at 2812 Horne St. #100, a space previously occupied by Helen's Hot Chicken, where they're open with pizza, pizza rolls, and their signature ranch dressing.

The location is a franchise owned by Kirk Jefferies, who also owns and operates franchises of Jason’s Deli and Chicken Express. This is his first Mr Gatti’s, but he has more locations planned.

“When people talk about Mr Gatti's Pizza, you can see a spark in their eyes. We love being able to bring that 'excitement' and combine it with our passion for pizza,” Jefferies says in a release. “Mr Gatti's Pizza has been satisfying cravings for over 50 years. It truly is an honor to be a part of this legacy brand that people cherish."

Menu favorites from about a dozen pizza options include The Sampler, The Deluxe with sausage, pepperoni, & smoked provolone, and BBQ chicken. A basic 12-inch cheese pizza with one topping is $12.

There are lunch specials from 10:30 am-3 pm including pepperoni rolls and salad for $10; 8 wings and salad for $13; and a medium pizza with 2 salads for $15.

The chain was first founded in Stephenville, Texas as The Pizza Place, in September 1964. In 1969, founder James Eure moved to Austin and opened the first Mr Gatti’s Pizza, named for his wife's maiden name.

They have a major presence in South Texas but only two in the DFW area: Plano and Allen.

There was a location that opened in Fort Worth in 2016, at 3280 W. Seventh St. in Museum Place, which at the time, was the first to use the Mr. Gatti’s name; the chain had been going by "Gatti's." So many name changes! It closed in 2018. There was also a location in North Richland Hills which opened in 2016 and closed in early 2019; and a location in Richardson that closed in 2018.

Back in the day they had a big buffet as well as a big game room, two features for which many longtime fans are nostalgic. But this location is just about the pizza.

There are now more than 70 locations in states across the Southeast, including Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

Surprising Fort Worth suburb named No. 5 most family-friendly U.S. city

a great place to live

If Fort Worth-area residents are looking for the perfect new place to buy a home and raise a family, they should steer their interest toward Watauga. The northeast Fort Worth suburb, impressively, has been named the fifth most family-friendly city in the U.S. by real estate marketplace Opendoor.

Opendoor's second annual "Family-Friendly Cities" list focuses on local communities that offer plenty of recreational outdoor activities that are suitable for families of any age. Watauga was the only city in Dallas-Fort Worth to make the new list and the only Texas city to make the top 10. (Bellaire, near Houston, ranks No. 12.)

Cities were identified using the average number of family-friendly activity tags found on OpenStreetMap that are used for addresses in a city where the marketplace operates. Factors that were considered include cities with community centers, gardens, museums, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and more.

Watauga - which is bordered by Fort Worth to the west, Keller to the north, Haltom City to the southwest, and North Richland Hills to the south and east - has plenty of family-friendly attractions. Yet it often gets overshadowed by bigger, busier, more affluent Northeast Tarrant cities like Grapevine and Southlake.

There are seven different parks around Watauga, including the popular 37-acre Capp Smith Park, with its four pavilions, two playgrounds, amphitheater, and several acres dedicated to open space and stunning views.

The City of Watauga calls the park the heart of the city's recreational activities.

"[Capp Smith Park] features a lighted one mile walking trail that surrounds a spring fed one acre pond fully stocked with several species of aquatic wildlife," the city's website says. "In addition, the park is home to several other forms of wildlife which have also taken up residence in the park."

The park is also the host of Watauga Fest, an annual family-friendly festival that brings in carnival rides, food trucks, vendors, and much more for all residents to enjoy.

In addition, Watauga residents can make use of a thriving public library, visit the city's 9/11 Memorial and Veterans Memorial, Foster Village Park, a splash pad, and more. The city is also adjacent to the expansive Arcadia Park, with its many trails, playgrounds, tennis courts, and disc golf course.

According to recent reports, the average home price in Watauga is $283,845 - significantly less than the average home value in Fort Worth proper, $307,939. It's become an attractive place for new restaurants and retailers in recent years.

Opendoor's 15 best family friendly cities in 2023 are:

  • No. 1 – Somerville, Massachusetts
  • No. 2 – Berkeley, California
  • No. 3 – Cliffside Park, New Jersey
  • No. 4 – Arlington, Virginia
  • No. 5 – Watauga, Texas
  • No. 6 – Chandler, Arizona
  • No. 7 – Denver, Colorado
  • No. 8 – Portland, Oregon
  • No. 9 – Valley Stream, New York
  • No. 10 – Garden Grove, California
  • No. 11 – Coral Gables, Florida
  • No. 12 – Bellaire, Texas
  • No. 13 – Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • No. 14 – Mission, Kansas
  • No. 15 – Avondale Estates, Georgia
The full report can be found on opendoor.com.