{"id":197407,"date":"2025-09-03T17:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/197407\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T17:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:47:11","slug":"future-of-north-texas-initiative-will-track-key-indicators-to-help-region-create-roadmap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/197407\/","title":{"rendered":"Future of North Texas initiative will track key indicators to help region create roadmap"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the Future of North Texas initiative<\/a>, The Dallas Morning News is tracking key indicators to help guide residents and policymakers as they plan for our region\u2019s future. <\/p>\n

A primary indicator is the dramatic population growth in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant counties. <\/p>\n

To better understand that population growth, we have identified several categories and selected multiple indicators to create data dashboards that measure progress across our region. <\/p>\n

For more on the Future of North Texas initiative, visit <\/b>dallasnews.com\/futurentx<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Breaking News<\/p>\n

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

These categories are population, economy and housing, workforce and economic mobility, health, energy and natural resources, and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"To<\/p>\n

To better understand the population growth in North Texas, we have identified several categories, including economic mobility, health, energy and natural resources, and infrastructure. <\/p>\n

Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

We consulted with local experts at the Commit Partnership, Texas Demographic Center, North Central Texas Council of Governments, the University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas 2036, Texas Demographic Center, Dallas College Research Institute, United Way of Dallas <\/b>and economist Ray Perryman. <\/p>\n

Why we built the dashboards<\/p>\n

The topic of workforce development examines how the education system is preparing young residents in North Texas for employment. <\/p>\n

We seek to understand what kind of access North Texans have to quality education and how they are faring at different stages from early childhood leading up to college. <\/p>\n

For instance, studies show kids who attend preschool are more likely to graduate high school and attend college<\/a>. Similarly, student performance on Algebra 1 can indicate readiness for higher level math<\/a> and is the first step toward careers in STEM. <\/p>\n

On the topic of economy and housing, we\u2019re tracking employment and real wages to measure the health of the economy and workers\u2019 purchasing power \u2014 their ability to afford goods and services. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ll track how changes in housing costs affect monthly household budgets. <\/p>\n

To understand the impact of population growth and environmental change in the region, we\u2019re tracking fossil fuel energy production and consumption and the region\u2019s vulnerability to heatwaves and ice storms based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s national risk index. <\/p>\n

On the topic of health, we are tracking residents\u2019 access to health care based on gaps in health insurance and preventable hospitalizations, which point to their access to quality health care when needed. <\/p>\n

Primary health care access is significant to preventive care and early detection of diseases and managing chronic conditions. <\/p>\n

To examine maternal and infant health care, we are observing low birth weight rates, which indicate the state of maternal nutrition, access to prenatal care and infant morbidity and mortality. <\/p>\n

For infrastructure, The News is monitoring how North Texas is supporting residents with utilities and services so the region can sustain current levels of growth. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A DART bus pulls away from the West Transfer Center in downtown Dallas, March 12, 2025. <\/p>\n

Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

This includes the different modes of transportation residents use for commuting to and from work and other services, traffic congestion levels, as well as the availability of broadband internet, a key aspect of quality of life determining access to education, employment, health care and economic growth. <\/p>\n

All of these indicators represent the start of this ambitious project, and they are not the final product. <\/p>\n

In the coming months, we will update benchmarks as new data is released, and include deeper and more granular data, going beyond county-level assessments.<\/p>\n

With the support of our readers, local experts and foundations and philanthropists, we aim to provide everyone with a data roadmap for the future of North Texas.<\/p>\n

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas<\/a>, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As part of the Future of North Texas initiative, The Dallas Morning News is tracking key indicators to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":197408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,7712,79,407,14055,1141,420,31111,14054,358,522,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,527,7987],"class_list":{"0":"post-197407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-fortworth","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-education","13":"tag-future-of-north-texas","14":"tag-health-care","15":"tag-jobs","16":"tag-population","17":"tag-southern-dallas","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-transportation","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa","27":"tag-water","28":"tag-workforce"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115141623497499119","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}