Dallas fared well in Hispanic Magazine's Top 10 Cities for Hispanics. But then again, is it really a surprise? The magazine's determining factors included a checklist of items the city could mark off with ease, for the most part:
"Hispanics want cities with low unemployment, low crime rates, low average home costs and good schools. We seek places where Hispanic business owners can be supported with a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where Latinos sit on local government, where we can open a newspaper or turn on the television and radio and hear news from Latin America or even local news in Spanish, and also where Hispanic representation is more than a drop in the bucket."While Dallas' unemployment rate is at 5.3 percent and higher than the national average, its apparent steadiness is interpreted as a positive sign. And it's no secret that Dallas' crime rate is tops in the nation. I guess there's got to be a balance somewhere and with a pretty decent representation in both media and at city hall, the city's largest minority finds a good fit here. And a certain rally showed the Hispanic population is not just a demographic but also a force, though Jim Schutze would take issue with that point.
Incidentally, El Paso, Austin and San Antonio also made the list. --Rich Lopez
