The Big D News Crystal Ball Says We’re in For Quite a Ride in 2026

Looking ahead to a new year inevitably requires a healthy look back on the one that has just ended. In fact, we think that Spanish philosopher George Santayana nailed it when he wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

Let’s hope that Dallas city leaders and other influential sorts keep that in mind, though in many ways it could serve as Big D’s motto. It’s not just because 2026 is only a few days old that we’re still paying close attention to what transpired in 2025, but the biggest news storylines of the new year made a lot of noise in the old year. There will be sudden developments, breaking news and surprise announcements in 2026, to be sure. But even if we didn’t have such things to count on, we already know that 2026 will be packed with drama, intrigue and controversy, regardless. 

For every shocking headline in 2025 that we certainly didn’t see coming, such as the Luka Doncic trade or the deadly shooting at the Dallas ICE field office, there were many more big stories that filled headlines that had been a long time coming. That will certainly be the case for Dallas and all of North Texas in 2026. 

Suggesting we have a crystal ball for how things will transpire is probably a stretch on our part, so we’ll simply say that our Big D crystal ball gives us, at the very least, a vivid picture of which stories are likely to have a significant impact on our area. We would need to sell many more ads to afford the upgraded model of the crystal ball that divulges everything, including surprises, and we would rather leave all that for the future, where it belongs. 

Take a look at what our Dallas news crystal ball says will be among the city’s top stories in 2026.

The Fate of Dallas City Hall 

With most issues, City Hall is a slow-moving river that winds and meanders from staff to committee to council before finding its end. But occasionally, a topic comes up that is fast-tracked over a swelling rapid, and it’s all anyone can do to hold on. 

The fate of the brutalist building on Marilla Street has fallen into that latter category. In August, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson charged the council’s newly named Finance Committee with evaluating whether City Hall serves the residents and staff of Dallas well. The instruction came amid rising estimates of what it will cost to catch up on years of deferred maintenance to the building; what started as an $80 million estimate to fix some wear here, and tear there has ballooned to $350 million. 

After hours of discussion during a mid-November meeting, the City Council approved a directive for City Manager Kimberly Tolbert to explore alternatives to the current building and assess the economic potential of the downtown land on which the structure sits. A task force will also provide a third-party analysis of the building’s exact needs and the likely cost of that work. 

The results of that project are due back to the council by late February, and if things continue as they have been, the decision on whether Dallas’ City Hall stays or goes could come quickly. Heading into the New Year, the count seems to stand here: 

A majority of council members have hesitated to outright say they want to leave City Hall behind, but a majority are interested in exploring the option. The City Hall abandonment corner is backed by a litany of local business leaders and former Dallas mayors Tom Leppert and Ron Kirk, who wrote in a Dallas Morning News op-ed about “the harsh reality” that City Hall is no good, and it’s dragging down the rest of downtown with it. 

“Relocating city government isn’t just about investing taxpayer money wisely; it’s about saving downtown, the heart of our city. No city in America thrives while allowing its core to decline,” the mayors wrote. 

Three council members, Cara Mendelsohn, Paula Blackmon and Paul Ridley, voted against the February assessment. Whether it be nostalgia or suspicion that outside interests have soured the discussion on the building’s future, the trio has its own list of reasons why staying on Marilla Street is a fight worth having. That perspective is backed by many of Dallas’ leading historians and preservationists, who point to the 47-year-old building’s renowned architect, I. M. Pei, and its purported tie to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, as justification for fixing up the structure. 

We hesitate to emphatically say that anything at City Hall will be completed at any given time, but for once, this is an issue whose decision seems like it could come quickly. At the very least, we should have a clearer idea of the building’s future by spring. 

Pro Sports Civil War

Discussing the fate of the City Hall site isn’t complete without at least mentioning the unprecedented legal battle between the Dallas Stars of the NHL and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. A fracture in the relationship between the American Airlines Center roommates was made clear when the Mavs sued the Stars in October, accusing the hockey club of breaching its lease and preventing what the basketball club says was long-overdue maintenance and improvements to the arena. 

A war of words has ensued as both teams point fingers in opposite directions, all while a range of suburbs begin to make it known that they would welcome either team. But if you look closely at any renderings of what some want to do with the land City Hall currently sits on, you’ll likely see a wrecking ball with a Mavericks logo on it. Thanks to the generous size of the plaza in front of City Hall, it’s almost too perfect a spot for a downtown sports arena that might put a surge into a downtown sorely in need of new development. 

The Stars, on the other hand, have been the focus of a Collin County plan to build a new $1 billion hockey arena on the site of the sparsely populated Willow Bend Mall. A number of outcomes are possible, and there’s no guarantee we’ll know which way the arena wind will blow by the end of 2026, yet as of now, it certainly seems to be whooshing away from the AAC. 

DARTing To and From, In and Out

Of the many controversial, high-profile bills debated during the 89th Texas Legislature, House Bill 3187 was one that likely slipped under the radar of many, who were more focused on school vouchers or a possible THC ban. The so-called “DART killer bill” aimed to significantly reduce local funding to regional transportation authorities, such as DART. Although it didn’t pass, DART’s worries were only beginning by the time the session ended. 

As the summer rolled into the fall, Addison, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving and Plano all announced plans to allow residents to vote on leaving DART or at least further discuss the possibility. In September, DART announced a slew of service cuts, fueling the fire of critics who say their cities aren’t getting enough bang for their DART bucks. For now, Addison is holding off on letting residents vote on the DART matter, but in May, voters in the other four cities will determine whether they will remain part of the “area” in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit. 

Kicking Around Town

You might’ve heard about a little soccer tournament coming to North America soon. In fact, you could argue that the FIFA World Cup is coming to North Texas more than it is to any other corner of the continent. Not only will AT&T Stadium host nine matches, more than any other site, but one of the semifinal matches will be held here. The International Broadcast Center will fill the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown with an estimated 2,000-5,000 journalists from all over the world sending their futbol stories back home. 

To make Dallas an even bigger World Cup focal point in 2026, two of the globe’s top soccer powers will be playing some of their group stage games here. Argentina, the defending champion that will likely be featuring Lionel Messi in his last World Cup, will play two matches in town, while perennial power England, led by modern legend Harry Kane, will kick off at least once in North Texas. Our crystal ball doesn’t know what the scores will be, but it does tell us there’s no reason to travel anywhere else for World Cup action in 2026. 

An Increase in ICE  

One of the more surprising stories of 2025 was that Dallas declined an opportunity to join the federal 287(g) program, which would have led the DPD to work directly with ICE in enforcing federal immigration law, while detaining and processing individuals for possible deportation. Chief Daniel Comeaux says his decision to decline cost the city $25 million, even. 

However, thanks to the 2025 passage of Senate Bill 8, county sheriff’s departments that operate a jail, such as the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, are required to participate in the ICE partnership program. Although Texas has already been among the states with the highest number of ICE arrests in 2025, many experts predict that SB 8 will lead to an even greater increase in that number, especially if immigrants without criminal records continue to be detained with regularity. 

Big D is a Zoning Reform Zone

One of our favorite things about Dallas is the way that everyone is super normal and chill anytime a discussion about land use comes up. Like, super chill. 

In late 2025, the City Council got the ball rolling on its next major swing at governing land use across the city: zoning reform. Zoning is one of those magically yawn-inducing topics that is impossible to ignore once you start to see how it affects everything. It is the code that states where buildings can be built, how neighborhoods will grow or be preserved, and, generally, how the city sees itself in the future.  

Early briefings suggest that city staff are aiming to simplify Dallas’ zoning code while also implementing many of the land use guidelines adopted in the ForwardDallas plan. Remember that little guy? Some have suggested that the zoning overhaul could be adopted as soon as late 2026, but given the history of Marilla Street, we’d be surprised to see this issue wrapped up a year from now.  

Still, it is likely to be one of the most discussed issues at the council horseshoe in 2026. Will zoning reform go the way of ForwardDallas, shaping itself into a divisive and political beast that rears its head each time a city staffer dares to approach the council chamber’s podium? Or will the process go similarly to April’s residential code change, which “transformed” developers’ ability to build residential housing with relatively little ado? 

Dallas Democrats Take on New Maps 

With the midterm elections fast approaching, we have already begun to hear the same old song and dance that this is the year Texas turns Blue. With the Supreme Court’s approval of the congressional maps drawn by Republicans last summer, we aren’t exactly betting on the long-promised blue wave, especially because it has left some of our Dallas Democrats scrambling. 

For the past two years, Dallas has been represented by Democrats Jasmine Crockett, Julie Johnson and Marc Veasey in Congress. Looking ahead to November, Johnson is the only one who may continue to represent our city, and only if she wins a primary election against former senatorial candidate and her congressional predecessor, Collin Allred, who announced his own congressional campaign after withdrawing from the Senate race in anticipation of Crockett’s announcement to seek Sen. John Cornyn’s seat. A tangled Big D web, indeed. 

Allred made his name in Congress as the representative for Congressional District 32, and when he gave up the seat to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024, Johnson took over the district. Now, thanks to the redrawn maps, both are facing off in District 33, and CD 32 is expected to go to the Republicans. Johnson didn’t exactly welcome Allred to the race with open arms. Without addressing her predecessor by name, she said in a statement that North Texas “deserves representation that has been present in the tough moments” instead of “parachuting back when another campaign doesn’t work out.” 

Veasey, who some speculated would run for Crockett’s seat once she entered the Senate race, announced a campaign for Tarrant County judge instead. His campaign lasted a week before he dropped out. 

That leaves Dallas pastor Frederick Douglass Haynes III as the Democrats’ best chance for Crockett’s former seat, while Crockett herself takes on state Rep. James Talarico for the party’s Senate nomination. Early polls show Crockett with an 8-point lead over Talarico, but the faceoff has revealed deep divides in the party. 

On the local level, Johnson endorsed Talarico even before Crockett entered the race, siding with the young pastor over Allred. Allred, on the other hand, has referenced a close friendship between himself and Crockett. Primary elections will be held in early March, so the eight months between then and Election Day will need to be enough time for Democrats to rally back together if the party hopes to add even a slight blue-ish hue to the state.