Some cities are trying to make it more difficult to build apartments under a new housing law.
Joshua Fechter
Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Posted in
Economy
Thousands of apartments going up thanks to new Texas housing laws. But resistance lingers in the suburbs.
The laws, which make it easier to build apartments, face stiff resistance from North Texas suburbs. State lawmakers vow to force cities to comply.
Posted in
Demographics
Dallas birthed the booming DFW region. It’s now bleeding people, arenas and companies to the suburbs.
North Texas is growing and Dallas’ financial sector is booming. But the city is losing residents and businesses — and two major sports franchises are departing the urban core.
Posted in
State Government
Dallas will furlough 4,200 city employees amid budget gap
Dallas has seen a $30 million budget shortfall driven by slower sales tax revenue and higher-than-expected overtime costs for police and firefighters.
Posted in
Demographics
Census: Texas leads the U.S. in having more kids, but the state’s fertility rate is still falling
Americans aren’t having enough children to maintain the country’s population, a decline driven by factors like the high cost of living.
Posted in
State Government
Texas lawmakers put limits on cities’ abilities to enact progressive policies. Some want to go further.
Some Republican Texas House members floated want to give more power to the attorney general to sue cities and issue financial penalties.
Posted in
Politics
Texas now requires cities to do an audit before raising property taxes. Some small towns can’t afford it.
More than 130 cities, most with fewer than 10,000 residents, were blocked from increasing their property tax revenue because they had broken the law.
Posted in
Graphics and data reporting
Bigger price tag, smaller footprint: How Austin’s Project Connect went off the rails
Legal and political challenges continue to threaten Austin’s multibillion-dollar light rail project that voters approved in 2020.
Posted in
State Government
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton blocks more than 130 cities from raising property taxes
Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the cities, most of them small, of violating a state law aimed at preventing cities from unduly raising property taxes.
Posted in
Demographics
Census: As North Texas’ far-flung towns grow, Dallas and its bigger suburbs shrink
Six of Texas’ largest cities lost residents in 2025: Dallas, El Paso, Arlington, Plano, Irving and Garland.
