{"id":474864,"date":"2026-10-23T22:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/474864\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T22:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:10:15","slug":"ut-dallas-survey-measures-north-texas-quality-of-life-richardson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/474864\/","title":{"rendered":"UT Dallas survey measures North Texas quality of life | Richardson"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Texans report greater affordability pressures, less neighborhood connectedness and unease about artificial intelligence in a new quality-of-life survey<\/a> from the University of Texas at Dallas.<\/p>\n

Researchers from the university\u2019s School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences presented results from the 2026 William C. Short Quality of Life Survey on Oct. 21. They have conducted the survey<\/a> annually since 2024 to identify issues important to North Texans and bring community members together, said Jennifer Holmes, dean of the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.<\/p>\n

The overview<\/p>\n

Timothy Bray, project director for the North Texas Quality of Life Initiative<\/a> and director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research at UT Dallas, said the survey\u2019s guiding question for 2026 was, \u201cWhat does it take to make North Texas a place to call home?\u201d<\/p>\n

The research team surveyed residents in Denton, Tarrant, Collin and Dallas counties in August and received 1,933 usable responses, Bray said. He said he hopes the data can be used to provide guidance and identify solutions for regional issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge we face as a region is we need faster, more accurate, more accessible data,\u201d Bray said. \u201cWe begin by listening to North Texas, asking the folks who live in our communities what they think.\u201d<\/p>\n

The survey asked questions about economic pressures, affordability, life satisfaction and civic engagement. Bray said the research team also chooses two \u201cpressing topics\u201d each year\u2014for 2026, they surveyed residents on AI and the American dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are exactly the kinds of questions where perception and reality can diverge, and where good data can help community leaders, policymakers, researchers and nonprofits act wisely,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n

The quality-of-life initiative includes a public dashboard<\/a>, annual report, downloadable data and \u201cpulse surveys\u201d on current issues, Holmes said.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Respondents identified inflation and prices and housing affordability and availability as the most important issues currently facing their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth and employment [data], these federal numbers that come out, they tell a story, but they don\u2019t always tell the whole story,\u201d Bray said. \u201cThey can\u2019t fully capture everyday security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bray said the survey results show North Texas both as a region that people value and a region that is under pressure. Per the survey results, 76% of respondents reported being satisfied with where they live, while the majority of renters are also housing-burdened, spending at least 30% of after-tax income on rent. Over half of respondents also reported \u201csometimes or often\u201d running out of food without money for more.<\/p>\n

Bray noted that there is \u201cno single North Texas experience,\u201d as many responses differ by county, race and generation.<\/p>\n

Zooming in<\/p>\n

Bray said 57% of respondents reported feeling uneasy or afraid about increasing the use of AI, while 32% considered themselves hopeful or enthusiastic. Millennials were the least enthusiastic generation about AI, he said.<\/p>\n

Respondents said they wanted to see more AI used in weather forecasting, scientific discovery, and healthcare and other clinical spaces, but less AI involved in counseling, relationship advice, mental healthcare and spiritual guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe places that are the domain of human interaction, North Texans don\u2019t want to see AI,\u201d Bray said. \u201cThe places where it\u2019s cutting edge and the potential to make revolutionary change\u2014more AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority of North Texans also reported that they think AI will worsen people\u2019s ability to relate well to others and to think independently and creatively.<\/p>\n

A closer look<\/p>\n

Bray said the survey shows \u201cless connected, less happy\u201d individuals in North Texas, based on responses around opportunity, belonging and the future.<\/p>\n

About half of respondents said that the American dream can still happen and reported that they consider their opportunities to be better than their parents’, but 50% of respondents also said future generations will have worse opportunities.<\/p>\n

Bray also tracked a significant decline in respondents\u2019 expectation of future home values over the three years of the survey.<\/p>\n

\u201cFear of the future, fear of AI, fear of change is as important in understanding how people interact with society as the change itself,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n

A growing percentage of individuals are also reporting that they are \u201cnot at all\u201d committed to their neighborhood, Bray said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are becoming more disconnected,\u201d Bray said. \u201cUnless we create space for interaction intentionally, interaction doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only 17% of respondents said they felt that they had a high influence on local government, Bray said, even though close to three-quarters agreed that voting is a civic duty. Bray said that civic organizations, local boards and commissions and nonprofit organizations are all seeing the impact of a less engaged populace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a real disconnect that we\u2019re dealing with,\u201d Bray said. \u201cPeople believe they have a role and a civic duty to lead, to participate in government, to provide for the future, but they don\u2019t think what they do makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

In light of the increasing disconnection demonstrated in the survey, Bray said the role of the initiative at UT Dallas is to bring people together. He said he wants to use the survey to build an \u201cenduring resource\u201d for North Texas that will help governments, businesses and other stakeholders make informed decisions.<\/p>\n

Bray said the project team is planning a 2027 State of North Texas Forum to convene regional leaders around the issues in the survey and develop policy solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about the data,\u201d Bray said. \u201cIt\u2019s about bringing the data to bear on problems and helping people make informed decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Texans report greater affordability pressures, less neighborhood connectedness and unease about artificial intelligence in a new quality-of-life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3436,12704,160928,430,160,162,161,160926,160927,7183],"class_list":["post-474864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-housing-affordability","tag-jennifer-holmes","tag-north-texas","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-quality-of-life-survey","tag-timothy-bray","tag-university-of-texas-at-dallas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}