For Three Years Running, A Texas Town Is Named The Best Place To Retire By Forbes

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Abilene was named the best place to retire for the third consecutive year; Dallas has a new professional sports team; have your fill on food from around the world in Irving; and more.

America’s hottest place to retire is Abilene. It’s got everything — a strong economy, warm climate and 66 doctors per capita. Take that, Arizona. You too, Florida.

In all seriousness, though, Abilene took the No. 1 spot on Forbes’ Best Places to Retire in 2016 list for the third time and for several reasons. If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of your working days, Abilene is a good 150 miles from the D-FW metroplex, and “provides a more down-home environment,” Forbes says. But being far from a major city doesn’t mean culture and higher education suffer in the West Texas town. There are seven colleges in the area, like Abilene Christian University.

Other fast facts about Abilene that make it Forbes’ top locale: Crime, housing and the cost of living is lower than the national average. You could wear a moderately thick to moderately thin cardigan all year round with an average high of 77 degrees and low of 53 degrees. The only seeming downside is the limited walkability of the town — Abilene scored a 29 out of a possible 100.

Doesn’t seem like a parade is out of the question: 

Grand Prairie and San Marcos were the other Texas towns to make the list of top retirement towns. Explore the other best places to retire -- at least according to Forbes. [Forbes]

• Dallas’ newest professional sports team kicked off its first season Saturday. The Dallas Roughnecks are an ultimate frisbee team, one of 26 American Ultimate Disc League teams (AUDL) across Canada and America, according to GuideLive. The team has 21 dedicated players from all over the country, who meet nights and weekends — when they’re not playing away games — at the soccer fields in The Colony. The next home game for The Roughnecks is April 23 Field 8 at the Five Star Soccer Complex in The Colony. Read more about the players and the sport, itself. [GuideLive]

• Gov. Greg Abbott has written a book about facing adversity and amending the Constitution. The book, “Broken But Unbowed” will be released on May 17 from Threshold Editions, and a book tour will follow. The Texas Tribune reported: “Abbott's political team said the book will detail his experience "overcoming personal adversity" after a tree fell on him while jogging in 1984, leaving him paralyzed for life. The book will also press Abbott's call for a Convention of States, a campaign he launched in January as a way of combatting an overreaching federal government.” All proceeds from the book will go to Operation FINALLY HOME, “a New Braunfels-based nonprofit organization that provides homes to veterans and their families. Abbott plans to launch a book tour following the release.” Read more. [The Texas Tribune]

• Eat from every continent (minus Antarctica and Australia) on one street in Irving. The Dallas Observer dubbed Belt line Road as the most diverse strip of restaurants in D-FW. They make a decent case with this list of 10 restaurants with globally inspired cuisine. Here’s what they had to say about Everest Restaurant: “Irving is home to a surprisingly large Nepali population; Nepal is the second-most represented country among students at its community college, North Lake, behind only the United States [...] A consistent member of our 50 Most Interesting Restaurants in Dallas, Everest specializes in Himalayan food from Nepal and the northernmost reaches of India. In addition to your curry, try momo (dumplings) and tash (a combination plate starring grilled goat with a garlic ginger paste). There’s boneless goat head on offer, too.” See the full list. [Dallas Observer]

• The Texas Supreme Court upheld a law taxing products from “small tobacco” companies. In December, lawyers for a “Small Tobacco,” coalition of companies, argued it was unfair that their cigarettes were taxed 55 cents when “big tobacco” companies were exempt for the same product. The Texas Tribune reported Friday: “The opinion focused heavily on the history of tobacco litigation. In 1998, 46 states sued Big Tobacco companies, alleging the companies had engaged in a range of fraudulent practices [...] Ultimately, the Big Tobacco companies agreed to pay more than half a billion dollars to Texas each year, in part to cover the health care costs Texas incurred as a result of the tobacco companies’ practices.” The case will return to the 3rd Court of Appeals, and judges will consider other qualms from Small Tobacco about House Bill 3536. Read more. [The Texas Tribune]

Photo: CoreBurn from Abilene, TX