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    park it in galveston

    Galveston Island State Park reopens after major makeover with updated campsites, hiking trails, and bayside fun

    Steven Devadanam
    Jun 23, 2022 | 3:20 pm
    Galveston State Park has a whole new look.
    Galveston State Park has a whole new look.
    Photo by Nieco Payton

    A popular Galveston destination now boasts a whole new look, thanks to a highly anticipated, major makeover. Galveston Island State Park will reopen the beachside of the park on Monday, June 27 following an extensive renovation.

    Beachgoers can look forward to a new park headquarters building, two new restrooms, new roads, 95 new campsites, two new changing areas and rinse-off showers, 20 new shade shelters in the day-use area, and a seasonal equestrian day-use area, according to a press release.

    Hikers can enjoy more than five miles of hiking trails, a newly remodeled nature center on the bayside, two observation towers, two boardwalks, three kayak launch locations on the bayside, a new vendor area, and three new group-use pavilions on the beachside.

    Those interested in park reservations may now be made online at the TPWD website or by calling the Texas State Park Reservation Center at 512-389-8900. Visitors can make overnight reservations up to five months in advance; day passes can be reserved up to 30 days in advance.

    Dubbed the Galveston Island State Park Beach Redevelopment project, this redevelopment comes via $10.6 million in Deepwater Horizon Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) Phase III Early Restoration funds from the Texas Trustees. The Texas Trustees is made up of organizations including the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas General Land Office, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

    The project broke ground in summer 2018.

    “The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is very excited to be able to reopen such a popular park on the Texas coast,” said Rodney Franklin, director of Texas State Parks, in a statement. “I am extremely thankful for the hard work of our state parks team, TPWD partner divisions, numerous volunteers, as well as our partnership with the NRDA Trustees Implementation Group. The commitment and dedication of countless individuals and stakeholders made this redevelopment project a reality. Thanks to our ability to leverage grant funds along with sporting goods sales tax, the people of Texas will benefit from this enhanced outdoor opportunity for years to come.”

    Galveston State Park has a whole new look.

    Galveston Island State Park 2022
      
    Photo by Nieco Payton
    Galveston State Park has a whole new look.
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    children don't come cheap

    This is how much the cost to raise a child in Houston increased in one year

    Amber Heckler
    Jun 23, 2025 | 11:38 am
    Family, raising a child
    Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash
    It costs more than $24,000 to raise a child in the Austin area in 2025.

    A new national study has revealed it now costs $462 more to raise a child in the Houston area than it did last year.

    SmartAsset's report "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2025 Study" compared data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator to determine the annual costs for raising a child in 2024 and 2025 across the 48 biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Factors that contributed to each metro's total included the cost for childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs, and "other necessities."

    In 2025, it will cost $21,868 annually to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlandsregion, the report found. That amount has risen 2.21 percent since 2024, when childrearing in the Houston area cost $21,396 a year.

    Houston only has the third-highest costs for raising a child out of the four biggest Texas metros, and even though that cost has increased slightly in the last year, it's still on the low end nationally. SmartAsset said Houston is the 8th most affordable U.S. city, ranking 41st (out of 48) in the overall ranking of metros where the cost of raising a child is the highest.

    "The cost of raising a child can change quickly, making it important for budding families to keep an eye on trends in their locale," the report said. "Between 2024 and 2025 alone, the average projected annual cost of raising a small child changed by a range of -15 percent to +22 percent, depending on the metro area."

    Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts led the nation with the highest annual cost for raising a child, totaling more than $39,000, up from $37,758 in 2024.

    Costs for raising a child in other Texas metros
    Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is – unsurprisingly – the most expensive Texas metro for raising a child, with costs surging nearly eight percent from 2024. It now costs $24,188 to raise a child in the Austin area, compared to $22,406 the year before.

    There's better news for families in San Antonio. The San Antonio-New Braunfels area clocks in as the fifth most affordable U.S. metro in the study. In 2024, it cost $21,014 to raise a child in the Alamo City, but in 2025, it costs 0.33 percent less, at $20,945.

    This is how much it costs to raise a child in San Antonio, according to SmartAsset:

    • Cost of childcare: $9,123
    • Housing costs: $3,232
    • Food costs: $1,644
    • Medical costs: $2,590
    • Transportation costs: $3,090
    • Civic costs: $474
    • Other costs: $791

    Raising a child in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington now costs $22,337 per year, which is only $411 more than it did in 2024.

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