By Tanya Raghu
Staff Writer
@tanya_raghu
Behind the scenes, years have gone into crafting a plan to make Coppell an outstanding place to live while the public only sees the end result of this task.
For this reason, Coppell was ranked as the eighth best place to live in the United States by Money magazine, published by Time magazine. Cities considered for this recognition were evaluated based on a criteria of job growth, affordable housing, school districts, safety, healthcare and unique aspects of the city which helped it stand out.
The article heavily praised the quality of education and activities offered at Coppell Independent School District mentioning, “Coppell High School, an academic standout whose sports teams and marching band routinely make the finals of state championships.”
A lesser known fact is that the improvements and renovations were all premeditated by the City Council behind the scenes, leading to Coppell’s success.
“We are very, very pleased and the reason is that [the growth of the city and district] was intentional by us,” Marvin Franklin, a Coppell city council member, said.
Several years ago, the city put together a plan called Coppell 2030 to set the standard of living in Coppell even higher.
“Each year, we have been executing certain parts of that plan,” Franklin said. “One of the things you see today is Old Coppell being revitalized, you see plans for a renovated public library, you see a life safety park that’s being built in Old Coppell, you see a Farmers Market that is much improved, you see the perspective renovation of Andy Brown Park and a number of other projects that are all intentional by us.”
CHS students and faculty and citizens of Coppell agree that this ranking is very special and important for the image of Coppell.
“Well, obviously, we think [the ranking is] fabulous,” CHS Principal Mike Jasso said. “I think we can all agree that it is pretty prestigious and it’s very good for Coppell High School specifically.”
Coppell resident Priya Ramakrishnan moved to the city less than a year ago from California.
“We really like Coppell since everything is so close together and convenient,” Ramakrishnan said. “We are much closer to family and we really like the smaller city environment. It was a major change from our old home but it it has been a rewarding move.”
Coppell is also considered safer than 57 percent of the cities in the United States, according to SafetyWise, a safety surveying website.
“Coppell tends to be among the safest cities in the metroplex, if not the state,” Jasso said. “The quality of life, meaning the availability of parks and recreation areas and those types of things, are very high.”
Coppell is heavily praised for, “[its ability] to carve out a unique identity…and close-knit community,” a major part contributed by the St. Ann Catholic Parish, which is the largest Catholic parish in Texas with close to 9,000 registered families.
“We are trying through our environment in our church and the programs we offer to draw each other into a closer community,” St. Ann High School ministry director Joey Scancella said.
The parish actively engages with the community during events throughout the year, notably its annual fall carnival.
“The carnival is a huge community outreach,” Scancella said. “It draws thousands of people from the whole community to come to St Ann’s and we try to show the love of Christ to the entire community.”
Events such as the carnival, the local Farmers Market, and activities at the William T. Cozby Library have built up to shape Coppell’s traditions and drawn citizens closer together.
“I love that Coppell has a lot of traditions that help the residents come together,” CHS sophomore Tanmai Singhania said. “This ranking was definitely something for Coppell’s community to be proud of.”
In order to achieve Vision 2030 there are still many improvements to be done and the potential for Coppell’s growth in the future continues to develop.
“When you take the things that we have done along with a high quality school system and a good location like Coppell has, there is clear movement in the right direction in terms of being a nationally recognized place to live,” Franklin said.
