Houston vs. Dallas (Atlanta: flooding, culture, America)

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Brewzerr68

I prefer to live in a region of DIVERSITY (that includes BOTH liberal AND conservative lifestyles), where no one dogmatic party line dominates everyone's affairs. That's why I liked Houston the most during my years living in Texas. Despite the weather, crime, and pollution... the city was much more of a melting pot than either Dallas or Austin at that time.

Houston IS the melting pot of Texas & the whole entire Southern United States.

Dallas' diversity is found in its many suburbs, the city itself not so much.

Austin is the least diverse & cultured of the three.

[majicdonjuan]

Dallas is an incredibly clean, visually appealing city, at least in my opinion. It seems as if someone painstakingly trims every tree and mows and waters every single lawn to uniform heights in certain parts of Dallas. Houston, on the other hand, seems very everyone-for-himself. The lack of zoning, as many others have said, contributes to this cluttered look that parts of Houston have. However, other parts of Houston are gorgeous and comparable to any part of Dallas. Houston has a lot more trees too. (I really didn't notice this till Ike knocked half of them down and we still have a lot!)

Houston's allure lies in the feel of a huge united city. Dallas, to me feels far more segregated culturally than does Houston. In Houston you are very likely to have a neighbor or two of any nationality, culture, religion, etc. whereas in Dallas it seems like neighborhoods are a little more segregated. Just my opinion though.

On the transportation front Dallas has a clear lead, with better airport facilities (though I absolutely despise the terminal design at DFW) better rail, and more than passable freeway facilities. Houston has better freeways overall, but we have to because of our lack of other options (other than Metro, which is a whole other topic). Building out the MetroRail system will help close that gap. Traffic seems slightly worse here overall, but it all depends on your specific commute. We also have better water connections with the Port of Houston and Galveston.

And the whole debate about the skyline is just silly. Dallas skyline looks better at night and mainly because you can see that big gaudy green-lit building from like 10 miles away on 45 and you're just like "yep, almost there!". But Houston's is huge and has much more distinctive buildings and looks much better in the day. With more creative lighting, the nightscape could be more visually appealing as well. Dallas isn't in medium-size city stage, but I think Dallas skyline is better compared with Atlanta's or MAYBE Detroit's. Houston's on a whole other level when it comes to that. And we're not even talking about the TMC or uptown yet.

Houston's weather is better Oct-Apr, Dallas during the summer, but not by much. I hate cold weather though, so there you go.

Houston's air quality is very very bad. Dallas is only bad.

Dallas has more quality suburbs. Houston has more quality inner city neighborhoods.

They're both cool places, and have their own cultures, but to me Dallas is more Texan and Houston is more international. Like others have said, Houston doesn't always feel like a Texan city when compared to San Antonio and Dallas and others, but that's because it is simply on a bigger scale than those cities. I look at it like California (another place I spent a lot of time) Houston is like L.A., sprawling, hot, traffic choked, and busy, with bad air and an impatient populace. Dallas is like San Francisco, pristine, beautiful, and cold, traffic choked to a lesser extent and with a slightly less impatient populace. And like those cities we have just as lively a rivalry! It's beautiful if you ask me.

[Trae713]

I now endorse every post that majicdonjuan makes.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by Angel713

I now endorse every post that majicdonjuan makes.

He had me until he compared Dallas to San Francisco.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by houstoner

He had me until he compared Dallas to San Francisco.

Good lord, that is strongly seconded. I tried to read past that but I couldn't seem to avert my eyes. Woah, woah woah. I mean first off, San Francisco is on a peninsula and has a bridge and stuff...

[blkgiraffe]

San Francisco isn't clean like Dallas,but its got Dallas beat on natural setting.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

Good lord, that is strongly seconded. I tried to read past that but I couldn't seem to avert my eyes. Woah, woah woah. I mean first off, San Francisco is on a peninsula and has a bridge and stuff...

I don't even know where to begin with all the ways those two cities are NOTHING alike. Dallas is not pristine, beautiful, and cold. He should have substituted Dallas for Houston in that same sentence and said it was like L.A., too, then he'd be on track. Dallas sprawls, it's hot, traffic sucks, etc. Dallas is not anywhere near as picturesque as SF. In Texas, only cities like Austin, possibly San Antonio, and hell, even Galveston would win that award. And you can talk about zoning all you like. Fact is, when I lived there, I really didn't notice much difference in the amount of chain restaurants and strip malls and where they were located. The difference is that buildings do seem to be kept in better condition in Dallas than in Houston. Still, Dallas looks more like Houston and L.A. than S.F. Just... no. No way. And don't get me started on the differences in the populace!

[tstone]

There is no place in Texas that is anything like San Francisco. None.

Certain parts of LA/OC look much like Houston or Dallas, but LA in many places is different (and much more scary) than either. Anaheim and Garden Grove (OC) look strikingly similar to outer-loop Houston (proper) except for Del Tacos, Green Burrito, Carls Jr and a serious lack of drive-through car washes.

[Brewzerr68]

As an L.A. resident who used to live in both Houston and Dallas, I would say that Houston is probably the most L.A.-like city in the nation, though I doubt that's what city planners intended. The similarities are everywhere: small, compact downtown with sprawling, amoeba-like suburbs broken by islands of skykraper-clusters (examples: Galleria-area Houston, Century City L.A.), bad smog, freeway dependency, heavy ethnic culture, high risk for natural catastrophe (Houston has hurricanes and heavy flooding, L.A. has quakes, fires, and mudslides), ugly character-less suburbs and a beautiful inner-city. I totally disagree that L.A. is "much more scary". The 5th ward in Houston is far scarier than anything in South-Central, though the gang culture is more widespread out here (though not as violent in recent years as it was in the 80's and 90's)

Dallas on the other hand, like many have pointed out, is NOTHING like San Francisco. Nowhere else in America is anything like SF. If I had to compare Dallas to a western U.S. city, I would say it most closely resembles Phoenix... and even that is a stretch. Dallas is uniquely TEXAN, though it is very much a big city. I agree that Dallas is ahead of Houston on the mass transit issue. Houston desperately needs a larger rail system.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by majicdonjuan

They're both cool places, and have their own cultures, but to me Dallas is more Texan and Houston is more international. Like others have said, Houston doesn't always feel like a Texan city when compared to San Antonio and Dallas and others, but that's because it is simply on a bigger scale than those cities. I look at it like California (another place I spent a lot of time) Houston is like L.A., sprawling, hot, traffic choked, and busy, with bad air and an impatient populace. Dallas is like San Francisco, pristine, beautiful, and cold, traffic choked to a lesser extent and with a slightly less impatient populace. And like those cities we have just as lively a rivalry! It's beautiful if you ask me.

The comparison of LA & Houston is very accurate. Houston is a strange mix of Los Angeles, New Orleans, & Atlanta all rolled into one sprawling metropolis.

Dallas is NOTHING & I repeat NOTHING like San Francisco unless we're talking about twin cities (SF/Oakland, D/FW)

Dallas & Denver are alike in some ways minus the high elevation of course.