Is Dallas really better? (Houston, San Antonio: new home, landscaping, buy)

[schoenfraun]

I know that they are two distinctly different cities, but I think Fort Worth is great. Like, great. Is living in Fort Worth and working in Dallas an option?

Dallas is way, way better than Houston. Houston is very industrialized, I think. I associate Houston with unchecked growth, absolutely no zoning, and the huge oil refineries and smokestacks belching away along the ship channel.

Dallas does have its share of wealth, there will be older women with big hair there. But I've met many such women and they've all been truly nice people.

Dallas has theater, I'm thinking of the Turtle Creek area....very nice. Very $$.

Fort Worth, I think, is a great city. Museums, the astonishingly lovely Botanic Gardens, the oldest in the state; and city parks like Heritage Park along the bluffs.

I have enjoyed ethnic food in the DFW area, like Thai and Vietnamese food.

A coworker and I--we travel the state a lot--agreed that if we had to live somewhere in Texas and we could not live in Austin, we would both likely choose Fort Worth. We think it kicks Dallas's proverbial behind.

And I think that both cities are more affordable than Austin!

[traceyr13]

My best friends live in Dallas, and I head up there to visit for a weekend every 1-2 months. They keep trying to convince me to move up there, and it is tempting since we have no family here in Austin, and all my friends here are more "casual" friends while they are more like family.

Here is what keeps us from going up there (and we're lifelong New Englanders who moved here in June 2006):

we love small cities to live. For example, we loved visiting Boston, but lived just outside Providence.

Dallas is not nearly as beautiful geographically as this area. It's been a big adjustement moving to Texas after growing up on the ocean with the New England foliage, but at least here we have the lakes and tons of greenery. Dallas looks more stereotypically "Texas" to me.

Traffic/drive time. Again, we grew up where a "long" commute was 20 minutes (seriously). It's hard enough to commute from Round Rock to central Austin - we have no desire to deal with the suburbs-downtown Dallas commute.

Weather - with the exception of colder winters in Dallas (which appeal to us), we prefer Austin weather. Less chance of tornadoes, and slightly milder summers (from what I understand).

And the clincher (but it's an important one) - when my girlfriends came for a weekend to Austin, we went to Whole Foods for lunch. One of my friends said, in all seriousness, "Wow, it's so weird to see so many women here in flip-flops and no make-up".

That convinced me that Austin's laid back and less-pretentious vibe was for me!

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by schoenfraun

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Dallas does have its share of wealth, there will be older women with big hair there. But I've met many such women and they've all been truly nice people.

This is so true! Where would Texas be without the steel magnolias who quietly use their wealth to get stuff done!

[atxcio]

I think your friends are pulling your leg... or perhaps they just want you to share their misery. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone, even in Dallas, who would say it's better than Austin. Jobs are more plentiful in DFW, and it's easier to afford a nice house, but it doesn't really have any sense of "place." It's a great big city, nothing wrong with it necessarily, but nothing really makes it different than Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, etc.

[Rakin]

Actually Fort Worth beats them both. Check out the FT Worth Forum. Great mid size town with a lot of class, money and culture.

[schoenfraun]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Actually Fort Worth beats them both. Check out the FT Worth Forum. Great mid size town with a lot of class, money and culture.

I agree.

We moved here from Illinois--I'm from Chicago and my husband from the St Louis area--and we relocated for my job in Austin.

We lived in Austin for 8 months, and bought a home in Taylor, a true small town about 35 miles from Austin. We love the small town vibe, and yet I'm in Austin every day for work, and we're heading there right now for dinner and a concert.

But Fort Worth is truly great. Very, very cool. I was surprised, because I know Dallas folks smear FW left and right.

But Fort Worth has Dallas beat for sure, and I'm thinking it has Austin beat, too. It certainly is more affordable to purchase a lovely, older, architecturally interesting home there. And the public spaces can't be beat.

Like I said earlier, Fort Worth is certainly in the top two of the great urban areas of Texas. The question is, which is number one: Austin or Fort Worth?

[TexasHorseLady]

I've lived in Dallas and Austin, and lived in Arlington (and spent a fair amount of time in Fort Worth). All of the cities have their charms, but when push came to shove, it was Austin that I chose. I knew I could go (and do) go to Fort Worth for the museums/botanical gardens, Dallas for museums and shopping and playing dress-up, Houston for museums and shopping, San Antonio for museums/shopping/food, but when it came right down to it, Austin was where I could LIVE, have some of all of those, and access to my choice of the rest, as I said. So, for livability, Austin won out over the others, for me.

[Rakin]

I think we should all admit how lucky were are to be in such a great state. When you have all the great choices to live and diversity of each.

Now if those dang Californians don't all move here and mess it up.

Off topic - the oil produced in TX should stay in TX.

[Mckellyb]

I'm a Dallas native, and can say, while it isn't the cowtown everyone from out-of-state thinks it is, most cities do not live up to people's impressions of what they should be.

Yes, Dallas is a shopping mecca. Austin is not. Dallas has more food and entertainment (movies, theatre, and the like), than Austin. Dallas also has some wickedly bad traffic. If you live in Ft. Worth, it's highly unlikely you're going to commute to/from Dallas for more than a month. I've done it, but in reverse. Irving to west Ft. Worth. This was 12 years ago, and it wasn't enjoyable, then.

Sports. Honestly, I coulndn't care less, so Austin works for me. In fact, if I could find a town which had local news not reporting on any sports-related information, I'd be content.

Funny how those of us who grew up in Dallas feel Houston is pretty much pure evil. Sure, the beach is an hour away, but so are the refineries, traffic, and tarballs on your sandy feet. Also, Houston is a perfect example of why zoning is a good idea. Let's not discuss the humidity....

I'd consider a move to Arlington, to work in Ft. Worth, if the opportunity arose, but I'd not move to Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chi-town, anywhere on either coast, Phoenix, Vegas, KC, or any other large town, on a bet. I'm even shying away from San Antonio, just because while it's a 'small' city, it's still a city. Austin is much like a very large 'town'.

If you're familiar with both Denver and Co Springs, it's a similar comparison, IMHO.

I've left many places out of areas I'd consider relocating to, but I'd take Denver, The Springs, I'm in Austin, Ft. Worth, Sioux Falls (it's really kinda nice around there), and a few others. I'd even consider Anchorage, if the money was right. Three hours of daylight for a few months of the year is expensive to tolerate.

[austinese]

The Metroplex has a population of around 6 million; Austin-Round Rock has population of 1.5 million. Of course, the former is going to have a lot more of almost everything (shopping, restaurants, museums, etc.) than the latter.

If one has the choice, one moves to Austin for its more laid-back, playful lifestyle and its pleasant natural environment and not for its shopping options or other large city amenities.

In Austin, the word "Dallas" is a synonym for an overly materialistic attitude and the ostentatious display of wealth. For example, some people I know don't like the fledgling Domain development in North Austin because, in their opinion, the place is "so Dallas." A good number of wealthy Austinites are careful about to what extent they reveal their wealth so as not to appear "too Dallas-like."

The stereotypical Dallas resident is a Republican stockbroker in his mid-thirties who cruises around town in a pricey BMW.

Houston is generally thought of as "butt-ugly" and full of urban rednecks.

I've been in Austin 24 years and I don't think I've heard one comment about Forth Worth. However, I recall enjoying the bumper sticker "I'm from Foat Wuth."