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I know Texas isnt known for having cities with strong urban fabrics on the whole, but if someone wanted to live an urban lifestyle in a Texas city, which one would provide the best opportunities?
I guess I use the term urban loosely- what I mean is walkable, vibrant, good streetscapes, restaurants + nightlife, diversity, cultural opportunities (museums, symphonies, Farmer's Markets, etc) public transit, etc. Which city has the best (and/or the most) pockets that could fit this bill?
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
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Public Transit- Right now I give this to Dallas. Presently DART is far more collected and extensive than METRORail. After the extensions, for this criteria I will give it a tie between both cities, because its interlinking Inner Loop Houston, which is Houston's most Urban Area.
Walkable- They both have the same exact low score of 51 out of 100 from Walk Score so that is a tie.
Vibrant- Tie, both have vibrant areas, Dallas's Uptown is more vibrant than its Downtown on weekends, Houston's Midtown is more vibrant than its Downtown in weekends. It depends, I do give the edge to Houston's Inner Loop but ad far as city to city goes, it is a definite tie.
Restaurants- Tie, both are about the same. Diverse options, and options of all kinds.
Diversity- In what way? People? Racially? Or Ethnically? What are we talking about here?
Symphonies- Houston's is better, its the best one in the state
Museums- Houston has a designated museum district which is served by rail and connected vitally to Houston's main districts. It receives 5 Million people a year, and has 18 museums, and most are free of charge at times. So Houston definitely gets the nod here, but that is needless to say that Dallas has efficient museums too.
I give Houston the edge (statistically), but Dallas is not far off in this factor at all. It's definitely nothing that makes one better than the other.
El Paso is the least urban of all of the Texas cities on your list.
As far as having the most pockets of urbanity in the city overall I must give the edge to Dallas followed by Houston, Austin, Fort Worth, & last but not least San Antonio.
The liveliest downtowns however are found in San Antonio, Austin, & Fort Worth in that order.
Judging by density, i have to say Houston. inside the 610 loop is definitely the densest area in all of Texas.
By public transit and mixed use urban developments, Dallas has definitely had a head start over Houston in that field.
I wouldn't really call Austin urban, it just has the advantage of having major college campus in its downtown. San Antonio has a similar advantage with the Riverwalk (the largest tourist draw in the state) right smack in the center of its downtown.
Overall, I'd have to give Houston and Dallas a tie with Houston having the slight edge. I really don't see how anyone can say Dallas has more pockets of urbanity than Houston though UNLESS they're strictly talking about mixed use developments.
Judging by density, i have to say Houston. inside the 610 loop is definitely the densest area in all of Texas.
By public transit and mixed use urban developments, Dallas has definitely had a head start over Houston in that field.
I wouldn't really call Austin urban, it just has the advantage of having major college campus in its downtown. San Antonio has a similar advantage with the Riverwalk (the largest tourist draw in the state) right smack in the center of its downtown.
Overall, I'd have to give Houston and Dallas a tie with Houston having the slight edge. I really don't see how anyone can say Dallas has more pockets of urbanity than Houston though UNLESS they're strictly talking about mixed use developments.
Which neighborhoods in Houston and Dallas would you call out as being the best for urban living?
I think they are all about equal when it comes to how urban they are. They all have pockets of urban areas scattered throughout the city. I voted for Austin because I like their urban areas much more than the urban areas in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
Which neighborhoods in Houston and Dallas would you call out as being the best for urban living?
For Houston: Midtown, Montrose, Old 4th Ward, The eastside of downtown is developing, and so on.
I'm not as familiar with Dallas but i know Uptown/Turtle Creek area has really had a lot of emphasis put on it.
People are voting but they're not explaining what the basis is of their votes? I'm curious to the peoplw who are voting for Dallas, what makes it the most urban in Texas?
Since i'm no longer able to edit my above post, i would like to know why people are voting for any city as the most urban. Dallas could be considered urban based on having the most extensive network of light rail lines in the State, but they're ridership numbers are only 15,000 more than say Houston which only has one rail line at the moment. Austin has even started to surpass Houston in mileage, but they're ridership numbers are probably about 1/3 of that of Houston.
Last edited by stoneclaw; 11-29-2010 at 02:15 PM..
lol, who voted for FW?
Was it supposed to be a joke?
I say Austin. Sure, it may have a slightly smaller pop density than Dallas and Houston, but it just seemed more appealing to me- And by more appealing I mean "more urban/walkable"
Austins core seems livelier and hip than Dal/Hou.
I don't have much credibility since I've never even stepped foot in Texas- But I'm a regular on these forums, I've read and looked into the TX enough to make an observation... I could be wrong on the whole thing.
Me personally. I find the urban fabric of Houston's inner loop the most impressive in the state of Texas. They need to improve the sidewalks and curbs and of course, mass transportation. But everything else is there. The potential is very high IMO.
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