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Yeah, billionaires or millionaires do not make a city more enjoyable to live in. Actually, it is quite the contrary. Fortune 500 companies do not make a city more enjoyable to live in. Hence the entire Occupy movement.
Weird last time I checked DFW was the fastest growing Metroplex in the USA and it still is :/ hmmmm must have missed something in all those millions of articles that said DFW was the fastest growing, and DFW has more major cities than Houston in the top 50 Houston has 1/50 cities while DFW has 3/50 and of you go to top 100 DFW Still has way more like McKinney, Frisco, Plano, Irving, Denton, etc.
It's the ONLY "Metroplex".
You mean Metro area....
And as for the ESPN Dallas thing, it is all and only about money. Even I can admit, there are several cities/areas in this country that are bigger on sports than DFW. Not a whole hell of a lot, but certainly a good number. But their are only 5 city specific ESPN's (NYC, L.A., Chicago, Boston, and Dallas) and it's networking and tv marketing and viewer numbers that go into all that. Seriously, Houston, the SF Bay Area, Philly, Pittsburgh, Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, Seattle.... those cities could also have their own specific networks, but they don't for those reasons.
I have family in the DFW area and I've been visiting my grandmother on Lake Dallas my entire life so I have a good perspective on both places although I've never actually lived in Dallas.
Weather-
Winters are more pronounced in DFW. I've seen snow and ice on many occasions in DFW and only 2 or 3 times in Houston despite being here off and on for 25 years. From June-September, however, both places are hell on earth. There might be minor humidity and actual surface temperature differences but, 105 is hot whether it's the heat index or the actual temperature!
Cool bars/coffee shops-
Both cities have plenty but not over a large area. Houston's would primarily be inside the loop (610) and Dallas would be concentrated in the park cities area.
Pedestrian friendly-
Besides the odd walkable neighborhood here and there you will need a vehicle to get to 98% of each city. Dallas has the edge on Houston as far as rail service goes (they have many more track miles in service already) but I've ridden on it many times and you still need a car to get you to the stations and most other places. People drive big cars in both cities and the driving can be quite aggressive...we quickly traded my wife's Civic in for an Explorer after moving back to Houston.
Someone above made the good point about Houston being much closer to Austin and San Antonio than Dallas. This is true and is something you will take advantage of more than you think. SA and Austin are great cities and are generally much more "tourist" and non-business visitor friendly than Dallas or Houston. Thus, they make great weekend destinations. I can be in Austin or San Antonio in less than 3 hours from Houston while SA is 6 hours from Dallas and Austin is about 4 (and you have to put up with the nightmare that is Interstate-35).
That's all I really feel like writing. On a completely subjective point, I've found the people in Houston to be much more friendly and welcoming (less snobby and pretentious too) on the whole than in Dallas. This is also a theme you will find in surveys and threads on this and other forums. In Dallas you will quickly become familiar with the term "$30,000 millionaire".
One last piece of advise regardless of where you choose...don't move from June-September if at all possible. Relocation during a Texas summer is truly hell...I've done it many times unfortunately and we always swear we will only move again during the "winter" (November - March) only to find ourselves moving in July!
Good luck.
Even a few years later, this post is helpful. Great synopsis, thanks.
Much Drier (with emphasis on the much) nope. The stats don't show that.
Dallas is drier, but not THAT much drier.
Both will make the most people head for the AC once the summer rolls around.
I gotta disagree with you on Dallas not being much drier. Houston has what is called a subtropical climate. Dallas' weather is closer to Phoenix, AZ. I live in Dallas. Although some rain in April may make the number higher, Dallas usually has at least one drought spell every year, and goes through long periods every summer with no rain. I've had many a plant shrivel and die in late summer. It is dry and hot enough here that people have to water their lawns to keep them alive, while people in Houston water their lawns to make them lusher, if they water them at all.
The Dallas soil is hard clay, such that it cracks in the summer. You can't put a shovel in it without adding water very slowly (hard clay doesn't absorb liquid quickly...it flows off of it like it's rock). Speaking of rock, Dallas is built on rock, pretty much. You know those cowboy westerns where cowboys on horses travail over hard prairie, then they get off their horses, and their boots crunch as they walk across the dry hard ground? That's Dallas. Every time I walk thru my back yard to the alley in late summer, I sing the theme song to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, because it sounds like those cowboy boots crunching along.
Humid or dry....105 degrees is HOT. Dallas isn't as hot as Phoenix, but there are days where Dallas tops Phoenix in high temperature.
Then there's altitude. Dallas is at a higher altitude, and is less humid, so Dallas' sun is blazing. It is bright. It's so blazing that it will scorch roses that in other areas are intended for full sun. (Humidity and lower altitude puts more atmosphere between earth and the sun, as well humidity holding down the heat.)
Not too many plants do well in Dallas, due to the extremes in temperature and the type of soil. From blazing heat in summer to a hard freeze in winter. You'll see the same trees and shrubs and flowers repeatedly in Dallas because not that many will grow here without extra care and babying. Houston does have an option of a much wider variety of flowers and trees and shrubs that will do well there. It's the soil plus the natural rain, plus almost no winter to speak of.
The humidity in Houston does seem to bother people a lot, if they weren't raised with it. And the mosquitos, which pretty much prevent nighttime outdoor activities. I was raised on the Gulf, so I could weather the humidity much better. Esp when I think about all that humidity helping plants flourish and people's skin stay youthful. I never did get used to the mosquitos. That's an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. They are truly bad.
Also, when I moved to Dallas from the Gulf area, I noticed my hair looked fuller. That's because the humidity wasn't weighing it down.
I have about 12 inches of soil in my yard in most places, down to only 6 inches at the back. Below that is rock. Mainly limestone. Alkaline soil. I used a *****xe to make a rose garden. But Ireland "the Emerald Isle" is like that, too. Not all of Dallas is that bad...but the largest lake we have in town IS called White Rock Lake. All the lakes are man-made. There are no natural lakes in and around Dallas, and the ones I've seen aren't that attractive.
Grass in Dallas is brown in winter, of course, while in Houston it stays green most of the year. Dallas grass also often turns brown in the dead of summer, except those areas where people pay buckaroos to water and water and water. Dallas is under water restrictions in most places because the water level goes down so far in summer.
It has snowed in Dallas every year I've been here, I think. Where it stays on the ground and you can make a small snowman.
That's a soil and weather perspective.
As for sports, I'm not a sports fan. But I haven't seen anyone mention the Dallas Mavericks for basketball. and I concur with another poster that the Dallas Cowboys is the most famous football team in the country. Dallasites are absolute sports fanatics. During football season, you'll hear the conversation about the latest game everywhere....in the elevator, in the office, in the grocery store. Cowboys paraphernalia is sold in a lot of places, as is sports stuff for its baseball team the Rangers. In the grocery store, in 7-11, in Target....
Yeah, billionaires or millionaires do not make a city more enjoyable to live in. Actually, it is quite the contrary. Fortune 500 companies do not make a city more enjoyable to live in. Hence the entire Occupy movement.
I'd say that's arguably disagreeable. Despite the fact that the occupy movement was very large, the average salary ranges in NYC are astronomical compared to most of the rest of the country, and you can bet that is directly related to the fact that the city far and away has the most fortune 500 companies within them.
I'd say that's arguably disagreeable. Despite the fact that the occupy movement was very large, the average salary ranges in NYC are astronomical compared to most of the rest of the country, and you can bet that is directly related to the fact that the city far and away has the most fortune 500 companies within them.
Yes, average salaries in NYC are more than rest of the country but does that make it more enjoyable to live in city with a family.
Yes, average salaries in NYC are more than rest of the country but does that make it more enjoyable to live in city with a family.
I'm pretty sure all those fancy restaurants, entertainment venues and world class shopping options are there due to the money there, right? There's a reason people would prefer to live in NYC or LA over Detroit or Columbus.
I'd say that's arguably disagreeable. Despite the fact that the occupy movement was very large, the average salary ranges in NYC are astronomical compared to most of the rest of the country, and you can bet that is directly related to the fact that the city far and away has the most fortune 500 companies within them.
While the very top folks in a Fortune 500 company may do well, it is not the corporate salaries that puts NY off the charts.
I gotta disagree with you on Dallas not being much drier. Houston has what is called a subtropical climate. Dallas' weather is closer to Phoenix, AZ. I live in Dallas. Although some rain in April may make the number higher, Dallas usually has at least one drought spell every year, and goes through long periods every summer with no rain. I've had many a plant shrivel and die in late summer. It is dry and hot enough here that people have to water their lawns to keep them alive, while people in Houston water their lawns to make them lusher, if they water them at all.
The Dallas soil is hard clay, such that it cracks in the summer. You can't put a shovel in it without adding water very slowly (hard clay doesn't absorb liquid quickly...it flows off of it like it's rock). Speaking of rock, Dallas is built on rock, pretty much. You know those cowboy westerns where cowboys on horses travail over hard prairie, then they get off their horses, and their boots crunch as they walk across the dry hard ground? That's Dallas. Every time I walk thru my back yard to the alley in late summer, I sing the theme song to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, because it sounds like those cowboy boots crunching along.
Humid or dry....105 degrees is HOT. Dallas isn't as hot as Phoenix, but there are days where Dallas tops Phoenix in high temperature.
Then there's altitude. Dallas is at a higher altitude, and is less humid, so Dallas' sun is blazing. It is bright. It's so blazing that it will scorch roses that in other areas are intended for full sun. (Humidity and lower altitude puts more atmosphere between earth and the sun, as well humidity holding down the heat.)
Not too many plants do well in Dallas, due to the extremes in temperature and the type of soil. From blazing heat in summer to a hard freeze in winter. You'll see the same trees and shrubs and flowers repeatedly in Dallas because not that many will grow here without extra care and babying. Houston does have an option of a much wider variety of flowers and trees and shrubs that will do well there. It's the soil plus the natural rain, plus almost no winter to speak of.
The humidity in Houston does seem to bother people a lot, if they weren't raised with it. And the mosquitos, which pretty much prevent nighttime outdoor activities. I was raised on the Gulf, so I could weather the humidity much better. Esp when I think about all that humidity helping plants flourish and people's skin stay youthful. I never did get used to the mosquitos. That's an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. They are truly bad.
Also, when I moved to Dallas from the Gulf area, I noticed my hair looked fuller. That's because the humidity wasn't weighing it down.
I have about 12 inches of soil in my yard in most places, down to only 6 inches at the back. Below that is rock. Mainly limestone. Alkaline soil. I used a *****xe to make a rose garden. But Ireland "the Emerald Isle" is like that, too. Not all of Dallas is that bad...but the largest lake we have in town IS called White Rock Lake. All the lakes are man-made. There are no natural lakes in and around Dallas, and the ones I've seen aren't that attractive.
Grass in Dallas is brown in winter, of course, while in Houston it stays green most of the year. Dallas grass also often turns brown in the dead of summer, except those areas where people pay buckaroos to water and water and water. Dallas is under water restrictions in most places because the water level goes down so far in summer.
It has snowed in Dallas every year I've been here, I think. Where it stays on the ground and you can make a small snowman.
That's a soil and weather perspective.
As for sports, I'm not a sports fan. But I haven't seen anyone mention the Dallas Mavericks for basketball. and I concur with another poster that the Dallas Cowboys is the most famous football team in the country. Dallasites are absolute sports fanatics. During football season, you'll hear the conversation about the latest game everywhere....in the elevator, in the office, in the grocery store. Cowboys paraphernalia is sold in a lot of places, as is sports stuff for its baseball team the Rangers. In the grocery store, in 7-11, in Target....
As a native Dallasite, it's absolutely NOT normal for Dallas to be in drought conditions every year. Dallas averages 37.6 inches of rain each year, that's something we haven't seen in 6 years. The whole state has been in a terrible drought off and on for the past 4+ years. Many non-native plants/trees have died due to the drought. Trees like the Pecan and Live Oak have done very well, they are native to Texas and are drought hardy.
If we see normal rain patterns, it's easier for grass and plants to stay green during the summer. So far this spring, we've seen higher amounts of rain than normal. If it continues, the soil won't dry out as fast during the summer months. Helping plants to withstand the summer heat. Every major lake in the State of Texas is man-made, except one. Texas isn't blessed with large natural lakes like most states...
Last edited by Dallaz; 05-03-2015 at 09:58 PM..
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Belated thanks
