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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Lets say you feel like a weekend getaway to a sunbelt metro area. Which area would you enjoy more? Dallas/Fort Worth or Phoenix/Scottsdale. Here is some basic criteria...
Hotels/Resorts
Shopping/Dining/Nightlife
Recreation/Scenery
Local Attractions
Excursions from the metro area
Hotels: DFW
Resorts: Phoenix
Shopping: Dallas
Dining: DFW
Nightlife: I don't know enough about the nightlife in Phoenix to comment
Recreation/Scenery: Phoenix
Local attractions: DFW
Excursions from metro area: Phoenix
Lets say you feel like a weekend getaway to a sunbelt metro area. Which area would you enjoy more? Dallas/Fort Worth or Phoenix/Scottsdale. Here is some basic criteria...
Hotels/Resorts
Shopping/Dining/Nightlife
Recreation/Scenery
Local Attractions
Excursions from the metro area
I doubt many other places have the high caliber and concentration of resorts that Scottsdale has. The Phoenician, Fairmont Princess, Camelback Inn, and Fouor Seasons at Troon are some of the best but they are everywhere.
There is world class shopping at Fashion Square and additional shopping at Kierland, Scottsdale Quarter, Desert Rodge, DC Ranch, Old Town, and more. There is a restaurant every direction you look and some of the Valley's best are in Scottsdale/NE Phoenix. Old Town Scottsdale is the center of nightlife with its entertainment district, but there are also places at Kierland and the Quarter open late as well.
There are many mountains surrounded by development for easy recreation access: Camelback, Piestewa Peak, the McDowells, and South Mountain are the biggest but Papago Park and Tempe Town Lake just south of Scottsdale are great attractions as well. The Greenbelt runs for many miles in Scottsdale with paths along the water for running/biking and there is even frisbee golf and a skatepark there. Within close driving distance of the metro are opportunities to rock climb, mountain bike, ski/snowboard, scale a mountain, boat, spelunk, camp, fish, and more.
There are many museums (check out the Heard for some Native American culture), water parks, soooo many golf courses, ice skating, a drive in movie theater! (in Glendale), First Fridays (art walk in Phoenix), Third Thursdays (street music on Mill Avenue in Tempe), art festivals all the time, the Phoenix Zoo, great happy hours everywhere, and many more things to do. The nice weather means there is some type of festival in the Valley almost every weekend.
I covered outdoor excursions above, but there is more than just that. Bisbee ( a cute artist community) is a few hours south, the Apache Trail scenic drive is just outside the metro area (most beautiful road in America according to FDR), Outlets at Anthem for shopping, Prescott/Payson are just 1.5-2 hours away (more to do in Prescott), Route 66 in northern AZ (Williams/Seligman/Winslow/etc for a piece of old Americana), scenic drives all over the state (check out Arizona Scenic Drives - Arizona Road Trips - Arizona sightseeing - azcentral.com), dude ranches where you can ride horses, wineries to tour, swimming holes all over the state, parks (Grand Canyon, Tonto Natural Bridge), stargazing (Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff), rent a houseboat on Lake Powell....I could go on and on!
Of course I am biased I would like to hear more about the Dallas area, though. I have an aversion to visiting Texas because I get the impression that it doesn't have much to offer but I'm sure I must be mistaken!
They are both terrible, but I would choose Dallas over Pheonix, but I have no plans to visit either cities unless I'm going for family. Both are cultural wastelands that are sprawling with boring, bland SFH suburbs.
I am going to say Phoenix, especially for vacation. Interesting scenery and more outdoor recreation. Phoenix has the unique, Southwestern feel to it combined with actually being a major city. However, if walkability is a must, neither will do because both are very car-centric cities.
Dallas, but it's not the best vacation destination in the US
Hotels: Dallas
Resorts: Phoenix
Recreation: tie. Both have many golf courses. Phoenix has a great river nearby but Dallas has many lakes nearby.
Scenery: Dallas. I personally hate the desert. Phoenix looks like the surface of Mars. I don't know how it sustained life prior to air conditioning and grocery stores. Dallas has pretty cross timbers and rolling green prairies with small hills and bluffs dotting the area.
Local attractions: Dallas. Six flags, cowboys stadium, all the museums, downtown/uptown Dallas, the fort worth stockyards just to name a few
Excursions: Dallas
They are both terrible, but I would choose Dallas over Pheonix, but I have no plans to visit either cities unless I'm going for family. Both are cultural wastelands that are sprawling with boring, bland SFH suburbs.
What? Dallas has the largest arts district in the United States. The kimbell Art museum in Fort Worth has one of the most prestigious collections in the country.
Dallas would be a better vacation imo. Phoenix makes a pretty good vacation destination however.
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I would like to hear more about the Dallas area, though. I have an aversion to visiting Texas because I get the impression that it doesn't have much to offer but I'm sure I must be mistaken!
