Dallas Versus Philadelphia: Which City Is More Important? Which City Would You Prefer To Live In? (districts, living)
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Philly for sure. The Main Line suburbs are really nice. There are very few places in DFW with the quality of life of the Main Line suburbs. Highland Park in DFW is a tiny area and more expensive. Plano and Frisco can't touch the Main Line suburbs in walkability, transit, beauty and character. Just generic suburbia subdivisions that you can find in any city.
So many post silly remarks about DFW's build and using suburban as a dirty word. But the real world seems to have a different view.
DFW has been the top 4 or so metros for growth for about 4 decades now. I know there are going to be know-it-alls on here who are going to say that people only moved their for jobs, but whatever the reason they moved there every single person I have met so moved there loves it.
It's one thing to have an admiration for a more dense built environment, or concern that expansive developments have a more taxing effect on the environment is one thing, but to constantly degrade the newer cities is so tired.
I would think that leading the pack for 40 plus years would make posters realize that the sunbelt development style is the norm , but then I remember that most on here are delusional
I get your points, two nitpicks (bolded)...
1. Most neighborhoods surrounding Center City are fine, you have to travel far North and West to encounter awful parts (and no visitor could mistakenly do that). South Philly is rough in parts, but by no means slums. And many neighborhoods are changing at astonishing rates, even from 5 years ago (as you may know).
2. This statement is losing value (literally, for better or worse). The Main Line is still more affordable compared to DC, NYC, Boston counterparts, but not "pennies on the dollar", it's becoming more a wash as the years go on. The blue chip Boston burbs are more likely an outlier on the high-end rather than the Main Line on the low-end.
Yes, all very accurate. Philadelphia has some incredibly impoverished/blighted neighborhoods; no quibbles there. But the post-apocalyptic phrasing of "vast slums" is so over-the-top. You'd think it was Calcutta the way people talk about a major city in the middle of one of the wealthiest major metro areas in the world.
And yes, Geoff is using the upper-upper-stratosphere of real estate costs in other BosWash cities as an analogue. Most Main Line neighborhoods are beginning to go in the $300-400s/ppsf (and over $500/ppsf for new construction). That's not exactly 95% of the American population's idea of "pennies on the dollar."
I would think that leading the pack for 40 plus years would make posters realize that the sunbelt development style is the norm , but then I remember that most on here are delusional
I mean obesity is the norm for the past 40 years in this country too, doesn't mean we have to like it and think it should be the norm for the next 40 years also.
Dallas is important economically, that’s it. Philly is slightly less important in that measure and blows Dallas out of the water in others; ie history, transit, coastal location, urbanity, culture, food etc..
Dallas has passed Philly in relevance fairly easily in my opinion. GDP is about 20% larger, people are migrating to Dallas, not so much Philly. Economic fiscal policies of Texas is greatly superior to PA.
I mean obesity is the norm for the past 40 years in this country too, doesn't mean we have to like it and think it should be the norm for the next 40 years also.
No one is telling you to like it.
I wouldn't be so silly to tell someone where to like.
But that is a faulty comparison. I have never met someone afflicted by obesity who liked being obese. Everyone I have met who have been afflicted with DFW, however, liked it. So I don't get the comparison.
Or are you just proving my point that posters on here are out of touch with reality.
No one is telling you to like it.
I wouldn't be so silly to tell someone where to like.
But that is a faulty comparison. I have never met someone afflicted by obesity who liked being obese. Everyone I have met who have been afflicted with DFW, however, liked it. So I don't get the comparison.
Or are you just proving my point that posters on here are out of touch with reality.
I grew up living in Plano TX and later Montrose in Houston. So I guess now you've found your first person who didn't like living in DFW or Houston. All I'm trying to say is the norm isn't always the best or should be held up as some stunning role model for the whole country to follow. It may just be the path of least resistance. And there are plenty of obese people who enjoy being obese, or we wouldn't have so much obesity in the past 40 years.
North Dallas was an improvement over southern Oklahoma where we were originally from though, but that's not saying much.
SEPTA goes to New York City I believe. Close to NY, Baltimore, DC. Philadelphia itself seems like a place I would like to live. I'm not sure if SEPTA is useful (what I like about DC Metro is it can get you throughout and around DC as opposed to in/out of city) but from the times I've visited Philadelphia, is felt pretty urban.
Dallas isn't as urban as a place I'd want to live.
DFW has been the top 4 or so metros for growth for about 4 decades now. I know there are going to be know-it-alls on here who are going to say that people only moved their for jobs, but whatever the reason they moved there every single person I have met so moved there loves it.
I know plenty of people that love DFW but I've met a lot of people that strongly disliked aspects of it as well. There are also others that wouldn't move there in a million years. It's definitely a popular city right now, primarily because all of the growth but to claim that every single person loves it is somewhat disjointed from reality. It's definitely more popular in real life than on city-data and I know you are just going by your own personal experiences but I'd really challenge the notion that every single person loves it. I do think it has the basics of what most Americans really want in an area.. reasonable cost of living, great amenities, generally good weather, more suburban than urban. Regardless at this point in history it's still a more significant metro area to most of the country than Philly is.
Last edited by MichiganderTexan; 11-11-2021 at 07:24 AM..
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