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The Dallas area is unique and like no other city on earth. As such, it really needs its own terminology to express it.
I nominate this as the most amazing post of the year. I didn't think it could be done in this year's final days.
Saying the Dallas area is unique is laughable at best. Dallas tries so hard to be an east coast city with waterfront downtowns and Vegas like glitz and glamor, it's not even funny. How is it unique when you're constantly trying hard to be like someone else? Mr Nifty, you never quit do you? You're a true classic!
MisterMister, you sir are a tool. A very uninformed one at that. If Houston is a "one trick pony" how come it has more Fortune 500 companies headquartered here than anywhere else outside of New York City? Or, has the largest medical center in the world and one of the largest/busiest ports in the country? Yes, Houston relied heavily on the oil industry, however, since the oil crisis in the 70's Houston has become one of the most diversiified cities in the nation. I find it comical how you portray Houston as a dying city and will be supassed by Dallas. Kinda funny how you selected data/facts and conveniently left out critical info that would deflate your assertion about Houston.
I did not say that Houston will be surpassed by Dallas. I said that Dallas, as it stands, better takes on the characteristics of the major city in Texas. However, for a long time now, the Dallas area has been, substantially speaking, the larger market.
Simply put, the Dallas area has the Super Corridor because it is the larger market than Houston, it has the Grand Corridor because it has made better decisions regarding its transportation needs than Houston, and it has the Mega Corridor because its airports are far better located than in the Houston area.
Obviously, the Houston area has all those (mostly energy0 companies based there because, well, it is a one trick pony.
The Texas Medical Center is impressive. So it Uptown Houston. See, you aren't getting my argument here. I'm not saying that Houston isn't impressive, I'm saying that Dallas is far more impressive with its Super, Grand, and Mega Corridors. When putting things into their proper perspective, the Dallas area really does smoke every other southern metropolitan area.
Yes, you are absolutely correct. Dallas is more hilly in its far Southwestern reaches where no one actually lives.
The excuse for not expanding its freeways because of a few mole hills is absurd. Look at Austin as a prime example. Its by far the hilliest city in the state & is expanding its freeways at a steady pace to keep up with population.
Dallas is mostly flat like Houston with only slight elevation changes here & there. Even far North Dallas in the burbs was built on gently rolling prairie grassland & just look at all of the new freeways/tollways up there. Are they still anywhere as wide as Houston's roads, no where close.
I-35 from Downtown Dallas all the way to Denton is an absolute nightmare even if its not rush hour traffic. I should know, I drive it quite frequently. The HOV lanes it has are a joke compared to Houston's as is 635's & I-30's near Downtown Dallas.
Once again, Dallas - Fort Worth is a system of loops and spokes, loops within loops, loops outside of loops, and sets of loops that create inner loops. One even has minor loops like Loop 12. Running in and out of this entanglement of loops are thousands of freeways, highways, expressways, super highways, toll roads, and whatnots so many that I lost count.
As Houston has about six freeways that are a million miles wide and meet at the confluence of downtown Houston, the Dallas - Fort Worth area is literally a confluence of confluences and myriads of roundabouts branching out in all directions.
Once again, just look at the crazy confluence of freeways around the old Texas stadium cite, DFW airport, downtown Fort Worth, and downtown Dallas.
Last edited by Mister Nifty; 12-29-2010 at 03:17 PM..
I did not say that Houston will be surpassed by Dallas. I said that Dallas, as it stands, better takes on the characteristics of the major city in Texas. However, for a long time now, the Dallas area has been, substantially speaking, the larger market. Simply put, the Dallas area has the Super Corridor because it is the larger market than Houston, it has the Grand Corridor because it has made better decisions regarding its transportation needs than Houston, and it has the Mega Corridor because its airports are far better located than in the Houston area.
Obviously, the Houston area has all those (mostly energy0 companies based there because, well, it is a one trick pony.
The Texas Medical Center is impressive. So it Uptown Houston. See, you aren't getting my argument here. I'm not saying that Houston isn't impressive, I'm saying that Dallas is far more impressive with its Super, Grand, and Mega Corridors. When putting things into their proper perspective, the Dallas area really does smoke every other southern metropolitan area.
Where are you getting these super stupid terms from anyways?
I think you're just pulling them out of your ass myself.
The only "officially designated" corridor in the D/FW area is in Richardson & its called the Telecom Corridor because of all the high tech companies located there. Other than that, no such places as you describe exist or have ever existed. I sometimes hear the Stemmons Corridor used, but rarely. They usually call that whole area near downtown the "Mixmaster".
I nominate this as the most amazing post of the year. I didn't think it could be done in this year's final days.
Saying the Dallas area is unique is laughable at best. Dallas tries so hard to be an east coast city with waterfront downtowns and Vegas like glitz and glamor, it's not even funny. How is it unique when you're constantly trying hard to be like someone else? Mr Nifty, you never quit do you? You're a true classic!
Yet, the city of Dallas is like no other city in the world. As the major market of the south and the southwest, it has developed a unique character. When expressing what that character is, one has to be inventive and create terms. I do think I've shown some light on some obvious differences between Houston and Dallas. I have also established the perception that the Dallas area is the greater market of the two by showing how the Houston area doesn't have the market size to create corridors, with these being a phenomenon unique to the Dallas area.
In conclusion, when coming to the Dallas area, don't expect to find a lot of the kinds of tall buildings that one typically finds in Houston and Atlanta. Instead, be prepared to be impressed by the size of its major corridors.
Where are you getting these super stupid terms from anyways?
I think you're just pulling them out of your ass myself.
The only "officially designated" corridor in the D/FW area is in Richardson & its called the Telecom Corridor because of all the high tech companies located there. Other than that, no such places as you describe exist or have ever existed. I sometimes hear the Stemmons Corridor used, but rarely. They usually call that whole area near downtown the "Mixmaster".
If you live in Houston, then you just can't imagine what I'm talking about. There is a Platinum (Business) Corridor along Dallas Parkway and, before that, a Golden (Retail) Corridor along Preston Road. These two corridors run parallel to each other, north to south, in close proximity (averaging a mile apart) for 23 miles (almost) from downtown Dallas all the way to the intersecting highway 121 up in Frisco.
So, that makes up approximately 23 square miles!
Central Expressay and the Red line of the DART Light Rail system also make up a similar corridor (taking in the Telecom Corridor) which runs for about twenty miles from downtown Dallas all the way to Parker Road. I coined this particular core area the Grand Corridor.
Altogether, because it is narrower than the Super Corridor, I'd say that the Grand Corridor takes in about ten square miles!
Finally, the Mega Corridor does take in the Stemmons Corridor between the Stemmons Expressway and both Harry Hines Blvd. and the new green and orange lines of the DART light rail system and runs about eighteen miles from downtown Dallas all the way to DFW Airport. There is also a commuter line feeding it to the south.
So, on average, I'd say that takes in about 18 square miles as well!
There is no doubting that these major corridors exist. However, what differentiates each is how they are strung together. As the Super Corridor is defined by the many commercial shopping districts that string it together, the Grand and Mega Corridors are defined by the many transit oriented developments and business districts stringing them together respectively. http://www.dallascityhall.com/forwar...nsCorridor.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_Corridor
As to the golden corridor, this has been lost. However, I can remember the original term referring to the shopping along Preston Road as it passed by Highland Park Shopping Village and Preston Center as well as countless shopping centers stretching northward from those two upscale shopping centers. Therefore, the golden corridor is indeed Preston Road. If it was so impressive that it should be called the "golden" retail corridor, then, reason had it, the nearby Dallas Parkway should be called the Platinum (business) Corridor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_Corridor
Last edited by Mister Nifty; 12-29-2010 at 02:49 PM..
Houston's already been surpassed by Dallas for years as far as population is concerned. Who cares what the city's population is, metro is all that counts in my book. Heck if you went by city population Oklahoma City and El Paso would be larger than Boston, which one is more urban? Probably the 5 million people in Boston's metro area versus OKC's million or El Paso's 800k.
DFW has been about 700k in front for about 30 years. Does that make it more urban, not really. Houston has a much more substantial skyline(Not necessarily better), Dallas has a much larger light rail system. We could go on and on, I'd call it a tie.
That being said, the Op was just being inflammatory on this topic. Houston has spilled out of it's downtown too, to the point that it has what could arguable be called a second downtown in the galleria area, and Texas Medical Center would be a nice skyline on it's own in a smaller city. I prefer Dallas for alot of reasons, but not because Houston is necessarily awful. But both cities, statistically speaking, are growing at about the same rate along with Austin and San Antonio and our Okie friends to the north in OKC.
Though it might have feathers in its cap, a pillar unto itself will fall upon itself
Quote:
Originally Posted by Metro Matt
Point being?
Dallas has lots of oil/energy related companies too, just not nearly as many as Houston.
Having all of those is just another feather in Houston's hat.
While the city of Houston might have feathers in its cap, the Dallas - Fort Worth area has five county seats supporting it as its pillars. In order, the county seats of Fort Worth, Denton, Mc Kinney, Rockwall, and Dallas form a solid foundation for the metropolitan area while at its heart is DFW airport -- the major economic engine of the North Texas region.
As you say, while the Dallas - Fort Worth is far more diversified than the Houston area, it isn't like the area doesn't have its own energy companies, major medical centers, and major corporations too boot.
Houston's already been surpassed by Dallas for years as far as population is concerned. Who cares what the city's population is, metro is all that counts in my book. Heck if you went by city population Oklahoma City and El Paso would be larger than Boston, which one is more urban? Probably the 5 million people in Boston's metro area versus OKC's million or El Paso's 800k.
DFW has been about 700k in front for about 30 years. Does that make it more urban, not really. Houston has a much more substantial skyline(Not necessarily better), Dallas has a much larger light rail system. We could go on and on, I'd call it a tie.
That being said, the Op was just being inflammatory on this topic. Houston has spilled out of it's downtown too, to the point that it has what could arguable be called a second downtown in the galleria area, and Texas Medical Center would be a nice skyline on it's own in a smaller city. I prefer Dallas for alot of reasons, but not because Houston is necessarily awful. But both cities, statistically speaking, are growing at about the same rate along with Austin and San Antonio and our Okie friends to the north in OKC.
Please, I am not being inflammatory. See, there is one aspect you don't understand. The Dallas - Fort Worth area, by a substantial margin, is the larger market of the two. So much so that There are about two stores in Houston to every three in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. About two hotels in Houston to every three in North Texas as well.
Please reread the thread.
Here is my thesis statement:
Contrary to perception, the Dallas area doesn't lack tall buildings because it doesn't have the capacity to build them as Houston does; but, to the contrary, the Houston area lacks major corridors like the Dallas area has because it doesn't have a large enough market to support them.
The rest is explained in the thread.
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Though it might have feathers in its cap, a pillar unto itself will fall upon itself
