What does Dallas need to become a world class tourists destination? (Houston: apartment complexes, rent)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Vintage Life

I have 2 ideas
1 Universal Studios would be wonderful, with it's theme parks, City Walk and a real movie lot.
2. A indoor theme park with the worlds largest mall- umm like Mall of America

I like idea #1, idea #2 is so 1990s.

The fact is that people just don't like indoor malls anymore. Almost all new malls are the new "lifestyle centers". In Austin we have the Domain. In Dallas you have the Southlake Town Center. There are studies on the number of indoor malls that are closing, and it is staggering. Lifestyle centers make so much more sense. They don't have to heat/cool a large indoor space that is unused much of the day (from 8PM until 10AM the next day). If the mall goes under the area still resembles a streetscape and they don't have to redevelop it. And they are aestetically pleasing.

What people are discovering is that while a 72 degree climate controlled building is comfortable, it is not very interesting. If you visit Denver, do you walk around the mall or go skiing? If you visit Orlando, do you go to WDW or do you walk around a mall? If you visit South Beach, do you go to the beach or go to a mall somewhere in South Florida? I think you get the picture.

The fact is that there are many months of wonderful weather in DFW. The Spring and Fall are glorious. People don't want to be in a sterile environment when it's sunny and nice outside. Minneapolis doesn't get a tourists that go to MOA except people from other parts of the upper Midwest that want to go shopping.

When I visited Minneapolis, I had dinner in MofA and walked around just to see what the fuss was about. I spent perhaps 1 hour on the dinner and 1 hour walking around. Not exactly a focal point of tourism. I found other parts of Minn/St. Paul far more interesting. The only good thing about MoA is that they have high class restaurants in addition to the standard food courts. I had a mighty fine steak in the world class steakhouse there.

On the other hand, when I visited NYC, I spent a full day in Central Park, from walking around in the morning/afternoon, getting a deli sandwich and bringing it to a park bench and eating lunch, and having dinner at one of the wonderful parkside restaurants. Same thing with Boston Commons. Their parks are destinations in and of themselves.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Newbe10

In order to become a world-class tourist destination, all Dallas needs to do is adobt the Dubai method, which consist of building countless 1,000ft. + tall 4 and 5 star hotels and overpriced luxury condo/apartment towers. Second, build malls and amusement parks that are bigger than many small U.S. states. Third, even though Dallas is landlocked, build several artificial islands on the largest lakes (i.e. Ray Hubbard, Grapevine, Lake Lewisville, ect.) and place 7 star resorts and marinas on them. Finally, build large indoor artificial skiing/snowboarding slopes that are soo big, that the experience mirrors that of actually skiing/snowboarding in the Swiss Alps or the slopes of the Rockies in Colorado.

If Dallas can do this, then it will be all set.

Dubai has something Dallas doesn't though. It is on the Persian Gulf. There is also no nearby competition - it is all desert.

[asubram3]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Count me in as one who doesn't understand why you can't aim for more than just being a business city or a tourism city.

As dysfunctional as it is, Los Angeles is a city that started off at a severe disadvantage to its more "cultured" and populated city to the north, San Francisco, and by the '80s it was the tourism, business, banking, communications and entertainment capital of the West Coast. (The Internet revolution in NoCal shifted some of the focus back to the Bay Area). Still, there's no denying the economic juggernaut that Los Angeles became and it proves that one doesn't have to be all tourism or all business, you can have some of both.

Like Dallas, LA was once (and still is in some quarters) sneered at by New York and SF types who blasted it for a sprawl-n-mall landscape, lack of adequate public transit, no culture, and for being a vapid wasteland of poseurs and pretenders. (While the oft-quoted phrase "There's no there there" was aimed originally at Oakland, it was often used for Los Angeles too. And don't forget Woody Allen's jab that LA's only contribution to culture is the ability to turn right on red.)

Granted, LA has some natural (oceans and mountains) and culturally unique (Hollywood) advantages that Dallas doesn't have. And LA may have been too successful luring both people and business in the late 20th century there as the general decline in the QOL in recent years attests. It's doubtful a drought/flood/quake-prone desert basin was meant to house upwards of 10 million people. But Dallas could make the most of what natural (Trinity River) and cultural (Deep Ellum) qualities it potentially has, in the same way that Austin (the lake, the music industry, SXSW, etc.) and San Antonio (Riverwalk, Hispanic culture) have done and Houston seems to be doing.

Totally agree with this! dallas does not have the natural beauty of cities in the NE or much history, but it can attract people by proper planning.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by Overcooked_Oatmeal

Dallas is not a city that the creative class comes to in droves.

Many places in Dallas are jam-packed with the creative class - where did you live?

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Many places in Dallas are jam-packed with the creative class - where did you live?

Jam packed? Where do you live? Dallas isn't known for it's creative class density. It does, however, have strong engineering and business classes. I've never heard Dallas as being referred to as an area that's attractive to the creative class folks - that's generally reserved for the West Coast.

[HOAPRESIDENT]

As a matter of fact, I'd like to see Dallas reach out to the creative class that it does have. It certainly exists all over the city, but I'd like to see a concentration of it -- like a downtown for the creative class.

[lh_newbie]

Isn't that kindof what Deep Ellum and Bishops Arts Districts are for?

[ClarenceBodiker]

Dallas isn't good for the creative class?

A lot of people don't realize exactly how important Deep Ellum is to the history of blues music. Some of the biggest and most important names in blues both played and recorded here. It's really a shame how far it has fallen from where it was just 10-15 years ago.

[TrueDat]

So much word. If Deep Ellum were in just about any other city, it would be well-known. By all rights, Dallas should have the global recognition for its music history that Austin has.

And it seemed like, in the 90s, Deep Ellum was attracting creative class types. Weren't Yahoo and Mark Cuban's company based in DE? And we still have the likes of Reel F/X there there today. But then it all devolved.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

I like to compare Dallas to Milan and Frankfurt -- don't laugh, if you've been there you know what I mean.

I have been to all 3, I've been to Frankfurt 3 times... umm... No. Seek psychiatric help immediately.