from La-La Land to Dallas... where to start? (Plano, DeSoto: hotel, house)

[mgd323]

Don't feed the troll!

[GoPadge]

Originally Posted by Ankhharu

I never said Dallas didn't have anything to do, but as I proved, there are alot more things to do in LA than Dallas, and if you read carefully you'll see that they dont' all involve the beach.

Which is all pointless in this conversation, since cgmaetc is not considering whether to move to LA or Dallas, she's already in LA and wants to come here.

But for the sake of argument we'll review you list of things to do...

Originally Posted by Ankhharu

Hollywood Bowl, Greek Theater, Mountaing Biking, beaches, hiking, surfing, scuba, kayaks, rock climbing, mountain state parks, Chinese Theater, Griffith Park Observatory, Movie Studio Tours, greater selection of Art Museums (btw, Dallas has one of the poorest Art districts for a city its size in the US), greater selection of musuems period, greater selection of restaurants, movie theaters, DisneyLand and thats just the tip of the iceberg.

Hollywood Bowl - Summer home of Los Angeles Philharmonic and the home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
The Meyerson Symphony Center - Home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Greek Theater - Open air theater in Griffith Park.
The Kalita Humphreys Theatre - Home to the Dallas Theater Center, is the only public theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (Not the same, but an equally unique venue.)

Mountain Biking - That one's just ridiculous, of course Dallas has mountain biking trails (though granted not as many as the Greater LA area). See the below link for trails in the DFW and LA area.
http://www.trails.com/activity.asp?area=10304 Dallas
http://www.trails.com/activity.asp?area=14774 LA

beaches/surfing - Already conceded by carolinajack. But only 4 hours away from Dallas, so weekend trips aren't out of the question.

hiking/scuba/kayaking/rock climbing - As ridiculous as Mountain biking.

mountain state parks - conceded, but I'll counter with Lake Mineral Wells SP and Dinosaur Valley SP. Lake Mineral Wells offers biking, hiking and rock climbing among others, and Dinosaur Valley offers 113 million year old footprints from dinosaurs. (Not as snazzy as say the La Brea Tar pits, but interesting in it's own right.)

Chinese Theater - The Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is the most famous movie theatre in the world.
The Majestic - Originally showed Vaudeville shows when it opened in 1921, moved to film until it closed in 1973. Reopened in 1983 as a concert hall.

Griffith Park Observatory - Griffith Observatory's unique architecture and setting, compelling programmatic offerings, and cinematic exposure have made it one of the most famous and visited landmarks in southern California.
The University of Dallas opens the Observatory in the fall to the public, and the Museum of Nature & Science has a planetarium.

Movie Studio Tours - See the Studios at Los Colinas, the offer tours Sep-Mar: M-F Noon, 2p; Sa Noon, 2p, 4p; Apr-Aug: M-Th 10a, Noon, 2p; F-Sa Noon, 2p, 4p; Su Noon, 2p.

Art Museums (btw, Dallas has one of the poorest Art districts for a city its size in the US) - One of the largest urban cultural districts nationwide, the Dallas Arts District is home to numerous performing and visual arts venues. Visitors will marvel at unique masterpieces on display in the district's museums and galleries. World-class culture abounds with ongoing art, music, drama and dance performances. The Dallas Museum of Art and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, offer a multitude of premier attractions. The 17-block area also includes the Dallas Theater Center and Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe.1

1 http://www.wcities.com/en/record/152...68/record.html

[Ankhharu]

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Which is all pointless in this conversation, since cgmaetc is not considering whether to move to LA or Dallas, she's already in LA and wants to come here.

I never tried to talk her out of it. I simply corrected someone's statement. I brought it up because he compared the two, I simply negated that statement.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Mountain Biking - That one's just ridiculous, of course Dallas has mountain biking trails (though granted not as many as the Greater LA area). See the below link for trails in the DFW and LA area.
http://www.trails.com/activity.asp?area=10304 Dallas
http://www.trails.com/activity.asp?area=14774 LA

Mountaing biking as in...mountain trails....there are no mountains here in Dallas or anywhere nearby.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

beaches/surfing - Already conceded by carolinajack. But only 4 hours away from Dallas, so weekend trips aren't out of the question.

You’re not getting the brown waters of Corpus, Galveston or Houston in 4 hours so you must be talking about flying to California or Florida. 4 hours south of DFW will get you to Austin. Either way, I have a friend from Corpus who will even tell you the beaches of Texas suck. My father has worked at a ship yard in Mississippi his entire life so I grew up on the coastline. I’ve been all up and down the gulf coast. The gulf is just nasty.
It is a bit odd that the water gets a bit nicer when you hit Pensacola, FL. Maybe because all the industries are primarily west of Mobile.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

hiking/scuba/kayaking/rock climbing - As ridiculous as Mountain biking.

Ridiculous because it can’t be done here?

Originally Posted by GoPadge

mountain state parks - conceded, but I'll counter with Lake Mineral Wells SP and Dinosaur Valley SP. Lake Mineral Wells offers biking, hiking and rock climbing among others, and Dinosaur Valley offers 113 million year old footprints from dinosaurs. (Not as snazzy as say the La Brea Tar pits, but interesting in it's own right.)

Although not “near” or in Dallas, I will give you these.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Chinese Theater - The Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is the most famous movie theatre in the world.
The Majestic - Originally showed Vaudeville shows when it opened in 1921, moved to film until it closed in 1973. Reopened in 1983 as a concert hall.

And Grapevine has an AMC 30, those 2 are hardly the same.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Griffith Park Observatory - Griffith Observatory's unique architecture and setting, compelling programmatic offerings, and cinematic exposure have made it one of the most famous and visited landmarks in southern California.
The University of Dallas opens the Observatory in the fall to the public, and the Museum of Nature & Science has a planetarium.

Not sure why you compared these two seeing how you are comparing a University planetarium to one of the most famous Observatories in the country. That’s like comparing a civic to a Benz.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Movie Studio Tours - See the Studios at Los Colinas, the offer tours Sep-Mar: M-F Noon, 2p; Sa Noon, 2p, 4p; Apr-Aug: M-Th 10a, Noon, 2p; F-Sa Noon, 2p, 4p; Su Noon, 2p.

The Las Colinas tour pails in comparison to the Sony, Universal, or Paramount tours. A very weak alternative.

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Art Museums (btw, Dallas has one of the poorest Art districts for a city its size in the US) - One of the largest urban cultural districts nationwide, the Dallas Arts District is home to numerous performing and visual arts venues. Visitors will marvel at unique masterpieces on display in the district's museums and galleries. World-class culture abounds with ongoing art, music, drama and dance performances. The Dallas Museum of Art and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, offer a multitude of premier attractions. The 17-block area also includes the Dallas Theater Center and Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe.1

Unfortunately, that one area is pretty much it. Yea, there’s the Water Tower in Addison, Theater Three near the Angelika, but for the most part, it is not on par with other cities with it’s metropolitan size. They lumped a bunch of venues together to obtain that title of “largest”. I’m not going to argue on this point any more because the only people who are going to agree with me on this are those in the entertainment industry.
Thing is, you had to struggle to find something on par or near, when I just named the easy ones for LA which leads back to my initial point of LA having more to do. Why everyone got offended at the fact that LA has more to do than Dallas is beyond me.

[LC81]

Originally Posted by Ankhharu

I never tried to talk her out of it. I simply corrected someone's statement. I brought it up because he compared the two, I simply negated that statement.



Mountaing biking as in...mountain trails....there are no mountains here in Dallas or anywhere nearby.

You’re not getting the brown waters of Corpus, Galveston or Houston in 4 hours so you must be talking about flying to California or Florida. 4 hours south of DFW will get you to Austin. Either way, I have a friend from Corpus who will even tell you the beaches of Texas suck. My father has worked at a ship yard in Mississippi his entire life so I grew up on the coastline. I’ve been all up and down the gulf coast. The gulf is just nasty.
It is a bit odd that the water gets a bit nicer when you hit Pensacola, FL. Maybe because all the industries are primarily west of Mobile.



Ridiculous because it can’t be done here?



Although not “near” or in Dallas, I will give you these.


And Grapevine has an AMC 30, those 2 are hardly the same.



Not sure why you compared these two seeing how you are comparing a University planetarium to one of the most famous Observatories in the country. That’s like comparing a civic to a Benz.

The Las Colinas tour pails in comparison to the Sony, Universal, or Paramount tours. A very weak alternative.



Unfortunately, that one area is pretty much it. Yea, there’s the Water Tower in Addison, Theater Three near the Angelika, but for the most part, it is not on par with other cities with it’s metropolitan size. They lumped a bunch of venues together to obtain that title of “largest”. I’m not going to argue on this point any more because the only people who are going to agree with me on this are those in the entertainment industry.
Thing is, you had to struggle to find something on par or near, when I just named the easy ones for LA which leads back to my initial point of LA having more to do. Why everyone got offended at the fact that LA has more to do than Dallas is beyond me.

I've never seen so much ownage in my life. LOL

[carolinajack]

Mom, i wasnt bickering with ANK. I asked him a question, he answered it. thats all, why do you think we were bickering--i was learning alot from him.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

Mom, i wasnt bickering with ANK. I asked him a question, he answered it. thats all, why do you think we were bickering--i was learning alot from him.

Not you. It is just getting rather old that everytime someone asks a question about Dallas he seems to want to dispute everything. His "bickering" has already gotten one thread closed. I know I probably don't help in pointing out his/her errs.

Your fine and I enjoy your posts.

[GoPadge]

Originally Posted by Ankhharu

I never tried to talk her out of it. I simply corrected someone's statement. I brought it up because he compared the two, I simply negated that statement.

And you did so very poorly in my opinion. Carolinajack's words were "Dallas has so many things to do, just as LA does. You name it, we have it."

You then provided a laundry list of things that, apparently in your opinion make LA better.

My issue was that some of the items on your list were geographically specific; surfing, beaches, rock climbing, and mountain state parks. The ocean related points, Carolinajack had already conceded. (I'm ignoring the MOUNTAIN biking right now.)

Other geographically specific items; hiking, scuba, kayaking, and rock climbing (on actual rocks if you're willing to drive 80 miles) are available here.

Other items on you list were simply venues; Hollywood Bowl, Greek Theater, Chinese Theater, Griffith Park Observatory, Movie Studio Tours, and DisneyLand. Which I countered with similar venues here in Dallas, or if necessary around Dallas.

You made claims about the arts district in Dallas without citing a reference and made several numerical superiority claims; greater selection of museums period, greater selection of restaurants, movie theaters.

Points to consider, Los Angeles, CA has an estimated population of just under 4 million. LA Metro has two official designations, one, the Los Angeles metropolitan area, includes only LA and Orange counties and has a population of 12.9 million. The other official designation "The Combined Statistical Area" refers to the five county area of Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County, which has a combined population of over 17.6 million. 1

Dallas, TX has an estimated population of 1.2 million and the Metroplex, which includes Collin, Dallas,
Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise Counties has an estimated population of 5.6 million. 2

By any reasonable measure one would expect LA and LA Metro to have numerical more of any given category. Museums for instance, and a quick non-scientific search (www.yellowpages.com) shows Los Angeles, CA (not metro) has 85 entries under museum. Dallas, TX (not DFW) has 34. So I will concede that as expected LA has MORE museums. But simple math will tell you that Dallas, not LA has more museums per capita.

Mountaing biking as in...mountain trails....there are no mountains here in Dallas or anywhere nearby.

True and there are no prairies in LA, yours is a pointless argument. Yes if you limit yourself to mountain biking on mountains, you will be out of luck in Dallas. But to say that one cannot go mountain biking without a mountain is ridiculous in my opinion.

You’re not getting the brown waters of Corpus, Galveston or Houston in 4 hours...

Um, actually I'm getting from Dallas to Galveston in 4 to 4 1/2 hours. It's 289 miles, averaging 65 mph for my trip, I'd get there in 4 hours and 28 minutes. That doesn't account for much traffic, but even adding an additional hour does not remove "the beach" from a weekend possibility.

(Yes I used quotes around the beach. I agree with you here that the gulf shore can look less inviting that beaches in other places.)

Thing is, you had to struggle to find something on par or near, when I just named the easy ones for LA which leads back to my initial point of LA having more to do.

I had to struggle in part because I'm not a Dallas native. I've been in the state for two years, all but last month in southern Ellis county. And I struggled in part because I was limiting myself to countering your statements. You were the one who said:

You can't make a statement that is completely untrue and then expect no one to speak up.

And no one argued the point that LA has, numerically, more to do.

I did not counter with a laundry list of things that Dallas has that LA does not. I could have, starting with simple things like a NFL franchise.

Why everyone got offended at the fact that LA has more to do than Dallas is beyond me.

It was your attitude that offended me, I can't answer for anyone else.


1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles_Area

2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas/...orth_Metroplex

[socketz]

Dallas is Dallas, LA is LA.

Fishing/Outdoorsman type stuff seems to be big here. You shoot a gun anywhere outside in CA and your butt will get thrown in jail.

The ocean is well, amazing and man made lakes cannot replace - CA has some of the most beautiful shoreline in the world. But honestly, I lived in Socal for many years and aside from me, none of the folks in my circles ever took their families to the ocean (ie. too hot, parking sucks, people are seedy, etc.). They worked, shopped, went out to eat, hung out at the community pool, had barbeques and went on vacations to see relatives - 99% of the time. I think it is the other 1% we are disputing here.

Note that all of these things can also be done in Dallas, but you will make more money here and be able to afford a much nicer standard of living, which also means socking away some rainy day funds.

But these California vs. Texas threads are getting kind of old. If you love CA, stay there.....if you love TX and call it home, stay there.

If you want to research outdoor activity, do so by inserting questions like:

I love to ski, can I ski in Dallas ?
I love to surf/sail, can I do it in Dallas ?
I love to hunt, can I do this in Dallas ?

Or if your me, "I love playing with my kids, working 12 hour days and sweating my mortgage payments and future", can I do that in Dallas....of course :-/

[dallasnative]

For sub-300 houses, I agree with one of the earlier posters. Legacy and the Tollway is great...incredible shopping at the Shops at Legacy, and yummy restaurants. Great theater called the Angelika.

Another location is Addison. You might want to even consider renting in Addison, near the circle, for a bit. You can get into Post Addison which is right on the circle, with a lot of singles and great nite time entertainment...and very close access to DFW.

[Cami]

Originally Posted by Ankhharu

I never said Dallas didn't have anything to do, but as I proved, there are alot more things to do in LA than Dallas, and if you read carefully you'll see that they dont' all involve the beach.

I agree, Ankhharu. I don't believe that this is arguing, you are just expressing your point of view and evaluating the two. I see nothing wrong with it! Actually, your absolutely right. Los Angeles does have more to offer for a single person and you will never get bored. My neices and nephews complain about not having much to do there in Dallas. California is just a totally different kind of place. However, the cost of living in Dallas vs. California has no comparision. I believe that if the cost of living had not gotten way of control, many Californians would still be here and not relocating to other areas. It just really depends on what is really important to this person wanting to relocate. The job market in California is like a rat race and it will take some time landing a job, let alone finding somewhere affordable to live and safe for a young woman to reside.

I am a native Californian and have lived in many different parts of the United States and will have to say every area has their high and low points. If I were in this person's shoes, I not sure if I would relocate to Dallas right now unless she had a job transfer her there beyond her control. The Dallas area is more family oriented and I am afraid that she will become bored relatively fast. The only way I would reccommend California, again, if a job is already lined up and she has an area already lined up to live. Just reading what her salary expectations are, 50k would really be hard to maintain a lifestyle in Los Angeles, because the majority of her salary would be accounted for with rent and utilities etc. Buying a home would definately be out of the question in just about any area let alone a safe one.

So this person really has a lot to think about. If she wants a slower lifestyle and get more bang for her buck, she will not be heading to Los Angeles, but maybe Dallas or some other area that mey be more suitable. Just remember, every area has it pros and cons and it is definately nothing wrong with voicing one opinions and experiences.

I believe that is what this post is all about sharing, not bashing and respecting one another's opinions. I the way I see it, you both have valid opinions so just relax... I have read many post on here and I don't always agree with what is being said, but I don't take it personally. I may inquire what was it that that person meant by a particualr statement and give them an opportunity to clarify their point and leave it at that whether I believe it or not. Let's not be so sensitive......

Have a great one!