Dallas vs. Houston (Fort Worth, Arlington, Beaumont: 2010, houses, theatre)

[SpeedyAZ]

While I personally think Houston is better than Dallas, I don't think that economical or cultural value and size has anything to do with a town's ultimate worth, so if someone says Dallas is better than Houston who am I to say they're wrong? In that light, Houston is not necessarily better than Dallas.

I personally think Dallas is better than Houston in most respects but again that's my opinion. Dallas in my opinion has more restaurants(fact), better nightlife, more of a "Texas" feel, and a bit more progressive with things such as the light rail. I think most Americans would think of Dallas if you ask them to name a Texas city.

Houston is a nice city with great parks, great downtown, and a large energy/petroleum business atmosphere but I that it's pushed to the side when compared with Dallas.

Both cities are very much the same and I think people on each side make great arguements for their city. Is one city better than the other? No, it's just a matter of opinion.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Sorry, but it's a winner-take-all world. Yes, Dallas is slightly more populous than Houston, but Dallas' advantage over Houston as a regional capital is based upon that slight advantage.

It's like saying that the winning racehorse was just a little bit faster than the second place horse, so it doesn't matter.

Dallas is essentially a regional capital of the South Central USA, but Houston is not a capital city, just an industrial center.

Houston spread over ONE city? You mean one municipal government, not city. But it is true that the DFW area has a multiplicity of urban centers, whereas Houston has only one. But that's bad, not good. Los Angeles and NYC are in the same nodal configuration as Dallas, to their credit.

What kind of statement is this?

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Well, Paris, Moscow, Johannesburg, Beijing, Sao Paolo, Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Geneva, Mexico City, Santiago, Brussels, Vienna, etc., are also important world cities, and like Dallas, they are not coastal, do not have seaports.

Half of those cities were formed before the U.S. was even an idea. I also believe Beijing and Sao Paolo are on the coast (Beijing being on a major river).

I hope you aren't putting Dallas on their scale.

[Tom Lennox 70]

I mentioned in another thread Dallas is a place I'm considering relocating to in a couple years.

But I'm also not discounting Houston. About the weather....Dallas is hotter but its also drier....so does that make it more comfortable? So many people have said Las Vegas and Phoenix summers are not bad b/c of the dryness.

How hurricane-prone is Houston? And which city has fewer crime, drugs, illegal immigrants, etc.

[Guerilla]

Houston hasn't had a hurricane since 1982. Rita was out to the right more in Louisiana.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by Guerilla

Half of those cities were formed before the U.S. was even an idea. I also believe Beijing and Sao Paolo are on the coast (Beijing being on a major river).

I hope you aren't putting Dallas on their scale.

No, Beijing is not on the coast... you're thinking of Shanghai. Sao Paolo is not on the coast... it is separated from the Atlantic by a chain of mountains. Its seaport is called Santos.

The general idea is... that a coastal location is irrelevant... some great cities are on the coast, some are not.

Dallas is the 4th largest meteo in North America. In terms of stature, this is equivalent to Milan or Madrid, which are the 4th or 5th largest European metros.

[bostoner]

But where do you get this misguided idea that Dallas is a regional capital of South Central USA and Houston is just an industrial center? That's laughable at best. No, Houston is not a capital city, but neither is Dallas. That would be Austin. Houston and Dallas contribute just as much to our great state and the world. You can look up the stats for both cities on this website. They're almost neck and neck in most areas, and complementary in others (what one doesn't do, the other does).

Really, what are you talking about? Houston IS just one city, with suburbs. Dallas has suburbs and it's part of the combined metro area making up Dallas-Ft. Worth. What is this "nodal configuration" talk? Have you even been to Houston?

[aceplace]

Dallas is a regional capital in terms of its concentration of regional offices for business and especially government. It is a distribution and wholesale center for the region as well. Dallas and San Antonio are the top tourist destinations for the region, except for New Orleans, which is not a regional tourist center but a national one. Dallas' economy is much more diversified than Houston's and Dallas businesses dominate the south-central states. A south central widget manufacturer is more likely to order parts from Dallas than Houston, because Dallas is more likely to have a business that supplies the part.

Dallas-Ft Worth is the 4th largest US metro, and has pretty much outgrown Texas, and is to the South-central states as Atlanta is to the southeast and Chicago is to the midwest. Austin, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Baton Rouge, Albuquerque are relatively small cities, and are state capitals. Dallas is a federal capital, due to its concentration of Federal regional offices, such as the Federal Reserve bank, the FBI, the INS, the FAA, and many other federal agencies. It is a convenient location for them due to its central location.

The Census Bureau does not use words like city and suburb because they mean many different things, and nothing in particular. It does use technical terms that have only one meaning, terms like MSA, or Metropolitan Statistical Area. It does not look at municipalities such as Pasadena or Texas City or Houston (or Irving or Garland) because they don't measure anything real in terms of urban science. It uses the county as a basic unit of measure. Harris county, Dallas county, etc.

It has determined that the counties surrounding Dallas county are suburban counties due to the number of people that commute to Dallas county. The cutoff number is 25% of the workforce, but over 30% of the Tarrant county workforce (Fort Worth, Arlington) commute to Dallas county. The feds don't care whether Dallas or Harris county is divided into one big government or a lot of smaller ones, because paople normally drive all over.

The DFW area has several centers of business, as do other major cities like LA, San Fran Bay, etc. Houston is much less multinodal than DFW.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by aceplace

No, Beijing is not on the coast... you're thinking of Shanghai. Sao Paolo is not on the coast... it is separated from the Atlantic by a chain of mountains. Its seaport is called Santos.

The general idea is... that a coastal location is irrelevant... some great cities are on the coast, some are not.

Dallas is the 4th largest meteo in North America. In terms of stature, this is equivalent to Milan or Madrid, which are the 4th or 5th largest European metros.

Okay, Beijing has a major rive running right through it, which is a port.

DFW is not the fourth largest metro in North America, and if you look at CSA's, it is even lower. Milan and Madrid are also more important on a world scale.

[Guerilla]

You crack me up. Time to dissect your post.

Originally Posted by aceplace

Dallas is a regional capital in terms of its concentration of regional offices for business and especially government. It is a distribution and wholesale center for the region as well. Dallas and San Antonio are the top tourist destinations for the region, except for New Orleans, which is not a regional tourist center but a national one. Dallas' economy is much more diversified than Houston's and Dallas businesses dominate the south-central states. A south central widget manufacturer is more likely to order parts from Dallas than Houston, because Dallas is more likely to have a business that supplies the part.

Dallas is in no way a regional capital. I don't know where you got that from. Houston has a bunch of distribution centers on its east side. Walmart just completed one in Baytown. You know that thing they call The Port of Houston (who know, the sixth largest in the world), is on that side of town, too. It handles the most foreign tonnage than any other U.S. port. Hard to believe I know, but it is true. Dallas is no more a regional destination than Houston. Do you know how many people from this area went down to Houston for Spring Break? A lot. I heard a lot of people going down there from my school. Dallas' economy is more diversified that Houston's, but the energy sector is now down to 45% for Houston's economy. Energy doesn't just include oil, either, so don't expect Houston to become a Detroit.

Dallas-Ft Worth is the 4th largest US metro, and has pretty much outgrown Texas, and is to the South-central states as Atlanta is to the southeast and Chicago is to the midwest. Austin, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Baton Rouge, Albuquerque are relatively small cities, and are state capitals. Dallas is a federal capital, due to its concentration of Federal regional offices, such as the Federal Reserve bank, the FBI, the INS, the FAA, and many other federal agencies. It is a convenient location for them due to its central location.

DFW is the fourth largest U.S. metro, but if you look at CSA's, it is not. The Bay Area, Boston, etc., are all larger, CSA wise. Once they get more commuters, the counties included in their CSA's, will be in their MSA's (metro areas). Houston also has regional offices for the FBI, INS, and FAA, if you didn't know. Dallas is in no way the leader of the South-central. You fail to realize that Atlanta is the only large city in the southeast (excluded Florida, which is in its own category). Same for Chicago in the Midwest. There are no cities that can compete with it. For Dallas, there is, and that is Houston just to the south.

The Census Bureau does not use words like city and suburb because they mean many different things, and nothing in particular. It does use technical terms that have only one meaning, terms like MSA, or Metropolitan Statistical Area. It does not look at municipalities such as Pasadena or Texas City or Houston (or Irving or Garland) because they don't measure anything real in terms of urban science. It uses the county as a basic unit of measure. Harris county, Dallas county, etc.

What? Census do not use words like city? There sure do on their website.

It has determined that the counties surrounding Dallas county are suburban counties due to the number of people that commute to Dallas county. The cutoff number is 25% of the workforce, but over 30% of the Tarrant county workforce (Fort Worth, Arlington) commute to Dallas county. The feds don't care whether Dallas or Harris county is divided into one big government or a lot of smaller ones, because paople normally drive all over.

The DFW area has several centers of business, as do other major cities like LA, San Fran Bay, etc. Houston is much less multinodal than DFW.

I don't know what you are trying to say with your last statement. If you didn't know, Downtown Houston is the largest in the state. Uptown Houston is larger than a lot of city's own Downtown areas (like Atlanta's). You then have the Texas Medical Center to the south of Downtown, Greenway Plaza a little further south than that. Then, Greenspoint to the north, Westchase District (to the west). After that, you have the Energy Corridor/Park 10 areas, which are farther west than the Westchase District. Far more multinodal than Dallas.

I seriously doubt you have ever been to Houston, or know anything about it, because from the post I just dissected, it looks like you have no clue.