Dallas vs. Houston (Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano: tornado, floor, cabin)

[socketz]

Originally Posted by Guerilla

Depends on what industry you are in. Medical/Astronomy/you work for an energy company, Houston is for you. If you work for an IT company, Dallas is for you. Dallas and Houston are more equal than different.

I'm in Hi-Tech (building of tech products, not the servicing of them) and Dallas is a better fit for me. Dallas is still a good energy sector employer.

Also, clarify Astronomy ? I've never thought of that as an industry and have always grouped it into university/science. Not sure how DFW compares on that front.

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by socketz

Also, clarify Astronomy ? I've never thought of that as an industry and have always grouped it into university/science. Not sure how DFW compares on that front.

You mean you haven't heard of the famous Houston Observatory? I think he means NASA.

[aceplace]

Socketz, the thread will succeed if it portrays correctly the differences between Dallas and Houston. Since I am a fan of rail transit and urban pedestrian zones and transit villages, Dallas is far better for me than Houston. But Houston has some other advantages as well. Just not to me.

ATXCIO, you claim that Houston has more museums than Dallas. How many more, and what kind? And also, how many museums, of whatever kind, do you believe are available in DFW? Your statement implies that you have these exact counts. Also, so we know you aren't just making these numbers up, please list the museums. On the other hand, I like your view of the relationship between Dallas and Houston people. There is a lot of delusion and mistrust happening, that's for sure.

Guerilla, the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos are separate institutions from the downtown Dallas World Aquarium and Zoo. The City of Dallas is revising its definition of downtown to include obviously CBD areas north of the Woodall Rogers freeway, the San Jose county is physically adjacent to a San Francisco county, but the Fed OMB still considers them two different metros, not one big one. Thanx for your list of Houston museums, but I know of many more in DFW. How can I not believe you if it's a fact? Because it's not a fact that your museum has the 2nd largest attendance in America. At least not until you prove it. If you want to prove your claim, you have to list the Houston attendance, then list the attendance of EVERY OTHER museum in America.

Also, Guerilla, the list of museums you provided is small for a metro the size of Houston. DFW has many more art museums and art centers than you listed.

Houstoner, I won't be bothered to try to look up every claim somebody makes on the internet. I don't automatically believe everything people tell me. Anybody can claim anything, but if they want their claim to be accepted, they have to prove it... I don't have to prove anybody wrong.

BearBranch, thanks for your summary of the downtown Houston entertainment district. It is larger than Dallas' current set of downtown theatres, but the new concert halls going up in the Dallas Arts District should close the gap.

People, the important measure of an urban area is not how big its municipalities are, but how populous the metro area is. Since I drive a car, I can easily reach any part of the metro, irrespective of municipal boundaries. If I'm in North Dallas and I want to drive to Richardson for some Vietnamese, It doesn't matter that Richardson is a separate municipality. Bottom line... it doesn't matter how big the City of Houston is, or what percentage of its metro it contains. What matters is the size of the Houston metro.

[socketz]

I spend alot of time in San Jose/Santa Clara with my job and I have to agree that the two areas seem completely separate from one another. I love SF, but the commute from San Jose into SF is very difficult at just about any time of the day. I tried it once after work on a day it was raining, and it took hours. Worse case I know, but the interface both physically and culturally between the two towns is not seamless.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Socketz, the thread will succeed if it portrays correctly the differences between Dallas and Houston. Since I am a fan of rail transit and urban pedestrian zones and transit villages, Dallas is far better for me than Houston. But Houston has some other advantages as well. Just not to me.

Your opinion, but Houston is building a lot of pedestrian zones. Montrose/Midtown Houston especially.

ATXCIO, you claim that Houston has more museums than Dallas. How many more, and what kind? And also, how many museums, of whatever kind, do you believe are available in DFW? Your statement implies that you have these exact counts. Also, so we know you aren't just making these numbers up, please list the museums. On the other hand, I like your view of the relationship between Dallas and Houston people. There is a lot of delusion and mistrust happening, that's for sure.

I could name a lot more museums for Houston, too. Those are just the major ones.

Guerilla, the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos are separate institutions from the downtown Dallas World Aquarium and Zoo. The City of Dallas is revising its definition of downtown to include obviously CBD areas north of the Woodall Rogers freeway, the San Jose county is physically adjacent to a San Francisco county, but the Fed OMB still considers them two different metros, not one big one. Thanx for your list of Houston museums, but I know of many more in DFW. How can I not believe you if it's a fact? Because it's not a fact that your museum has the 2nd largest attendance in America. At least not until you prove it. If you want to prove your claim, you have to list the Houston attendance, then list the attendance of EVERY OTHER museum in America.

It is a fact. Here is the link. I remember everyone here going on and on about Body Worlds. Man, I saw Body Worlds in Houston last summer. I believe it was Body Worlds 3, too. The Houston Museum is often chosen, in just a handful of museums in the U.S., for world exhibits. It always gets them first. You can thank the large attendance for that.

Also, Guerilla, the list of museums you provided is small for a metro the size of Houston. DFW has many more art museums and art centers than you listed.

Yes, the Dallas Arts District is large and Houston does not have an Arts District. But the difference is, Dallas doens't have a theater or musuem district. Most of Dallas' Art museums/theater halls, etc. are in the Arts District. In Houston, the theater/concert halls are in the Houston Theater District in Downtown, while some museums are in the Houston Museum District.

BearBranch, thanks for your summary of the downtown Houston entertainment district. It is larger than Dallas' current set of downtown theatres, but the new concert halls going up in the Dallas Arts District should close the gap.

I doubt Dallas gets very close. There are some things in the works for Houston's Theater District. More than two million people visit the Houston Theater District annually, too (if you want the link, just ask).

People, the important measure of an urban area is not how big its municipalities are, but how populous the metro area is. Since I drive a car, I can easily reach any part of the metro, irrespective of municipal boundaries. If I'm in North Dallas and I want to drive to Richardson for some Vietnamese, It doesn't matter that Richardson is a separate municipality. Bottom line... it doesn't matter how big the City of Houston is, or what percentage of its metro it contains. What matters is the size of the Houston metro.

That is what I have been saying all along. Metro populations is what really matters. Houston Metro is not at 5.6 million, while DFW is at 6.1 million. Very close in size. Houston is the only major city in its metro. Most people who move to the area work in Houston. It is different in DFW, since you have Dallas and Fort Worth. A lot move to the Fort Worth suburbs, and work in Fort Worth. A lot also move to the Dallas suburbs, and work in Dallas (and Irving/Plano).

[bostoner]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Also, Guerilla, the list of museums you provided is small for a metro the size of Houston. DFW has many more art museums and art centers than you listed.

Houstoner, I won't be bothered to try to look up every claim somebody makes on the internet. I don't automatically believe everything people tell me. Anybody can claim anything, but if they want their claim to be accepted, they have to prove it... I don't have to prove anybody wrong.

No one is asking you to accept anyone's claims, but you should be bothered to look something up before making such claims yourself.

Here are the most complete listings I could find of art galleries and museums in Houston to compare to museums and galleries in Dallas, taken from the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau websites respectively.

[aceplace]

Thanks for your research, Houstonian, but your Dallas list is incomplete. The list contains only museums within the City of Dallas proper, not the entire DFW area. Dallas municipality contains only about 18% of the DFW area, but the DFW metro has many more galleries, museums, and centers than your list shows.

In practice, a visitor to DFW, or a citizen, has many more choices for museumgoing than you have indicated.

One more reason not to take your claims at face value.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Thanks for your research, Houstonian, but your Dallas list is incomplete. The list contains only museums within the City of Dallas proper, not the entire DFW area. Dallas municipality contains only about 18% of the DFW area, but the DFW metro has many more galleries, museums, and centers than your list shows.

In practice, a visitor to DFW, or a citizen, has many more choices for museumgoing than you have indicated.

One more reason not to take your claims at face value.

That must be why one of the first museums on that list is the Arlington Museum of Art. A museum located in...ARLINGTON, not Dallas, so I am guessing it is for the whole area.

[rantanamo]

Houston, proudest city in the world.

[aceplace]

Here's a list of local museums in the Metroplex. It is only partially complete, but I may add to it later. There are 22 art museums and centers on the list, but I did not include commercial art galleries... too exhausting.

American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum
Cavanaugh Flight Museum
Confederate Air Force
Frontiers of Flight Museum
Museum of the American Railroad (formerly Age of Steam Railroad Museum)
Pate Museum of Transportation, Cresson
Plano Interurban Museum
Vintage Flying Museum

Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park
Dallas Arboretum Visitors Center
Dallas World Aquarium
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary
International Museum of Cultures
Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas Museum of Natural History)
Museum of Nature and Science (The Science Place)
Noble Planetarium at the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History
Science Place Planetarium - Fair Park
Texas Discovery Gardens

A W Perry Homestead Museum
Arlington Historical Society and Fielder House Museum
Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum
Ball-Edlemann-McFarland House
Bonham Historic Trail
Cattle Raisers Museum
Collin County Farm Museum
Cotton Belt Depot
Dallas County Historical Museum
Dallas Firefighters Museum
Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park
Dallas Holocaust Museum
Denton County Historical Museum
Ennis Railroad and Cultural Heritage Museum
Fair Park
Hall of State
Heritage Farmstead Museum
Hood County Historical Museum and Jail
ITC Historic Wall
Log Cabin Village
McKinney Avenue Trolley
National Cowboys of Color Museum
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
Stockyards Collection and Museum
Stockyards Museum
Telephone Pioneer Museum
Texas Civil War Museum
Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame
The Conspiracy Museum
The Heritage Center on Johnson Creek
The Sixth Floor Museum
The Women's Museum
Thistle Hill House Museum

Legends of the Game Baseball Museum
Light Crust Doughboys Museum
Louis Tussaud's Palace of Wax and Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Southfork Ranch
The Studios at Las Colinas

African American Museum
American Museum of Miniature Arts
Arlington Museum of Art
Artcentre of Plano
Bathhouse Cultural Center
Center for the Arts - Jaycee Park
Crow Collection of Asian Art
Dallas Center for Contemporary Art
Dallas Museum of Art
Eisemann Center
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
Irving Arts Center
Kimbell Art Museum
Latino Cultural Center
McKinney Avenue Contemporary
Meadows Museum of Spanish Art
Mesquite Arts Center
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Museum of Geometric and MADI Art
Mustangs of Las Colinas at Williams Square
Nasher Sculpture Center
Native Arts Center and Gallery
Sid Richardson Museum

Fan Man Museum
Mary Kay Cosmetics Building and Museum
National Scouting Museum
Thanksgiving Square
The Cockroach Hall of Fame
The Olde Fan Museum