What's the best area for urban living in Dallas? (Houston: hotels, neighborhoods)

[Edward_from_Dallas]

Originally Posted by zatires

There is not a single grocery store in dowtown Dallas. There is one CVS in the West End, but it is not a grocery.

What are you talking about?!

Urban Market Dallas, Grocery store and cafe in Downtown Dallas

I don't live or work downtown but have shopped there several times. It's a great urban grocery store!

[zatires]

Originally Posted by Edward_from_Dallas

What are you talking about?!

Urban Market Dallas, Grocery store and cafe in Downtown Dallas

I don't live or work downtown but have shopped there several times. It's a great urban grocery store!

Wow, i missed this. Great find.

[WillysB]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

Does downtown Dallas have any decent grocery stores? That would be my only problem is if I couldn't grocery shop. If one lived in downtown and had to take a bus an hour each way to the grocery store, that would be an issue.

There's a WalMart Grocery (not a super WalMart) store with pharmacy right at the top of State/Thomas, just south of the cemetery which is just south of the west exit from the metro CityPlace. Buses go by there every day, #36 I think. Would only be minutes to downtown. Could take the rail to CityPlace, catch a short bus ride to WalMart, catch the bus going by at Hall St back to CityPlace and the rail back downtown.

The Urban Market downtown is okay, more Euro style, not a full blown suburban type grocery. Has those things you want, just not a wide selection. Higher overhead as well.

[Lakewooder]

You can get pretty much everything you need at Farmer's Market. Aldi is opening a store on Gaston just east of downtown - so you would also have the WalMart grocery and a little farther north on McKinney is Albertson's. The House (high rise condo) in Victory has had plans to open a market. Also there are many great specialty places near Downtown such as Civello's Pasta, The Mozzeralla Company, Rudolph's Meat Market and Jimmy's Italian Food Store - all just east of Downtown. There is a new winery in Deep Ellum on Commerce @ Walton - calaiswinery.com

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by zatires

System is pretty packed a good part of the day? What are you smoking

If you consider the 3-4 hours of rush hour, morning and evening the whole day, I would ask, do you live your days 3 hours at a time? The system is not packed most part of the day. It is actually pretty empty most part of the day. On the other hand if you look at the bus lines, you can count the total amount of people travelling with the fingers of your single hand. The busses are always empty, even at the rush hour they are empty.

"If you need good examples of public transport, you need to get out and see the world. Until you have done that you will never ever be able to understand what good public transport system actually means. Before the world, you can actually start at NYC, then go to DC, Philly, Boston, and go up north to our neighbor Canada, and have a look at Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa. Then fly to Europe, and don't come back before seeing Japan. "

I'd say that the peak times are "a good part of the day". But actually we're lucky that our DART cars are not as packed as the ones in Tokyo (I've been there) or on the San Francisco Muni (I've been there), On the Boston T (I've been there) or in NYC (I've been there).

Do you honestly believe that being packed, butt to butt, into 100 standees in a railcar is a "good" urban transport system? I think it's a badly financed and impoverished transit system. Our DART system that provides 71,000 rides per day over 44 miles of route is pretty luxurious by contrast. If Dallas had 100 square miles of densely populated urban territory, like Manhattan, then yes, the DART system would be inadequate.

But since we are looking at less than 5 square miles of dense urban land in our downtown/Uptown, our system is actually overserving its territory, and when the Green and Orange lines come on line, and we get the second downtown route, and when we have the new streetcar lines between downtown and Uptown, and on into Oak Cliff, and we have the new commuter lines to Denton and across North Tarrant, we'll have a much better system in relation to our specific urban density than the New Yorks and Washingtons of the world.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by WillysB

I've used that DC metro, from Largo to DuPont usually, or near the shipyards. It runs well and is convenient but I find the DART no less usable.

I believe the key here is that my girlfriend is looking at companies near downtown and doesn't have a car and is looking to get downtown. The only real option

I lived in NYC for a total of 20 years and DC for 12 years. DART is way less useable than the DC Metro. I can never get to where I want or need to go by DART. Usually what happens is I have to get to the DART rail, then take DART, then take a bus to get to where I need to be. And it always takes over an hour.

Hey, I could be wrong but I don't know of any way to get to Oak Cliff, for example, from Uptown or Oak Lawn without taking 2 buses and the rail. I also don't know of any easy way to get to any of the suburbs' shopping locales from Uptown or Oak Lawn on the weekends. (In less than an hour without 2 or 3 transfers which include a bus)

I lived in Maryland in a suburb of DC and never had to take a bus anywhere. The Metro took me wherever I needed to go whether it be in DC, Maryland, or VA.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by Dallas native

Don't you think that has something to do with the fact that Dallas is way more spread out than DC? DART does cover a lot of area and it continues to expand, but it will never get you from Downtown to Northpark, for example, in 10 minutes just due to the distance and the number of stops in between. The city of Dallas contains 385 square miles. DC contains 68 square miles. To conclude that DART sucks based on your apples to oranges comparison is ridiculous.

Also, because it's not underground. And the DC Metro covers not just D.C. but also Maryland and Virginia. I'm concluding that Dart sucks in that I am a non-driver and cannot get anywhere using the Dart rail system. After all, shouldn't public transportation actually be a way to get places - usually in a faster period of time than it would take to drive there.

Take one of the big malls in Maryland. When I was in college in D.C., I could get to that mall in about a half hour, less time or equal time (depending on traffice) than it would take me to drive.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Pretty shoddy. It's pretty extreme to assume that any arbitrary amount of time can automatically be converted into cash. As if there was a line of clients waiting for an extra half hour of your time to open up. Let me ask you, how much sleep do you get at night? Seven hours? Why don't you train yourself to get along with four, so you can bill clients on the other three? In fact, you should live next door to your office in order to eliminate your commute entirely.

No, I'm not going to evaluate a public utility based on one unrepresentative, extreme and outrageous example, one that is most likely contrived. To say nothing about the productivity you lose by having to drive and losing income when you could ride a train and work at your seat. If your life is so rushed, and you're trying to convert your every waking moment into cash, then that would be a more rational strategy.

You seem to believe in the principle of spending time in order to get money. The vast majority of the population is more likely to spend money in order to gain time... and pleasure out of life.

His example is not arbitrary or bogus. As a lawyer myself, whether it takes you 10 minutes to get to the courthouse vs an hour makes a huge difference. Especially when you have to get there by bus where you encounter traffice. In NY or DC, for example, I would be able to get on the rail from my office and be at the courthouse in 15 minutes and that includes walking time. By car, it would have taken 25 minutes if not more in traffic. There is no incentive to take public transportation when taking it will cost you twice as much time.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by zatires

System is pretty packed a good part of the day? What are you smoking

If you consider the 3-4 hours of rush hour, morning and evening the whole day, I would ask, do you live your days 3 hours at a time? The system is not packed most part of the day. It is actually pretty empty most part of the day. On the other hand if you look at the bus lines, you can count the total amount of people travelling with the fingers of your single hand. The busses are always empty, even at the rush hour they are empty.

"If you need good examples of public transport, you need to get out and see the world. Until you have done that you will never ever be able to understand what good public transport system actually means. Before the world, you can actually start at NYC, then go to DC, Philly, Boston, and go up north to our neighbor Canada, and have a look at Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa. Then fly to Europe, and don't come back before seeing Japan. "

Oh, I forgot Philly! They have a great rail and bus system too!

I have lived here for 2 years. There are actually some bus lines that ARE pretty crowded during rush hour after 4pm. When I travel during the day though, I'm usually one of about a handful. But that was not much difference than the burbs in Maryland outside of D.C. However, in D.C. proper, the buses were always generally crowded as were the rails. Most tourists who visit D.C. take the rail system to get to the monuments, to the Mall, to the Arlington Cemetary, etc. The rail system also goes to where the major agencies have their offices in DC, MD, and VA.

I don't miss the expense of living in DC and NYC but I do miss being able to get places without a car and being able to do so safely. It does suck though that DC's rail system is not a 24/7 system. That left me in a jam years ago when I had to go into DC to take my LSATs.

Also, why is there no retail around any of the DART rails? Every rail that I've gotten off at has seemed desolate. In DC and NYC, there are major shopping destinations or at least restaurants and hotels near the rail stops. From my understanding, the rail system is relatively young here in Dallas. Is that correct? So maybe there is still time for improvement and building up.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by WillysB

There's a WalMart Grocery (not a super WalMart) store with pharmacy right at the top of State/Thomas, just south of the cemetery which is just south of the west exit from the metro CityPlace. Buses go by there every day, #36 I think. Would only be minutes to downtown. Could take the rail to CityPlace, catch a short bus ride to WalMart, catch the bus going by at Hall St back to CityPlace and the rail back downtown.

The Urban Market downtown is okay, more Euro style, not a full blown suburban type grocery. Has those things you want, just not a wide selection. Higher overhead as well.

The Albertson's is just down a block or so from that Walmart. I could never shop at a Walmart but that's just me.