What activities do you do in Dallas? (Austin, El Paso: sales, condo)

[Lakewooder]

ALDI is building a distribution center here and as I understand it, that paves the way for Trader Joe's. I'm going to SoCal for Christmas, I can bring back some dark chocolated-covered Jo-Jos for you...

[ctrres]

If Dallas had $15 billion in 1970s dollars to throw at heavy rail with vaulted concrete coffered ceilings and backlit mood lighting through Oak Cliff and the Stemmons Corridor and Highland Park 40 years ago, who knows how things would have turned out.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

ALDI is building a distribution center here and as I understand it, that paves the way for Trader Joe's. I'm going to SoCal for Christmas, I can bring back some dark chocolated-covered Jo-Jos for you...

Never had those. I try to stay away from anything with chocolate at the grocery stores. Used to be able to eat chocolate anything all day long without weight gain but that stopped when I turned 30

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by CGGirl

Oh, and two of my pet peeves are that there is no H &M and no Trader Joe's here.

Funny, I thought Miami was deprived of a lot of retail when I lived there. No Trader Joe's. No IKEA. No Tower Records (back when there was still such a thing.) Nothing as choice-alicious as Central Market. Only one Whole Foods in all of Miami-Dade, and that was way up in Aventura. (The Wild Oats in South Beach is now a WF and there's a new WF in Coral Gables.) Very few places to see indie films. Is there an H&M there now? Great Latin food and music though, so where you live is always a matter of give and take.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Funny, I thought Miami was deprived of a lot of retail when I lived there. No Trader Joe's. No IKEA. No Tower Records (back when there was still such a thing.) Nothing as choice-alicious as Central Market. Only one Whole Foods in all of Miami-Dade, and that was way up in Aventura. (The Wild Oats in South Beach is now a WF and there's a new WF in Coral Gables.) Very few places to see indie films. Is there an H&M there now? Great Latin food and music though, so where you live is always a matter of give and take.

No clue as to whether or not there is an H and M there or not. Have only visited Miami as a tourist and last time was at least 8 years ago.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by CGGirl

My point was that I don't view shopping as a pasttime. I never shop retail anyway. And where I lived in Maryland, we had just about every store that you guys have here and more. Definitely many more discount stores for designer clothing.

I used to live a mile or two from Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Versace, MaxMara, Christian Dior, Jimmy Choo, Cartier, LV,etc etc. And they were just down the street from less pricey stores like Jcrew, Pottery Barn, Filene's Basement, TJ Maxx, Loehmann's, Ann Taylor etc.

As far as Rodeo Drive, I've been there. Stayed at a hotel where I could easily walk down the street and go to a few bars, get groceries and toiletries at the CVS down the street, walk to the restaurants at night, etc.

I just think that many people who are only used to the South might think Dallas is great. Considering I spent all of my life except the last 2 in NYC, Philly, DC, Miami and those types of cities on the East Coast (and throw in a couple of trips to L.A), I just think that the cultural and active activities are lacking here in Dallas.

Hmmm, I just came back from Maryland... the shopping in Columbia, which is impressive in an absolute sense, wasn't comparable to North Dallas. If The DC-Baltimore area has the shops you mentioned, as Dallas does, it's because of its similar population.

The Dallas area is great for retail because it has a population base, and a base of wealthy entrepreneurs, to support that kind of retail.

You'd have to exclude Los Angeles as mostly walkable. If that part of Beverly Hills is walkable, that's an abberation. Of course Dallas also has areas that are walkable, hotels with restaurants, clubs and shopping in a pedestrian range.

CGGirl, your claims about Dallas vs New York and LA are not credible or material because of the gross disparity in population. A metro with 20 million people such as NY will be more active than a metro like Dallas with 6 million.

DC will have some stature as a national capital, and the wash of money that provides... plus the Smithsonian institution brings a lot of cultural life. As for places like Philly, Miami, SF etc, I've been there also. I don't know what you're talking about with your "cultural and active activities". I see plenty of culture in DFW and plenty of activity... if you can't substantiate your claims, you're just confused, not really certain what you really mean.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

ALDI is building a distribution center here and as I understand it, that paves the way for Trader Joe's. I'm going to SoCal for Christmas, I can bring back some dark chocolated-covered Jo-Jos for you...

I walked through a Trader Joe's in DC just a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't impressed, but I guess I'm used to going to Central Market and having a Whole Foods every few miles. They didn't even have any beer for sale, Criminey!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by ebuch

What do you guys/gals do on your freetime in the DFW area? Bars, Nightclubs, hiking, camping?

Just seeing what there is to do in the Dallas area because I may be moving there in the next 6 months or so..

Zatires, most of us mentioned things around the ENTIRE DFW area based on what the OP asked. He specifically said, "DFW area".

Originally Posted by aceplace

You mean Dallas does not have movies? Or football and basketball games to watch? Or live theater? Or classes at universities? Or comedy and dance clubs? Or poetry readings in Deep Ellum? Or... <you name it>?

When someone claims that there is nothing to do in a large city with millions of people, the most likely explanation is that he is suffering from clinical depression.

One can do ALL of those things within the City Limits of Dallas. More if one is willing to reach beyond just what lies w/in a cities boundries of city limit lines.

Originally Posted by rdfw

Movies are at the shops. I did leave out watching sports out, but except for actually going to a game, that's mostly just a product of shopping. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the content of my post.

My real point is: there's nothing really you can do here that you couldn't do in any other generic city in the US. But there are a number of things you can't. I don't feel quite right inviting friends from CA/FL/NY to come here and visit, I like seeing them, but aside from visiting people, there's little left that is interesting. This is a very fine place to work and live, just not a very interesting place. Strictly in my opinion, of course. Others will have different views.

How is attending a sports game a "product of shopping"? I regularly attend Stars games and the two activities can hardly be confused. I love BOTH!

Let's see there are plenty of places in CA/FL/NY that are "cities" within their own rights but have VERY LITTLE to do within their own city limit lines. Sacramento?
San Jose?
San Francisco was mentioned earlier and it is a rather small city in terms of area. Many of the things that are there to do are not within the city limits of San Francisco.
Orlando - as mentioned earlier even the World of Disney is NOT in the city limits of Orlando
Miami - as mentioned earlier as well. South Beach (city of Miami Beach) is its own "city" as is Key Biscayne, Coral Gables.
Jacksonville
If one tried to stay within the city limit boundries of ANY of these cities while visiting they would be BORED to tears and would not get to experience the TRUE flair for the region.

Originally Posted by CGGirl

Washington DC is smaller than Dallas and has way more to do.

That other poster made an interesting post about the inviting friends to visit. I have one friend who I've talked with about coming to visit and the only things we really talked about doing was shopping and drinking.

Back in DC, when I had friends come to visit, my list of things to do was usually too long. Usually had a list of about 6 must see museums, the Zoo, the bar scene in Adams Morgan, shops in Dupont Circle, pubs in Chinatown, weekend flea markets, Georgetown, and so on and so on.

Originally Posted by DaveG99

You can do anything you want in Dallas.

Fishing, hunting, shopping, boating, biking, restaurants, museums, car racing, marathons, off roading, bars, clubs, zoos, rodeos, live music venues, historic attractions, and many many more.

And one can do MOST of those within the City Limits of Dallas.

Originally Posted by zatires

What is funny is one person gives examples of much more stuff to do in DC, NY and Chicago compared to Dallas, and those who defend Dallas went out and said you can do this in Fort Worth, or see the ranch in whatever city, or go to Addison, Richardson etc.

Knock knock!

When somebody says there is a lot more to do in DC, Chicago, they mean the city of DC, the city of Chicago. Last time I checked the Chinatown, Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Michigan Avenue etc are all in the city (Chicago, DC). Let's not compare NYC to Dallas at all.

Meanwhile the Dallas defenders keep giving examples of museums in Fort Worth, places in Addison etc. FW is like 30 miles away from Dallas, Addison is like 10-15 miles away. The example of the famous ranch is literally in the middle of nowhere.

If you want to go boat riding, you will need to drive miles and miles, if you need to go to an ethnic neighborhood, you need to drive a long distance again (there are three unique neighborhoods in DFW area, and they all offer nothing but food - Arlington and Vietnamese, Richardson and Chinese, Carrolton and Korean). And these neighborhoods are extremely small compared to NYC, Chicago, DC etc.

Yes there are museums in Dallas, the best one being the big Art Museum, but even that is not a very significant one.

As pointed out, the OP specifically said, "DFW area". Last time I looked Ft. Worth, Addison, etc were all part of that area.

You do NOT have to drive for "miles and miles" to go ride a boat on a lake.

As for the ethnic areas, the one poster SPECIFICALLY said something about going to ethnic areas to eat.

The museums......... I'm pretty sure there are larger cities than Dallas out there that would LOVE to have museums we do. Be it in sheer numbers or the quality.

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Fair enough, Zatires, and I see your point. Dallas certainly isn't as dense as those cities you mention.

But I'm not sure all visitors are as aware of municipal boundaries. So, if you go to Los Angeles and visit Disneyland (not in the city nor same county), go to a taping of The Tonight Show (in Burbank), shop on Rodeo Drive or Third Street Promenade (Beverly Hills/Santa Monica) or just about all of the beaches (L.A. itself is actually landlocked, except for the strip down to San Pedro/Palos Verdes area and maybe Venice, which used to be unincorporated county area), have a meal in Little Saigon (Garden Grove) or Little India (Artesia), do you not consider yourself visiting Los Angeles and having the prototypical LA experience, even though to do so you will traverse as many miles (in much worse traffic) as you would in D-FW to see its attractions? If you go to Miami and visit South Beach, the Keys, and the Everglades -- all unique yet outside the city of Miami's boundaries -- is that not part of your Miami experience?

As for Houston, that city has been much more aggressive in annexing land so that its impressive New Chinatown -- way out west on Bellaire Blvd. -- can still be claimed by the city of Houston. But it's a long way from downtown or the arts district or the Galleria area. As with LA, Miami and Dallas, you'll drive some time to get there.

I'm just not sure it's fair to compare a denser, older city with Southern/Southwestern cities that came of age later in the 20th century. They're always going to come up short because the attractions do tend to be more far-flung, either within or outside the core city's boundaries.

You are correct. MOST cities have MANY attractions that people LOVE to visit that they "feel" they are still in that city even if the attraction that is drawing them there is NOT w/in the city limits of the MAIN city. Big deal.

Originally Posted by aceplace

Very true. The entire DFW area is easily accessible to a visitor who wants to take in the sights.


DFW has plenty of things for a visitor to see, even on foot. Since the vast majority of visitors will drive, all the more things for them to reach.

Yes, we all know that there are plenty of things for a visitor to see in the Dallas area. But don't ya get it..... it is not what they are USED TO! Come on dude... get with the program

We know that it is all easily accessible to anyone willing to get out of their bubble. Some people just can't do that unless it is only in the city they are from or others have raved about over and over. Theirs is a different kind of "rave" than ours though for some reason.

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Dallas is what you make of it - yep - and zatires I find plenty to do (really too much) without going north of Mockingbird, much less out of the city limits.

Honey, I have to check into a hotel downtown and force myself to play tourist sometimes just to get the chance to do some of the stuff that is available here. We do take a lot of what we have for granted. I'm just glad that I'm the type that doesn't mind exploring everything there is to do and see. Like has been said before, the world is like a book and those that don't travel it and see it are only reading the cover.

Originally Posted by CGGirl

The museums in downtown are nice and I've been to them several times but other than one or two special exhibits, not worth visiting from out of town. I hear the museums and zoo in FW are great but not easily accessible without a car.

A lot of the other stuff you mentioned are also outside of Dallas. I've been to the museums in Fair Park and other than the science museum and the cool baseball special exhibit they had last year, I wasn't too impressed actually.

And regarding Knox/Henderson and Highland Park - that's shopping and eating. Stuff that can be done anywhere. Not really unique which was the other poster's point.

Wow, just wow. Think outside of the box some. You might be surprised what is out there.

Originally Posted by CGGirl

Momof2 - Never heard of Canton. Is that in Dallas? If not, that's my point. I'm talking about things tourists could come do without having to rent a car. In NY and DC, there are flea markets every weekend. With the weather as good as it is here, I would have thought there would be more.

Yes, it is outside of Dallas. I'm pretty sure if a flea market the size of First Monday were to set up shop in DC there would not be any room left for much else in town.

Originally Posted by CGGirl

My point was that I don't view shopping as a pasttime. I never shop retail anyway. And where I lived in Maryland, we had just about every store that you guys have here and more. Definitely many more discount stores for designer clothing.

I just think that many people who are only used to the South might think Dallas is great. Considering I spent all of my life except the last 2 in NYC, Philly, DC, Miami and those types of cities on the East Coast (and throw in a couple of trips to L.A), I just think that the cultural and active activities are lacking here in Dallas.

WAIT!?!?!?! I thought you were trying to compare living IN WASHINGTON DC with living within the city limits of Dallas. And the things that were within the city limits of the city you actually LIVED IN!?!?!?! Last time I checked DC was not in the state of Maryland???? To see the things in DC you actually had to LEAVE the state you LIVED IN.

If you have not found all of the discount clothing options here in the Dallas area........... wow. You really have been missing out. Oh, and MANY of them are right next to the higher end stores and boutiques we have here and the ones you mentioned

Hate to burst your bubble, but many Dallasites LOVE to travel the globe. We LOVE to get out and explore. That is just something that is in our blood I guess. While we come back home to live we love to get out and see the sights. We know what other cities outside of the South and outside of the US have and what they offer. Guess that is why we don't mind "driving for miles and miles" to do something we might want to at that point in time.

[CGGirl]

Never been to Columbia MD so I wouldn't know. Actually, I think there is an outdoor music venue there so I think I have been there but never had any other reason to go there...lol. Never had much reason to go too far off from the part of MD I lived in since everything was so close by

Never went to Baltimore much either except maybe to take the bar exam and get sworn in. Again, I am only comparing to the DC metro area. Not including the far out suburbs and not including VA at all and not including Baltimore at all. Yet it's weird that everyone on this thread keeps mentioning things in Fort Worth which is actually farther from where I live in Dallas than Baltimore is from the part of MD where I lived.

In speaking of cities like Philly, Miami, and L.A, I was speaking as a tourist. That as a tourist, I could get around with no problem. I also stayed at the Hyatt once which is one of those main streets (can't think of the name. Sunset maybe?) and also didn't need a car to get around when I stayed there.

Lastly, I wasn't really comparing Dallas to NY or L.A. If you read my posts, you would see that most of my comparisons were to the D.C. area. In fact, I specifically limited my comparisons to D.C. because of the population differences. Dont' know the numbers but I can't imagine the D.C. area and immediate vicinity (i.e. the burbs within a few miles or less than 10 miles) outside of the District lines has a higher population than Dallas. And I DID substantiate my arguments with quite a few examples and specifics (I must have made at least 5 posts on this thread since last night!)

Originally Posted by aceplace

Hmmm, I just came back from Maryland... the shopping in Columbia, which is impressive in an absolute sense, wasn't comparable to North Dallas. If The DC-Baltimore area has the shops you mentioned, as Dallas does, it's because of its similar population.

The Dallas area is great for retail because it has a population base, and a base of wealthy entrepreneurs, to support that kind of retail.

You'd have to exclude Los Angeles as mostly walkable. If that part of Beverly Hills is walkable, that's an abberation. Of course Dallas also has areas that are walkable, hotels with restaurants, clubs and shopping in a pedestrian range.

CGGirl, your claims about Dallas vs New York and LA are not credible or material because of the gross disparity in population. A metro with 20 million people such as NY will be more active than a metro like Dallas with 6 million.

DC will have some stature as a national capital, and the wash of money that provides... plus the Smithsonian institution brings a lot of cultural life. As for places like Philly, Miami, SF etc, I've been there also. I don't know what you're talking about with your "cultural and active activities". I see plenty of culture in DFW and plenty of activity... if you can't substantiate your claims, you're just confused, not really certain what you really mean.

[CGGirl]

Originally Posted by aceplace

I walked through a Trader Joe's in DC just a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't impressed, but I guess I'm used to going to Central Market and having a Whole Foods every few miles. They didn't even have any beer for sale, Criminey!

Whole Foods and CM are way overpriced. Trader Joe's is way cheaper. The liquor store was right next door to the Trader Joe's I frequented so that wasn't an issue