Is Dallas a better place to live than Austin? (Fort Worth: attorney, camp)

[artsyguy]

Dude, you must live in the good side of Austin because when I visited the town, it was just way "too weird" and not in the good way.

Originally Posted by jobert

I'm calling BS on this one. Let me pack in the points and apologize for poor syntax later. first off, 35 is backed up to Waco during ACL or SXSW. You want to pay $200+ a night to stay at a seedy motel during these events as well? be my guest, you're glossing over how accessable this town is during these events. I lived in Dallas for 30 years, and Austin for the last 2. My only regret is that I didn't move here sooner. I live 5 miles from downtown with a permanent forest in my back yard with hills backing up to a creek - can you tell me where you get that in Dallas for less than 250K? You can't. I get paid just as much here as I did in Dallas. Austin is a better place to raise a family, unless you want your kids to grow up fat and worshipping money, then raise them in Dallas. Dallas beats Austin in outdoor activity? - what planet are you from? The options in Dallas are proportional to the population: more options=more expensive=more crowded=more miles on the car to get to them. There is no place in Austin where you have to "beat the crowds", unless it's ACL or SXSW, where people from Houston and Dallas clog the city and pay $200+ for the motels here. I still love the cowboys, but now I can "just remember that it is only a three hour drive (two and a half if you drive fast and I-35 is clear)" to purchase a $300 ticket for the game. There are things about Dallas, that are better than Austin, but I reject the "Dallas is unanimously better in every single way" argument your posing.

[nomore07]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

I never said Dallas was perfect. When I visited there I thought it was far better than the "weirdness" of Austin.

Austin has indeed changed over the years, and not all of it has been good.

[DWong]

After reading much of the thread, can anyone spit out this info for me...

Much has been said about Dallas being liberal. I, not being from the area don't know all the counties off the top of my head. So what is the breakdown of the counties in the DFW area? I read the the burbs are as red as Santa's suit, which is common for metros. However, being that Dallas is only 1/5 of the whole metro population. Not to mention the large African American population and lets just say that this time around they went >90% Obama. So saying that Dallas itself went blue, but ANY city w/ a large african american population ALWAYS DOES, PERIOD.

So my prediction (if anyone can link the voting results for the metro that'd be great) that DFW as a whole is RED and perhaps the only major metro that still is. Nothing wrong with that... in fact that's a big draw for families.

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by DWong

After reading much of the thread, can anyone spit out this info for me...

Much has been said about Dallas being liberal. I, not being from the area don't know all the counties off the top of my head. So what is the breakdown of the counties in the DFW area? I read the the burbs are as red as Santa's suit, which is common for metros. However, being that Dallas is only 1/5 of the whole metro population. Not to mention the large African American population and lets just say that this time around they went >90% Obama. So saying that Dallas itself went blue, but ANY city w/ a large african american population ALWAYS DOES, PERIOD.

So my prediction (if anyone can link the voting results for the metro that'd be great) that DFW as a whole is RED and perhaps the only major metro that still is. Nothing wrong with that... in fact that's a big draw for families.

I don't know the breakdown but I don't think Dallas is the only major metro that fits this description of being a blue-ish island in a sea of deep red. Offhand, I'd say the broader Houston metro area and the broader Phoenix and Salt Lake City metros would fall into this category as well. And maybe Kansas City, St. Louis, Orlando and Tampa/St. Pete?

Slightly different but related, if you consider Orange County (Calif.) separate from Los Angeles -- someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it officially its own metro? -- then it definitely qualifies as a metro that's still predominantly red.

[grindin]

After reading much of the thread, can anyone spit out this info for me...

Much has been said about Dallas being liberal. I, not being from the area don't know all the counties off the top of my head. So what is the breakdown of the counties in the DFW area? I read the the burbs are as red as Santa's suit, which is common for metros. However, being that Dallas is only 1/5 of the whole metro population. Not to mention the large African American population and lets just say that this time around they went >90% Obama. So saying that Dallas itself went blue, but ANY city w/ a large african american population ALWAYS DOES, PERIOD.

Originally Posted by TrueDat

I don't know the breakdown but I don't think Dallas is the only major metro that fits this description of being a blue-ish island in a sea of deep red. Offhand, I'd say the broader Houston metro area and the broader Phoenix and Salt Lake City metros would fall into this category as well. And maybe Kansas City, St. Louis, Orlando and Tampa/St. Pete?

Slightly different but related, if you consider Orange County (Calif.) separate from Los Angeles -- someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it officially its own metro? -- then it definitely qualifies as a metro that's still predominantly red.

Count Atlanta in as well. Fulton and Dekalb County are 'bluer' than the surrounding counties. Yes, it is predominantly Af-Am, but the white population in those locations tends to be more liberal than the surrounding counties, so they're voting blue as well. The more affluent North Fulton County being more conservative.

However, Cobb and Gwinnett counties were both "Purple" in the sense that they were both went around 45% Obama and 55% McCain. These counties are hardly majority black, so I don't think it was just black people who were voting for him.

Also, Fairfax County, VA is not majority black, and yet that county went for Obama as well. So black population is NOT always a factor in a county leaning blue/democrat.

[DWong]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

I don't know the breakdown but I don't think Dallas is the only major metro that fits this description of being a blue-ish island in a sea of deep red. Offhand, I'd say the broader Houston metro area and the broader Phoenix and Salt Lake City metros would fall into this category as well. And maybe Kansas City, St. Louis, Orlando and Tampa/St. Pete?

Slightly different but related, if you consider Orange County (Calif.) separate from Los Angeles -- someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it officially its own metro? -- then it definitely qualifies as a metro that's still predominantly red.

Sorry I probably didn't word it correctly. I was reading that Dallas itself in this thread is liberal/democratic and basically wanted to know if we threw out Dallas itself which is 1/5 of the population what kind of results would the metro be.
Most metro are the blue center and red out parts. However, my point being that Dallas is a small part of the DFW metro. Whereas, PHX, KC etc are generally the majority of the population.


I don't really considered OC separate from LA. To me, when you can drive the 5 from San Ysidro past all of LA and not go a split second w/out development...it's all the same to me personally. In places scattered throught DFW between cities you can find pockets of empty lots etc.. more or less defining where one begins and ends. North San Diego and OC might as well be considered an MSA. Anyways, OC coastal is metro - OC inland is blue and practically LA when you get around on the street.

Als

[DWong]

Originally Posted by grindin

Count Atlanta in as well. Fulton and Dekalb County are 'bluer' than the surrounding counties. Yes, it is predominantly Af-Am, but the white population in those locations tends to be more liberal than the surrounding counties, so they're voting blue as well. The more affluent North Fulton County being more conservative.

However, Cobb and Gwinnett counties were both "Purple" in the sense that they were both went around 45% Obama and 55% McCain. These counties are hardly majority black, so I don't think it was just black people who were voting for him.

Also, Fairfax County, VA is not majority black, and yet that county went for Obama as well. So black population is NOT always a factor in a county leaning blue/democrat.

From some data I"ve browed at in counties than were predominately black it went blue 2/3.

I'm just saying Dallas itself has a large black population probably contributing to the heavy Obama support. The outer counties, are VERY non-african American. My in laws live in Garland and Plano... looked very white to me in 2 very large cities.

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by DWong

Sorry I probably didn't word it correctly. I was reading that Dallas itself in this thread is liberal/democratic and basically wanted to know if we threw out Dallas itself which is 1/5 of the population what kind of results would the metro be.
Most metro are the blue center and red out parts. However, my point being that Dallas is a small part of the DFW metro. Whereas, PHX, KC etc are generally the majority of the population.


I don't really considered OC separate from LA. To me, when you can drive the 5 from San Ysidro past all of LA and not go a split second w/out development...it's all the same to me personally. In places scattered throught DFW between cities you can find pockets of empty lots etc.. more or less defining where one begins and ends. North San Diego and OC might as well be considered an MSA. Anyways, OC coastal is metro - OC inland is blue and practically LA when you get around on the street.

Als

According to the US government, Orange County is its own MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), though they also separate Dallas from Fort Worth-Arlington and Miami from Fort Lauderdale so go figure.

100 Largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)

And, when you say inland OC is blue, are you just referring to Santa Ana? Because, if so, one could argue that the reason it is blue is because of the large Hispanic population. And if you're going to discount Dallas' blueness because of the African-American population, then you'd have to discount Santa Ana because of its Hispanic population. (As for the rest of inland OC, I'd have to see figures showing that places like Garden Grove, Anaheim Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, Yorba Linda, Brea and Laguna Hills are blue. If so, things sure have changed since I lived out there!)

[grindin]

Originally Posted by DWong

I don't really considered OC separate from LA. To me, when you can drive the 5 from San Ysidro past all of LA and not go a split second w/out development...it's all the same to me personally. In places scattered throught DFW between cities you can find pockets of empty lots etc.. more or less defining where one begins and ends. North San Diego and OC might as well be considered an MSA. Anyways, OC coastal is metro - OC inland is blue and practically LA when you get around on the street.

Als

You must fall asleep somewhere between Oceanside and San Clemente. If it weren't for Camp Pendleton, it would be all urbanized between SD and LA. North SD County has little to do, if anything with South OC. Are there people who commute between the two? Sure there are, but for the most part, they function as entirely separate entities. This is coming from someone who lived in SD for 13 years BTW.

(As for the rest of inland OC, I'd have to see figures showing that places like Garden Grove, Anaheim Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, Yorba Linda, Brea and Laguna Hills are blue. If so, things sure have changed since I lived out there!)

Don't forget Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, etc. Very inland and I seriously doubt that area is "blue".

[DWong]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

According to the US government, Orange County is its own MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), though they also separate Dallas from Fort Worth-Arlington and Miami from Fort Lauderdale so go figure.

100 Largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)

And, when you say inland OC is blue, are you just referring to Santa Ana? Because, if so, one could argue that the reason it is blue is because of the large Hispanic population. And if you're going to discount Dallas' blueness because of the African-American population, then you'd have to discount Santa Ana because of its Hispanic population. (As for the rest of inland OC, I'd have to see figures showing that places like Garden Grove, Anaheim Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, Yorba Linda, Brea and Laguna Hills are blue. If so, things sure have changed since I lived out there!)

I do find the MSA's very misleading at times -sometimes I wonder who wrote these? For one they consider SF and San Jose separate from eachother and like you said, Dallas separate from Arlington. WE all know that's not accruate. AGain.. that is from the FCC. The metro defintionis far better here:
United States metropolitan area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The reason I brought up the african american democrat thing as in comparison w/ hispanics take for instance last time Bush got elected. Hispanics go blue, but not to the same point as african americans do.

Santa Ana is a VERY small % of the total population of OC - it has the largest % of hispanics, but thats all. I believe Long beach, Santa Ana and Anaheim make up about 1/2 of the OC population... I can tell ya those are blue. South coastal and south inland are red. OC went 50-48 for McCain, hardly a walk away for what is considered a conservative area.