Dallas or Houston??? (Fort Worth, Arlington, Center: affordable apartment, insurance, chapel)

[phoenix_talons]

In this tough economic times, job prospects are even in either cities. But I'm looking toward Houston because there are a multitude of affordable apartments. Over the last month, I bookmarked nearly 200 listings of 2-bedroom units that's under $700/mth located on the left half of Houston outside the 610 loop. For the entire Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, I found a little over 100 listings for the same criteria.

Besides the rent, what's the comparison of the other cost-of-living criteria (insurance, utilities, tolls, sales tax, etc.)?

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Houston has the greater performing arts and museums, and is surprisingly ranked very well in those categories.

I don't think so. DFW has many more museums and concert halls/musical opportunities than Houston.

DFW has a good dozen art museums, 3 zoos, an additional aquarium, 3 science museums, several history museums, and so forth.

Houston has one fine arts museum, a contemporary arts museum, a decorative arts museum, and that's about it. DFW has the DMA, the Crow Collection, the Nasher, the African-American, the Biblical Arts, the MADI, Spanish, and neighboring FW has the Kimbell, the FW Modern, and the Amon Carter.

In addition, DFW has many regional arts centers such as the MAC, the centers in Irving, Plano, and other places.

For history museums, the Kennedy 6th floor in downtown Dallas is a place wher the entire country regards as a must-see. Well, Houston has the space center. Da;llas also has the only Womens' museum in America, a Dallas county museum, the Hall of State in Fair Park, and FW has a couple of western heritage museums. I'm not aware of any history museums in Houston... or maybe I'm wrong... it may have 1 I'm not aware of.

For shows, Dallas has the Eisemann theatre for touring roadshows, the State Fair Music Hall for roadshows, the Winspear Opera House for roadshows, the Nokia theatre in GP that features a 3 week engagement of the Radio City Rockettes as well as many other touring groups, the Meyerson for musical groups, McFarlin for shows, and Fw has a major concert hall as well. Houston has fewer places to go for musical entertainment.

The built-up urban pedestrian area on the fringes of downtown Dallas has no equal in Houson... they have no equivalent of the McKinney Avenue urban district,,, the view of main street south of downtown Houston is like vacant lots and scattered one-story buildings, whereas Uptown Dallas is similar to what you would see in the less dense parts of Manhattan.

In terms of rail transit, DFW is far ahead of Houston. By 2012, Houston will have about 30 miles of light rail. Dallas will have 80 miles of light rail, 35 miles of commuter rail between the Dallas and FW downtowns, 20 miles of commuter rail to Denton, and about 4 miles of streetcar.

There's no comparison... Dallas is much more urbane than Houston.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by phoenix_talons

In this tough economic times, job prospects are even in either cities. But I'm looking toward Houston because there are a multitude of affordable apartments. Over the last month, I bookmarked nearly 200 listings of 2-bedroom units that's under $700/mth located on the left half of Houston outside the 610 loop. For the entire Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, I found a little over 100 listings for the same criteria.

Besides the rent, what's the comparison of the other cost-of-living criteria (insurance, utilities, tolls, sales tax, etc.)?

I might advisse you that the difference is not real... it is an "artifact" of the way you conducted your search.

Since DFW and greater Houston are not that far apart in population, and have similar economies, you would expect them to have a similar number of apartments in all price ranges. If that's not what you found, the most obvious explanation is there was something abberant in your search method.

I'd also wonder why the difference, even if you are willing to believe in a 600 to 100 ratio of apartments, which seems preposterous on its face. But let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that the figures are real. If any one of the 100 Dallas apartments suits you personally, then you are free to consider all other criteria relative to Dallas or Houston that are important to you. In other words, once you find a good place for housing in either city, you can then go on to look for other things.

In short, you are basing your choice on a pretty nebulous and specious set of criteria. It is highly likely that you will be unhappy in your selection.

[phoenix_talons]

Perhaps you should follow your own advice.

Originally Posted by aceplace

Since DFW and greater Houston are not that far apart in population, and have similar economies, you would expect them to have a similar number of apartments in all price ranges. If that's not what you found, the most obvious explanation is there was something abberant in your search method.

In short, you are basing your choice on a pretty nebulous and specious set of criteria.

It is "pretty nebulous and specious" to think that two cities must have similar economies and similar cost of living just because they have similar populations. Given the obvious multitude of evidence presented by responders to this thread, the differences between the two cities clearly are many and far ranging.

Austin metro and San Antonio metro have similar population sizes. Does that mean they have similar economies and cost of living? Or Odessa-Midland and El Paso? Are two people of same height and weight the same? It is abberant to presume that!

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by phoenix_talons

Perhaps you should follow your own advice.It is "pretty nebulous and specious" to think that two cities must have similar economies and similar cost of living just because they have similar populations. Given the obvious multitude of evidence presented by responders to this thread, the differences between the two cities clearly are many and far ranging.

Austin metro and San Antonio metro have similar population sizes. Does that mean they have similar economies and cost of living? Or Odessa-Midland and El Paso? Are two people of same height and weight the same? It is abberant to presume that!

I'd say that two metros with a similar population have a similar number of gas stations and supermarkets. They'd have a similar number of barbershops, doctor's offices, laundry/cleaners, etc.

Likewise I'd say that two metros that are close in population would have a similar number of apartments in a particular price range.

The cost of living in Dallas and Houston is similar, especially in comparison between Texas and California.

Your search is so unbalanced that it has to be an abberation. A 6 to 1 ratio is too unbelievable to be real.

[aceplace]

Regarding the number of major entertainment venues in Houston and DFW, I did a search with a ticket vendor.

Ticketron sells tickets to shows in various venues in all major cities, so they should know where the venues are in each major city.

For Houston, Ticketron is selling tickets in 18 venues.

For DFW, Ticketron is selling tickets in 31 venues. That would be 21 in Dallas, 9 in Fort Worth, and 1 in Richardson (Eisemann Center).

DFW seems to have a much better selection of places to go for entertainment.

[phoenix_talons]

Originally Posted by aceplace

I'd say that two metros with a similar population have a similar number of gas stations and supermarkets.

Likewise I'd say that two metros that are close in population would have a similar number of apartments in a particular price range.

Your search is so unbalanced that it has to be an abberation. A 6 to 1 ratio is too unbelievable to be real.

This thread has spanned eight pages of expressed differences. Completely debunks everything you have said.

An opinion is an opinion. You're free to express one, even though you have no first-hand knowledge or experience of the two cities in question.

Originally Posted by aceplace

Regarding the number of major entertainment venues in Houston and DFW, I did a search with a ticket vendor.

Ticketron sells tickets to shows in various venues in all major cities, so they should know where the venues are in each major city.

For Houston, Ticketron is selling tickets in 18 venues.

For DFW, Ticketron is selling tickets in 31 venues. That would be 21 in Dallas, 9 in Fort Worth, and 1 in Richardson (Eisemann Center).

DFW seems to have a much better selection of places to go for entertainment.

I like to hear how you can reconcile this response with the one you made above that. You have contradicted yourself.

Nor have you addressed how extremely similar Austin and San Antonio really are based on the reasoning you just put forward. BTW, have you actually visited those places?

Where on God's green earth did you get "6 to 1 ratio" from?

Originally Posted by aceplace

even if you are willing to believe in a 600 to 100 ratio of apartments

Oh, you made it up!

Guess I have to find answers elsewhere since you are the only kind of help around here.

[aceplace]

One thing I'm curious about is the number of minor league baseball teams in the Houston area.

I'm not aware of any minor league teams in Houston.

Here in DFW, we have the Major League Texas Rangers, but as for minor league teams, we have one in Fort Worth (Cats), one in Grand Prairie, and one in Frisco (Rough Riders).

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by phoenix_talons

Where on God's green earth did you get "6 to 1 ratio" from?Oh, you made it up!

Guess I have to find answers elsewhere since you are the only kind of help around here.

I stand corrected. Your statement was actually 2 to one. An equally absurd spread:

In this tough economic times, job prospects are even in either cities. But I'm looking toward Houston because there are a multitude of affordable apartments. Over the last month, I bookmarked nearly 200 listings of 2-bedroom units that's under $700/mth located on the left half of Houston outside the 610 loop. For the entire Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, I found a little over 100 listings for the same criteria.

Even if we assume that there actually are twice as many cheap apartments in metro Houston as in metro DFW, wouldn't that just imply that metro Houston is twice as impoverished and ghettoized? Doesn't sound very complimentary to Houston.

For the record, I don't think it is. I'd sooner believe that your search criteria are faulty. Obviously, there is no single website that can list every apartment for rent in DFW or metro Houston.

In the case of tickets, yes there is a predominantly dominant website... Ticketron. The Ticketron website has a search field. I entered the name of a city, in this case, Houston, and I found a list of venues for that city. I did the same for Dallas, Fort Worth, and various other DFW cities, including Richardson.

It looks like Ticketron does a lot more business in DFW than in Houston. Presumably, DFW has more entertainment than Houston.

[TrueDat]

Regarding the tickets question, why Ticketron instead of Ticketmaster which is far more dominant in the field and may offer a more valid comparison between Dallas and Houston?

As far as Houston museums, there are also The Menil Collection (The Menil Collection), The Station Museum of Contemporary Art (stationmuseum.com - Home), The Rothko Chapel (The Rothko Chapel -- www.rothkochapel.org), the Houston Museum of Natural Science (The Houston Museum of Natural Science), Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (Buffalo Soldiers National Museum -), Children's Museum of Houston (Children's Museum of Houston - Providing Children Activities and Events for Family Fun in Houston.), and the Houston Center for Photography (www.hcponline.org)