Is Dallas ugly? (Houston, Fort Worth, Plano: condo, houses, neighborhoods)

[dreameyes]

I've heard some people say that Dallas is really ugly?? Does it gets lots of rain? Are there a lot of trees? How does the beauty of Dallas compare to Fort Worth? My husband and I are thinking seriously of moving to a small town near the DFW area and these are the first of many many questions I'll probably have. Thanks so much!

[DFWMike]

I should apologize, I think you got that at least in part from me. Dallas is not ugly it's just featureless. The city itself has alot of trees and it rains a fair amount, probably a perfect combination of where your from and a place like Boston or Houston.

The problem when comparing it to utah or out west is there are no real changes in the topography. Hills rise to about 1100 ft west of town which provides about a 600 ft relief from the constant elevation of the area but nothing more than a mole hill compared to what you guys have.

If living near mountains and clear flowing streams does not matter to you guys, then Dallas may do just fine. They've done alot with what they have, prarie just isn't all that pretty so they have to work really hard to make the landscape attractive. But they do that, and it has worked with several different projects and older neighborhoods.

Dallas is a fairly attractive city as cities go, I'm just not the most urban type of person. If your one who seeks mountains then, yea, Dallas is not very attractive, lol. You pretty much have to travel about 4 hours to Arkansas to see anything resembling amountainous area.

[Lakewooder]

Actually Oklahoma mountains are closer and you even see some nice hills and cliffs at Lake Texoma.

Speaking of cliffs we do have them in Dallas, as in say, "Oak Cliff" - Chalk Hill and most of SW Dallas has nice hills. White Rock Lake in East Dallas/Lakewood is beautiful and there are many smaller hills and creeks, quite a varied topography. North Dallas is mostly flat, but if you can find something near a creek, it's pretty nice. Just follow Turtle Creek from Downtown north...

[DFWMike]

Actually I just came up with the perfect comparison for you dreameyes. Dallas is like Salt Lake City would be if you took out the mountain backdrop. Inserted a much more urban high rise downtown and a few more massive freeways. But the style of housing is very similar in that it is large tracts of cookie cutter housing and the beauty of the town itself is similiar except Dallas has a more urban look downtown than Salt Lake city's kind of industrial look. And of course, multiply Salt Lake metro population by 5 and you have Dallas.

I actually remarked when we landed in Salt Lake City that it looked like Dallas with mountains. West Valley looks like Plano from the air. Course there is that 11,000 ft mountain view in the background there that cracks just a tiny difference between the two.

[dreameyes]

Thanks DFWMike....I appreciate your descriptions. I'm actually from the prairies (Alberta) so I'm used to flat. My husband lived in Denton for four years and really liked it. I do love the mountains but there's always ups and down to everywhere you live I guess. For the most part as far as beauty it sounds like I'd like it. I really miss the rain!!!!
So far the positives to moving outweigh the negatives for us.
I've heard that Dallas isn't quite as humid as say Houston is. My husband said he never thought it that bad. I mean anywhere is gonna be more humid than here....LOL So how bad is the humidity? And how hot does it get? in summer? winter? What are the avg. temps.?

[turnbun]

I would certainly not call Dallas ugly by any means. Beautiful? Not exactly. However, if you seek it, you can find beauty just about anywhere -- natural and man-made (and, no, I'm not talking about plastic surgeon man-made! -- there's a lot of that in Dallas, too).

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I always thought it very nice but of course if your idea of beauty is mountains what on earth are you doing in Texas to begin with...go back to Utah.

I like the skyline of Dallas coming in from the South, where you see the lights of the Reunion Tower.

There are some very nice parts of town as well, my neice has a condo in Highland Park which is a very nice neighborhood with old growth trees and very posh houses.

[dreameyes]

Originally Posted by Lisa_from_Debary

I always thought it very nice but of course if your idea of beauty is mountains what on earth are you doing in Texas to begin with...go back to Utah.

I hope you didn't say that like it sounded. First of all I did not say I only think mountains are beautiful. I said I love the mountains but I also love my prarie and find much beauty in it. I said that I thought that from the descriptions I would like DFW. And I am in Utah. You should read the post a bit more clearly before you respond. And I never mentioned I was in Utah, Mike did.
I apoligize if I sound a little uppity here. I don't mean it that way.

[bostoner]

Dallas is pretty. I like buildings. I didn't suffer any for lack of trees or mountains or oceans living there. There was enough beauty to satisfy me in the part I lived in, I guess. Am I the only person in the world who doesn't give a flip about mountains and all the rest? I lived in the foothills of Colorado and hightailed it back home to Texas after a few months. I mean, yeah, they're pretty to look at, but unless you plan on climbing, hiking, and whatever else in them every day what's the point of just being near them? This isn't necessarily aimed at you, dreameyes, but before reading these boards, I never knew beauty was the #1 criterion people relocate for, but it sure seems so judging from these forums. Maybe that's why they run into so many problems when they get to a place and find they don't like it after all? Sorry for getting off-topic! Minor rant over.

[kaykay]

Hi dreameyes,

Dallas is not ugly but it's not spectacularly beautiful either. It IS green.
I grew up in W. Texas where it is very dry, so to me Dallas seems humid. From what I hear from other people though, there are many more places with more humidity than Dallas. Houston is much, much more humid than Dallas.

In short, I wouldn't come here for the beauty or the weather, but if you have other reasons for wanting to re-locate here you'd probably adapt and do fine. The area is pretty conservative (which I know is a plus for you and me) If you have any specifics I could maybe answer about Dallas, please pm me and I'll try to do so. (Plano where I live, is a northern suburb of Dallas.)