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Sorry folks, but heavy traffic does not an urban city make. For those of you that state defiantly that Houston is more urban than Dallas, I am not quite sure how you can make that statement. Is it because traffic is much heavier here so it appears to be more urban? Is it because we have miles and miles of interstates with service roads lined with businesses, with nothing behind them but open land? Not sure where this Houston is more urban than Dallas argument is coming from, but in my opinion, we are way behind Dallas as far as urbanity. We have way too much open land, are way too spread out, and it takes way, way too long to get to anything, so it's almost as if we have nothing at all.
This is a pretty ignorant statement. Way to go for your first post.
You're trying to claim to be a houstonian by saying "we", but if you really lived in Houston, you would know that half of what you say is false. In the loop, there are no feeder roads with "nothing" behind them. You would know that inside the loop is the densest area in the state with the highest concentration of buildings (in the state). Furthermore, no body is saying that heavy traffic makes a city more urban, as we see that heavy traffic is in both cities.
Sorry buddy, you're not fooling anyone! Your first post shows you just joined the forum to try to take a cheap shot. Yes i contend that Dallas's development is "newer and more urban", but population density wise, it's not. Dallas has miles of open field once you leave downtown, with the exception of the NCE cooridor.
stoneclaw/C2H (ComingtoHouston)
Last edited by stoneclaw; 02-23-2012 at 10:02 AM..
Sorry folks, but heavy traffic does not an urban city make. For those of you that state defiantly that Houston is more urban than Dallas, I am not quite sure how you can make that statement. Is it because traffic is much heavier here so it appears to be more urban? Is it because we have miles and miles of interstates with service roads lined with businesses, with nothing behind them but open land? Not sure where this Houston is more urban than Dallas argument is coming from, but in my opinion, we are way behind Dallas as far as urbanity. We have way too much open land, are way too spread out, and it takes way, way too long to get to anything, so it's almost as if we have nothing at all.
I dont know why people believe in the myth that traffic in DFW is not as bad as traffic in Houston. With how spread out the job centers are here, the traffic can be worse. It's not flowing into one general area like in Houston. Go look up the commute and congestion times between the two places.
This is a pretty ignorant statement. Way to go for your first post.
You're trying to claim to be a houstonian by saying "we", but if you really lived in Houston, you would know that half of what you say is false. In the loop, there are no feeder roads with "nothing" behind them. You would know that inside the loop is the densest area in the state with the highest concentration of buildings (in the state). Furthermore, no body is saying that heavy traffic makes a city more urban, as we see that heavy traffic is in both cities.
Sorry buddy, you're not fooling anyone! Your first post shows you just joined the forum to try to take a cheap shot. Yes i contend that Dallas's development is "newer and more urban", but population density wise, it's not. Dallas has miles of open field once you leave downtown, with the exception of the NCE cooridor.
stoneclaw/C2H (ComingtoHouston)
Maybe ignorant to you, but unfortunately quite accurate. So if all those folks that are saying that Houston is definitely more urban than Dallas are not basing that statement on traffic, what would they be basing it on? More people on the streets? More walkable areas? More people on bikes? I don't think any of those would be accurate. More tall buildings? You have me on that one, but tall buildings surrounded by acres of parking lots and low density buildings are not quite urban.
It is nice for folks to want to defend and be proud of whatever city they should live in, but it is also beneficial if you can see your cities faults and want to improve on them rather than bashing other cities to make yours look good, especially when it isn't accurate. It shows quite the lack of self confidence.
Maybe ignorant to you, but unfortunately quite accurate.
I don't see what's accurate about saying that Houston is nothing but a bunch of freeways lined with feeder roads with nothing behind them but open land? How in the world is that accurate?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbarn
More people on the streets? More walkable areas? More people on bikes? I don't think any of those would be accurate. More tall buildings? You have me on that one, but tall buildings surrounded by acres of parking lots and low density buildings are not quite urban.
Houston is denser than Dallas despite it being covering a much larger land area. Although not much denser, its still denser. Not to mention, about 30 square miles of that land is covered by lakes and parks. And if we concentrate on just inner city Houston (inside the loop), it has the densest area in Texas. Houston is also more ethnically integrated and you'll find a larger aray of various ethnical restaurants. You'll find Houston's most of Houston's amentities: zoo, museums, theater, entertainment, sports stadiums, colleges within the 610 loop. This is fact!
And i didn't say anything about Houston having more tall buildings. While that's true, I said it had a higher concentration of buildings. Dallas's building frenzy its been doing this last decade has been catching it up to what Houston did a while back. I'm just more impressed with the fashion that Dallas is doing it in. It makes it appear more modern and yes, urban.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbarn
It is nice for folks to want to defend and be proud of whatever city they should live in, but it is also beneficial if you can see your cities faults and want to improve on them rather than bashing other cities to make yours look good, especially when it isn't accurate. It shows quite the lack of self confidence.
It would be bashing if someone only lists their cities' positives while only listing another cities' negatives. It's not basing when you say one city is better at A while the other city is better at B. In this case, i gave credit to Dallas building more densley, transit oriented, and walkable areas. I gave credit to Houston based on their denser concentration of buildings/employment centers, diversity concentration, and people overall to give it the edge. I clearly stated the advantage Dallas had in the opening title of this thread.
stoneclaw/C2H (ComingtoHouston)
Last edited by stoneclaw; 02-23-2012 at 02:10 PM..
Sorry folks, but heavy traffic does not an urban city make. For those of you that state defiantly that Houston is more urban than Dallas, I am not quite sure how you can make that statement. Is it because traffic is much heavier here so it appears to be more urban? Is it because we have miles and miles of interstates with service roads lined with businesses, with nothing behind them but open land? Not sure where this Houston is more urban than Dallas argument is coming from, but in my opinion, we are way behind Dallas as far as urbanity. We have way too much open land, are way too spread out, and it takes way, way too long to get to anything, so it's almost as if we have nothing at all.
i don't think anybody here made this kind of statement. I don't think people believe that heavy traffic makes Houston urban. That's just off.
I'm with stoneclaw, you joined to make a cheap shot. Pretty pathetic and inaccurate shot at that.
I think these threads and topics have taken this Dallas vs Houston thing too far.
Its getting pretty old now you guys.
Relax man. It's not that serious. Since Dallas and Houston are peer cities and in the same state, its fun to contrast the two. If it was another peer city comapring it with ( like Atlanta), no one would think that, but just because its the old Dallas and Houston comparison, there's the old stigma.
Being said, there's a lot of things that Dallas does that i wish Houston would take note. The urban development thing has been going strong for the last decade. I think midtown Houston is finally starting to catch on and grasp the concept. I'm looking forward to more developments like Mix@Midtown and Post Apartments. We just need to find a way to relocate the Greyhound station and homeless shelters to a different area, but that may be wishful thinking.
Relax man. It's not that serious. Since Dallas and Houston are peer cities and in the same state, its fun to contrast the two. If it was another peer city comapring it with ( like Atlanta), no one would think that, but just because its the old Dallas and Houston comparison, there's the old stigma.
Being said, there's a lot of things that Dallas does that i wish Houston would take note. The urban development thing has been going strong for the last decade. I think midtown Houston is finally starting to catch on and grasp the concept. I'm looking forward to more developments like Mix@Midtown and Post Apartments. We just need to find a way to relocate the Greyhound station and homeless shelters to a different area, but that may be wishful thinking.
stoneclaw/C2H(ComingtoHouston)
I agree with this post totally....but what gets old is when SOME Houstonians give dallas credit For nothing...as if we do nothing right up here....it puzzles me.
Relax man. It's not that serious. Since Dallas and Houston are peer cities and in the same state, its fun to contrast the two. If it was another peer city comapring it with ( like Atlanta), no one would think that, but just because its the old Dallas and Houston comparison, there's the old stigma.
Being said, there's a lot of things that Dallas does that i wish Houston would take note. The urban development thing has been going strong for the last decade. I think midtown Houston is finally starting to catch on and grasp the concept. I'm looking forward to more developments like Mix@Midtown and Post Apartments. We just need to find a way to relocate the Greyhound station and homeless shelters to a different area, but that may be wishful thinking.
stoneclaw/C2H(ComingtoHouston)
?. How can you claim Dallas to be more urban than Houston when they have recently in the past few years started getting its Uptown together. Houston has been having its Uptown for years as well as many other business districts. I mean I was in Dallas a few months ago and it still does not give me a big city urban vibe like Houston does. I think the only thing that Dallas has over Houston is that they have zoning which makes things look cleaner and more organized but not necessarily urban. I mean don't get me wrong DFW has its urban areas but Houston just has more and Dallas is catching up.
Texas Medical Center, Greenspoint, Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, Greenway Plaza, Westchase, Energy Corridor, Memorial, Montorse, Gulfgate ect. All of these are in the city limits of Houston. Dallas or DFW does not have area like these, not even half. Even the Woodlands is taking small urban turn.
A diverse and cultured environment is very important for an urban environment. This alone is something that I have a hard time viewing in Dallas. I also see that Dallas does not have a very strong fine art presence. Dallas does not have a Museum District, Theater District or an area as quirky as Midtown or Montrose. Houston culture is probably the 2nd best in the state when it comes to city culture. Now Houston is diverse but San Antonio has culture, Hispanic roots have a very large presence in that city.
One thing that I will give Dallas is that they have successfully planned their rail system and their neighboring cities are going to benefit from it because of the layout. When Metro completes the rail system it will be just as nice but with a higher ridership. I really wish that the city of Houston would look into a rail on I45 from Conroe to Galveston. This alone will help boost business and tourism. Both of the major airports and some of Houston main business districts are along this interstate. (Downtown, Conroe, The Woodlands, Greenspoint, Webster/Clear Lake(NASA), Galveston) They can connect the rail in DT which will boost ridership on the rails inside the loop and bring more business into the business districts. I think it will also cause growth to those areas on the Gulf Freeway to Galveston which is a great thing.
I dont know why people believe in the myth that traffic in DFW is not as bad as traffic in Houston. With how spread out the job centers are here, the traffic can be worse. It's not flowing into one general area like in Houston. Go look up the commute and congestion times between the two places.
D/FW has 500,000-700,000 more in population than Houston so its pretty much common sense where the worst traffic would be. Its just that many more cars/trucks on the road. Not to mention Dallas is more of a logistics hub than Houston & has more interstates leading into the city therefore more 18 wheelers & other delivery trucks.
Anyone who believes Houston has worse traffic than Dallas should be slapped. In fact, its more than likely the other way around. Commute times in both cities is so close its splitting hairs. Dallas' public transit isn't taking THAT many cars off the road.
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