Dallas Skyline(WOW)Yes another Dallas to Houston comparison thread! (Fort Worth: cost, agricultural)

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Do you even know where Lake Jackson is?

I bet you've never even been there before.

When did I say those pictures were prime examples of being in Houston proper?

For being in Houston's southern most reaches of the metro & less than 10 miles from the beach I think Lake Jackson is very wooded & that's coming from a native East Texan who knows woods when he sees them.

No, Matt. After being a Houston area native for decades, I haven't the slightest clue where Lake Jackson is.

I never said those pictures were Houston proper. What I said is that those were terrible examples of what you would call a forested area. You can't show them and then turn and call the Dallas area barren or parched.

Lake Jackson does have a nice amount of trees, but, again, your examples sucked.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

No, Matt. After being a Houston area native for decades, I haven't the slightest clue where Lake Jackson is.

I never said those pictures were Houston proper. What I said is that those were terrible examples of what you would call a forested area. You can't show them and then turn and call the Dallas area barren or parched.

Lake Jackson does have a nice amount of trees, but, again, your examples sucked.

Most other streets not ending in "Way" were named after some form of flora. As the city grew and common names such as Pine, Mulberry, and Oak were taken, developers had to become more creative; thus, among the plants used are Jalapeño, Tangerine, Mango, and Habanero. The highways running through Lake Jackson, (Texas Highways 288 & 332) and Oyster Creek Drive, are exceptions to the naming conventions. The naming convention of "Drive," meaning a route into or out of town, is less honored today than in the beginning.
Dow intentionally laid out the streets so that they seldom follow straight paths. Part of the basis for the winding streets was Dow's insistence that as few trees as possible should be removed in construction of the original street layout (which is still in practice today with the building of new subdivisions). Lake Jackson is a part of the National Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City USA list

[savanite]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Bingo

Houston is the centralized city where Dallas is only one half of a metro. Even if METRO keeps rail inside the loop it would still see higher ridership than DART.

As much as I would like to see a line running all the way to IAH, with Hobby being an internatonial airport now it wouldn't be a first priority to build one out that far.

Well, it may or may not. But that's irrelevant. What does matter is how useful a transit system is to a community.

What Houston is doing is basically replacing its bus routes with streetcars, so there is not that much gain in mobility. What would be an asset to the people of Houston would be real rapid transit, so there would be quicker access to more distant points. And of course the system needs plenty of places to go.

Since many of Houston's attractions are centralized, there is less opportunity or need for a rapid transit system to get them there quickly. Some places in Houston that do need rapid transit instead of the planned streetcar system are the Post Oak corridor, Hobby and IAH. A fourth would be the UH campus, which will be served by an additional line.

Basically, the Dallas-Fort Worth rail systems have the edge in Texas. Houston will have fewer destinations, slower access, more crowding, traffic conflicts due to its street running, and financial drain. The best strategy for Houston Metro would be to build true rapid transit to IAH, for one good reason... It's hard for a town to look like a world class city without an airport rail connection.

Both DART and the T are pursuing that. The T is developing a rail line between DFW airport and downtown Fort Worth, and DART will have a DFW terminal by 2014. DART already has access to Love Field, currently by shuttle bus to a station a mile away from the terminal, and it will be replaced by a rail connection. DART will also have a rail connection from the northern suburbs such as Plano and Addison to DFW airport in the future. The DCTA will likely extend it's current rail service to DFW airport, to an eventual rail hub linking DART, the T and DCTA.

I'm not being competitive here, I like transit systems and I hope Houston builds a better one. I think it definitely can do better than it has, even with its handicap of centralization.

[savanite]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Those look like the same trees found in Dallas...Even Dallas has some Taller trees than that sparse picture you posted.

The Trinity Floodplain:

I think the Houston posters seem to think that the more trees the better. The Dallas posters believe that the more meadows interspersed with woodlands, the better.

The argument could be rephrased to the benefit of the Dallas side if they argued that the less humidity in summer the better. And that the greater forest cover in Houston is a symptom of muggy hot weather.

Ultimately, the issue is immaterial. If someone in DFW wants a lot with tons of trees, there are Plenty of them. The DFW regional authorities and municipal governments have extensive forest management programs and forest preserves.

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by marcopolo2000

Houston's east side is no more underdeveloped than Dallas' South and west sides

The vast majority of South Dallas you can't develop.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by savanite

I think the Houston posters seem to think that the more trees the better. The Dallas posters believe that the more meadows interspersed with woodlands, the better.

The argument could be rephrased to the benefit of the Dallas side if they argued that the less humidity in summer the better. And that the greater forest cover in Houston is a symptom of muggy hot weather.

Ultimately, the issue is immaterial. If someone in DFW wants a lot with tons of trees, there are Plenty of them. The DFW municipal governments all have extensive forest management programs and forest preserves.

I'm sure that for even those who don't care for the humidity, many would say that it's a small price to pay for such lush scenery.

You'll never hear me say that Dallas doesn't have plenty of trees, but there is a remarkable difference between what North Texas has and what eastern Texas has. I can understand how many couldn't care less, but for me it is a definite advantage that Houston has.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Bingo

Houston is the centralized city where Dallas is only one half of a metro. Even if METRO keeps rail inside the loop it would still see higher ridership than DART.

As much as I would like to see a line running all the way to IAH, with Hobby being an internatonial airport now it wouldn't be a first priority to build one out that far.

Ft.Worth has its own Transit system so Dart is Centralized also.Central to Dallas

[savanite]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

I'm sure that for even those who don't care for the humidity, many would say that it's a small price to pay for such lush scenery.

You'll never hear me say that Dallas doesn't have plenty of trees, but there is a remarkable difference between what North Texas has and what eastern Texas has. I can understand how many couldn't care less, but for me it is a definite advantage that Houston has.

It's good that you're happy where you are.

And yes, for all practical purposes, there is no objective difference between the two regions in terms of aesthetics. One is as beautiful or as natural as another. If someone does have an aesthetic preference, that is strictly a personal taste, not an objective advantage.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Ft.Worth has its own Transit system so Dart is Centralized also.Central to Dallas

And as much as The T SUCKS, I can't tell ya how much I wish that wasn't true...

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by savanite

It's good that you're happy where you are.

And yes, for all practical purposes, there is no objective difference between the two regions in terms of aesthetics. One is as beautiful or as natural as another. If someone does have an aesthetic preference, that is strictly a personal taste, not an objective advantage.

Of course, but we all know that's true of any place in the world.