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Houston and Dallas are probably more similar than Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Both have plenty of fun stuff to do, sports, restaraunts, entertaiment, etc. Houston probably has more museums.
I think both cities look very much alike, ascettically speaking. If you didn't know any better, it would be difficult to tell just by looking if you were in Dallas or Houston. Tress are a bit taller in Houston and it's also woodsier and greener than Dallas.
Both are among the most congested cities in the country.
Both cities are plenty diverse. But I ran into quite a few more people from New York, the Northeast, the Rust Belt States, California, and people from other countries in Houston than Dallas.
The main differences I've noticed is Houston is more industrial/blue collar.
I prefer Houston. It's closer to the Gulf of Mexico. When I was living in Houston, it was nice to be able to drive to Galveston on a Saturday or Sunday and spend the day at the beach and be back in Houston before dark. Close poximity to the Coast is one benefit that Houston has and Dallas never will have.
Houston has warmer weather in the winter time. Houston is one of the most humid cities in the country, but that's just the way the South is that is near the Gulf/ocean.
Houston seems to be a more fun, vibrant, livelier city.
Last edited by Ivory Lee Spurlock; 08-15-2019 at 11:13 AM..
But that article pretty much sums up my point which is Houston is a foodie's paradise. DFW and Austin establishments are joining an already robust food scene that you don't see in other Texas cities. I love Ft.Worth's Rodeo Goat but it's just another addition to a sea full of local favorites in the city.
That very same article gave reasons or theories as to why DFW and Austin have a fair share of establishments in Houston and not the other way around and none of them were because Houston has a lack of good eateries. That same article also praised Houston's local food scene.
But nobody remembers Cafe Annie and how the latino cook's lunches spawned the Café Express concept?
Truck Yard doesn't look very classy; it's pretty redneck from stereotypical "classy Dallas" (e.g. patio dining without the patio--gravel in the shoe and on the treads). But the Chicago-esque Ferris wheel is an improvement to that treehouse in the Dallas location because of the view from the top. (Does it work? Adult-sized?)
But yes, Dallas is the King of Chains. Chili's, Bennigan's, et al. came from or were headquartered there. Wouldn't be surprised that they are trying out more hip millennial concepts to chain instead of tired old mainstream brands like Applebee's.
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from looser city regulations in Houston to DFW being oversaturated with eating spots
It's hard to adjust from practically no city regulations outside of sanitation to this:
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Wilkerson says that the city of Austin, which he believes has become more business friendly recently, can be especially daunting.
“Everyone has their horror stories … . It’s hard to get permits, it’s hard to navigate the local government … . You have to spend more money … . There’s an international code of plumbing that the whole world agrees upon but Austin, in their infinite wisdom, has added on unique layers on top of that,” he said. “I don’t know if Austin’s lack of business-friendly reputation might contribute, but I have heard anecdotally from other folks that it does give them pause when they’re thinking about where they can build.”
The chains have the man power to navigate through byzantine regulations, but the small-business restauranteur used to the deregulated Houston market has a hard time moving to other parts of Texas.
Also it's hard to maintain quality control when opening a location outside of town or chaining a restaurant. Not to mention that demographics are slightly different in the other locale; having to customize promotions and specials to that market.
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Pappas says Dallas is especially jammed with certain types of restaurants. “I think they could be saturated with that cool, trendy concept,” she said. “You go into the suburbs of Dallas — Plano, Addison — and (the restaurants) feel cool. You’ve got nice design, nice graphics and menu items that look cool. I think the outskirts of Houston haven’t seen as much of that, but that’s starting to develop, too.”
L.A.'s restaurants have the nice brand logos, menu design, and decor. The food items can be a miss in taste but attractive in plating and portions are pretty small and expensive. The cool, trendy concept is not mainstream here because Houston has been a value-oriented city where taste, portion-size, and price takes priority. The trendy concept has taken off in Austin and Dallas because of the large hordes of California transplants. But in cosmopolitan Houston, aesthetics take a back seat to the core concepts with this diverse crowd from all over the world.
It's hard to adjust from practically no city regulations outside of sanitation to this:
The chains have the man power to navigate through byzantine regulations, but the small-business restauranteur used to the deregulated Houston market has a hard time moving to other parts of Texas.
From a recent Houston Chronicle interview with Tilman Fertitta:
Q: What’s your pet peeve in business?
A: I hate regulation. If you want to order something at a restaurant, you shouldn’t have to look at the calories if you don’t want to. I think people want to go out and enjoy life. Minimum wage doesn’t work if you don’t have a tip credit. I can’t pay the dishwasher as much because I’m having to pay the waiter so much. People who make the rules, they’ve never run a business and they don’t want to listen to what it takes to run a business. I don’t like the government getting involved in our business in every aspect. Texas is a very easy place to do business in, and it’ll be disappointing if that ever changes.
Houston is also grey for most of fall, winter, and spring. Dallas is a bit better. I'm not sure where people get this impression that it's sunny everwhere in Texas-- Western movies maybe? And then in the summer it's literally too hot to be outside. We're currently experiencing several weeks of 100F in Austin. Houston is just as hot but more humid. Since you like outdoors activities, you are going to be losing a lot moving to either city, or even Austin.
Texas as a whole is insular, and people who were born here generally think this is the best place on earth despite not having experiences living elsewhere. The cost of living is also high in Dallas and Houston especially once you factor in the high property tax and car insurance (due to high number of uninsured drivers). Pay raises are also not much of a thing here, and my friends who have lived in other states have also noticed this.
I am a native Houstonian living for 1.5 years about 13 mi N of downtown Pittsburgh. The Houston area is much sunnier, the sun beats down much stronger & even when it is cloudy it is still much brighter. Texas Triangle vs. the windward side of the N. Appalachians? Not even close. The Texas Triangle cities do receive similar sunlight hrs more or less, but if you want more you have to head to Florida or the desert SW. (BTW fall is the sunniest time of year in Houston.)
As far as outdoor activities, W. Penn has TX beat hands down. Beautiful part of the country. The big valleys here essentially make small mountains, bigger mountains are 1 hour away, then WV, MD & NY are a few hrs away, and then still there is New England for a bizarre adventure. The 4 seasons helps too. Also pretty easy access to DC, Philly, NYC, Niagara & Toronto (and Ohio & Detroit if that's your thing).
Cost of housing here is higher than people think because the average house would've been torn down decades ago in TX. What few modern places there are here, are overpriced. Contractors (union) are expensive. Property tax rates are higher than Texas, and then you have a 4-6% income tax. Car insurance is less- until you wreck yourself on a steep icy hill- and then you are up to TX rates. And people statistically get into wrecks more often here than in Houston. Probably due to 5+ months of winter, poor roads & deer infestation. PA = highest gas tax in the US. Food, utilities, doctors, Uber all cost more. Can't speak for raises, but wages for some professionals around Pittsburgh are insulting. That formula just doesn't work.
I wouldn't buy the media/PR stuff. It's a great city to visit, and the area is pretty good to live if you can afford the best parts of the city & suburbs. But at the end of the day it is still the overtaxed, dreary, shrinking, unhappy rust belt.
Ive lived in Dallas and I currently live in Houston and the QOL in both cities has been great to me. Both offer a lot to the resident in the way of culture, culinary scene, nightlife, diversity, and low COL.
To the OP, answers to your questions below:
1) COL is similar but Houston is a bit cheaper than Dallas.
2) Both cities arent too far apart, but it depends on what youre interested in. The only difference that Ive really been able to ascertain is that African Americans seem to prefer Houston's scene while LGBT (especially gay men) seem to prefer Dallas. Houston is more laid back than Dallas is and the later is more fashion forward/image conscious. Dallas has a lot more domestic out of state transplants than Houston. Houston has more people from other countries.
3) Not really much in the way of swimming holes in the cities, but White Rock Lake in Dallas is really nice. Houston has more urban green space in the way of Memorial Park and George Bush Park. Outside of town, you have the gulf and some lakes too.
4) In my opinion Dallas is a better sports city, but people in Houston do love their teams.
5) Public transit is much better in Dallas IMO because of their rail. Houston is trying to catch up, but its hard to use.
6) My personal preference is Houston but not by a wide margin. Its more laid back and international and the culinary scene is better. Dallas has it ups too and I loved living there as well. Dallas has better shopping and public transportation. I did like the nightlife more in Dallas for partying, but Im older and travel every week for work now. Because of that, I dont care so much about it.
You should look into Fort Worth. Right next door to Dallas but much more laid back and the most unique city in Texas IMO.
I'd agree with most of this except #5. Dallas has a more extensive rail system. Houston has a more extensive park-n-ride system and a bus system that works. Houston's ridership is increasing. Dallas's is falling. So I'd give a slight edge to Houston.
Houston has hurricanes and easily floods these day. The thought of having to leave my home and having to exit the city to head north in crawling traffic is something I am not the least bit interested in experiencing. OP should take that into consideration when making his/her choice.
At least its not in tornado alley.
If you live in Houston 20 or 30 years you may experience that exit once.
The Dallas Vs. Houston rivalry is ongoing.Most of the arguments about either are about splitting a hair. When you consider that both places combined only house about 4% of the USA population and about .167% yes 2/12th's of 1% or about 1 out of 600 people in the world live here and that ratio is declining quickly. Both have way more of everything than probably 75% of the country. Additionally they are both far better off than probably 95% of the worlds population.
Both places are so similar in all aspects that the variation is only slightly measurable. Yet we exploit these tiny differences that represent only a small, even minuscule fraction of ones potential overall experience.
I therefore assert strongly that these hair splitting arguments are taken way,way,way out of perspective. Again the perspective is distorted way beyond relativity via human self-justification. In other words people seek to justify their actions, beliefs and decisions by convincing others who are not even affected by that persons actions, beliefs or decisions. If you can convince another person to agree with you then you achieve confirmation that your actions, beliefs or decisions are right. It's a very interesting phenomena.
In closing I just want to present the idea that a persons actions and how they apply themselves will ultimately outweigh any contribution that the local environment offers. Just to give a couple of examples.
1) Warren Buffet has built Bershire Hathaway while making Omaha Nebraska his home.
a. shall we propose that he made a mistake by not starting Bershire Hathaway in Dallas or Houston?
I assure you that he would laugh at the assumption.
2) Bill Gates started Microsoft in Albuquerque, NM
a. Shall we propose that he should have started Microsoft in Dallas or Houston?
again I would expect that he would ridicule the idea
Yep. Both have major hub airports that you can use to take you all over the country and outside the country. Just pick your poison - if you want to give your money to AA - pick DFW. For UA, pick IAH.
If you live in Houston 20 or 30 years you may experience that exit once.
Don't forget about hail.
I remember seeing a lot of posts on here about people saying the hurricane/flooding risk was too high in Houston, etc. Well I moved to Houston a month before Harvey. Got stuck at work, but car never got flooded and my entire complex didn't flood (I was on the 3rd floor anyway).
Moved to Dallas in January and barely 2 months later a hail storm comes out of nowhere and causes almost $6,000 in damage (I just got it fixed last week). My apartment complex just finished up roof and gutter repairs from the storm that came through.
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Originally Posted by callan06
1. Is there even that big of a difference in COL between the two cities? It seems ~$1,500 in either city will get you a decent 1BR close to or in the popular areas.
2. This is probably hard to answer, but what city has a better social scene (nightlife, dating, things to do)? Does one city have more transplants than the other?
3. Are there any lakes or swimming holes near Dallas?
4. Which city enjoys their sports more? I know both cities have professional teams for almost all sports, but is it bigger in one city or the other? I imagine being a Giants fan in Dallas would be rough, but fun nevertheless.
5. Is public transit viable in either city? I haven't seen anything saying it's great so I'll probably keep my car either way but would prefer public transit more often than not.
6. What's your personal preference? Why?
I'm from Atlanta originally. Moved to Houston 2 years ago and to DFW about half a year ago. I have no "allegiance" to either place so I consider myself fairly unbiased.
1. Not really. Your exact location in the metro matters much more than COL. I moved from Houston to Dallas and didn't even consider COL. Once upon a time I was flirting with a job in New Jersey and rent prices (in New Jersey, forget NYC) made my jaw drop. Definitely did not have that same shock moving to DFW.
2. I'm still getting used to Dallas, but I really enjoyed Houston nightlife. Mostly easy going, plenty of spots to hit up ranging from low key to more high class. Transplants? Eh I'd say about the same but most of my friends were transplants anyway.
3. Several lakes nearby. A few in the metroplex itself. Haven't spent a whole lot of time on them.
4. Tough to say. The Cowboys are immensely popular all over Texas and Dallas has an NHL team so that may tip the scales to Dallas. BUT, Houston is a very prideful city and its teams are no exceptions. I think both places have more sports pride than Atlanta.
5. Ehh, it might be doable in parts of either city, but I wouldn't recommend it. I've travelled on Amtrak and SEPTA between Lancaster and the Philly airport. You're not gonna find anything like that here. One time I took the DART train from DFW to Mockingbird station just NE of downtown. Took me an hour. It basically turned into a streetcar in downtown. We were just waiting at red lights like everybody else. It was painfully slow and I wasn't even in a hurry.
6. Tough to say. I really like both places (which I always get crap for from natives). I knew more people in Houston and at this point I've haven't spent as much time in Dallas so I still kinda lean towards Houston but that's slowly changing. Dallas can get a little pretentious at times. I do miss being able to go to the coast whenever I wanted even if the beaches weren't that great. Dallas isn't as hilly as Atlanta and definitely not as hilly as Pittsburgh, but it's at least not completely flat like Houston. It also seems like, at least near me, there are more parks and trails than in the Houston metro. Though the Buffalo Bayou trail system is pretty nice just west of downtown.
Oh and I think I enjoy the weather more in Dallas. I miss the warmer winter but I don't miss the humidity. Even in spring and fall you can get mugginess creeping in from the gulf in Houston. I spent 2 years in PA in the Lancaster area. We almost never got Houston level humidity except for a couple days in August. What Pennsylvanians consider "humid", you can get in Houston any time from March to November. Not every day, but definitely when winds are coming off the gulf. Dallas isn't quite as bad in that regard but it does actually get more humid here than people think.
6. Tough to say. I really like both places (which I always get crap for from natives). I knew more people in Houston and at this point I've haven't spent as much time in Dallas so I still kinda lean towards Houston but that's slowly changing. Dallas can get a little pretentious at times. I do miss being able to go to the coast whenever I wanted even if the beaches weren't that great. Dallas isn't as hilly as Atlanta and definitely not as hilly as Pittsburgh, but it's at least not completely flat like Houston. It also seems like, at least near me, there are more parks and trails than in the Houston metro. Though the Buffalo Bayou trail system is pretty nice just west of downtown.
Just curious, but why do you say that that's slowly changing for you? I'm asking because me and my wife are stuck in between staying in Houston or moving back to Atlanta or even relocating to Dallas. I've been to Dallas several times throughout my life but never lived in Dallas for a long period of time to really grasp how it is NOW. Dallas I knew on that level was in the early 00's and 90's. But i'm really curious as your experience and comparison to all 3 cities. I know me and my wife are leaning heavily to moving back to Atlanta just don't have any immediate family there. Houston is the most convenient because of family but job opportunities within my company are less appealing here in Houston than in the locations in DFW and Atlanta. DFW is a possibility because of my job opportunity there and the fact that we'll still be in Texas. But we're still kind of stuck on where we want to go. Would love to hear your input since you actually lived in all 3.
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