Houston vs. Dallas (San Antonio, Austin, El Paso: safest area, where to live, stores)

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by deeptrance

OK, so you're not below sea level, and that rules out the comparison to New Orleans. Good point.

But imagine a Cat 5 hurricane at landfall, it could easily still be at Cat 3 status when it reached Houston, especially if it came straight up the port and was over water for a long time. The damage would be spectacular.

What about Rita? It was far from Houston and was much weaker than Katrina, yet the mere evacuation process was a disaster in itself! People sitting in ther cars roasting for 12 hours, hardly moving... Houston will see many more floods, they will get worse for reasons I've mentioned already, and if it gets a direct hit from a slow-moving hurricane it will be horrific.

But of course you can make the argument that every location is a sitting duck for SOME type of disaster. I just think Houston's elevation, population, tendency to get heavy rain events and poor drainage all spell one thing: frequent widespread flooding that will increase as the years go by.

It is real bad when 2.5 million people evacuate a city at once. Even people who lived in northwest Houston and Katy evacuated for no reason. The hurricane wouldn't have impacted those areas. Those in the industrial part of Houston (Baytown, La Porte, Pasadena, Deer Park), and the growing suburbs along the Bay (Texas City, League City, Clear Lake) would have to evacuate.

Now Houston is more prepared for a large scale evacuation. Having the U.S.'s largest ever urban evacuation for a hurricane that didn't real hit this area was good practice.

[wpotsie]

I am single and moved from New England to San Antonio last year. I had it narrowed down to SA, Austin or Houston. SA and AUstin are only an hour apart. So I knew if I chose one over the other, I could get my fix for a quick weekend trip. I fell in love with HOuston becasue it was so cosmopolitan and close to the coast. But...Dallas??? It never even entered my mind becasue it is just so far away from enverything except...well..Oklahoma (LOL). Besides I wanted a real "warm climate" . Dallas is also the ugliest city I've ever visited. Austin and SA are also so different from each other but I really feel that there's been so much growth it will eventually become mre like Baltimore-DC-Philly. SA has all the amenities of a big city but still feels like a small town, even though it's the second largest city in Texas behind Houston (yes we are bigger than Dallas now). I've been in SA for a year now and absolutely love it. Dallas...LOL (seriously!)

Originally Posted by deeptrance

Texans, let's admit it, no matter where we live, there are only 2 REAL cities in this state, DFW and H-town. Yeah, San Antonio, Austin and El Paso are cities but they're not CITIES, am I right?

So, here's the question, and I mean this in all good sport, no personal insults allowed:

Which city is the BEST and WHY, between Dallas and Houston?

I'll offer the opening volley in what I hope will be a lively Texas-friendly smack-down.

Houston might have heinous humidity, traffic, smog and floods, but I think it beats Dallas hands-down for culture. Seems like far more musicians, artists, and other interesting cultural types come from H-town. Dallas is good for... ummm..... shopping? And, uh... Malls?

Houston has a more cosmopolitan, multicultural vibe to me. OK, so one of the cultures happens to consist of cockroaches the size of economy cars, but heck, if we can train them then maybe we can use them to get around town and save on our energy bills, right?

Houston is a port city, it's near the ocean and it's very GREEN with beautiful big trees. Dallas is landlocked and doesn't even have an attractive waterway like San Antonio and Austin.

Anybody wanna take a shot at this? Which city represents Texas best? ALL IN GOOD FUN! Cuz I don't want this thread deleted or locked....

[Guerilla]

San Antonio's city limits may be big, but the metro is really small compared to Houston and Dallas. Also, I wouldn't say Austin-San Antonio would become a Baltimore-DC-Philly. Maybe a Minneapolis-St. Paul.

[JJG]

Houston has the advantage of being the "city with everything".
Dallas has an advantage of being (arguably) the most popular city in Texas.

Houston has just about everything except an NHL franchise.
Dallas had two T.V. shows fillmed there (Dallas and most of Walker Texas Ranger).

The weather in Houston is muggy in the summer.
The weather in Dallas is icy and very unpredictable in the winter.

When people think about Houston, they think about space, history making stadiums, and the embarrasing failure of Enron.
When people think about Dallas, they think about the Cowboys, business, and the embarrasing failure of the Mavericks when they blew a 2 game lead in the Finals.

Those are the basics, folks.

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by JJG

Dallas has an advantage of being (arguably) the most popular city in Texas.

San Antonio is the most popular for tourism. Not sure what you mean by "most popular." But San Antone is way ahead of the others for travel from other states and countries.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by deeptrance

San Antonio is the most popular for tourism. Not sure what you mean by "most popular." But San Antone is way ahead of the others for travel from other states and countries.

I mean that Dallas is (arguably) the most popular city because more people KNOW the city, whether they're Americans or people living in other countries. Because of the T.V. Drama (and the up comming movie) Dallas seems to hog the spotlight when it comes to Texas cities. San Antonio is also a very popular city and so is Houston. No doubt that S.A. is #1 in tourism, but if people from, let's say, Canada are asked-"What is the city that first comes to mind when you think of Texas"- I believe they'll say Dallas more than San Antonio or Houston.
The list of most poupular cities in Texas from most to least...

1. Dallas
2. San Antonio
3. Houston
4. Austin
5. El Paso
6-at least 12. Any small town in this state that's been mentioned in the media
13. Fort Worth ( te he he)

[JJG]

The first three could go either way.

[dallas,texas]

I would pick Dallas all the way. He are a couple of things people do not understand about the big D

1. Were not cowboys, or anything like most people not from Texas think about us. Were not in the Wild West or anything

2. We do not always get hit by tornadoes, like everyone thinks. Only one has hit the dallas city limits, and that was in the 50's.

3. Dallas does have very green areas, and beautiful landscape. At my place, our yard is full of trees, and there are natural trees everywhere. There are many creeks, and ponds.

4. We are not only shopping, and eating. We have many good qualities, like education, health, and many other qualities.

I prefer Dallas, and some prefer Houston, thats just the way it is. They have different qualities, and some people prefer different things. I do not know why people from Houston hate Dallas, and people fron Dallas hate Houston. They are different!!!!

PS, about what city that comes to mind when you think of Texas, on Family Feud, if anyone has seen it there is a part of it called "fast money". On it one time there was a question that said, "name a city in Texas". Dallas was the number 1 answer.

Thats all I have to say

[Unbreakable1]

I had to join in here. I agree with the opinion that Dallas is ugly. Even the name sounds ugly. While although I don't live there, I visit both frequently during the year. The first time I set foot on Houston, it felt like my entire body became alive by the energy and internationalisness (is that even a word? Ya'll know what I mean) of the city. It was almost tangible. The first time I stepped in Dallas, after the 5 minutes of awe wore off, I wanted to crawl into the fetal position and cry! I would much rather sweat my eyeliner off in Houston than deal with snow and cold. Houston is where it is. And the food is awesome! Besides, you can't beat Kemah Boardwalk, free hour and a half boat cruises from the Houston Port Authority, the Downtown Aquarium, or Forbidden Gardens (another part of Houston that shows of it's great diversity). On top of that, if you're into golf, with Houston's weather you can hit Houston's golf courses 365 days a year!

[Guerilla]

I felt the same way when I first went to Dallas. I was like man this place looks nice, but after about 30 minutes driving around, I was like can we go back to Houston?