Houston vs. Dallas --- SMACKDOWN! (Pasadena, Sugar Land: incorporated, diverse, premium)

[LAnative10]

I guess what Im driving at is that no one needs to justify why they like one city over the other. Its all subjective. You could like Dallas better because there are more snobby and rude people and you could like Houston better because there are a wider variety of cockroaches and mosquitos. Who cares why. Its all about what makes you happy.

[Scarface713]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

You do realize that you guys are all argueing over s**t that doesnt matter AT ALL. Who the hell cares? If you like one city better than another great! Do you really think because one city has more tall buildings that makes it better?

Angel, of course Houstons city limits are HUGE. Why does that even matter for your arguement? Houston needs taller buildings than anywhere in the metroplex, because the Houston MSA is uni-polar, where as DFW is bi-polar. You have more people working their way into Houston so its more pressed for space. People in DFW commute to more areas other than Dallas. DFW has more suburban office space than Houston. Houston has more business downtown. Id love to know how that matters in any way.

My argument?! Talk to kdogg who brought it up, thanks.

DFW has more suburban parks because Dallas let its suburbs get too big (by not annexing like Houston) and they (particularly Irving, Plano, and Richardson), have been taking business away from Dallas. That's the problem. In Houston, you don't have many suburbs at all taking business away from the city. All of the suburbs aren't large like DFW's.

And Houston has its suburban districts. The Energy Corridor (the largest), Westchase, Greenspoint, Sugar Land, etc.

[LAnative10]

Originally Posted by Angel713

My argument?! Talk to kdogg who brought it up, thanks.

DFW has more suburban parks because Dallas let its suburbs get too big (by not annexing like Houston) and they (particularly Irving, Plano, and Richardson), have been taking business away from Dallas. That's the problem. In Houston, you don't have many suburbs at all taking business away from the city. All of the suburbs aren't large like DFW's.

And Houston has its suburban districts. The Energy Corridor (the largest), Westchase, Greenspoint, Sugar Land, etc.

It all contributes to the economy for the area. So its immeterial whether an office is in Richardson or Dallas.

[Scarface713]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

It all contributes to the economy for the area. So its immeterial whether an office is in Richardson or Dallas.

Of course it does! But it's obviously better if those taxes are coming to the main city. Dallas' suburbs are too powerful, and can easily lure corporations away from Dallas (like they've been doing).

[LAnative10]

Originally Posted by Angel713

Of course it does! But it's obviously better if those taxes are coming to the main city. Dallas' suburbs are too powerful, and can easily lure corporations away from Dallas (like they've been doing).

I think population distribution has alot to do with it as well. Houston makes up around 1/3 of the Houston MSA, Dallas only makes up about 1/6 of the DFW MSA. Even using radom stats, its more likely that a company would set up shop outside Dallas rather than outside Houston.

You can also draw a paralell when talking about demographics. Most of Houstons international community resides within the city of Houston (Chinatown, Little Saigon, etc). Most of DFW's international community is outside the city of Dallas (Indians in Richardson and Irving, Vietnamese in Arlington and Garland, Koreans in Farmers Branch and to a lesser degree Dallas, Chinese in Plano). I would almost go so far as to say that Dallas really isnt that international, but that its suburbs are very international. Houston is kind of the opposite.

[randian]

Originally Posted by Angel713

Of course it does! But it's obviously better if those taxes are coming to the main city. Dallas' suburbs are too powerful, and can easily lure corporations away from Dallas (like they've been doing).

Competition. Isn't is wonderful? If Dallas wants corporations to stay/move there, maybe it should make itself a low-tax jurisdiction.

You could equally well argue (and it would be equally vacuous) "Nevada is too powerful, it can easily lure corporations away from California".

[Dangerfield]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

I think population distribution has alot to do with it as well. Houston makes up around 1/3 of the Houston MSA, Dallas only makes up about 1/6 of the DFW MSA. Even using radom stats, its more likely that a company would set up shop outside Dallas rather than outside Houston.

You can also draw a paralell when talking about demographics. Most of Houstons international community resides within the city of Houston (Chinatown, Little Saigon, etc). Most of DFW's international community is outside the city of Dallas (Indians in Richardson and Irving, Vietnamese in Arlington and Garland, Koreans in Farmers Branch and to a lesser degree Dallas, Chinese in Plano). I would almost go so far as to say that Dallas really isnt that international, but that its suburbs are very international. Houston is kind of the opposite.

Houston, by expanding it's city limits over 600 sq miles has the luxury of claiming everything is contained in one city. In reality that city has eaten up at least 3 or 4 potential suburbs.

[jluke65780]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

I think population distribution has alot to do with it as well. Houston makes up around 1/3 of the Houston MSA, Dallas only makes up about 1/6 of the DFW MSA. Even using radom stats, its more likely that a company would set up shop outside Dallas rather than outside Houston.

You can also draw a paralell when talking about demographics. Most of Houstons international community resides within the city of Houston (Chinatown, Little Saigon, etc). Most of DFW's international community is outside the city of Dallas (Indians in Richardson and Irving, Vietnamese in Arlington and Garland, Koreans in Farmers Branch and to a lesser degree Dallas, Chinese in Plano). I would almost go so far as to say that Dallas really isnt that international, but that its suburbs are very international. Houston is kind of the opposite.

Not even; it's still amazing diversity outside of Houston.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

Not even; it's still amazing diversity outside of Houston.

I'll second that one. And this is not a new phenomenon by any means either.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

Not even; it's still amazing diversity outside of Houston.

Very true.

The suburbs of Sugar Land, Stafford, Alief, Clear Lake, League City, Alvin, Pasadena, Pearland, Missouri City, Katy, Spring, Jersey Village, Cypress, & even Conroe all have a decent amount of diversity in them & continue to diversify the more Houston grows.