If I hear one more person say Fort Worth is apart of Dallas.... (Richardson: theatre, to live in)

[JJG]

Originally Posted by kenshi

Hey, it's not Dallas' fault that the rest of the world thinks Fort Worth is a suburb. We didn't tell them that. I wish Fort Worth wouldn't take its frustration out on us about how outsiders view them and would act more like a sibling or partner. Like Fort Worthian says, DFW wouldn't be DFW without either city.

On the other hand, we could probably do without some of the suburbs...

Part of it is Dallas' fault.

Fort Worth didn't do as much marketing back in the day and now we're playing catch up, but I also don't know too many Dallasites who step in and correct others like we constantly have to. But why do so when EVERYONE thinks EVERYTHING in the area belongs to you, right?

[Fort Worthian]

By suburbs you mean like Denton Right? Lol

[doctorjef]

Don't know if these points have already been made. Part of it is the local media, which has a history of referring to the whole area as "the Metroplex" or "the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex". There's some grounding in reality for this. When I was a kid, it seemed a pretty barren drive on what was at that time the Turnpike between Fort Worth and Dallas. There was this spot on the road called Grand Prairie before you got into Dallas, and there seemed to be a little something in Arlington once Six Flags was opened (though you couldn't really see any of it from the Turnpike back in the original Six Flags days). Now obviously old Arlington and UTA were back there too, but they were invisible. There seemed to be a clear separation between Dallas and Fort Worth. It's a bit different in recent decades.

I actually haven't run into people voicing complete ignorance of Dallas and Fort Worth being different cities anytime recently. However, I do recall many years ago being quite taken aback when someone said of the two cities, "Oh, I thought it was the same thing." I can't recall where this was, although the likelihood is that it was either in Colorado or in Ontario (the former, I think probably, which makes it even more shocking -- and there was no indication the person was putting me on).

[JJG]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I actually haven't run into people voicing complete ignorance of Dallas and Fort Worth being different cities anytime recently. However, I do recall many years ago being quite taken aback when someone said of the two cities, "Oh, I thought it was the same thing." I can't recall where this was, although the likelihood is that it was either in Colorado or in Ontario (the former, I think probably, which makes it even more shocking -- and there was no indication the person was putting me on).

I go to college just 40 miles outside of Houston.... I STILL hear it.

[doctorjef]

Originally Posted by JJG

I go to college just 40 miles outside of Houston.... I STILL hear it.

Speaks pretty badly for the geographical knowledge of Americans in general and possibly of Texans in particular. How the hell could you live in Texas, be over the age of 10, and have an IQ over 65 and not know that Dallas and Fort Worth are two distinct cities?

[JJG]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Speaks pretty badly for the geographical knowledge of Americans in general and possibly of Texans in particular. How the hell could you live in Texas, be over the age of 10, and have an IQ over 65 and not know that Dallas and Fort Worth are two distinct cities?

You're asking the wrong person.....

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Speaks pretty badly for the geographical knowledge of Americans in general and possibly of Texans in particular. How the hell could you live in Texas, be over the age of 10, and have an IQ over 65 and not know that Dallas and Fort Worth are two distinct cities?

I am thinking the same thing. I can't imagine anyone in Texas not knowing that they are two very different cities.

... actually perhaps if someone had just moved to Texas? Even then though I don't know. Ft Worth may not come up much in conversation but I have never heard anyone suggest it was just a burb of Dallas.

All I can think of is like if someone is traveling to North Texas (perhaps Ft Worth) for something and says "I'm headed to Dallas..." meaning somewhere up north, is pretty common. But it really not the same as saying Ft Worth is Dallas just because someone said they were going to Dallas to someone else while they are going to Ft Worth. It is just a general directional description, not really saying it is a part of something else.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

I am thinking the same thing. I can't imagine anyone in Texas not knowing that they are two very different cities.

... actually perhaps if someone had just moved to Texas? Even then though I don't know. Ft Worth may not come up much in conversation but I have never heard anyone suggest it was just a burb of Dallas.

All I can think of is like if someone is traveling to North Texas (perhaps Ft Worth) for something and says "I'm headed to Dallas..." meaning somewhere up north, is pretty common. But it really not the same as saying Ft Worth is Dallas just because someone said they were going to Dallas to someone else while they are going to Ft Worth. It is just a general directional description, not really saying it is a part of something else.

I knew a girl from Wisconsin who CONSTANTLY said that. Got on my nerves.

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by JJG

I knew a girl from Wisconsin who CONSTANTLY said that. Got on my nerves.

Lol, well I've done it too.

The whole DFW area has tons of awesome things to do, and lots of people and bushiness but much of it is spread out over so many different areas. I don't think using a directional description is bad given its size, only perhaps a bit lazy (which I am often very guilty of). Like my sister lives in Dallas, but when I visit her and her family we often do things in other parts of the DFW area, including FW. So when I visit I could be visiting any of a whole bunch of parts of DFW even Ft Worth. Saying I am heading up to Dallas when I could also be going to Ft Worth is just me saying I am "Going to Dallas Fort Worth area" in shortened form. lol. Just using the first part of that to be lazy. Basically saying I am going north. If that makes any sense? It isn't intended to imply I believe Ft Worth is anything other than its own city. Because it very much is.

It would be like someone in LA saying they were headed up to San Fran when really going to San Jose but will see much of the area around SF & SJ. No one thinks San Jose is a part of San Fran, but as a directional description for the large area San Fran is commonly used. Or my friend who last week said she was taking her son to Boston to look at Andover for him. Everyone knows Andover and Lawrence are their own towns, but Boston is a better directional description since they also plan on experiencing Boston even though it isn't the reason for the trip. Or someone saying they are catching a cruise out of Houston when they mean Galveston. Of course Galveston is its own city, with an even richer history than Houston or the rest of Texas other than SA, but Houston is what is often used since that is the largest most commonly known place to describe an large area that will be visited.

When someone is visiting a very large area, I don't think it is bad to use the most known entity in that area as the directional descriptor for where they are headed. Lazy perhaps. But I'd never take that to suggest some was ignorant of knowing FW, SJ, Galveston, or Lawrence where they own cities or towns.

[kenshi]

I wonder if this is common in other similar places. East Texans tend to say they're going to Shreveport when they're really going to Bossier City. Do people in Minnesota say they're going to Minneapolis when they're really going to St Paul?