Which big Texas city has the best downtown? (Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Ft. Worth) (Fort Worth: to live in, activities)
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Actually the last one is November 22, 1963 and I could swear one of those in the crowd on the left is my late Daddy - he worked at the Magnolia/Mobil building and saw the parade.
If its not better than dt Austin(which is highly overrated imo) Than its not better than DTD...Ft.Worth,Austin and San antonio are all nice cities in their own right...But they are all overrated...its all hype....I cant think of anything SPECTACULAR about 6th street Austin or the riverwalk or Sundance square.....But I guess since there's hardly anything else going on in those cities all of the locals and tourist seem to overrate wat little thats there...Houston and Dallas have the REAL Downtowns with the REAL potential.......of course all of the smaller cities will run away with the claim of having a better ANYTHING over the big boys so maybe thats the other reason for all of the myths and overrating that been going on......Get Real people......Dallas and Houston shouldn't even be compared to the other three...Just MY OPINION
What a fine bit of nonzsense this is. A simple test for you: go downtown at 730pm in the evening and see how many people are there. That will put to rest any nonsense about Houston and Dallas downtowns. If there aren't any people there, the buildings might just as well be tombstones in a graveyard. End of story.
What a fine bit of nonzsense this is. A simple test for you: go downtown at 730pm in the evening and see how many people are there. That will put to rest any nonsense about Houston and Dallas downtowns. If there aren't any people there, the buildings might just as well be tombstones in a graveyard. End of story.
Oh get real...DTD is still buzzing at 7:30 in the evening..Im downtown every evening at that tme waiting on my train......
Oh get real...DTD is still buzzing at 7:30 in the evening..Im downtown every evening at that tme waiting on my train......
Getting real, not sure what your definition of buzz is, but it sure doesn't have a good critical mass. I was in Dallas earlier this month. I was there in downtown on a beautiful 75 degree Saturday afternoon. It was dead and uninspiring. DTD has a very long way to go if it wants to make a real transition from the vertical office park/convention center that it is, sans the little things like surf & turf, pizza joints, and the light rail. Downtown Dallas has very good bones and certainly a lot of potential, but it still lacks critical mass. It's a sleeper. With that said projects like the Trinity River Project and WR Freeway lid will improve it, and hopefully more retailers will show up. DTD will likely get better, but for now it sucks.
I drove over to Fort Worth and there was all kinds of activities going on and more pedestrians in the streets. Likewise Austin and San Antonio has more going on downtown. Downtown San Antonio albeit touristy, which is not a bad thing was very inviting. Dallas not so much, didn't really feel I was in an atmosphere until I reached Knox/Henderson and Greenville. Never been to Houston, so I can't comment.
Last edited by caphillsea77; 10-23-2010 at 07:36 PM..
Getting real, not sure what your definition of buzz is, but it sure doesn't have a good critical mass. I was in Dallas earlier this month. I was there in downtown on a beautiful 75 degree Saturday afternoon. It was dead and uninspiring. DTD has a very long way to go if it wants to make a real transition from the vertical office park/convention center that it is, sans the little things like surf & turf, pizza joints, and the light rail. Downtown Dallas has very good bones and certainly a lot of potential, but it still lacks critical mass. It's a sleeper. With that said projects like the Trinity River Project and WR Freeway lid will improve it, and hopefully more retailers will show up. DTD will likely get better, but for now it sucks.
I drove over to Fort Worth and there was all kinds of activities going on and more pedestrians in the streets. Likewise Austin and San Antonio has more going on downtown. Downtown San Antonio albeit touristy, which is not a bad thing was very inviting. Dallas not so much, didn't really feel I was in an atmosphere until I reached Knox/Henderson and Greenville. Never been to Houston, so I can't comment.
I agree with this. For the 4th largest MSA in the U.S., downtown Dallas is as lame as it gets. There is more going on in downtown Dubuque at night. There are lively pedestrian spaces in Dallas - Lower Greenville, Knox-Henderson, parts of Uptown, Oaklawn - and Deep Ellum used to be fun, but downtown not so much. The same is true for downtown Houston. The only residentially viable downtowns in TX are San Antonio and Austin. Downtown Forth Worth, while nice, is still essentially an entertainment district like downtown Austin was a decade ago. The infrastructure in downtown Dallas is there , but no-one seems to want to use it.
I agree with this. For the 4th largest MSA in the U.S., downtown Dallas is as lame as it gets. There is more going on in downtown Dubuque at night. There are lively pedestrian spaces in Dallas - Lower Greenville, Knox-Henderson, parts of Uptown, Oaklawn - and Deep Ellum used to be fun, but downtown not so much. The same is true for downtown Houston. The only residentially viable downtowns in TX are San Antonio and Austin. Downtown Forth Worth, while nice, is still essentially an entertainment district like downtown Austin was a decade ago. The infrastructure in downtown Dallas is there , but no-one seems to want to use it.
Just Like FW dt SA is essentially an entertainment district as well. The dt is really small so you may be in a residential neighborhood before you know it, but the dt part of town is all entertainment
Just Like FW dt SA is essentially an entertainment district as well. The dt is really small so you may be in a residential neighborhood before you know it, but the dt part of town is all entertainment
It may feel like that, but 20K plus people live in downtown San Antonio - many of those art deco high rises are residential - that's about 4X the amount of people who live in downtown Dallas or Houston. I don't think the results of the 2010 census are going to change that ratio in a meaningful way.
Dallas has excellent public events and block parties in various areas other than Knox/Henderson or "downtown." There is Deep Ellum and there is Cedar Springs Road. There is Addison Circle. There is Beltline Road in Addison. There is dragon street and glass street if you want to attend a myriad of art parties. There is the enormous arts district. There is victory park. There is the Bishop Arts District. There is little Mexico vibe where Club Escapade and DMX are located. Dallas has far more variety than any other Texas city although it is not all blobbed together into one downtown section. However, you do have to drive around town a little. It's probably a 5 mile radius at most. No big deal. You will still get to see at the least the skyscrapers. But it also helps reduce traffic blockage and claustrophobic crowding. Which is what you will find every single weekend in Austin on 4th, 5th, and 6th streets. And all three of those streets offer the exact same style of clubs and restaurants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by caphillsea77
Getting real, not sure what your definition of buzz is, but it sure doesn't have a good critical mass. I was in Dallas earlier this month. I was there in downtown on a beautiful 75 degree Saturday afternoon. It was dead and uninspiring. DTD has a very long way to go if it wants to make a real transition from the vertical office park/convention center that it is, sans the little things like surf & turf, pizza joints, and the light rail. Downtown Dallas has very good bones and certainly a lot of potential, but it still lacks critical mass. It's a sleeper. With that said projects like the Trinity River Project and WR Freeway lid will improve it, and hopefully more retailers will show up. DTD will likely get better, but for now it sucks.
I drove over to Fort Worth and there was all kinds of activities going on and more pedestrians in the streets. Likewise Austin and San Antonio has more going on downtown. Downtown San Antonio albeit touristy, which is not a bad thing was very inviting. Dallas not so much, didn't really feel I was in an atmosphere until I reached Knox/Henderson and Greenville. Never been to Houston, so I can't comment.
It may feel like that, but 20K plus people live in downtown San Antonio - many of those art deco high rises are residential - that's about 4X the amount of people who live in downtown Dallas or Houston. I don't think the results of the 2010 census are going to change that ratio in a meaningful way.
last I checked about 18-19K people lived dt Houston. not quite 4 times dude.
I don't think you are aware of the events and nightlife venues in Dallas. And uptown is practically in the downtown vicinity of Dallas. You will not miss out on the skyscrapers at all. Dallas has various places to party at. And the entire time you will feel as if you are in downtown. And thankfully it is not all sequestered into one downtown area. The traffic would be terrible.
Deep Ellum has had its ups and downs. But it's still there hosting concerts and block parties for its dedicated market segment. Nightclubs such as The Lizard Lounge and Purgatory are going strong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by homeinatx
I agree with this. For the 4th largest MSA in the U.S., downtown Dallas is as lame as it gets. There is more going on in downtown Dubuque at night. There are lively pedestrian spaces in Dallas - Lower Greenville, Knox-Henderson, parts of Uptown, Oaklawn - and Deep Ellum used to be fun, but downtown not so much. The same is true for downtown Houston. The only residentially viable downtowns in TX are San Antonio and Austin. Downtown Forth Worth, while nice, is still essentially an entertainment district like downtown Austin was a decade ago. The infrastructure in downtown Dallas is there , but no-one seems to want to use it.
Last edited by artsyguy; 10-23-2010 at 09:15 PM..
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