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This will be fun. Let's do a quick comparison between San Diego and the sexy Dallas promotional video. I think it would be funny to see the same scenes, but captured in San Diego. They would really speak to why San Diego is more interesting and has more to offer.
Horses/Ranch/Farm/nature
SD has more horses per capita than any county in the country
SD has more farms than any county in the country
SD has the 10th highest agricultural output of any county in the county.
SD has a national forest, multiple state parks (desert to mountains to coast), and is the most biologically rich county in the country.
Arts District
Dallas arts district is like half parking lots and abuts a freeway. Balboa Park any day.
Downtown Parks
Balboa Park case closed (Embarcadero, Waterfront Park are great too)
Convention Center
T
Dallas is bigger, but definitely not better. Is that a theme with Texas? Seriously..
Sports Facilities
Yay isolated stadiums surrounded by parking lots?
Airport
One of the few things Dallas has over San Diego
Zoo
World Famous Dallas Zoo? No.
Sailing, golfing, beach volleyball
San Diego. No question. Doesn't really require an explanation.
Breweries
San Diego. No question. Third most in US after Portland and Denver.
Nightlife
Debatable, but San Diego is definitely more of a destination for nightlife than Dallas. Nobody associates Dallas with partying.
Light rail
San Diego's has more riders, Dallas has more route miles. Dallas goes to Plano, San Diego goes to Mexico.
State/County Fair
Texas State Fair is 2nd most attended in US. San Diego County fair is the 3rd most attended in US. San Diego's has better weather and is next to the Ocean
Presidential library
Sure okay.
Best Public High School
Sure okay. Not sure why this is in a promotional video. Running out of material? Preuss in San Diego stacks up pretty high.
Fasting Growing Region
= traffic, suburban sprawl, outdate infrastructure unable to keep up with the pace of growth. San Diego experience this in the 60s-90s. No thanks. We're no concentrating growth in infill areas.
In summary, Dallas is not special nor does it have unique attractions. It's a standard American city. What is does have over San Diego in particular is COL and a larger job market. But that's about it.
Last edited by newgensandiego; 10-18-2018 at 09:53 PM..
It doesn't sound like you've explored much of Dallas, especially if you thought Houston was much better. I think Dallas & Houston are fairly equal cities, so I find that surprising. Did you visit Uptown, Bishop Arts, Deep Ellum, or Lower Greenville? Walk the Katy Trail? White Rock Lake? Those are great spots with people actually outside. Similar to Houston and LA, you have to know where to look. But I do find Dallas slightly more visitor and pedestrian friendly than Houston.
I was there 3 nights and that was enough time for me. I visited Uptown and Bishops Arts. Only drove thru Bishop Arts during the day and there wasn't much going on. Like Deep Ellum, i'm guessing evenings are it's most vibrant. Deep Ellum looked a little run down during the day. Not sure what it is about the neighborhood commercial strips in Dallas and Houston and why they look so shabby? Rice Village and Montrose in Houston have the same appearance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTXman34
Balboa Park>Klyde Warren Park Kind of apples to oranges. There's a major size difference between the two and they're used for different functions. You would have to pull in the Dallas Arts District next door to it for a slightly fairer comparison. Even then, Fair Park, the Dallas Zoo, and Arboretum are in separate areas. However, I can see how Balboa is attractive for having a large concentration of amenities.
True. But Klyde Warren seemed like the only active park of city. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice, but not a place you would spend hours and get lost in. There are a couple parks in downtown San Diego that are probably more comparable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTXman34
Craft beer scene Neither city is like Portland's, but Dallas's has improved over the past few years. San Diego may indeed have a better craft beer scene than Dallas, but I've never heard of it described as such. What places did you visit in Dallas?
You might be the only person out there who's not familiar with SD's craft beer scene and how it's right up there with Portland, Seattle and Denver. I'll let others chime in on this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTXman34
More vibrant downtown. Victory Park is a ghost town. Victory Park is NOT Downtown. Apples to oranges comparison. Downtown Dallas itself is less vibrant than DT San Diego, but definitely more vibrant than Victory Park. It's also technically not the epicenter of everything in Dallas. Most of the better nightlife options are in nearby Deep Ellum and Uptown. Downtown Houston is very similar to Downtown Dallas, so again I find it surprising that you prefer it much more.
Downtown Dallas definitely shuts down after 5pm. And yes, I saw that Uptown was the place to be in the evenings. I just prefer the vibe of Houston, is all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTXman34
I'm not saying any of this makes Dallas better than San Diego, but it sounds like you drove over the McDermott Bridge, visited Victory Park for either a game or the Perot, and perhaps Klyde Warren and that was it? I could be wrong....
I had a car and drove everywhere. And honestly, there really isn't much to see and do in Dallas for a visitor. I even drove out to Fort Worth to check out the Kimball Museum and the Stockyards. The main reason why I was there was to catch a Rangers game. And don't get me started on the terrible location of the stadium. Surrounded by warehouses and parking lots? Awful.
Dallas has In N Out. Dallas even has 99 Ranch and 85 degrees C bakery, the Chinese supermarket and bakery you find in San Diego.
Ever had Waffle House? Far better than IHOP.
As for sprawl, San Diego suburbs, esp Escondido and Poway, are just as sprawly as Plano or Frisco.
Dallas gets more of the four seasons, with snow every year. Also, much more rain and greenery in the summer than San Diego.
I'm aware that Dallas has In n Out, and wanted to add something subjective to the list to keep it light. I ate at Waffle House once and can't even remember what I had to eat. I don't do IHOP lol
And we get snow, too, but have the option to drive to it.
This will be fun. Let's do a quick comparison between San Diego and the sexy Dallas promotional video. I think it would be funny to see the same scenes, but captured in San Diego. They would really speak to why San Diego is more interesting and has more to offer.
Horses/Ranch/Farm/nature
SD has more horses per capita than any county in the country
SD has more farms than any county in the country
SD has the 10th highest agricultural output of any county in the county.
SD has a national forest, multiple state parks (desert to mountains to coast), and is the most biologically rich county in the country.
Arts District
Dallas arts district is like half parking lots and abuts a freeway. Balboa Park any day.
Downtown Parks
Balboa Park case closed (Embarcadero, Waterfront Park are great too)
Convention Center
T
Dallas is bigger, but definitely not better. Is that a theme with Texas? Seriously..
Sports Facilities
Yay isolated stadiums surrounded by parking lots?
Airport
One of the few things Dallas has over San Diego
Zoo
World Famous Dallas Zoo? No.
Sailing, golfing, beach volleyball
San Diego. No question. Doesn't really require an explanation.
Breweries
San Diego. No question. Third most in US after Portland and Denver.
Nightlife
Debatable, but San Diego is definitely more of a destination for nightlife than Dallas. Nobody associates Dallas with partying.
Light rail
San Diego's has more riders, Dallas has more route miles. Dallas goes to Plano, San Diego goes to Mexico.
State/County Fair
Texas State Fair is 2nd most attended in US. San Diego County fair is the 3rd most attended in US. San Diego's has better weather and is next to the Ocean
Presidential library
Sure okay.
Best Public High School
Sure okay. Not sure why this is in a promotional video. Running out of material? Preuss in San Diego stacks up pretty high.
Fasting Growing Region
= traffic, suburban sprawl, outdate infrastructure unable to keep up with the pace of growth. San Diego experience this in the 60s-90s. No thanks. We're no concentrating growth in infill areas.
In summary, Dallas is not special nor does it have unique attractions. It's a standard American city. What is does have over San Diego in particular is COL and a larger job market. But that's about it.
I think the best thing about Dallas is its' sheer size. Huge metroplex, yep everything is bigger in Texas.
Dallas. No Question... the Dallas metro is almost of the size of the land (Chicago). Only here is this favoring SD
So Jacksonville Florida at 747 square miles (Dallas, at a mere 386 square miles) is obviously a much better city than Dallas by your metrics.
I’ve never been to Dallas but have also never quantified a city’s attributes and desirability by only its physical size.
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