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My ideology: Dallas represents "the state of Texas" while Houston represents "the Republic of Texas". The latter city once served as the capital of our former nation, while the former wasn't incorporated until after we became a state. Unlike Houston, Dallas has been American since birth.
This is why I feel Dallas is often seen as the most idealistic Texan city to most Americans. It is the newer city and is much more concerned with its nationwide image. Houston, on the other hand, is the truly unique Gotham that serves as Texas' gateway to the world. It's been that way ever since Galveston lost that role in the early 20th century.
The most cosmopolitan thing about Dallas is its fashion industry, but even Houston is no slouch here. Well dressed people are all over Houston and that number seems to have grown every time I return. I'd also argue that Houston has more naturally beautiful people.
DFW is still far and away the more organized and better designed metro. Many call it sterile, but I call it clever. The Houston area is more dense, but not by much.
1) People in Dallas value shopping more and people in Houston value eating more. Thats probably why Dallas has better shopping and Houston has better eating though both cities have great shopping and great eating.
11) Dallas people are much more on the cutting edge of fashion where as Houston people are comfortable in a pair of jeans.
13) After living in Houston, I can't get over how much more Southern it is than Dallas. Dallas seems almost Midwestern by comparison.
Those 3 jumped out at me the most and are DEFINITELY true. Number 1 had me cracking up, but God knows it's true!!!
My ideology: Dallas represents "the state of Texas" while Houston represents "the Republic of Texas". The latter city once served as the capital of our former nation, while the former wasn't incorporated until after we became a state. Unlike Houston, Dallas has been American since birth.
This is why I feel Dallas is often seen as the most idealistic Texan city to most Americans. It is the newer city and is much more concerned with its nationwide image. Houston, on the other hand, is the truly unique Gotham that serves as Texas' gateway to the world. It's been that way ever since Galveston lost that role in the early 20th century.
The most cosmopolitan thing about Dallas is its fashion industry, but even Houston is no slouch here. Well dressed people are all over Houston and that number seems to have grown every time I return. I'd also argue that Houston has more naturally beautiful people.
DFW is still far and away the more organized and better designed metro. Many call it sterile, but I call it clever. The Houston area is more dense, but not by much.
No offense, but I think you are looking at it WAY too hard and from the wrong angle. The average American---especially the average American OUTSIDE of Texas---doesn't care which city was incorporated into the state of Texas first, or which had the most historical events relevant to Texas history take place there. All of that stuff is nice if you are a history buff, but that has zero to do with what makes a city livable, fun, exciting, or appealing to the average person in the 21st Century.
What people are looking at---especially people from other regions of the country---is which one looks the best to them, feels the best to them, has the most jobs that they are qualified for, has the best venues, entertainment options, and neighborhoods to them.
As you pointed out, the things that make Houston eclectic and a (severely underrated) hodgepodge of different cultures---like the lack of zoning---are going to come off as dirty, messy, and unorganized to a lot of people, especially those from other areas of the county who are used to their cities having more zoning laws in place. And as Peter pointed out, Houston is a MUCH more Southern city than Dallas and is also Gulf Coast cultured and influenced. That's not going to appeal to as many folks from the Midwest and other areas outside of the South or outside of the Gulf Coast, because that means even more of a cultural adjustment they would have to make; on top of adjusting to Texas culture, they are also going to have to adjust to Deep South culture, Gulf Coast culture, and a lot of other cultures too, considering how international Houston is and how so many different types of people from so many different cultures mix and mingle so much due to the way Houston is set up.
On the other hand, many of the things that people in Houston like to call "sterile" or "boring" or even "pretentious" about Dallas actually makes it more appealing to a broader base of people from different parts of the country: Dallas is much cleaner and much more organized, is more shopping and fashion oriented, has more national chains and even more upscale retail stores that people from all over the country are familiar with and expect in cities of a certain size, it gets way more national spotlight so it's a more popular city to most people, feels more Midwestern/Middle America than Southern, is more suburb oriented and its suburbs offer many appealing pros of their own aside from just, "it's close to the city/downtown" (many jobs and big companies are headquartered in Dallas suburbs for one, which makes people more prone to want to live there as well as work there). Also, we've already agreed that today's Houston feels much more Southern and is also very Gulf Coast oriented, so as much as people in Houston love to say Dallas "cheats" by being right next to Fort Worth, with Fort Worth only 30 minutes away, one could also argue that the Dallas metro feels more traditionally Texan to people from other parts of the country who want to move to or visit Texas and want to actually feel like they are moving to or visiting Texas; that's a large part of the reason why Dallas gets more national attention as a Texas city and as a major American city in general than Houston does, even though Houston is twice as big.
So basically, to many people---especially those outside of Texas---Dallas just looks and feels like a much more all around American city. Some people say Dallas is "boring, generic, and sterile" and "has no identity, culture, or soul" because of that, but it's actually smart planning by Dallas city leaders; having a major city in Texas that is all around very good at many things and in many areas that people from pretty much any part of the country can find appealing or familiar is actually great marketing and self-promotion. Dallas may not have a famous international tourist attraction like the Alamo and it may not draw people because of its nature offerings and scenic beauty, but it IS known and respected as just an all around great American (and Texan ) city, which is more than most medium to large sized American cities can say these days, and which is also why so many people from other regions of the country outside of Texas seem to prefer Dallas over Houston, or at least seem to have Dallas more on their radar than they do Houston.
Last edited by NoClueWho; 07-07-2015 at 10:53 AM..
No offense, but I think you are looking at it WAY too hard and from the wrong angle. The average American---especially the average American OUTSIDE of Texas---doesn't care which city was incorporated into the state of Texas first, or which had the most historical events relevant to Texas history take place there. All of that stuff is nice if you are a history buff, but that has zero to do with what makes a city livable, fun, exciting, or appealing to the average person in the 21st Century.
What people are looking at---especially people from other regions of the country---is which one looks the best to them, feels the best to them, has the most jobs that they are qualified for, has the best venues, entertainment options, and neighborhoods to them.
As you pointed out, the things that make Houston eclectic and a (severely underrated) hodgepodge of different cultures---like the lack of zoning---are going to come off as dirty, messy, and unorganized to a lot of people, especially those from other areas of the county who are used to their cities having more zoning laws in place. And as Peter pointed out, Houston is a MUCH more Southern city than Dallas and is also Gulf Coast cultured and influenced. That's not going to appeal to as many folks from the Midwest and other areas outside of the South or outside of the Gulf Coast, because that means even more of a cultural adjustment they would have to make; on top of adjusting to Texas culture, they are also going to have to adjust to Deep South culture, Gulf Coast culture, and a lot of other cultures too, considering how international Houston is and how so many different types of people from so many different cultures mix and mingle so much due to the way Houston is set up.
On the other hand, many of the things that people in Houston like to call "sterile" or "boring" or even "pretentious" about Dallas actually makes it more appealing to a broader base of people from different parts of the country: Dallas is much cleaner and much more organized, is more shopping and fashion oriented, has more national chains and even more upscale retail stores that people from all over the country are familiar with and expect in cities of a certain size, it gets way more national spotlight so it's a more popular city to most people, feels more Midwestern/Middle America than Southern, is more suburb oriented and its suburbs offer many appealing pros of their own aside from just, "it's close to the city/downtown" (many jobs and big companies are headquartered in Dallas suburbs for one, which makes people more prone to want to live there as well as work there). Also, we've already agreed that today's Houston feels much more Southern and is also very Gulf Coast oriented, so as much as people in Houston love to say Dallas "cheats" by being right next to Fort Worth, with Fort Worth only 30 minutes away, one could also argue that the Dallas metro feels more traditionally Texan to people from other parts of the country who want to move to or visit Texas and want to actually feel like they are moving to or visiting Texas; that's a large part of the reason why Dallas gets more national attention as a Texas city and as a major American city in general than Houston does, even though Houston is twice as big.
So basically, to many people---especially those outside of Texas---Dallas just looks and feels like a much more all around American city. Some people say Dallas is "boring, generic, and sterile" and "has no identity, culture, or could" because of that, but it's actually smart planning by Dallas city leaders; having a major city in Texas that is all around very good at many things and in many areas that people from pretty much any part of the country can find appealing or familiar is actually great marketing and self-promotion. Dallas may not have a famous international tourist attraction like the Alamo and it may not draw people because of its nature offerings and scenic beauty, but it IS known and respected as just an all around great American (and Texas ) city, which is more than most medium to large sized American cities can say these days, and which is also why so many people from other regions of the country outside of Texas seem to prefer Dallas over Houston, or at least seem to have Dallas more on their radar than they do Houston.
You're pretty much saying the same thing I did. I just added a historical context. I do absolutely feel that Dallas having always been the more American city is why it appeals more to Americans. I never said or suggested that the average person was concerned with how these cities came to be. My only point is that being typically American is part of Dallas' DNA.
I never agreed that Houston was "much" more southern than Dallas. I certainly don't find Dallas to be Midwestern by comparison either. Southern accents and Baptist churches are just as easily found in both cities. Houston has more Catholics and Dallas has more Waffle Houses.
Last edited by Gunion Powder; 07-07-2015 at 10:50 AM..
You're pretty much saying the same thing I did. I just added a historical context. I do absolutely feel that Dallas having always been the more American city is why it appeals more to Americans. I never said or suggested that the average person was concerned with how these cities came to be. My only point is that being typically American is part of Dallas' DNA.
I think you guys are missing an obvious factor in this poll result. The poll was posted in April 2014 when oil was over $100 a barrel and gas prices were over $4 a gallon in much of the country. Coincidence? Maybe not...
I think you guys are missing an obvious factor in this poll result. The poll was posted in April 2014 when oil was over $100 a barrel and gas prices were over $4 a gallon in much of the country. Coincidence? Maybe not...
You're pretty much saying the same thing I did. I just added a historical context. I do absolutely feel that Dallas having always been the more American city is why it appeals more to Americans. I never said or suggested that the average person was concerned with how these cities came to be. My only point is that being typically American is part of Dallas' DNA.
I never agreed that Houston was "much" more southern than Dallas. I certainly don't find Dallas to be Midwestern by comparison either. Southern accents and Baptist churches are just as easily found in both cities. Houston has more Catholics and Dallas has more Waffle Houses.
Dallas is located at a crossroads where it gets a lot of influences from all different directions, including Southern as well as Texas, Great Plains, and Midwestern influence. So yeah, of course Dallas has some things about it that are unequivocally Southern; it's still a Texas city. But on top of all the different areas of influence Dallas draws due to its geographic location, we have all agreed that it is also a much more all-around American city with a more Mid-America look, feel, and culture overall than Houston, so yeah, Houston is noticeably more Southern than Dallas is these days.
When I first moved to Texas several years ago, there were a bunch of people at my job who were from Houston and an equal amount who were from Dallas. Being new to Texas and totally objective, I noticed that most of the Houston people seemed a lot more "country" and a lot less polished than the most of the Dallas people did. Once I finally got around to visiting Houston and Dallas, I saw and understood why. That's not a knock, but was just my observation as a person who was new to Texas.
Also, if accents are the standard you are using---again, as someone who is not originally from Texas and who has an objective ear---I have always noticed that on average, the Texas/Southern accent is typically quite a bit thicker and more prevalent in Houston than it is in Dallas, which is pretty logical since Houston is farther South/deeper in Texas and since Dallas has more non-Southern (American) influences than Houston does.
Last edited by NoClueWho; 07-07-2015 at 05:17 PM..
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) city, which is more than most medium to large sized American cities can say these days, and which is also why so many people from other regions of the country outside of Texas seem to prefer Dallas over Houston, or at least seem to have Dallas more on their radar than they do Houston.
