Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
IMHO philly's city hall is arguably the finest peice of American architecture. I've never been to DFW, so I don't know if they have anything that compares.
Both malls are very big and nice but The King of Prussia Mall rivals the Mall of America.
Northpark Mall has a better retail line up than King of Prussia and mall of America has cheesy stores with amusement parks on it. So Dallas has better shopping than Philly. Plus Dallas has way more shopping destanations Than Philly
I'm sorry. Just because Minneapolis has the biggest mall in the nation does not mean it has the best shopping in the nation. Minneapolis doesn't hold a candle to Chicago let alone New York or Miami when it comes to shopping. The best shopping scenes are street level shopping. I'll gladly take 5th Avenue and Michigan Avenue over any mall in the world. Soulless big boxes with no character with boring atmospheres do not impress me. And I'm sorry but the experience of shopping in shopping districts are far greater than buildings surrounded by a sea of parking.
You never lied. The street shopping is more appealing in my eye. Dallas doesn't have anything like center city in it's downtown. But shopping is shopping no matter how it's layed out and Dallas does have better shopping.
For shopping, Dallas is king, IMO. Besides the two great malls (NorthPark and Galleria), Dallas also has some fantastic consignment shops where ladies on business travel from around the country make it a point to shop for European and American style labels on the cheap... there is definitely a whole lot of money in Dallas area and it seems for a long time now that folks in Dallas don't mind spending it on clothing and looking good... While there is nothing yet in Dallas to compare with Philadelphia's urban street shopping scene such as along Walnut Street in Center City... as far as Dallas' grand Neiman Marcus store downtown, I think Philly's Wanamaker Building (currently Macy's) is similar in size and stature...the Wanamaker even has the world's biggest musical organ that is played everyday for free at noon, I believe.
For public transportation, it's still Philly hands down.
For universities, it's Philly.
For museums...it may be Dallas metro...mostly because of the really great art museums in Ft Worth and not for anything in Dallas itself! lol Philly's Art Museum is gigantic and its science museum (Franklin Institute) is nice but somehow I think Dallas area has more museums and varied collection...I could be wrong.
For varied architecture, it's Philly. Dallas' downtown is even now just a bunch of tall skyscraper office buildings; there are some redone high rises especially along Main Street and now perhaps about 5,000 people live downtown, but in shear size and variety, Philly's downtown blows away Dallas' downtown. There's everything from 1800s buildings and older to the still-new Comcast Tower, the tallest LEED GOLD building in the world.
Dallas is using its prosperity to build out its arts district downtown, and the Winspear Opera House is indeed a beauty, but it's not like other cities are not doing similar things... even Charlotte, NC is building several new museums and cultural institutions....Dallas does it on a larger scale. Wyly Theater though feels like the Borg Cube in its look! And it's not a Rem Koolhaas work at all, but one of his proteges who in fact parted ways with Koolhaas while working on this project... Koolhaas of all people has infact been quoted as saying "Dallas is the epicenter of the generic"! lol I suppose I agree.
In any case, Philadelphia too has recently completed a few new arts spaces, such as the Kimmel Center designed by Vinoly, and the Suzanne Roberts Theater which is a part of a new mixed-use housing high rise along the "Avenue of the Arts" St, ie Broad Street. And work is progressing on the new Barnes Foundation museum along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, not to mention the expansion of galleries of the famous Art Museum of Philly, being undertaken by none other than Frank Gehry. All this to just note some major things being worked on, because someone upthread mentioned something to the effect that Dallas is where new things are and Philly is some old dump.
For Food...Philly's restaurant renaissance over the past 10 years has been spectacular to behold...not just your small BYOBs but also a clutch of top chef driven destination restaurants. Dallas also has that, Abacus for example, and Nick and Sam's, but Philly has really outclassed most other cities with local talented chefs... Morimoto, Jose Garces (two Iron Chefs in one city!), Susanna Foo, Marc Vetri (his "Vetri" is rated as perhaps the best Italian restaurant in all of America by any number of critics), the list really is expanding! Philly is far from being just about cheesesteaks...that's so 1976!
The drinks....Philly is one of the best beer lover's city in America. The pub culture of Philly is stupendous compared to Dallas (and what little I know of Denver). You have your local neighborhood pubs all over Center City and all the neighborhoods but then you also have the gastropubs and destination pubs like Dock Street Brewpub, Nodding Head, Tria (all locations), Manayunk Brewpub, Grape St Pub, etc. You get the oldest American lager on tap anywhere in town (Yuingling) that is brewed not far from Philly; there are several other breweries in town or not far, and these are name brands in craft beer... Victory Brewing in Downingtown, Dogfish Head in Delaware, Stoudt's, and Yard's, Triumph, and Philadelphia Brewing right there in town. Dallas has gotten better in recent years, especially with places like Idle Rich and Trinity Hall.
People... Denver and Dallas folks are perhaps "nicer" than Philadelphia area folks, especially in city comparison. Philly seems to have an overabundance of blue collar, uneducated, and uncouth folks and that is truly unfortunate, but perhaps that's the legacy of that city's deindustrialization over the past 50 years.
So anyways, I think all three are great metros, but for universities, urban living (as well as some really nice old school suburbs with functioning Main Street and their own historic town, not faux town centers like at Southlake and Flowermound, TX), history, architecture, and good food and drinks, I'd pick Philly over Dallas (and Denver). I also happen to like Philly's 4 seasons.
You think Denver has a lower cost of living than Dallas? Im interested to hear why.
Lower transportation costs. (Less sprawl.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by LAnative10
Also why do you think Philly has better shopping than Dallas?
Three words: King of Prussia.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
