Dallas Uptown vs Downtown - 26 y/o moving from ATL (Houston: condo, crime rates)

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

I'm not offering an agreeing consensus, but a differing opinion. The OP does have options.

I understand that the OP has options, but your obsession with proximity to shopping is bizarre give the criteria provided by the OP. I didn't see any references to shopping in the original post. OTOH, convenience to work, entertainment venues and walkability were mentioned. Uptown has all of that and more.

[k_s]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

I just feel you are cheating the OP by telling him most of what he already knows. I'm just elaborating. Shoot, I don't think even you guys fully realized the significance of Dallas - Fort Worth. Try reaquainting yourselves with Dallas by taking the tour I suggested. Start with Highland Park Shopping Village and then go north to Preston Center, then east to Northpark and then back over to the Dallas Galleria. Only then should one visit uptown and downtown and places beyond. In this way do people really see the awesome scale of the metropolitan area.

So, a trip highlighting shopping centers in Dallas will allow someone to receive the "DFW Experience"? Nice try.

OP works downtown. OP is looking for a place close to work and play. Uptown is that place. Not sure why "elaboration" on your part was necessary.

[ladarron]

Originally Posted by dallaspigtown

If you like boring, bland, ugly, uninteresting places - you will LOVE dallas.

Do you have a life?

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

Well, I would recommend that he live in a TOD somewhere close to Northpark / Eastpark. As the Dallas Arts District loses its glean, that area will be the hottest spot for redevelopment. Of course, everything I say is my opinion.

1. I'm beginning to think you have a financial stake in EastPark's development. Most would agree that the development is a HUGE failure- thre apartments are way too expensive for the location and the occupancy rate is low. Compare that to the Arts District (do you hate Lucy Billingsley?), where new condos have sold and new apartments are full, restaurants are full every night with residents, theatre goers, and Uptown & Park Cities couples on date night. There is more foot traffic in that neighborhood than ever before and the Woodall Rogers Park is only going to attract more people! Two, I can't believe EastPark's developer didn't make the development more walkable and add at least a tiny bit of greenspace for residents to walk their dogs. Also, the biggest detractor to EastPark is the extremely close proximity to "Five Points" (like 2-3 blocks away) which has one of the three worst crime rates in Dallas, right up there with the neighborhood surrounding Fair Park.

2. Even if EastPark IS the next hot neighborhood for development (haha), we're about 3-5 more years away from the next boom, given the current state of commercial real estate. This guy is moving to Dallas SOON - not in 3-5 years- and is renting, not buying/investing.

3. I still don't know why you're trying to convince him to move farther away from his office, walkable nightlife, young professionals, and running trails- things he specifically asked for.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

I don't think you understand. I'm not talking about shopping just on the local level. I'm talking about the market of the Dallas - Fort Worth metropolitan area being twice as large as the marketing area of Houston. This is why there exists 3 stores in D-FW to every 2 stores in Houston. The fact that customers from 22 states frequent the Highland Park Shopping Village should not be despised. While Houston is impressive indeed, the city of Dallas has commerical shopping districts that that major city to the south doesn't have. The premier office market in DFW isn't downtown, but Preston Center. Traveling in every direction away from this small commercial district and, to the south, one will take a step down to uptown and then, further south, another step down to downtown. To the west, one steps down to Las Colinas. To the east, one takes a step down to the Northpark / Eastpark commercial district. To the north, one takes a step down to the Dallas Galleria.
While Dallas is many things impressive, all things Dallas should start with its commercial shopping districts.

I DO understand. I do know that people from all over come to Dallas to go shopping. I do know that buyers come to Dallas to go shopping for their retail outlets. I do know that Dallas is also seen as a bargain hunters paradise when it comes to shopping be it fashion or home furnishings. The design district is awesome........ would not want to live there though. Especially if I were not a designer and worked at one of the local studios in that district.

The point we are all trying to make is that no one goes shopping 5x a week. One DOES go to work at least 4x a week. One DOES have to eat at least once daily. A young single professional probably wants to go out and hang out at some bars/clubs/restaurants/pubs a few times a week. And the OP has expressed the desire to be near THOSE "needs" over a "want" of being by shopping districts.

Of all of the shopping centers you mentioned in your "shopping district tour" I have either been to them or driven past all of them in the last week. I did not even stop at most of them as I was merely passing by them to get to the places that I wanted and needed to go to. That is the point we are all triyng to make. No one NEEDS to be near a lot of shopping but one can have a need to be in close proximity to work if they have a desire to walk to work.

Go back and read the OP's list of wants and needs. Being near a shopping district is NOT one of them.

And TurtleCreek sumed it up........ he is RENTING and not buying. So who cares if one rents for a year in an area that is not what someone might think is going to be the "new" up and coming area in 3-5 years.

[Willsson]

Uptown is the place to be. Imagine taking the trolley home on a brisk spring day. Or taking mom and dad to the museum on a Saturday afternoon visit.

As far as shopping, I'd recommend the TJMaxx at Park Lane and 75. Between that and Academy and DSW, there's little use for a mall, other than going to the movie. Those stores being my only use for Dallas beyond Loop 12.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by Dallas native

I understand that the OP has options, but your obsession with proximity to shopping is bizarre give the criteria provided by the OP. I didn't see any references to shopping in the original post. OTOH, convenience to work, entertainment venues and walkability were mentioned. Uptown has all of that and more.

A job isn't always a permanent thing. So, living somewhere in the Northpark area makes a lot of sense because that area is between the major markets of downtown / uptown and the Telecom Corridor, two areas with over 100,000 jobs. Just 3 miles to the west from the intersection of Central and LBJ is the Platinum Corridor providing one with even more jobs.
You make it sound like there are hundreds of thousands of people living in uptown and downtown when there is only tens of thousands. In comparison, there is a high concentration of people living along Central Expressway.
I have heard it said that if downtown is the brain of Dallas, then Central Expressway is its spine. But, of course, the OP will have to visit the city to appreciate how significant this is.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

I DO understand. I do know that people from all over come to Dallas to go shopping. I do know that buyers come to Dallas to go shopping for their retail outlets. I do know that Dallas is also seen as a bargain hunters paradise when it comes to shopping be it fashion or home furnishings. The design district is awesome........ would not want to live there though. Especially if I were not a designer and worked at one of the local studios in that district.

The point we are all trying to make is that no one goes shopping 5x a week. One DOES go to work at least 4x a week. One DOES have to eat at least once daily. A young single professional probably wants to go out and hang out at some bars/clubs/restaurants/pubs a few times a week. And the OP has expressed the desire to be near THOSE "needs" over a "want" of being by shopping districts.

Of all of the shopping centers you mentioned in your "shopping district tour" I have either been to them or driven past all of them in the last week. I did not even stop at most of them as I was merely passing by them to get to the places that I wanted and needed to go to. That is the point we are all triyng to make. No one NEEDS to be near a lot of shopping but one can have a need to be in close proximity to work if they have a desire to walk to work.

Go back and read the OP's list of wants and needs. Being near a shopping district is NOT one of them.

And TurtleCreek sumed it up........ he is RENTING and not buying. So who cares if one rents for a year in an area that is not what someone might think is going to be the "new" up and coming area in 3-5 years.

Okay. I will capitulate for the sake of not running off the poor Atlantian. By now, he probably thinks Dallas is populated with nothing but *******.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by tofurkey

Uptown is the place to be. Imagine taking the trolley home on a brisk spring day. Or taking mom and dad to the museum on a Saturday afternoon visit.

As far as shopping, I'd recommend the TJMaxx at Park Lane and 75. Between that and Academy and DSW, there's little use for a mall, other than going to the movie. Those stores being my only use for Dallas beyond Loop 12.

If there was room for development, Preston Center would be booming right now. It has the kind of synergy that uptown has been trying to copy, but just can't quite emulate. The Northpark area also has this kind of synergy but, unlike Preston Center, it has areas prime for redevelopment to the north and south along Central, and to the east along Loop 12. Unlike uptown, one does not have to add shopping to this area to make it an attractive place to live.
One of the most painful lessons learned is how, in a major market like Dallas - Fort Worth, sport's complexes and the retail developed around them don't mix. In other words, in large markets, they actually compete with each other. Another puzzling aspect of Dallas redoing itself mainly in and around its downtown, its arts district and its uptown area is how such attention has drawn away resources from its Fair Grounds leaving it abandoned and neglected. And what about the levee system? Will dallas risk having a flood destroy most of everything in favor of pushing the completion of its Trinity Park?
See, the OP is going to be introduced to these issues soon or later.

[ladarron]

Originally Posted by Mister Nifty

If there was room for development, Preston Center would be booming right now. It has the kind of synergy that uptown has been trying to copy, but just can't quite emulate. The Northpark area also has this kind of synergy but, unlike Preston Center, it has areas prime for redevelopment to the north and south along Central, and to the east along Loop 12. Unlike uptown, one does not have to add shopping to this area to make it an attractive place to live.
One of the most painful lessons learned is how, in a major market like Dallas - Fort Worth, sport's complexes and the retail developed around them don't mix. In other words, in large markets, they actually compete with each other. Another puzzling aspect of Dallas redoing itself mainly in and around its downtown, its arts district and its uptown area is how such attention has drawn away resources from its Fair Grounds leaving it abandoned and neglected. And what about the levee system? Will dallas risk having a flood destroy most of everything in favor of pushing the completion of its Trinity Park?
See, the OP is going to be introduced to these issues soon or later.

Downtown had alot of department stores. They didn't just have Neiman-Marcus, they had big flagship department stores like H.L. Green & CO, Titche-Goettinger, Sanger-Harris, E.M Kahn, Wolfe Brothers, Volk Brothers, and more.