What is there to do in Dallas. (Houston, Fort Worth: houses, theatres)

[UIHawk]

I will be in Addison. Aside from closeness to work, is one area growing in demand over the other? What about being in the loop?

[Eric Fred Norris]

grew up in DFW, lived in houston for several years, back in DFW now. have to to say houston has way more fun things to do. also, the people in houston are friendlier both in town and in the burbs. more culture and fun things to do in inner houston, lots of professionals actually live in and near downtown houston, whereas downtown dallas is a ghost town after 6pm or so.

echoing earlier posts, the huge downside is the weather is intolerably humid and hot in the summer there, way more so than DFW, moving about during the day is like being in a perpetual sauna down there. at least here you can function and move about in the heat. also, getting around town is a nightmare. congestion + poor public planning of highways and mass transit = always in a traffic jam.

if you can tolerate the worse summers and the traffic, quality of life in houston is better imho. people in houston gravitate to the city center and the lack of zoning laws there means ppl from all kinds of backgrounds live next to each other and get along. living in the burbs here in dfw, you dont get that communal feel.

[anabolina]

I've lived in Houston(Pasadena to be exact) and was born and raised and have returned to Dallas and I will echo that the weather is different. Houston is humid and that makes it feel hotter. Also, even though Pasadena is on the South side of Houston and should be less than half an hour from Galveston, I went twice in the year I lived there and those times it was only because of out of town guests. I did try to go down once on my own on a Saturday, the roads were crazy and after waiting in traffic for 45 minutes and moving barely a mile, I got off at the next exit and went home. So yeah, traffic jams are traffic jams anywhere, but it seems like roads are congested, even if there isn't an actual jam, all the time in Houston. And don't forget the whole possibility of a hurricane thing. This causes higher home insurance costs, but what's more annoying is evacuating. I haven't done it, but my sister's done it twice and it took her all day to drive up to Dallas in stopped traffic the whole way.

Still, there are pros to Houston, I liked the downtown area and shopping. I can't really comment about the friendliness of Houston because I don't remember if they were or weren't. I don't remember a lot of outright rudeness though so ymmv.

I'm from Dallas, so of course I prefer it. I know where everything is, have freinds(some I've known since high school) and most of my family. You tend to get more for your housing dollar too. I just moved out of a decent 1 bedroom that cost $470 in a nice area of Dallas with a very low crime rate and lots of shopping within walking distance. This is contrasted with the $500 I paid for a crappy 1 bedroom apartment in Pasadena with the only nearby shopping being Walmart, a high crime rate, and most importantly, a bug problem.

[blue_haze]

Houston or Dallas they are both nice cities. But Houston has more culture things to do and an. Actual city feel to it. Yes houston is warmer way more humid but its gonna be Hot anywhere you go in Texas.

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by blue_haze

Houston or Dallas they are both nice cities. But Houston has more culture things to do.

How so?
I mean theatre wise Dallas is certainly the best of the Texas cities. Musically obviously Austin is the center of the Texas world, which cultural area do you find Houston to be the leader in? (that isn't a slam or a rhetorical question, I'm generally curious)

[Eric Fred Norris]

Originally Posted by Macbeth2003

How so?
I mean theatre wise Dallas is certainly the best of the Texas cities. Musically obviously Austin is the center of the Texas world, which cultural area do you find Houston to be the leader in? (that isn't a slam or a rhetorical question, I'm generally curious)

nah, houston dwarfs dallas in terms of theatre and the performing arts in general. theatre district there is like 20 blocks, has several performance halls and permanent resident companies for opera, ballet, symphony and theatre. having all four is very very rare, i think only four cities in country have it.

in terms of museums, houston wins if its a head to head with the DMA. if you include amon carter, the modern and kimbell in fort worth, then DFW wins hands down in term of exhibit space and permanent collections.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by Eric Fred Norris

whereas downtown dallas is a ghost town after 6pm or so.
.

Have you been in 'downtown dallas' since you 'grew up in DFW'?

[Eric Fred Norris]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Have you been in 'downtown dallas' since you 'grew up in DFW'?

downtown as we speak, office in the CBD. streets are deader than liz taylor right now and its not even 5pm yet

[stan4]

Festivals, car shows, art shows, wine/cheese tastings, the lakes, the parks, theater, opera, symphony, plays, comedy clubs, yadda, yadda, yadda...

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by stan4

Festivals, car shows, art shows, wine/cheese tastings, the lakes, the parks, theater, opera, symphony, plays, comedy clubs, yadda, yadda, yadda...

Let's see:

Wildflower Festival in Richardson coming up and several others as well

The best car show in all of Dallas was this past weekend, imo

The Dallas Art Fair was a few weeks ago

Wine and cheese tastings any given weekend

Lake season is upon us

White Rock Lake

Dallas Summer Musicals

Winspear

Or just chill on the patio w/ a friend and relax