Why isn't Downtown Dallas nice like Downtown Fort Worth? (San Antonio: city hall, lofts)

[DtX4415]

Originally Posted by SteveChiller

Downtown Dallas is no Downtown Austin..... or even Downtown San Antonio....

Lets see.....

Austin - college town and state capitol.

San Antonio - River walk and also has this thing called the Alamo there.


I wonder if those four things add any additional foot traffic.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by DtX4415

Lets see.....

Austin - college town and state capitol.

San Antonio - River walk and also has this thing called the Alamo there.


I wonder if those four things add any additional foot traffic.

If you put a 50'000+ student University in the the core of any city in the world it should create buzz...but thats exactly what make austin the "Lively" place its said to be. If you put that same 50,000+ University on the outskirts of town(like most big cities)then Austin would be a regular ole sleepy capital city in the middle of nowhere in the hills.Without the university those bars wouldnt thrive,therefore 6th street would not be what it is today.

The Alamo is something you go see once...to be honest, I was quite disappointed when I went.I guess I was expecting it to be on a larger scale. It felt like a mock-up of the real thing.A replica of some sorts......and the river walk is also overrated.It is a must-do if you visit SA but its kinda blah after you are there for 30 mins...yawn....ok fiesta Texas is whack...Period.....Seaworld is the only thing worth going to SA for because Its truely Unique to Texas. Those other two are overrated "one-hit-quitters" .

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by DtX4415

Lets see.....

Austin - college town and state capitol.

San Antonio - River walk and also has this thing called the Alamo there.


I wonder if those four things add any additional foot traffic.

You act like that is the only reason Austin and San Antonio have foot traffic. I can't speak for San Antonio because I have never lived there, but for Austin I can assure you that while UT being where it is = huge plus, its hardly the only reason for Austin's DT liveliness.

[rantanamo]

Originally Posted by Austinite101

You act like that is the only reason Austin and San Antonio have foot traffic. I can't speak for San Antonio because I have never lived there, but for Austin I can assure you that while UT being where it is = huge plus, its hardly the only reason for Austin's DT liveliness.

As someone that went to UT, take away UT and DT Austin loses huge amounts of energy. Huge. Take away the Riverwalk and all that goes with it and you lose a huge amount of its energy.

[fistofsouth]

Originally Posted by SteveChiller

Downtown Dallas is no Downtown Austin..... or even Downtown San Antonio....

That's right, we have a legitimate, internationally recognized skyline. One that inspired the creation of films such as Robo-Cop and Surrogates. When the producers of those films wanted a locale that looked like a city of the future, they didn't chose LA, nor Manhattan and they certainly didn't select Austin or San Antonio. See call me crazy, but like most people, I use skyscrapers as a type of visual marker of where DT is in a city. Now granted in the Sun-Belt that can burn you as cities like Dallas and Atlanta have large concentrations of skyscrapers well outside of the CBD, but as a general rule I have found around the world that if you go to the biggest buildings in a town that's what most people in said town call downtown.

What exactly constitutes DT SA? The Tower of the Americans and.....well I guess that's the only thing you can identify from outside the loop so not much of a DT there. San Antonio is it's own creature with it's own vibe and it would be unfair to compare their skyline with that of the bigger cities. I'm happy that Austin woke up and decided to build some skyscrapers, but they have a Long way to go to catch the likes of Big-D or H-Town. Right now Austin would do better to compare themselves to Fort Worth or Richardson as they have about the same sized skyline as Austin.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by fistofsouth

That's right, we have a legitimate, internationally recognized skyline. One that inspired the creation of films such as Robo-Cop and Surrogates. When the producers of those films wanted a locale that looked like a city of the future, they didn't chose LA, nor Manhattan and they certainly didn't select Austin or San Antonio. See call me crazy, but like most people, I use skyscrapers as a type of visual marker of where DT is in a city. Now granted in the Sun-Belt that can burn you as cities like Dallas and Atlanta have large concentrations of skyscrapers well outside of the CBD, but as a general rule I have found around the world that if you go to the biggest buildings in a town that's what most people in said town call downtown.

What exactly constitutes DT SA? The Tower of the Americans and.....well I guess that's the only thing you can identify from outside the loop so not much of a DT there. San Antonio is it's own creature with it's own vibe and it would be unfair to compare their skyline with that of the bigger cities. I'm happy that Austin woke up and decided to build some skyscrapers, but they have a Long way to go to catch the likes of Big-D or H-Town. Right now Austin would do better to compare themselves to Fort Worth or Richardson as they have about the same sized skyline as Austin.

Las Colinas is in that batch too.

[fistofsouth]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Las Colinas is in that batch too.

Indeed and master planned at that.

[RonnieinDallas]

Dallas Arts District - YouTube

[RonnieinDallas]

Like most large cities, Dallas's downtown is a business district. Fort Worth is an average mid-sized city with a lot of stuff centered there. it has a very artificial feel to it. Like walking through an old Bavarian village at Disney world. It has lots of chain restaurants in refurbished old buildings a few nice hotels, and gives off a very safe family friendly vibe. it's not for me but I see why a lot of people like it. I still prefer downtown Dallas. So many more amenities . . .

[JJG]

Downtown Dallas isn't really horrible. As mentioned before, it's progressing. Downtown Fort Worth does have the advantages of being smaller with smaller blocks (200 x 200) like Portland.

But as for comments like Ronnie's, the "very artificial" part of it is exaggerated. It's still a major neighborhood and not ALL of downtown is Sundance Square..... I get real sick of people thinking this.

There's still some parts of DTFW that need and are in plans for work, like the Lancaster Corridor (south downtown) and the east side (where the ITC is) which has too many surface lots. The Westside of downtown is more residential with apartments and some smaller scale office spaces.

I like the way our downtown area is set up, but even we still have PLENTY to work with and build up.