How does Dallas support so much retail? (Houston, Baytown: home, movies)

[debtex]

Originally Posted by ReppingDFW

Dallas culture revolves around shopping and eating.

This. And low COL compared to any other city of its size allow these activities to run rampant.

[savanite]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

Yes, obviously Texas is the bestest place of ever, which is reflected in the scads of retail malls everywhere.

I find the "virtually unlimited electric power" rather amusing, as this is the first area I've lived in which has had "rolling blackouts" and issues with generating insufficient electricity to support the metro area.

As an FYI, I've lived in Chicago, Boston, New York and Portland Oregon. Granted those are liberal cesspools of dysfunctional economies compared to the monetary, job creating powerhouse that is Dallas. However, I'm sure there are other Free Market Economic Bastions around (especially in the South to Southeastern US, right?); do they all have similar levels of retail as Dallas?

Also as an FYI, Illinois' income tax is a flat 5% (not terribly high relative to other states, albeit higher than Texas). The toll roads are less prevalent and a LOT cheaper, so I'm not sure how Dallas is "easier to get around" in (not to mention Dallas being more spread out and having less access to public transportation). Portland has NO sales tax, although IIRC the income tax is pretty darn high (it's also the least comparable, being smaller and out on the upper left coast).

I'll have to make a note of that one, Synchronicity...

liberal cesspools of dysfunctional economies

And this one...

Free Market Economic Bastions

The Liberals may create damaged economies, but they are excellent poets!

One GOOD thing about Portland is living in Vancouver, Washington (Portland suburb, no income tax), and doing your shopping in Portland, Oregon (no sales tax).

[TheOverdog]

JoCoKS in total has about 550k.

I think more retail would move there if the area's nickname wasn't fashioned after men's athletic apparel for their crotchal region. Yeah there's a Dress Barn and Ikea up in our jocks!

[Shayne_]

I was wondering this when I moved here. I was amazed at the fact that there were not one, but THREE Marshalls less than 15 minutes from me! Back home I had to drive 25 to 30 minutes just to get to the next Marshalls. Its SO many retail stores here its crazy to me

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by Shayne_

I was wondering this when I moved here. I was amazed at the fact that there were not one, but THREE Marshalls less than 15 minutes from me! Back home I had to drive 25 to 30 minutes just to get to the next Marshalls. Its SO many retail stores here its crazy to me

Comparing Dallas to Houston, Dallas is more fashion and consumer spending conscious. Additionally, Dallas higher end communities are more skewed to the north side of the metroplex where Houston is spread to most quadrants (excluding east). So if one travels around N. DFW you will see a great concentration of high end households and therefor related shoping.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by jason87x

Geez, didn't mean to start a flame war. I probably should have compared areas with similar populations, such as the entire KC area (2 million) to the broad Dallas/Plano area (2-3 million?). Btw this thread was not meant to put down the metroplex, I do like visiting here. south Overland Park + eastern Olathe + south Leawood I believe is about 250k, the size of Plano. JoCoKS in total has about 550k.

And I did drive around some of the other parts of town (Arlington, Irving, Fort Worth) but there still seemed to be more shopping than comparable areas here.

I didn't at first think a lot of stores were THAT exclusive. Then again KC does not have a Neiman Marcus or IKEA.

Maybe KC just has a serious lack of retail. On most parts of the MO side, even finding a gas station or grocery store can be quite the challenge.

The DFW metroplex was over 6.3 million in the 2010 census. Probably more by now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_o...tistical_Areas
The DFW area is #4 on the list. Kansas City-Overland Park area is #29.

[Lakewooder]

According to a story I saw a few days ago http://www.dallasnews.com/business/c...ome-market.ece , the Dallas area is expected to surpass 9 million by 2025, in just 13 years.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by savanite

One GOOD thing about Portland is living in Vancouver, Washington (Portland suburb, no income tax), and doing your shopping in Portland, Oregon (no sales tax).

I think I mentioned that one in another thread.

BTW, don't mock them thar librul arts. Making things look or sound pretty helps convince people to go out and buy stuff they don't really need, which is what makes all that retail happen!

(Here's another one for you: "liberal arts gives you a 'well rounded' education, all right - most of the classes are pointless")

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

Comparing Dallas to Houston, Dallas is more fashion and consumer spending conscious. Additionally, Dallas higher end communities are more skewed to the north side of the metroplex where Houston is spread to most quadrants (excluding east). So if one travels around N. DFW you will see a great concentration of high end households and therefor related shoping.

What it seems like, from responses in this thread and combining it with general observations:

A) as noted, Dallas (by which I mean the entire Metroplex, not just "Dallas" the city, anyway) has a lower cost of housing than most other comparable sized urban areas. This means, all other things being kinda sorta equal, that people will have more money to spend in other areas. Since in general most people tend to spend most of their money, that makes "malls" a benefactor of that.

B) as others have noted and I would agree (as noted upthread, without hard data to back it up but it sure seems that way), Dallas inhabitants tend to have a more consumeristic (I don't care if it's a word, I'm using it) attitude than people in some other parts of the country. IOW, not only do they have more money to spend on "stuff other than housing", but that "the mall" takes a higher priority than other items might in other places

C) as Johnhw2 noted above and TC80 noted upthread, the "shopping" tends to be more concentrated in a specific part of DFW rather than a bit more spread out as it might be in other areas.

Just thinking randomly as well, Dallas has hot summers and limited "outdoorsy" type activities compared to someplace like Denver, so if you're going out of the house to "do stuff" you ain't hiking up a mountain or kayaking on a river and you're likely going to want to be indoors, so that makes "the mall" a more favored destination for people than it might be elsewhere.

I'd also add that since DFW is generally "newer" than many other places, the "type" of mall is more along the lines of "combos of strip and enclosed malls along major roadways" (like the huge area in Frisco on Preston just north of 121). I've seen similar things in the newly developed suburban areas of Chicago, although because Dallas is growing so rapidly the ones here are on a larger scale (again, the Frisco area noted above, which has had tremendous growth in the last 20 years).

[fistofsouth]

As the old saying goes "If it won't sell in Dallas, it won't sell." I grew up here and i can tell you that the "Material World" was very much the order of the day. I suppose it started with the Oil Boom, Neiman Marcus and all the other North Texas shops that catered to the uber-rich. So when the creme de la creme of your society is driven by appearances and buying everything big and over-the-top there is a bit of trickle-down effect on the general populous. By the time I was a teen Dallas was the divorce capital of the US and by the time I was in my twenties was run by the cocaine and boob-job crowd.