So, just how beautiful is Dallas, Texas? (Houston, Atlanta: home, to live)

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Same answer I gave in the "Is Houston beautiful" thread. It has some nice spots, but overall no it isn't beautiful.

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

North Texas' topography is monotonous. I don't think its underrated at all.

Wide open prairie with clusters of small trees scattered here & there. Thank God for man made lakes otherwise it really would be horrible.

I'm starting to think trees is the only thing you consider beautiful. That's mostly what you talk about. If so, East Texas must be the most beautiful area of the state.

In Texas, the majority of the major cities are not areas you would brag about when it comes to topography. With that being said, I don't really find Dallas as a whole to be beautiful, but there are pockets of areas that are really pretty.

BTW I guess the whole state is ugly as heck because every lake in Texas is man-made except one. So, saying "Thank God for man-made lakes otherwise it really would be horrible" doesn't only apply for North Texas, it applies for the whole State.

[madrone2k]

As a native Texan, I'd have to say that I don't think we have any cities that are beautiful as a whole ... but the pockets of beauty we have are valuable and should be appreciated.

As a Houstonian, I'm used to my city getting no respect (a la Rodney Daingerfield), but even we have some areas that I would call beautiful. However I admit (due to having more rainfall and warmer winters), I think we could have done better with what we had to work with.

OTOH, I think Dallas has done a much better job in working with what it has. One natural advantage you guys have is not being quite so flat-as-a-pancake everywhere like H-town. I've seen a lot of places in DFW that humans have taken advantage of -- rather than destroying -- when developing, often near small streams that provide a bit of topographic relief. I can't name many of them. Obviously Turtle Creek would be one. In the 70's I noticed that Dallas Community College was building campuses that took advantage of creeks and bits of limestone outcrop. Also, in those years, I remember driving up Greenville Avenue when there was still a lot of undeveloped farmland ... it was actually rather picturesque, so I'm curious how well it was developed to take advantage of it.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Dallaz

I'm starting to think trees is the only thing you consider beautiful. That's mostly what you talk about. If so, East Texas must be the most beautiful area of the state.

In Texas, the majority of the major cities are not areas you would brag about when it comes to topography. With that being said, I don't really find Dallas as a whole to be beautiful, but there are pockets of areas that are really pretty.

BTW I guess the whole state is ugly as heck because every lake in Texas is man-made except one. So, saying "Thank God for man-made lakes otherwise it really would be horrible" doesn't only apply for North Texas, it applies for the whole State.

There are "pockets" of beautiful neighborhoods in Dallas, most of them being in North & East Dallas.

That said, North Texas as a whole is one of the least picturesque areas of the state. Its lack of trees on 100+ degree days with all of that heat radiating off of the concrete is not a comfortable feeling.

Here in East Texas I can find a shade tree pretty much anywhere I go. Not the case in North Texas.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

There are "pockets" of beautiful neighborhoods in Dallas, most of them being in North & East Dallas.

That said, North Texas as a whole is one of the least picturesque areas of the state. Its lack of trees on 100+ degree days with all of that heat radiating off of the concrete is not a comfortable feeling.

Here in East Texas I can find a shade tree pretty much anywhere I go. Not the case in North Texas.

Tyler is alot smaller than Dallas. So with that being said..Im sure Dallas has just as many and most likely MORE shade trees or areas that are heavily shaded. Here you go acting as if Dallas is TOTALLY treeless...please dont start this tree mess.

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

There are "pockets" of beautiful neighborhoods in Dallas, most of them being in North & East Dallas.

That said, North Texas as a whole is one of the least picturesque areas of the state. Its lack of trees on 100+ degree days with all of that heat radiating off of the concrete is not a comfortable feeling.

Here in East Texas I can find a shade tree pretty much anywhere I go. Not the case in North Texas.

Moderator cut: Off Topic

In a city it's called the heat island effect. Because of all the concrete and buildings the temp will always be hotter than the surrounding area.

[Spade]

Lets end the talk of trees before it starts because it will go several pages.

I think Dallas probably made a mistake not utilizing the trinity more. Many inland cities uses their river and does it well. DC is one example. Mountains are not seen for most of DC and its 3 hours from an ocean. But they didnt neglect their natural wonder staring them right in the face and as a result, they beautifued it, fixed up any problems, and DC is not seen as ugly. Dallas utilized that more, I honestly don't think we would be having this conversation.

I remember I think back in June of 2007 when Dallas started the summer with tons of rain. A picture thread was made and it showed the downtown skyline with a filled up trinity river and people noticed how massively different Dallas looked especially at night with the alpine reflecting it in the river. People wished it was like that all the time.

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by Spade

Lets end the talk of trees before it starts because it will go several pages.

I think Dallas probably made a mistake not utilizing the trinity more. Many inland cities uses their river and does it well. DC is one example. Mountains are not seen for most of DC and its 3 hours from an ocean. But they didnt neglect their natural wonder staring them right in the face and as a result, they beautifued it, fixed up any problems, and DC is not seen as ugly. Dallas utilized that more, I honestly don't think we would be having this conversation.

I remember I think back in June of 2007 when Dallas started the summer with tons of rain. A picture thread was made and it showed the downtown skyline with a filled up trinity river and people noticed how massively different Dallas looked especially at night with the alpine reflecting it in the river. People wished it was like that all the time.

I agree, we do need to utilize our river more but I guess they felt like it was more important to make sure our city was protected from floods. The Trinity River use to be in the place where Dealey Plaza is today. The Army Corps of Engineers created the floodplain, moved the river, and built the levees. For additional flood control, lakes were constructed to control the River. (lakes include: Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Lewisville, Lake Grapevine, Joe Pool Lake, and more)

In the early days, (before any bridges were built) if you wanted to cross the Trinity River, you had to ride a ferry. I read when John Neely Bryan first surveyed the area, he noticed that the Trinity River was impassable but it narrowed at a point (because of the Austin Chalk) which made it possible to cross it in that particular part of the river. With that being said, I wonder how the river looked when he first surveyed the area?

BTW The Trinity River has the 3rd largest annual flow of any river in Texas (the Brazos and Sabine being larger)

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Tyler is alot smaller than Dallas. So with that being said..Im sure Dallas has just as many and most likely MORE shade trees or areas that are heavily shaded. Here you go acting as if Dallas is TOTALLY treeless...please dont start this tree mess.

A lot smaller true, but its in an entirely different region of the state.

Dallas is prairies & lakes, Tyler is piney woods. Also, I wouldn't call an area with over 260,000 people small by any means. That's the size of some of Dallas' largest suburbs (Plano & Garland).

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

A lot smaller true, but its in an entirely different region of the state.

Dallas is prairies & lakes, Tyler is piney woods. Also, I wouldn't call an area with over 260,000 people small by any means. That's the size of some of Dallas' largest suburbs (Plano & Garland).

Key word: "Suburb" of Dallas.