Why does dfw area get bashed so much? (Houston, Dallas: best city, homes)

[rantanamo]

based on these threads, I'm surprised the population isn't shrinking significantly.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

It is the ugliest city I have ever been to. Dallas is like the McMansion of cities. From the outside it looks awkward and gawdy and violates every law of good aesthetic taste, but inside there is a ton of square footage and they hired a kick ass interior decorator who really did some cool things with some of the rooms.

It's not just that North Texas isn't pretty, prairie can be pretty (not stunning, but pretty) but the way things are built here do not compliment the prairie.

Like what, for example? I always thought Dallas did an okay job at cultivating its natural landscape, but is there another plains city that does it better?

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

I went hiking this weekend with a gentleman who lived in Dallas (most recently Uptown) for over 2 decades before moving to Denver a few years ago.

We talked about what we did in DFW and how we ended up in Denver. IMHO he described the Metroplex perfectly. He said it's easy to live there and jobs are plentiful, but for all the amenities it has the area is lacking severely in natural beauty and outdoorsiness. He grew to loathe the fact that really getting out into nature required many hours of driving or a trip to the airport.

When I asked him what he missed after living there for a good chunk of his life he told me his friends.

I got a laugh when he said "It's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there."

A view of the backdrop for our hike.

That's pretty. The thing about places with lots of natural beauty is that the cities themselves don't usually interest me. Take away the mountains and you'd probably have a difficult time selling Denver over Dallas.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

That's pretty. The thing about places with lots of natural beauty is that the cities themselves don't usually interest me. Take away the mountains and you'd probably have a difficult time selling Denver over Dallas.

This is the best post in this thread. If you live in Dallas you visit places to hike.

After a couple of days of hiking and beautiful scenery you kinda start visualizing your bed.....in your house ......in the prairies of DFW.......where everything is just like you prefer it to be.

P.S. Different strokes for different folks. Everyone will not like or LOVE Dallas. But going by the population surge this last decade, people are getting the picture.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

Like what, for example? I always thought Dallas did an okay job at cultivating its natural landscape, but is there another plains city that does it better?

It's not Dallas' fault that it's in the middle of the plains. You aren't going to get mountains and scenery like you can in Denver.

However, Dallas could make up for this with some character. It suffers from lack of character. The metro is expanding rapidly in all directions, and you never really know where things are heading. The entire metro just doesn't feel very well planned out and feels very bland and generic like typical suburban America.

Kansas City is another plains city. It's more hilly than Dallas, but still suffers from a lack of natural beauty. However, Kansas City makes up for this by planning. There are fountains everywhere, neat neighborhoods, and beautiful homes. However, Kansas City is older than Dallas, so I think this has a lot to do with it.

Here are some things I'd like to see in Dallas

The Plaza in KC is modeled after Seville, Spain:



There are about 100 fountains all over the city:



A walking park in the middle of the city:



Most neighborhoods have plenty of trees and lush greenery:



An older neighborhood with a walkable feel in the Westside neighborhood:

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

It's not Dallas' fault that it's in the middle of the plains. You aren't going to get mountains and scenery like you can in Denver.

However, Dallas could make up for this with some character. It suffers from lack of character. The metro is expanding rapidly in all directions, and you never really know where things are heading. The entire metro just doesn't feel very well planned out and feels very bland and generic like typical suburban America.

Kansas City is another plains city. It's more hilly than Dallas, but still suffers from a lack of natural beauty. However, Kansas City makes up for this by planning. There are fountains everywhere, neat neighborhoods, and beautiful homes. However, Kansas City is older than Dallas, so I think this has a lot to do with it.

Here are some things I'd like to see in Dallas

The Plaza in KC is modeled after Seville, Spain:



There are about 100 fountains all over the city:



A walking park in the middle of the city:



Most neighborhoods have plenty of trees and lush greenery:



An older neighborhood with a walkable feel in the Westside neighborhood:

Looks beautiful!

[lepoisson]

As a comparison, here's what you'll get in Dallas

This is Uptown. One of the most popular neighborhoods in the city. It still looks very suburban to me (kind of like the Shops at Park Lane outdoor shopping), and lacks the character that the Plaza and Westside have (pictures above). But I'm sure the amenities are the similar:



Deep Ellum. Another fairly popular area in the city. This looks more unique to me. Many parts of Kansas City, Cleveland, and other Midwest cities look like this. It is older and has some nice character, but could use just a little work:



Downtown. Nothing too special

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

It's not Dallas' fault that it's in the middle of the plains. You aren't going to get mountains and scenery like you can in Denver.

However, Dallas could make up for this with some character. It suffers from lack of character. The metro is expanding rapidly in all directions, and you never really know where things are heading. The entire metro just doesn't feel very well planned out and feels very bland and generic like typical suburban America.

Kansas City is another plains city. It's more hilly than Dallas, but still suffers from a lack of natural beauty. However, Kansas City makes up for this by planning. There are fountains everywhere, neat neighborhoods, and beautiful homes. However, Kansas City is older than Dallas, so I think this has a lot to do with it.

Here are some things I'd like to see in Dallas

The Plaza in KC is modeled after Seville, Spain:



There are about 100 fountains all over the city:



A walking park in the middle of the city:



Most neighborhoods have plenty of trees and lush greenery:



An older neighborhood with a walkable feel in the Westside neighborhood:

I haven't been to Kansas City, but those pictures sure are enticing! I do agree most of DFW is painfully bland. So much copy and paste for miles on end. Uptown does have "some" character outside of the West Village area, especially around State Thomas. I think part of West Village's problem is that the design is inward facing, rather than outward along McKinney Ave.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

As a comparison, here's what you'll get in Dallas

This is Uptown. One of the most popular neighborhoods in the city. It still looks very suburban to me (kind of like the Shops at Park Lane outdoor shopping), and lacks the character that the Plaza and Westside have (pictures above). But I'm sure the amenities are the similar:



Deep Ellum. Another fairly popular area in the city. This looks more unique to me. Many parts of Kansas City, Cleveland, and other Midwest cities look like this. It is older and has some nice character, but could use just a little work:



Downtown. Nothing too special

If I would take anything from your posts, it would be that Dallas should have done a better job of preserving its history. That much I certainly agree with. Everything else you bring up seems to be a matter of personal taste. That faux- Spanish shopping center in that first pic would be what I call tacky. I hate it when cities employ architectural or landscaping properties that aren't related to the local setting.

Leafy neighborhoods exist in Dallas, but I take it you've never been through Lakewood or Kessler Park.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

I haven't been to Kansas City, but those pictures sure are enticing! I do agree most of DFW is painfully bland. So much copy and paste for miles on end. Uptown does have "some" character outside of the West Village area, especially around State Thomas. I think part of West Village's problem is that the design is inward facing, rather than outward along McKinney Ave.

I feel like most major urban areas in America are rather bland outside of their cores. The difference is that Dallas is much newer and sits in a somewhat boring part of the country.