Uptown and Downtown. There is no difference (Dallas, McKinney: real estate, neighborhood)

[stoneclaw]

I was just in Dallas this weekend and I used to be able to determine some kind of distinction between Uptown Dallas and Downtown Dallas. Now, I literally cannot tell the difference. I know this all started with the bridging of Klyde Warren over Woddall Rogers about 7 or 8 years ago. The towers in Uptown seem to be just as tall as most of the one ones in Downtown.


I was leaving Ruth Chris restaurant in Uptown and I told my girlfriend that we were going to ride through downtown, but I crossed the street off Cedar Spring and was perplexed to say the least. It was already giving the appearance of what I always identified as the CBD and I pretty much got lost.


So, I'm wondering now if its just all called Downtown kind of like Charlotte's downtown is actually called Uptown.

[turf3]

Downtown Dallas is south of Woodall Rodgers.

So-called "uptown" is really just the eastern side of Oak Lawn and is north of Woodall Rodgers, extending northward to wherever the marketeers decide it ends this month.

[Dallaz]

Uptown has grown so much, that it’s basically an extension of Downtown. I was driving through Uptown (with my mother) and I can totally see why non-natives think it’s Downtown. Generally, native Dallasites know the difference between the two. Firstly, Uptown is North of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Secondly, some know the difference because of the street names. McKinney Ave is basically the “Main Street” of Uptown. Other streets like Cedar Springs Rd, Hall St, Blackburn St, Lemmon Ave, etc. are known streets in Uptown. A lot of the other streets like Pearl St, Field St, Olive St, Akard St, Harwood St, etc. transition from Downtown into Uptown and also are major thoroughfares in Uptown as well.

Another group of Dallasites know the difference, simply because all buildings weren’t here 10 to 20 years ago. It was basically a lower income area on the outskirts of Downtown. My mother was shocked at the growth, when I drove into Uptown to beat the heavy traffic on 35. She told me how none of this was here in the mid 80s. She actually said what you were saying, “it looks like Downtown”...but she knew it wasn’t.

EDIT: Oh yeah, there’s metal signs in the median telling drivers when they have entered Uptown. The sigh simply says “Uptown”. I’m going to try to post a picture of it.

[JJG]

Oh no... there IS a difference.

Uptown is built better. It's more "walkable" with more emphasis on residential development as well as retail/entertainment. There's also more of an open air quality because it's not just bulky skyscraper wall-to-wall.

Downtown is your typical post-WWII big Sunbelt city Central Business District where several parking lots have replaced older buildings that could have been saved to keep some of the neighborhood's character in tact, but was demolished to accommodate the car-centric attitudes of the 50s and 60s. Then it became a place where you just went to work and drove back to your suburban home, basically killing most of the nightlife and making it a place you wouldn't want to be after 5pm. It's gotten better and downtown Dallas isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be, but still...

[Thoreau424]

"Uptown" is an attempt to sound hip and cool.

[turf3]

Actually, the "Uptown" designation is 100% marketeering, and I remember when it was created. (The current iteration of "hipster" didn't exist at the time.) Suddenly actual Dallasites who had called that neighborhood "Oak Lawn" for decades started hearing "Uptown this" and "Uptown that" as the real estate developers started aggressively marketeering the area to yuppies who would have been leery of living in "Oak Lawn" as "Oak Lawn" basically was the gay district.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by JJG

Oh no... there IS a difference.

Uptown is built better. It's more "walkable" with more emphasis on residential development as well as retail/entertainment. There's also more of an open air quality because it's not just bulky skyscraper wall-to-wall.

Downtown is your typical post-WWII big Sunbelt city Central Business District where several parking lots have replaced older buildings that could have been saved to keep some of the neighborhood's character in tact, but was demolished to accommodate the car-centric attitudes of the 50s and 60s. Then it became a place where you just went to work and drove back to your suburban home, basically killing most of the nightlife and making it a place you wouldn't want to be after 5pm. It's gotten better and downtown Dallas isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be, but still...

Downtown still has better urban bones, particularly when you combine the West End & Main Street District (wider sidewalks, more compact, and more historical buildings). The newly named "East Quarter," which includes several vacant 2-3 story late 19th/early 20th centuries buildings off of Main & Commerce east of St. Paul are being restored and renovated. They will be key to connecting the eastern end of DT with Deep Ellum. Even where there's parking garages, all they need to do is add ground floor retail or restaurants. Several downtown skyscrapers have been doing just that. Existing surface parking lots are like missing puzzle pieces -- build on them and the urban experience will be enhanced.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

I was just in Dallas this weekend and I used to be able to determine some kind of distinction between Uptown Dallas and Downtown Dallas. Now, I literally cannot tell the difference. I know this all started with the bridging of Klyde Warren over Woddall Rogers about 7 or 8 years ago. The towers in Uptown seem to be just as tall as most of the one ones in Downtown.


I was leaving Ruth Chris restaurant in Uptown and I told my girlfriend that we were going to ride through downtown, but I crossed the street off Cedar Spring and was perplexed to say the least. It was already giving the appearance of what I always identified as the CBD and I pretty much got lost.


So, I'm wondering now if its just all called Downtown kind of like Charlotte's downtown is actually called Uptown.

Did you stop in Deep Ellum while you were in town?

[tcualum]

Originally Posted by turf3

Actually, the "Uptown" designation is 100% marketeering, and I remember when it was created. (The current iteration of "hipster" didn't exist at the time.) Suddenly actual Dallasites who had called that neighborhood "Oak Lawn" for decades started hearing "Uptown this" and "Uptown that" as the real estate developers started aggressively marketeering the area to yuppies who would have been leery of living in "Oak Lawn" as "Oak Lawn" basically was the gay district.

Thanks for explaining this to me. I'd been wondering what the difference between Oak Lawn and Uptown was and now I know that there isn't one. I'd always thought of Oak Lawn as the gay district and the place for brunchers. It never occurred to me though to avoid the area because of the gay district moniker.

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

Downtown still has better urban bones, particularly when you combine the West End & Main Street District (wider sidewalks, more compact, and more historical buildings). The newly named "East Quarter," which includes several vacant 2-3 story late 19th/early 20th centuries buildings off of Main & Commerce east of St. Paul are being restored and renovated. They will be key to connecting the eastern end of DT with Deep Ellum. Even where there's parking garages, all they need to do is add ground floor retail or restaurants. Several downtown skyscrapers have been doing just that. Existing surface parking lots are like missing puzzle pieces -- build on them and the urban experience will be enhanced.

Downtown has a more regular grid, but it has way more surface parking and much more dangerous parking garages. I know 2 people who have been hit down there when they had the right of way. Part of it might have to do with it still being more of a 9-5 downtown, with the vast majority of people commuting via car.

For all the progress....Downtown Dallas remains possibly the most autocentric downtown of any major city...at least among the most.