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I think if it weren't for my tornado and hail storm phobia, I would pick Dallas. Dallas seemed cleaner, more organized and gave off a safer vibe. Then again, I also like Houston because it's more things to do, more diversity, and close to the ocean. I'm still slightly torn between the two. I really need to get back to Houston for a second and more in-depth look.
You are right about Dallas seeming cleaner, more organized and giving off a safer vibe. But the safer vibe is just a vibe. They are about the same on crime.
I would agree that Houston is overall more scenic than Dallas, but the prettiest parts of the metro are well north of town in the vicinities of The Woodlands and Lake Houston. Most of the central city is unfortunately lacking in trees, however, and so paved over that the backdrop in many neighborhoods doesn't seem to be a far cry from Dallas at all. In fact, the DFW area has sections that feel just as leafy as the typical Houston hood, IMO. North Texas also has more colorful autumns.
Houston is lush for Texas, definitely, but compared to Atlanta it can feel underwhelmingly barren at times.
Have you ever been in Houston???? The central city is covered in trees. Get in a high rise downtown and tall buildings and trees are about all you see.
Houston's landscaping is manicured as is Dallas. Atlanta goes more for the natural look as has more of an overgrown forest feel.
Houston is at a disadvantage due to all of the unincorporated land around the city, even if you go look into the few cities like Pearland, Sugarland, Katy, etc... You're still not going to duplicate what you're getting in the DFW pocket cities. DFW Pocket cites have better infrastructure, City Building codes, city service, overall schools, etc..all done with a lower tax rates (no MUD).
Even with all of the action going on with the Pocket cites around DFW, Dallas is still relevant in the grand scheme of things.
Bottom line is you're not going to find a Plano, Frisco, or South Lake, (I could go on and on) in the Houston area. Sugarland, Woodland, and Katy are nice to Houston's standards, but not up there.
Thank goodness!!!! Miles and miles of red brick doctor's boxes.
I realize its not all that way anymore, but for a good while it was.
I have been analyzing the news in both cities on the News Break App and Dallas news is calmer than Houston and Atlanta. Houston news is nutty like Atlanta.
That's just the news. Some of the news stations are just police blotters. I lived in Houston for over 30 years and part of the time in what became a pretty bad neighborhood and was not a victim of crime. I had my house broken into and cars broken into twice in just a few years in Atlanta and always in "good" neighborhoods. There have been more home break-ins on my street in a good neighborhood than in a similar time in Fondren Southwest in Houston (I was on the board of my homeowner's association, so I knew what happened).
Now something could happen the next time you or I are in Houston (or Dallas), but its just too common in Atlanta. And there are options with the cities. Atlanta and the unincorporated areas around Atlanta just don't seem to care about crime as long as its not a murder. Houston and Dallas aren't as tolerant of crime.
Have you ever been in Houston???? The central city is covered in trees. Get in a high rise downtown and tall buildings and trees are about all you see.
Houston's landscaping is manicured as is Dallas. Atlanta goes more for the natural look as has more of an overgrown forest feel.
Atlanta's natural look and overgrown forest feel is because it has more natural forest cover than either Dallas or Houston. It has absolutely nothing to do with them "going for it."
I lived in Atlanta and move back to Houston. The news will have some "nutty" news every day. But unless you go looking for crime, than crime won't normally find you. I lived in Atlanta for 2 years in the Perimeter Area and never experienced crime. I lived in Houston from 09-15 and did experience one break in but I was in an area that had a crime rate above national average. I moved back in '17 and know better not to be in high crime areas.
I guess you are right. I have been living in the north Atlanta Perimeter area for years and feel very safe. Never had any issues of any kind. I may need to lay off the news a little bit. I know the Atlanta hot crime spots. I'm just trying to figure out the Houston and Dallas crime hot spots.
If that’s the case, then why are you so focused on Houston or Dallas, to the apparent exclusion of everywhere else? Which all due respect to two cities I have very much enjoyed living in, if I had an independent business that wasn’t dependent on living in a particular city and I didn’t mind pulling up roots and starting over socially, etc in a brand new city, ie could live where I wanted, Dallas and Houston would be pretty far down on my list. Austin would be a lot higher. And outside of Texas, there is Phoenix, Santa Fe, in the Southwest, Asheville And Chattanooga in the Mid-South. That’s for starters. I mean no disrespect, but it seems pretty capricious saying, “I’m going to move from Atlanta, and I’m going to immediately narrow my choices to two cities I know so little about that I have to ask strangers on the internet to help me to decide.” That’s why I’m not the only person wondering if you’re really planning this move. And I’ll also say that my brother, who just moved from Atlanta a year ago, and who has also lived in both Dallas and Houston, has said that he didn’t find Atlanta all that different from Dallas or Houston as an overall living experience. So if you’re moving from Atlanta, I’d think you would want a really significant change from it, and neither Dallas nor Houston is likely to give you that. They are all fairly young modern sunbelt cities where you’ll end up living in similar looking suburbs to get an affordable house with good schools, and fighting traffic whenever you go into the city.
Seriously? Some people on this forum are very critical of other people trying to relocate to another city. I have been living up and down the east coast all of my life from New York to Georgia. I really would like to get away from the east coast if that's ok with you. Everyone has an opinion and preference. I wouldn't consider any of those places you suggested. I'm not asking anyone to help me decide. I'm just asking for some insight from people that have lived or living in the two cities. Then you said Atlanta is not that that different Houston or Dallas. Seriously? Dude, I immediately noticed the big difference before I got off the plane. For one, I think Dallas and Houston are far more advanced than Atlanta.
Seriously? Some people on this forum are very critical of other people trying to relocate to another city. I have been living up and down the east coast all of my life from New York to Georgia. I really would like to get away from the east coast if that's ok with you. Everyone has an opinion and preference. I wouldn't consider any of those places you suggested. I'm not asking anyone to help me decide. I'm just asking for some insight from people that have lived or living in the two cities. Then you said Atlanta is not that that different Houston or Dallas. Seriously? Dude, I immediately noticed the big difference before I got off the plane. For one, I think Dallas and Houston are far more advanced than Atlanta.
Just leave atlanta man you can't go wrong with either. If you love to eat ,drink , shop til you drop, and go to a lot of events both cities offer a lot of that. Both cities have decent weather coming from the west coast the weather would be horrible but since you've lived in humid conditions you would adjust easy personally I would go with dallas. It's very progressive , pretty women, better urban core , great nightlife ,great food, decent weather , very cool neighborhoods that are walkable, and the best part is that you have a whole metroplex to explore! So many cool cities nearby that offer lots of entertainment and things to do. Also extremely diverse especially in the suburbs which offers similar to what southwest Houston offers in terms of cuisine.
^^^Yes, Dallas isn’t heavily forested like Houston or Atlanta but it’s not barren. Dallas has hills, which Houston lacks (I’m not trying to be shady). I’ve seen topographic maps of Houston and it is literally flat as a pancake.
I’m sure many have seen this video before. This is for those who’ve haven’t....
Originally from Atlanta. Went to A&M for college. Knew a lot of people from the DFW area and at first I vastly preferred the area to Houston but I've done almost a 180 since moving to Houston last July.
Both Houston and Dallas have their pros and cons compared to one another and to Atlanta. In terms of actually being in the city, I prefer both to Atlanta. I think both do a better job with upkeep. Keeping roadway lines freshly painted, replacing traffic signals regularly, making sure sidewalks don't crumble into oblivion, etc. Small stuff, but something that keeps the intown areas from seeming rundown. Getting around DFW and Houston is easier IMO. Traffic still sucks, but you have way more highway options including toll roads. Surface streets are better also for getting around. Easy to find an alternative route around an accident or something. Metro Atlanta's curvy 2 lane roads are a lot prettier to drive on, but it sucks when you have no semblance of a grid network and you end up trapped. Love Field and Hobby aren't as major as DFW, IAH or Hartsfield, but they are definitely more usable as a 2nd airport than PDK. If you need to fly back to Atlanta often, I'd give Houston a slight edge. I've flown out of both airports to Atlanta and usually always for cheap. I've flown from Atlanta to DFW a few times and it seemed to end up more expensive. And contrary to popular belief. Southwest isn't the only operator at Hobby. Delta has a few gates at the end of the terminal.
DFW is plenty wealthy with a lot of great areas that are safe with really good schools. Seems like nearly everywhere is incorporated and the individual towns do a good job with instilling some sense of community whereas Atlanta is largely unincorporated. Outside of the city of Houston, the metro area isn't much better. I live in unincorporated Ft Bend county right now. I know there's the MUDs and all that but it's not quite the same. I just kinda live in between Richmond and Cinco Ranch. Close enough to have a Richmond address, but far enough away that I rarely go to Richmond proper. It's really no different from when I lived in unincorporated Gwinnett. Lawrenceville address, but I rarely went into town. In fact, I lived closer to Snellville but I rarely ventured as far south as 78.
DFW is at least hillier than Houston which is at times painfully flat. But, it's not nearly as lush overall as Atlanta or Houston. Parts of Houston are lacking in extensive tree cover like the far westside where I live, but plenty of areas have a lot of trees. N and NE especially with a large amount of pines like Atlanta.
I prefer the location of Houston. Closer to New Orleans, closer to San Antonio, closer to the southern reaches of the Hill Country, marginally closer to Austin but you don't have to deal with 35 which can be an abomination at times. Galveston doesn't have the greatest water, but it's still nice being so close to a beach. And I find the town itself interesting with a lot of history. Also closer to other beach areas like Port Aransas and S Padre. Outside of DFW, there's not much of anything worth visiting for hours around. Who wants to go to OK City? Yea there's some nice places nearby, but I can't really thing of anything remarkable except to the south around Austin and that's all closer to Houston.
I also prefer the people of Houston. They've just seemed less stuck up/pretentious. Yea on here Houstonians can seem like they have a chip on their shoulder, but living here I've had a great time. I feel more comfortable and relaxed. Lot of pride for the city and a good sense of community. Lot of diversity and people are overall friendly. But it's not like people in Dallas are overtly rude or anything. It's way better than what I experienced for 2 years in Pennsylvania. Houston also seems to have dialed back the obnoxious "Texas pride" a bit (honestly my least favorite thing about Texas). It's still evident, but not as overbearing and in your face. Seems almost like the main focus of pride is on Houston itself which reminds a little bit of Atlanta but maybe not as extreme (I know tons of people in Atlanta that don't give two craps about the state of Georgia). The Med Center in Houston is really impressive. Honestly, I think it's way more impressive as a whole than the Astrodome (sacrilege, I know). Atlanta having the CDC and Emory right there together is nice, but it just doesn't compare in scale. Plus you have all of Rice's campus right there plus some great intown neighborhoods, the zoo, some museums and Hermann Park just to the north. That whole area is nice and really pretty. There are also nice suburbs. I really like the Woodlands but my job isn't anywhere near there. I like Cinco Ranch, especially just east of 99 where it's a little older and you have tree cover. I also really like the Sugarland area.
Both Dallas and Houston are hot hot hot. Don't fool yourself into thinking Atlanta has the same summer. It doesn't. Summers here last longer and are worse. There were plenty of times in Atlanta where I could still go outside and enjoy the outdoors but those days are limited here. Humidity in Houston is almost always worse than Atlanta since it's so close to the gulf. But you still get more days topping 90. Average highs in summer are in the low to mid 90s even with the humidity. And lows rarely drop below 70. In fact, Sugarland airport hasn't dropped below 74 in over a month and there's no urban heat island effect. It still just doesn't cool off much even in the suburbs. And I think Atlanta's park offerings are overall much better, especially in the suburbs like in Gwinnett. I just can't find as many options in Houston with a few exceptions. I do like the bike trails west of downtown along the bayou. But near me there aren't many parks and they're all flat anyway.
Really, I don't think you can wrong with either of them. Personally, I hope to return to Atlanta one day. It's prettier and the weather isn't as freaking hot. Plus my family still lives over there. But I like Dallas and Houston both. I've always liked Dallas since visiting in 2010 and I've really started to like Houston since moving there. They are slightly different. Seems like Houston is more diverse overall and a little less pretentious. Houston still has upscale areas, but I think Dallas offers a little more in that regard. If it matters, QuikTrip is in Dallas but not Houston (where there really isn't a comparable alternative, hell I'd take a RaceTrac). But, Houston has several Bucees nearby which are great.
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