Dallas Skyline(WOW)Yes another Dallas to Houston comparison thread! (Fort Worth: subdivisions, campus)

[savanite]

Originally Posted by MobileDave

I would personally love to see Dallas extend to the south. They could completely start from scratch and build the area however they would like.

The point about trees and greenery is a valid one. I was given the opportunity to move to Colorado for work a while back so I was taking a bunch mini trips to get a grasp of the area. One thing I noticed is how much I would miss Houston's vegetation and rain that I've become so accustomed to. There's just something about the greenery and trees of Memorial Park, The Heights and so on that you can't get anywhere else in Texas if you still want to live in a big city.

Like they say, there's no place like home.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by marcopolo2000

No one cares about buses and HOV lanes. Thats part of the problem when it comes to Houston's inadequate transit system.

How are having buses, Park and Rides, and HOV lanes part of the problem? Why do people think having more rail means that the system is better? Those PnR lots are packed on the weekdays. Both metro areas are pretty bad when it comes to transit, but the Houston area has a slightly higher percentage of residents use transit than DFW, plus it is more accessible. With the layout, the potential for high rail ridership is higher in Houston and I wish Metro and the city would get their head out of their ass and get more commuter and light rail.

[savanite]

Originally Posted by Trae713

How are having buses, Park and Rides, and HOV lanes part of the problem? Why do people think having more rail means that the system is better? Those PnR lots are packed on the weekdays. Both metro areas are pretty bad when it comes to transit, but the Houston area has a slightly higher percentage of residents use transit than DFW, plus it is more accessible. With the layout, the potential for high rail ridership is higher in Houston and I wish Metro and the city would get their head out of their ass and get more commuter and light rail.

One problem I see with Light rail expansion in Houston is that the metro is already pretty centralized. Dallas works a little better because there are decentralized nodes with a lot of potential traffic between them. For example, downtown to Las Colinas. Houston can actually get away with light rail entirely within the loop, or at most just outside it for the Galleria-Post Oak corridor.

Commuter rail may be an option, but the existing express bus service along priority right of way already works pretty well, so there may be no incremental gain from converting them to rail.

A southeast commuter rail line could work pretty well, but I have my doubts about a Missouri City to Fannin line, just because the extra traffic would horribly congest the Red line, either that or traffic on the commuter line would dwindle and not justify the service.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by savanite

One problem I see with Light rail expansion in Houston is that the metro is already pretty centralized. Dallas works a little better because there are decentralized nodes with a lot of potential traffic between them. For example, downtown to Las Colinas. Houston can actually get away with light rail entirely within the loop, or at most just outside it for the Galleria-Post Oak corridor.

Commuter rail may be an option, but the existing express bus service along priority right of way already works pretty well, so there may be no incremental gain from converting them to rail.

A southeast commuter rail line could work pretty well, but I have my doubts about a Missouri City to Fannin line, just because the extra traffic would horribly congest the Red line, either that or traffic on the commuter line would dwindle and not justify the service.

Bingo

Houston is the centralized city where Dallas is only one half of a metro. Even if METRO keeps rail inside the loop it would still see higher ridership than DART.

As much as I would like to see a line running all the way to IAH, with Hobby being an internatonial airport now it wouldn't be a first priority to build one out that far.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by savanite

Well, it's true that there is a lot of grassland in the North Texas region, but there is a lot of woodland, as well, such as in the watersheds, and riverine bottomland. And also, the thick forest known as the Cross Timbers region bisects the DFW area, going thru places such as Arlington, Southlake, Denton, Euless, parts of Irving, etc. The Cross Timbers forest, east and west branches, is about 40 miles wide, and extends about 200 miles north and south, through North Texas and Oklahoma.

The Cross Timbers forest actually became a natural defensive boundary , protecting the local tribes from the maurading horsemen to the west. The Cross Timbers were so thick, you couldn't "cross" them.

Outside of the Cross Timbers forest, it seems that the North Texas Prairie is about 1/3 woodland and 2/3 grassland.

The Houston area touches the pine forests at its northern edge, but is predominantly on the Gulf Coastal plain, and is not particularly forested, especially in its southern reaches.

Within the built up urban areas, Dallas and Houston seem to have the same degree of leafy suburbs with planted street trees, and urban areas with ornamental trees on the sidewalks.

I've personally seen tall pine trees all the way down in Clear Lake. Though Houston's north & east sides are obviously the most forested, there are still lots of trees down closer to the Gulf. Lake Jackson is very wooded for being on the coastal plains.

Lake Jackson



Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed




Brazosport College

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

I've personally seen tall pine trees all the way down in Clear Lake. Though Houston's north & east sides are obviously the most forested, there are still lots of trees down closer to the Gulf. Lake Jackson is very wooded.

Lake Jackson

Those look like the same trees found in Dallas...Even Dallas has some Taller trees than that sparse picture you posted.

The Trinity Floodplain:

[Nairobi]

The pine and oak/hardwood forests extend well into Houston proper. Those pictures Matt posted were hideously poor examples, and I agree that they could have easily been Dallas.

...but Dallas has nothing like the pictures below. In some, you can't even see how tall the trees actually are, though.

http://activerain.com/image_store/up...3286621381.jpg

http://www.pgal.com/media/portfolio/...olf_Course.jpg

http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/uplo...Jan%202012.jpg

http://dunhillhomes.com/images/amberwood1.jpg

http://www.houstontomorrow.org/image...rk-325x294.jpg

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

The pine and oak/hardwood forests extend well into Houston proper. Those pictures Matt posted were hideously poor examples, and I agree that they could have easily been Dallas.

...but Dallas has nothing like the pictures below. In some, you can't even see how tall the trees actually are, though.

http://activerain.com/image_store/up...3286621381.jpg

http://www.pgal.com/media/portfolio/...olf_Course.jpg

http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/uplo...Jan%202012.jpg

http://dunhillhomes.com/images/amberwood1.jpg

http://www.houstontomorrow.org/image...rk-325x294.jpg

The only pictures that didnt look like dallas in your bunch is the last two.

Turtle Creek:




Kiest Park in Oak Cliff:



Dallas Trinity Trails Coombs Creek:



The Katy Trail:

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

The pine and oak/hardwood forests extend well into Houston proper. Those pictures Matt posted were hideously poor examples, and I agree that they could have easily been Dallas.

...but Dallas has nothing like the pictures below. In some, you can't even see how tall the trees actually are, though.

http://activerain.com/image_store/up...3286621381.jpg

http://www.pgal.com/media/portfolio/...olf_Course.jpg

http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/uplo...Jan%202012.jpg

http://dunhillhomes.com/images/amberwood1.jpg

http://www.houstontomorrow.org/image...rk-325x294.jpg

Do you even know where Lake Jackson is?

It is 1 hour south of Houston, but still within the Houston/Galveston metro region.

I bet you've never even been there before.

When did I say those pictures were prime examples of being in Houston proper?

For being in Houston's southern most reaches of the metro & less than 10 miles from the beach I think Lake Jackson is very wooded & that's coming from a native East Texan who knows woods when he sees them.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

The only pictures that didnt look like dallas in your bunch is the last two.

Turtle Creek:




Kiest Park in Oak Cliff:



Dallas Trinity Trails Coombs Creek:



The Katy Trail:

Like I said, you can't really tell exactly how tall those trees are. In each pic (and in many neighborhoods in Houston), you're looking at an average tree height of anywhere from 50 to 80 feet. Dallas does NOT have that.