Why is Houston Better Than Dallas? (Fort Worth, Midland: minimum wage, rich, farm)

[Gandhi the baby deer]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

what do you mean "even back in the day".. Houston is inarguably the more multi cultural of the two cities..

There is a difference between "Multi-cultural center of many of the world's cultures" and "cultural center for the southwest."

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

I don't think either city is.

Of all major American cities, Dallas' regional classification is probably the most difficult to define, but I honestly see it as having much more in common with the South than the Southwest.

Dallas identifies most with the Great Plains in my opinion. Dallas looks North and West for its identity, Houston looks to the East and South.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by peterlemonjello

Houston is not considered part of the Southwest, Dallas arguably is.

Indeed.

Houston is Southern & Gulf Coast.

Dallas is Southern, Southwest, & Midwest. Its at the crossroads really.

The only true Southwestern cities in Texas are all located west of I-35. San Antonio & Austin are included.

[Gandhi the baby deer]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

I don't think either city is.

Of all major American cities, Dallas' regional classification is probably the most difficult to define, but I honestly see it as having much more in common with the South than the Southwest.

The North Texas region is and has always been the regional center for all the states surrounding Texas. As a center of distribution, it has surpassed Atlanta, is overtaking Toronto, and its potential viewed as similar in scale to Chicago. Chicago today has over a billion square feet of distribution space.

This might seem insignificant, but just consider how, in the not too distant future, both the populatons of the metropolitan areas of North Texas and Houston are expected to surpass that of Chicago while the combined populations of San Antonio and Austin are expected to surpass that of the metropolitan area of Boston?

[Spade]

Originally Posted by peterlemonjello

Dallas identifies most with the Great Plains in my opinion. Dallas looks North and West for its identity, Houston looks to the East and South.

Agreed with this. It's why there is a growing connection between Kansas City and Dallas.

[Gandhi the baby deer]

Originally Posted by peterlemonjello

Dallas identifies most with the Great Plains in my opinion. Dallas looks North and West for its identity, Houston looks to the East and South.

Huh? Look at a map. Notice how things start getting green east of Dallas and brown west of Fort Worth. Each of those cities even sit on different geological strata. The area almost immediately west of Fort Worth begins a gradual rise to the high plains and the mountains of West Texas to the extent that it becomes more and more arid. In contrast, the area east of Dallas begins a gradual fall into the valley, lowlands, and swamps of the Mississippi.

Dallas has always had to create its resources while Houston has always benefited more from its inherited natural resource of being a coastal city with a seaport. You can't have your cake and eat it to. If you excel too much in one area, you are always going to be deficient in others. Unfortunately for boom and bust Houston, it excels way too much today in the oil and gas industry.

[Gandhi the baby deer]

Originally Posted by Spade

Agreed with this. It's why there is a growing connection between Kansas City and Dallas.

What would that growing connection between Kansas City and Dallas be? I would think there is a regional war going on between Kansas City and St. Louis. Both of those cities would seem to share the distribution duties for the areas surrounding them.

There would seem to be a kinship between Wichita, Kansas and Fort Worth with both of those cities being big in the aerospace industry.

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by Gandhi the baby deer

Unfortunately for boom and bust Houston, it excels way too much today in the oil and gas industry.

Huh? The city that was the last metro into the recession, and the first one out of the recession relies way too much on oil and gas? The same city that is home to the largest medical center in the world?

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by peterlemonjello

Dallas identifies most with the Great Plains in my opinion. Dallas looks North and West for its identity, Houston looks to the East and South.

I'm sorry, but I see way too much southern influence in Dallas. South Dallas is a huge area, and there's no question about which region of the country it has the most in common with.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by Gandhi the baby deer

Huh? Look at a map. Notice how things start getting green east of Dallas and brown west of Fort Worth. Each of those cities even sit on different geological strata. The area almost immediately west of Fort Worth begins a gradual rise to the high plains and the mountains of West Texas to the extent that it becomes more and more arid. In contrast, the area east of Dallas begins a gradual fall into the valley, lowlands, and swamps of the Mississippi.

Dallas has always had to create its resources while Houston has always benefited more from its inherited natural resource of being a coastal city with a seaport. You can't have your cake and eat it to. If you excel too much in one area, you are always going to be deficient in others. Unfortunately for boom and bust Houston, it excels way too much today in the oil and gas industry.

I have trouble understanding your points.