Which Texas City could reach world class status first. (Houston: theater, university)

[Komeht]

Dallas has best potential, it has a vision and a civic and community leaders that seem to desire this. They're well under way to transforming the rather sadly neglected downtown into something resembling an interesting city. It has great plans to connect downtown/uptown/victory park into a cohesive CBD. There is really interesting development going on in the southside. It has all the resources in the world to execute on the vision and the momentum seems to be there. If the Trinity plan comes together and actually gets built, Dallas could achieve world class status in a century. What it lacks is any kind of natural beauty.

Houston like Dallas has every resource in the world to do tremendous things and it is making great strides, but the focus is far more diffused and not nearly as cohesive as Dallas. Even worse than Dallas, 90% of it is just plain butt ugly.

Austin has tremendous natural appeal and occupies the best part of Texas. It is seat to the best university and Capitol and seems to attract young creatve types by the 1000s. And for whatever reason seems to be an "it" city that attracts tremendous interest everywhere. But it really lacks a sense of greatness and people seem to be content and even prefer to keep Austin set in neutral or even reverse. It does not have nearly the economy of Dallas or Houston and no where near a financial center. It could one day be a world class city, but maybe 200 years from now..it is not on that tregectory at the moment.

San Antonio has no hope whatsoever.

[texantodd]

I don't know that any Texas city has the potential. In the discussion of Houston vs Dallas, Houston has a far better quality of dining and theater among other things. However, as you point out Houston is butt ugly and offers little in the way of tourist attractions. I don't know that either will ever have anything that make them world-class cities in the sense of being highly respected destinations and revered places to live. Those types of cities are few and far between ... Paris, Rome, London, Tokyo, New York, Los Angelas ... Sorry, personally I don't forsee any Texas city being thought of in that same light, but I don't think that we need to either.

[Johnhw2]

Who cares about world class cities besides urban planners and tourists

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by texantodd

I don't know that any Texas city has the potential. In the discussion of Houston vs Dallas, Houston has a far better quality of dining and theater among other things. However, as you point out Houston is butt ugly and offers little in the way of tourist attractions. .

Theater, for sure. As for dining, thats only really applicable if youre comparing the city of Houston and the city of Dallas. By the time you throw in the inner ring burbs of both, Houston has a slight edge, but its minimal. The dining in both Dallas and Houston is top notch. The difference is that Houston's options are more centralized, whereas Dallas' are more spread out (best fine dining, Mexican, and Central American in city, best Asian ethnic in suburbs, etc.).

As to answer the OP, weve been through this too many times. Both have elements of being world class but niether are completely world class. If I had to pick one, it would be Houston because of its superiority in the fine arts, museums, and theater. They are pretty much a tie on everything else in terms of offerings. As mentioned I think Houston has a big lead in fine arts and a slight edge on food, Dallas has a slight edge on shopping and nightlife.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by justme02

Theater, for sure. As for dining, thats only really applicable if youre comparing the city of Houston and the city of Dallas. By the time you throw in the inner ring burbs of both, Houston has a slight edge, but its minimal. The dining in both Dallas and Houston is top notch. The difference is that Houston's options are more centralized, whereas Dallas' are more spread out (best fine dining, Mexican, and Central American in city, best Asian ethnic in suburbs, etc.).

As to answer the OP, weve been through this too many times. Both have elements of being world class but niether are completely world class. If I had to pick one, it would be Houston because of its superiority in the fine arts, museums, and theater. They are pretty much a tie on everything else in terms of offerings. As mentioned I think Houston has a big lead in fine arts and a slight edge on food, Dallas has a slight edge on shopping and nightlife.

The question isn't which one is there. Neither are. The question is which could get there first. And as for that I give Dallas a big edge.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

Who cares about world class cities besides urban planners and tourists

3/4s of Texas live in these cities - to the extent they are great cities we all benefit.

[Alkonost]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Dallas has best potential, it has a vision and a civic and community leaders that seem to desire this. They're well under way to transforming the rather sadly neglected downtown into something resembling an interesting city. It has great plans to connect downtown/uptown/victory park into a cohesive CBD. There is really interesting development going on in the southside. It has all the resources in the world to execute on the vision and the momentum seems to be there. If the Trinity plan comes together and actually gets built, Dallas could achieve world class status in a century. What it lacks is any kind of natural beauty.

Houston like Dallas has every resource in the world to do tremendous things and it is making great strides, but the focus is far more diffused and not nearly as cohesive as Dallas. Even worse than Dallas, 90% of it is just plain butt ugly.

Austin has tremendous natural appeal and occupies the best part of Texas. It is seat to the best university and Capitol and seems to attract young creatve types by the 1000s. And for whatever reason seems to be an "it" city that attracts tremendous interest everywhere. But it really lacks a sense of greatness and people seem to be content and even prefer to keep Austin set in neutral or even reverse. It does not have nearly the economy of Dallas or Houston and no where near a financial center. It could one day be a world class city, but maybe 200 years from now..it is not on that tregectory at the moment.

San Antonio has no hope whatsoever.

IMHO Dallas has already achieved world class status whether it's being recognized as such or not. I haven't been to the other major cities in Texas yet, but plan to. It's a far more cosmopolitan place than some would like to admit, and the quality of life in DFW is better than NYC.

NYC lacks natural beauty but it's a world-class city. I wouldn't worry to much about the scenery being a DQ.

[TXTwizter]

Where have you been? Dallas ALREADY is a Alpha Minor World Class city!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Dallas has best potential, it has a vision and a civic and community leaders that seem to desire this. They're well under way to transforming the rather sadly neglected downtown into something resembling an interesting city. It has great plans to connect downtown/uptown/victory park into a cohesive CBD. There is really interesting development going on in the southside. It has all the resources in the world to execute on the vision and the momentum seems to be there. If the Trinity plan comes together and actually gets built, Dallas could achieve world class status in a century. What it lacks is any kind of natural beauty.

Houston like Dallas has every resource in the world to do tremendous things and it is making great strides, but the focus is far more diffused and not nearly as cohesive as Dallas. Even worse than Dallas, 90% of it is just plain butt ugly.

Austin has tremendous natural appeal and occupies the best part of Texas. It is seat to the best university and Capitol and seems to attract young creatve types by the 1000s. And for whatever reason seems to be an "it" city that attracts tremendous interest everywhere. But it really lacks a sense of greatness and people seem to be content and even prefer to keep Austin set in neutral or even reverse. It does not have nearly the economy of Dallas or Houston and no where near a financial center. It could one day be a world class city, but maybe 200 years from now..it is not on that tregectory at the moment.

San Antonio has no hope whatsoever.

Please define "World Class City" who is on this list now in your opinion?

I'm already skeptical of your judgment placing DFW somehow as "less ugly" I think you maybe suffering from an inferiority complex about Texas in general. If natural esthetics are important to this classification then cities like New York and London may not make the cut, they have great man-made landmarks and esthetics, but there is little natural beauty to their respective landscapes. And these time frames you are talking about are ridicules.

IMO Houston has already achieved this status for several reasons, it is the center of a world class industry and Houstons international clout is evidenced by the number of consulates and other international activity in the area.

But in the long run is it important either way, and do world class cities care if people think they are world class or not?
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[UTHORNS96]

I think a better title would be which Texas city would become a World Class TOURIST city. Houston and Dallas pretty much have everything else you need to qualify a city as world class. They just lack the world-renown tourist attractions that are iconic to their cities.

For NYC, London, Paris, LA, Chicago you could name ten things easily you want to do when you visit there. For Houston or Dallas, what immediately comes to your mind?

Don't get me wrong, both cities have great things to do, but they just lack those internationally known tourist attractions.