Why is Dallas more image-conscious than the Gulf Coast? (Houston: sales, condo)

[tcualum]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Fort Worth is very laid back and down to earth. It isnt image conscious at all.

They are very different cities.

I agree that Fort Worth and Dallas are very different. I was born in Dallas and grew up there. I then went to TCU where I met my husband. We are now raising our kids in Fort Worth. Dallas is much flashier overall and forward-thinking, sometimes at the detriment of respecting their past. The plastic surgery and bleach blonde is more obvious, although you do see more brunettes in Dallas than you used to. Fort Worth is more family-centered and more conservative. A lot of people from Dallas look down at Fort Worth as country but they are really missing what Fort Worth is all about. Fort Worth takes great pride in its heritage and wishes to preserve it because they feel like it's what makes the city unique. I think Fort Worth is more Western than country and has a down-home feel with lots of friendly people. It feels less rushed than Dallas. Hiding under that charm though is a lot of sophistication. There is a lot of old money in Fort Worth. They may not be as flashy as Dallas but they really support the arts and it shows when you visit the art museums in the museum district and see the incredibly impressive collections there.

That being said, there are a few areas of Fort Worth such as West 7th that feel more like Dallas than traditional Fort Worth. The city is also supporting local artists and musicians more than it used to. Fortress Fest (which was unfortunately postponed) and Main Street Arts Festival are extremely popular. The Fort Worth Public Library has the website Amplify.817.org where you can stream local artists.

[DPatel304]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Fort Worth is very laid back and down to earth. It isnt image conscious at all.

They are very different cities.

Both Fort Worth and Dallas are two large and widely varied cities, it's not really fair to generalize either of them.

People say Dallas is image conscious, but areas like the Cedars, East Dallas, Oak Cliff, and Oak Lawn would disagree with that statement.

[DPatel304]

Originally Posted by tcualum

A lot of people from Dallas look down at Fort Worth as country but they are really missing what Fort Worth is all about.

I've heard this, but I've never actually experienced it in person, and I grew up more on the Dallas side of the metroplex (Garland>Plano>Oak Lawn). I actually really like Fort Worth and don't spend as much time there as I would like, but I don't have anything negative to say about it, same with anyone else that I know.

There does seem to be a bit of a rivalry, but, in my experience, it seems to be more one-sided from the Fort Worth side. That's just my anecdotal experience.

[TheOverdog]

Same could be said about Orange County, California. Credit card, car, and mortgage debt through the ceiling. I'm just saying the culture in Collin County resembles that of Orange County to a surprising degree. Collin County appears to have been Californicated.

Collin County has a huge number of people with very high incomes, just like California, and it has for many decades now. It has never been particularly 'country', at least not since maybe back in the early '70s.



Consumer debt scales linearly with income, so the people are no more indebted than people anywhere else.



To put in actual terms, Plano's median income is slightly higher than Huntington Beach in OC, even though it has 1.5X the population. Frisco TX has slightly higher median income than Newport Beach, even though it has 2X the population. Add that to the lower cost of living comparatively, and the people have money. That doesn't mean that the wealthiest people in Newport Beach are equivalent in wealth to Frisco, no the Newport Beach with a boat and beach front property are way wealthier. but for the majority of the population, Frisco is doing well.


Also comparatively, Los Angeles has slightly higher median income than Ft Worth or Dallas, at 2X-3X the population.

[Jimmy1953]

Originally Posted by tcualum

I agree that Fort Worth and Dallas are very different. I was born in Dallas and grew up there. I then went to TCU where I met my husband. We are now raising our kids in Fort Worth. Dallas is much flashier overall and forward-thinking, sometimes at the detriment of respecting their past. The plastic surgery and bleach blonde is more obvious, although you do see more brunettes in Dallas than you used to. Fort Worth is more family-centered and more conservative. A lot of people from Dallas look down at Fort Worth as country but they are really missing what Fort Worth is all about. Fort Worth takes great pride in its heritage and wishes to preserve it because they feel like it's what makes the city unique. I think Fort Worth is more Western than country and has a down-home feel with lots of friendly people. It feels less rushed than Dallas. Hiding under that charm though is a lot of sophistication. There is a lot of old money in Fort Worth. They may not be as flashy as Dallas but they really support the arts and it shows when you visit the art museums in the museum district and see the incredibly impressive collections there.

That being said, there are a few areas of Fort Worth such as West 7th that feel more like Dallas than traditional Fort Worth. The city is also supporting local artists and musicians more than it used to. Fortress Fest (which was unfortunately postponed) and Main Street Arts Festival are extremely popular. The Fort Worth Public Library has the website Amplify.817.org where you can stream local artists.

Great post! Your post was spot on Froggie! (I'm an old Red Raider and yall are our enemy )

We moved to south Irving in 1965 from West Texas so I love Fort Worth just as much as Dallas.

[LocalPlanner]

Historically, yes the Gulf Coast and Houston have had a reputation from being more culturally laid-back than North Texas (well, Dallas and Collin counties - Fort Worth didn't share the same reputation). However, even around Houston there are places with a very Collin County-like vibe. Most notably, The Woodlands and Kingwood are suburbs with "keeping up with the Jones" reputations.

[tcualum]

Originally Posted by DPatel304

Both Fort Worth and Dallas are two large and widely varied cities, it's not really fair to generalize either of them.

People say Dallas is image conscious, but areas like the Cedars, East Dallas, Oak Cliff, and Oak Lawn would disagree with that statement.

While I agree that they are varied cities, I do believe that cities have cultures and in many ways the cultures of the cities do vary overall once you get away from the areas that feel like suburbia. I will say though that Fort Worth's West 7th feels a lot more like Dallas than Fort Worth and people who live in the Bishops Arts District and North Oak Cliff would feel at home in Fort Worth in the Near Southside and Magnolia neighborhoods.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Fort Worth is very laid back and down to earth. It isnt image conscious at all.

They are very different cities.

Now, not to say that Fort Worth isn't totally image conscious as the city has been getting more national exposure over the last decade and is going with the more "Modern West" look to balance out what the city's image is.

That being said, Fort Worth isn't nearly as flashy and outwardly vocal in that as Dallas is. Austin, as well.

[DPatel304]

Originally Posted by tcualum

While I agree that they are varied cities, I do believe that cities have cultures and in many ways the cultures of the cities do vary overall once you get away from the areas that feel like suburbia. I will say though that Fort Worth's West 7th feels a lot more like Dallas than Fort Worth and people who live in the Bishops Arts District and North Oak Cliff would feel at home in Fort Worth in the Near Southside and Magnolia neighborhoods.

West 7th feels like West Village or Victory Park, but I wouldn't say it 'feels like Dallas', because, as I said, Dallas is a very large and varied city.

I live in Oak Lawn, which is in Dallas, and West 7th feels nothing like where I live.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Collin County has a huge number of people with very high incomes, just like California, and it has for many decades now. It has never been particularly 'country', at least not since maybe back in the early '70s.

.

Until the early 1970s Collin County consisted of two small towns (Plano and McKinney) and a collection of hamlets that were basically farm-market towns (the first time I was ever in Frisco was about 1982 and it was no more than a wide spot in highway 289, with a convenience store, a Laundromat, and a gas station).


Since then Collin County's development has been on the suburban model, so it makes sense that attitudes there today fall into that category. I would say the vast majority of Collin County residents have moved there in the last 20 years, so there really IS no "Collin County culture" derived from the place's history. There was no intermediate stage between "nothing out there but pasture and cotton fields" and "sprawling subdivisions full of identical houses as far as the eye can see".