Houston vs. Dallas (San Antonio, Fort Worth, Arlington: wildlife, acre, love)

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

More like a mini-Los Angeles. Especially in the Inner Loop and points west.

whatever it is, I like Houston's direction, and I doubt it is going to instantly densify.

I reckon it will possess the mix that I like for at least 20 years more.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

They've been saying that for 10+ years now. Building more towers won't help the current ones fill up, either. Too much speculation building in Dallas.

Houston is where the description "see-through building" was first used.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Houston is where the description "see-through building" was first used.

Yep, when Houston was in its speculation building phase. It's now more fiscally conservative. Can't say the same for Dallas.

[HtownLove]

The score

Dallas: 4789653
Houston 4789653

A tie.
They are both great cities.

Neither much better or much worse than the other.

Together they appeal to half the state

[DANNYY]

Houston is the description where "downtown rejuvenation" was first used (In Texas):

I'll take out and put in excerpts of what they were saying, so it would save us all time from going to the link, etc... and so that way I know people will actually read it. Plus Downtown + Midtown are both connected, so this is about both of them.

Since 1995, $4.4 billion in projects were completed in downtown, with $839 million in work currently under construction, according to Laura Van Ness, director of business development of Central Houston Inc. Another $1.5 billion worth of projects are in pre-development and design, she says.

An excerpt:

Site work has begun on MainPlace, a 46-story, 1 million-square-foot office tower located at 811 Main. The project, being developed by Hines Interests, includes a nine-level parking garage with 1,130 parking spaces. It is slated for completion in late 2010 or early 2011.

Another excerpt:

Overlooking the new 12-acre Discovery Green Park will be the Discovery Tower, a 31-story Class A, 871,000-square-foot office tower with a 10-level parking garage. Hess Corp. will relocate from Allen Center to be the sole tenant in the building, hence the planned name change to Hess Tower. Developed by Trammell Crow Co., the project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2010.

Another excerpt:

Perhaps one of the largest developments to come downtown’s way in some time is the $200 million Houston Pavilions at 1201 Fannin. An urban entertainment and retail hub occupying 700,000 square feet on three city blocks, Houston Pavilions landed a major office tenant in NRG Energy Inc. and is currently 82 percent leased.
“We expect to be fully leased by this time next year,” says Geoffrey Jones, co-developer of the project.
Other tenants include House of Blues, Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge, Forever 21, Books-A-Million and several restaurants including McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant and Yao Restaurant and Bar.

Another excerpt:

Located at 1400 McKinney, the project is Houston’s first, new downtown high-rise luxury apartment residences in over 40 years. Centered on the west side of Discovery Green Park, the 37-story property is being developed by Houston-based developer Marvy Finger. So far, the 346-unit property is 45 percent occupied and 52 percent leased.

Another excerpt:

The new park has also attracted a new player in the hospitality industry in Embassy Suites Hotel, the first privately developed, full-service hotel built from the ground up in downtown in the past 25 years. The 19-story, 262-room property, at 1515 Dallas, is adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Hilton Americas–Houston and Discovery Green.
Other downtown projects in recent years include an expansion of Bayou Place and the construction of a number of parking garages around the Central Business District.

Another excerpt:

Matt Thibodeaux, executive director of the Midtown Management District, notes that in 1995, there were only 1,000 residents in Midtown. Today, that number has soared past 20,000.
In 1995, there was over $500 million in taxable property compared with $1 billion worth today.
“That’s why we’re one of the most successful reinvestment zones in the city and maybe even the state,” Thibodeaux says.

Another excerpt:

Much of the development in Midtown has been apartments or town homes. Under construction are 186 luxury apartments being built by Jonathon Farb and town homes by Camden Development Inc.

Source: Downtown changes with times as projects come to fruition - Houston Business Journal

List of Downtown Projects:
Downtown Houston - History of Construction Projects Since 1995

[ladarron]

Which city has the best zoo?

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by ladarron

Which city has the best zoo?

That's subjective. Dallas I believe has the larger Zoo, but I don't think they beat out San Antonio & Houston on traffic to the zoo.

I'll look into it to be sure though.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by OmShahi

That's subjective. Dallas I believe has the larger Zoo, but I don't think they beat out San Antonio & Houston on traffic to the zoo.

I'll look into it to be sure though.

The zoo in Fort Worth is better

SA zoo in a pretty area but the exhibits leave much to desire

[Exult.Q36]

Originally Posted by ladarron

Which city has the best zoo?

Fort Worth has the best zoo. Its the only zoo in Texas that can claim being a top 5 zoo in the country.

[ladarron]

Originally Posted by kdogg817

Fort Worth has the best zoo. Its the only zoo in Texas that can claim being a top 5 zoo in the country.

Dallas is getting there, the new 11-acre Giants of the Savanna exhibit is really nice. The Dallas Zoo covers 106-acres making it the largest zoo in Texas. The Dallas Zoo also has the largest statue in Texas.

The largest statue in Texas
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Dallas_Zoo_entrance.jpg/450px-Dallas_Zoo_entrance.jpg (broken link)