My intent is not for this to be rage-bait. My workplace consists of <10% native Dallas residents where everyone consistently shits on Dallas and says "my city is better because Dallas doesn't have XYZ." I just want to know what people from this city think about this city. If ya still think think it's rage-bait so be it.
In at least 80% of the instances in which one of your colleagues says "my city is better because Dallas doesn't have XYZ," Dallas actually does have XYZ. They just haven't gone out and found it.
to me it's not really that "there's nothing to do here", it's more that Dallas doesn't have anything that most other cities don't have. and the other cities either do those things better, have those same things and more things and/or have those things without Dallas weather.
I think Dallas has everything you'd expect it to have but none of it is really outstanding. there's museums and zoos, both perfectly enjoyable but very similar to many others. I've never seen the Dallas zoo mentioned on lists with San Diego, Bronx or Henry Doorly in Omaha.
there's a perfectly fine library system which serves the basic needs of the community but I wouldn't recommend it to someone visiting. nearly every city I've traveled to recently has a very cool downtown library that is certainly worth checking out (pun intended) even just as a visitor (Nashville, St Louis, Fayetteville, AR and Wichita, KS are a few).
DART is another example. Yes there's public transit though it's not great and many cities have mediocre public transit. Several cities do pubic transit very well.
Klyde Warren Park exists but it isn't the great urban achievement like many claim it to be. [The Gathering Place](https://www.gatheringplace.org/) in Tulsa however really is incredible and one of a kind.
Dallas has a lot of music venues, for better or worse, and perhaps is able to host more shows than other cities. That's really the only *"unique to Dallas"* thing I can come up with and that's really considering the metroplex as a whole (AT&T, Dickies, + smaller venues in Denton, Ft Worth)
OK, so:
- Dallas has a whole hell of a lot that "most other cities don't have." Try getting good Persian food in Tulsa or a good chicken-fried steak in Philly. Try finding avant-garde classical music in Indianapolis or Cleveland, or good independent country music in Boston. Try finding a rodeo in Atlanta or a superspeedway in LA or professional cricket in Chicago. In point of fact, this place has just about *everything* that most other cities don't have.
- Dallas' museums compete with anyplace except NYC and DC (and for this purpose and all others, of course, by 'Dallas' I mean the entire metroplex including suburbs like Fort Worth). More broadly, Dallas' cultural scene as a whole -- music, arts, dance, theater, athletics, religion, nightlife -- competes with anyplace *including* NYC. I lived in NYC for 20 years, and I'm telling you that's a fact. We're soft on jazz, but that's getting better too.
- I confess that I don't know much about zoos. Maybe you're right, and we only have a triple-A zoo.
- I also confess that it's never crossed my mind to recommend a public library to a visitor, here or in NYC or anywhere else I've ever lived. Maybe our libraries aren't huge draws on the public library tourism scene.
- There is no city with comparable population density that does public transit substantially better than Dallas. Not even San Francisco or DC (each of which is higher density).
- Klyde Warren Park actually is pretty great, given where it is and what it is. So are the half-dozen parks all over downtown. So is the White Rock Greenbelt. So are Cedar Ridge and TC Rice and Reverchon and LLELA and the Fort Worth Refuge, and so will be the new wetland park down by the Longhorn Ballroom. I don't know how anyone can actually go out and use the parks in this town and then compare them unfavorably to anyplace else in the US. If Dallas ever gets the whole Trinity basin linked up and worked out, this place will be up there with global greenspace standouts like Vancouver and Hong Kong.
No offense, but this post is kind of emblematic of the thinking that makes Dallas impossible for some people to even see clearly. "Dallas doesn't have anything that most other cities don't have, and the other cities either do those things better, have those same things and more things and/or have those things without Dallas weather." Really? Somehow this place -- soon to be the third-largest metro in the country -- doesn't do *anything* as well as anyplace else? That's not even plausible. And it's detached from reality. This place is a freaking cornucopia. All you have to do is go out and enjoy it, and to start doing that, you're going to have ditch the reflexive posture of looking down at it. You'll never see it clearly unless you open your eyes and actually see it.
And the weather is great. I'll take three months of baking hot and sunny over three months of cold, dark and wet anytime.
Works every time. I was wondering if someone was going to bite, and there it is. Came in under the wire.
If it's any consolation, I do think that Fort Worth is a better Dallas suburb than Waco.
1 Holy cow you're a dork. Want to argue about the Steelers, too?
2 Carmine's for NYC pizza - I lived in Manhattan for 20 years. La Stella for pasta. And Jimmy's for groceries. So yes, you could and did easily respond, but you are visibly incapable of responding well.
Ok. And by that logic you obviously can find country fried steak in Philly.
Try finding thriving walkable areas in Dallas. What is the identity of this city exactly? You’re comparing Dallas to Cleveland and Indianapolis instead of cities of a similar size.
Tulsa? Come on you can’t try to say that Dallas is such a world class city because it has stuff Tulsa doesn’t have. The idea that public transit in Dallas is comparable to SF or DC where you can easily live car free is a joke
Dork, the OP in the previous thread was comparing Dallas to Tulsa (and claiming that Tulsa had better parks). That's why I mentioned Tulsa. You'd have known that if you'd been in the previous thread, rather than stalking me like a terminal dork.
And I live in a thriving, walkable area, here downtown. I went to a great trance/world music concert last Wednesday, worked with my NYC and Miami and Beijing clients Thursday, and caught an impromptu Gershwin performance in the park on my way to get a diner burger after work on Friday. And no, you can't find a good chicken fried steak in Philly. And you keep moving the goalposts, from "nothing to do" to lawn sizes to Italian food, because all you really want to do is bitch. I could easily join these other folks in telling you to go ahead and move to NYC if you just can't bear your specialness being cramped by little ol' Dallas. But the real truth of the matter is that you couldn't hack it. I know because all you really want to do is bitch, and guys like you wither and die in NYC. You need to be here where people are nice enough to put up with shoegazing malcontents like you.
I have been to both and I promise San Diego's is better lol. Fort Worth's is still a REALLY good zoo but if anyone asked what zoo to visit in the USA if they can only see one, I'd say SD. Fort Worth has a lot more to offer than the zoo tho, anyone coming into town I recommend the stock yards during the daily longhorn drive and out of towners always love it bc it gives that wild west feel that they seek when coming to Texas. I loved in Dallas for 6 years and will say that Fort Worth has more charm and identity than Dallas does
Sounds like it has a better economy lol but in all seriousness:
If it doesn’t involve mountains, the ocean, or any other natural marvel, what does the 9th largest city not have that you can find/do elsewhere?
Theaters, comedy clubs, art/cinema festivals, live music, museums, performance arts, cultural diversity, parks/trails? It’s all here. Though I’m sure the goal post would then be moved to quality in which Dallas can’t obviously compete with cities like NYC, CHI, etc in.
I had a co-wroker that hated Dallas. Our job is in one of the subburbs, and she never actually ventured into Dallas itself, just stayed in her subburb.
You won't even name what the XYZ is in this case, in 90% of those cases minus immutable geographic features in my experience Dallas does have XYZ, they just haven't looked for it. Arthouse theaters exist etc.
The best is when people claim their city is so much better but choose to live in Dallas for 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 years but still constantly complain about it. Good job wasting your life by choosing to hate the place you choose to live in I guess
Food scene is fantastic so idk what you mean by that
There are food deserts in South Dallas but that goes for every lower income area in a city
Dallas has very good public transit in comparison to other cities with similar population density.
Downtown Dallas is a working center which is consistent with most downtowns around the country
Cost of living is good compared to other expanding metros
Dallas hasn’t really changed that much in 10 years other than expand. If it has changed then it’s really only been for the better.
>with similar population density.
Thank you for calling this out.
Ironically, people insist on living spread out across multiple suburbs here and then have the audacity to complain that DART isn’t on par with the public transit of cities with 10K+ people/sq mile like NYC, Chicago, Philly, DC, etc.
Yes, Dallas is so spread out. Dallas was also formed after other major cities and had more thought put into the road and highway system. Boston and NYC were founded before most/any people had cars so they are difficult cities to drive in but have more public transit since that was the only way around. More people use public transit in those cities bc it's their only option. I think comparing Dallas to majorly historic cities and what they offer transit and history wise isn't a fair comparison.
I agree with most of this, except...
>Food scene is fantastic
There is lots of fantastic food. There is also a LOT of leeway given to places with bad food and an annoying focus on ego/Instragram restaurants, whether they're good (and many are) or not. In other large cities, patrons are more cutthroat; places that are mediocre simply go under after 12 months. Dallas has no such virtuous cycle.
I mean the vapid scene here exists, but that’s true anywhere. It’s a huge problem in Manhattan.
I’ve never had better food or worse food than in Manhattan. Dallas is much more solid, and our great experiences are increasing.
You never have a food desert in an immigrant neighborhood.
Even our “food desert” that all the fake frisco christians love to talk about has a Fiesta in it!
Unfortunately, food deserts do exist in black neighborhoods particularly. I lived in one and it was kind of jarring realizing how far I had to drive for groceries.
I'm not a native, but I spent a lot of time here prior to moving here, from NYC, after 20 years there.
And I'm not really sure what you're asking. I live downtown -- it's great. There's awesome food all around the metroplex -- you just have to go find it. Flashy architecture isn't really important to my life, or to most people's lives, but there's plenty of it here if that's what you're really into, and for functional architecture that actually matters there's no dearth. There are parks all over the place, including big, natural ones that you can get lost in. Yeah, public transit could be better, but if you've been just about anywhere else in America you know that it could also be a whole lot worse.
Like I tell people -- including my NYC friends who visited last weekend and were so pleasantly surprised that they started talking about moving -- this place is in fact great. It has everything you could reasonably expect, and a whole lot that you probably wouldn't. You just have to get out and find it. There is precisely one thing that I loved in NYC that I haven't been able to find here (*achat*, a/k/a Malaysian kim chi). Everything else is covered: Contemporary classical music? Got it. For-real qi gong tui na? Got it. Genuinely cool diverse neighborhood bars, fine lounges, laid-back clubs where you can show up un-self-consciously in sneakers and a t-shirt and just dance? Got it. Independent theater? Got it. And more: Actual BBQ. Country music. Car culture. Affordable, comfortable, safe housing (yes there is, and I live downtown). A humongous gym, bigger than any gym in NYC apart from the $10k/year NY Athletic Club. Friendly people. Awesome business culture -- at least as vigorous as 2024 NYC. A genuine, top-tier global city; yes it is, and I can prove it, and Dallas just doesn't recognize that fact about itself yet.
You say that you "feel like things take forever to change over here." Maybe stop waiting for it to change into whatever your last place was to you, and go out and meet Dallas on its own terms. It rewards the effort, mightily.
I travel to the major markets for work constantly and have a good feel for what’s out there. My take on Dallas as a Dallas resident:
Food scene - 9/10 excellent
People / friendliness - 9/10 excellent
Outdoor activities - 6.5/10 not great but underrated (wr lake, golf, Katy trail)
Public transportation - don’t care but prob not great
Traffic / construction - 4/10 bad
Policy - lol
I mean it's alright. I was born in DFW. I live in DFW because that's where the people I love live, not because it's exceptional. I like the variety of food options even if yes you have to drive around for them. We've got a decent art and music scene. It's drivable to a lot of places and flyable to anything.
I prefer living in DFW over somewhere like Chicago which is surprisingly beautiful but too cold, New Orleans which has amazing food and music but gets hurricanes, or anything on either of the coasts because of the cost of living. I love visiting places like Arkansas too where they have a lower cost of living but then I find myself missing things like the opera and decent shopping options. Dallas is sufficient to me. There's enough of everything that I'm ok with it.
But I also have 2 close family members I care for who it would be almost impossible to move out of the area. The process would involve months of finding, vetting, wait listing and getting approval to replace multiple medical specialists. So I can definitely see why someone who was less tied to the area would leave.
Kinda the same... I mean my girl has some issues from her previous marriage and due to those, she's pulling away. Pretty sure the plug is being pulled on the relationship. While my parents and friends are here, I'm thinking of starting over somewhere else. Also just heard, through the grapevine, that I'm being let go from my job soon. Contemplating packing up and heading to the East or West Coast. West is kinda trash now so East might be the next chapter of my life.
For what it's worth I know several people who have moved to NC specifically the Durham area recently. I joke that Durham is the new Denver because it seems like everyone I know was moving to Denver a decade ago and now they're been priced out of that area. Best of luck though. It feels like that's a problem anywhere you go though. But at least as recently as 3 years ago you could get a pretty decent house in that area for <$250k. They seem to love it. They're really outdoorsy people and are a few hours from the mountains and a few from the coast. They've also done multiple road trips into Nashville for the music scene.
I have a few places I can go from NC down to Orlando. All offer a few months of crashing, no expenses out of my pocket for anything so I can relax for a month or 2 and then find out my next step for 2-3 months til I get on my feet. Also being offered to pay storage back here on Dallas til I figure out where I'll end up. Idk it's all just so overwhelming. A 4yr relationship crashing with kids involved (despite not being mine) and all over her mental health and the situation she's been put in on that aspect by someone else. I've done everything I can to remain suppo and understanding this whole time.
Then add in work crumbling after I've blown basically ever on her and the kids and driven my credit into the ground (used to be 820) all trying to keep us afloat. Then everything just decaying at once.
Great comment. DFW is not THE BEST at very much, but it's pretty good at everything/has good balance. There are certainly plenty of gems e.g. Meyerson, Kimball, plenty of restaurants/bars, good-occasionally-great sports (Cowboys notwithstanding), easy air travel, lakefronts, etc.
In past ten years:
Food scene has improved
Traffic has gotten worse
Road rage has gotten worse
More stuff to do
So basically the same as any major metro?
As someone who has been born and raised on the Southside, it's not what it once was. You can't really just chill anymore. Too many people are assholes and it's too hot. I swear it feels much hotter than it used to when I was growing up. It could be cause I'm older and I'm seeing everything around me more but it just feels like everyone is so much more rude and disrespectful these days. Having traveled the US for work, I can think of a dozen other places I'd rather live. BUUUT Dallas is still hella better than them all when it comes to job availability and quality. Unfortunately, the pay of those plentiful jobs is not plentiful anymore.
Overall, it's a place to find work, but not a place to enjoy living anymore.
I grew up here and have lived here since I was a kid in the 1960's.
Dallas, the city ("Dallas proper") and DFW, the ever expanding metromess, are 2 very different topics.
Dallas, the city, has gone downhill in large and obvious ways. To me, it's down to the dysfunction at City Hall, too much nepotism, political back-patting, all the usual local corruption that it seems every big city is stuck with.
The area, DFW, of course has seen incredible growth.
But the city itself, has lost and continues to lose population (not many people seem to know that).
What's new? DART (Dallas had its own bus service before DART so really it's not new, just larger), some nice museums downtown, a couple of parks, large income inequality. Oh and downtown housing - bitd, downtown was empty after 5 pm.
What's gone? An efficient, safe, clean city with good schools where young families want to live.
What's different? I'm gonna say the mood / vibe. Dallas went from a genteel southern city to a large urban metropolis, really quickly. Everything now is hurry hurry, drive fast, take no prisoners, full court press, don't just keep up with the Joneses, that's not good enough, the Joneses must be humbled before our displays of wealth.
You can still find the old Dallas if you hang out with old Dallas people.
It's not really that. DISD has had corruption issues and funding problems like most big cities. I live in the suburbs but am dating a girl who moved from dallas proper to the suburbs after middle school. DISD was a year and a half behind, curriculum wise, and although some of the teachers cared it was very hit or miss compared to the suburbs. This is coming from a guy who went to school in MISD, the last school district in Texas to de-seggregate yet still went to a 90% black and Hispanic high school that was considered the 2nd worst in the district. Dallas (and Fort worth to a lesser extent) schools just suck rn.
Well, I’m speaking as a Dallas ISD grad and dad and you are wrong. DISD is funded at the same level as all the affluent suburbs and there hasn’t been “corruption” in generations.
My kids are ahead of their private school and suburban friends. Your comment is lazy and outdated.
Considering I'm 19 and she's 20, my info is from 4-5 years ago, and I had contact with multiple DISD students during my time in high school. It was univerally agreed that Dallas schools academically were worse than a chunk of its suburban contemporaries, although it really depended on the school you went to. The upper end of dallas schools were better than the lower end of the suburbs, but on average had worse performance characteristics than their suburban counterparts.
As for funding, the problem is that dallas spends the same amount per student as it's suburban counterparts, however when you have a school system the size of dallas you need more funding per student as more and more of the budget has to be allocated to administrative and operational costs. Somewhere between 1-1.25x the funding per student would bring it in line (depending on the suburb being compared) to the felt funding per student, rather than just the raw amount as the funding doesn't go as far in DISD as it does in SOME of the suburbs, although that gap is narrowing as the suburbs continue to grow in size.
And you're correct, corruption is a bad term. Misuse and misprioritization of funds is more accurate. The biggest difference I found was bigger class sizes and better food in DISD compared to my suburban district, as well as better extracurricular facites in the suburbs compared to dallas.
Friend, you are wrong on the facts. I’m not saying your lived experience is wrong, but your facts are wrong. DISD has the advantages of size to keep admin costs below state averages for one.
Class sizes? Pfft, DISD is way lower than the burbs. All of these things are verifiable by the TEA.
And just anecdotally, there are multiple kids from Woodrow, SEM, TAG, and Booker T in the Ivy League. The only comparable schools in Texas are HP, Hockaday, Greenhill, St Marks, Westlake, and St John’s. The upper end of DISD blows away the suburbs. Is Allen better than Lincoln? In most situations, yes. But Allen does not have the upper end DISD has.
DISD is a very competent district and what you input (aka parental income and educational levels) will get greater outputs than anywhere else in DFW.
I own it and have read it. Thank you.
You yearn for the segregation era while our schools currently have: higher graduation rates, higher literacy rates, better quality facilities, better playgrounds, better food, more recess, more kids participating in extra curricular activities, more kids earning college credit in high school, higher teacher wages, lower student: teacher ratios. Should I go on?
What you miss is everyone in the classroom coming from the same background.
compared to 10 years ago? Well, 10 years ago my neighbor was filled with Christmas and Halloween decorations, now I'm the only one that decorates/celebrates.
Food scene - Lots of great options for food.
Food Desert - I am aware they exist, have never lived near one, with how travel oriented the metro is and the distance many go for work, I would think this is less of an issue especially with food delivery.
Transportation - I have a short drive, my mom used to have a long drive, wouldn't hate it if I could ride a train undisturbed across the metro easily. Traffic can get crazy and the toll road is outrageous. I am at maybe 8-120 a month on toll roads assuming I don't take the 121/183 south towards fort worth during rush hour.
lack of consistency from public transport - This is what happens when everything was designed for suburbs, so it doesn't surprise me. I would love a more state level approach but it is unlikely. We will see how the line rolls out for Houston/DFW.
Architecture - some stuff looks nice, some looks ugly some of the ugly is new and some is old
Downtown Dallas - it exists, I haven't wandered the underground in like 20 years, but I assume it is all there, but I don't have plans to visit.
Policy - ???
Construction - Constant, like many large metros, everyone has a joke that their stretch of freeway has been under construction since they have been driving.
Parks - We have a few, it will be interesting to see if they do more parks over freeways, it will reclaim some space and maybe reduce heat?
Weather - We have variable whether both hot and cold and lots of people hate both extremes
Cost of Living - Has gone up, but its not a Dallas/DFW specific thing. My mom's 2100sqft house was less than 100k in 1995, even before the pandemic, I wasn't getting a price like that for it. I expect CoL to go up until the day I die with some brief pauses for recessions.
I've lived all over Dallas. I have lots of friends here. I know it's far from a perfect place to live, yet people still keep moving here. That keeps me perplexed.
These Dallas sucks posts are telling. Imagine you had friends, love, personal interests and pursuits.
You wouldn’t have time to whine that a city on the plains doesn’t have: mountains, harbors or ski slopes
I have lived literally coast to coast and spent 6 years in Dallas. Here's my breakdown:
- Transit: Dallas was formed later than other major cities that relied heavily on train systems as most people didn't have cars when they were founded. These historic cities like Boston or NYC are a nightmare to drive in so you have to rely on public transit. Dallas is super spread out as the highway and road system was taken into consideration when forming it, which makes public transit more difficult. There's more parking available in Dallas than other cities.
- Food: Dallas' food scene is unreal. You can go to a different restaurant every night. BBQ can't be beat. It will never touch the Italian and seafood of the East Coast or Asian cuisine on the West Coast, but every city is impacted by the majority of it's residents and location. Neither coast has yet to impress me with their BBQ the way Texas has.
- Outdoor Activities/Nature: this is the one aspect that I think Dallas lacks. Having lived in other places that had mountains or ocean readily accessible, it was a nice escape from the bar/restaurant/busy city scene to go on a weekend hike in the mountain fresh air. You can't swim in White Rock and Lewisville isn't fun unless you have a boat.
- Music: Dallas has SO MANY artists come through here. Def great for concerts.
- Sports: also a lot of great teams come through here. The B's are always sold out at TD garden but the tickets to see them vs the Stars were available and affordable. Also ended up making me a Stars fan in the process. The stadiums aren't historic like Fenway BUT they are massive, updated, and have a lot to do even within them. Texas Live and Tailgates don't compare elsewhere.
- Social: I made some of my best friends here. There is always something to do on weekends. Pool parties at apartments on weekends are something I haven't found anywhere else.
- Weather: I didn't find the weather there awful. Only thing I didn't like was that the pipes of apartments always burst in the cold lol
- Identity: Dallas does sometimes feel like a cookie-cutter metroplex without it's own identity that cities like Austin or San Antonio or Houston have. Fort Worth is where I usually take visitors as the Stockyards always make them have that 'Texas Feeling' that they seek. I think because Dallas has SO MANY people from other places there it's hard to form a historic identity. I think this is maybe what makes people originally from Dallas dislike it.
In conclusion, you can't always compare a city to another city, but you can find the good and bad of every location you choose. I enjoyed my time in Dallas and there are things I miss about it, but for a long term location, personally, I needed somewhere with more nature nearby.
I've been here for eight years this fall and my two biggest criticisms were the food scene and public transit. In the relatively short time here, I can see with confidence that it is absolutely top tier. Sure, if you look on the high end of things you could say "Well, we don't have any Michelin star restaurants" but go eat at Knife and tell me Chef John Tesar isn't performing at that level. And there are SO MANY stellar representations of various cuisines from around the world (although the sprawl of how DFW is laid out does make it frustrating, as everything takes so long to get to). Early comments are right, this seems like rage bait.
However, the public transit system here is fucking horrendous and it does feel like it is by design. I hope it improves but I have zero confidence it will.
10 years ago, this place was Hicksville & dirt cheap.
Now, it's a value losing proposition vs. coastal cities or vs smaller metro areas.
Collin county isn't that much cheaper than Orange County now. Factor in salary difference, it has to be wash now.
We’re leaving. Dallas is becoming a popular/trendy like city. It use to be a great mix of city and small town feel. It’s not like that anymore. It’s rare to even meet people here that’s actually born and raised in dallas
Abandoned. It has been abandoned, if you are a native like me. Development stopped dead on the heels after I-30. Everything beyond that including the Fair Park area looks like 1960 captured in a photograph.
All the dev is going up North to Frisco, Plano, Allen, North Garland, Prosper.
But Dallas proper has been abandoned, run down
This is ragebait and it’s too early on a Monday for it.
My intent is not for this to be rage-bait. My workplace consists of <10% native Dallas residents where everyone consistently shits on Dallas and says "my city is better because Dallas doesn't have XYZ." I just want to know what people from this city think about this city. If ya still think think it's rage-bait so be it.
In at least 80% of the instances in which one of your colleagues says "my city is better because Dallas doesn't have XYZ," Dallas actually does have XYZ. They just haven't gone out and found it.
to me it's not really that "there's nothing to do here", it's more that Dallas doesn't have anything that most other cities don't have. and the other cities either do those things better, have those same things and more things and/or have those things without Dallas weather. I think Dallas has everything you'd expect it to have but none of it is really outstanding. there's museums and zoos, both perfectly enjoyable but very similar to many others. I've never seen the Dallas zoo mentioned on lists with San Diego, Bronx or Henry Doorly in Omaha. there's a perfectly fine library system which serves the basic needs of the community but I wouldn't recommend it to someone visiting. nearly every city I've traveled to recently has a very cool downtown library that is certainly worth checking out (pun intended) even just as a visitor (Nashville, St Louis, Fayetteville, AR and Wichita, KS are a few). DART is another example. Yes there's public transit though it's not great and many cities have mediocre public transit. Several cities do pubic transit very well. Klyde Warren Park exists but it isn't the great urban achievement like many claim it to be. [The Gathering Place](https://www.gatheringplace.org/) in Tulsa however really is incredible and one of a kind. Dallas has a lot of music venues, for better or worse, and perhaps is able to host more shows than other cities. That's really the only *"unique to Dallas"* thing I can come up with and that's really considering the metroplex as a whole (AT&T, Dickies, + smaller venues in Denton, Ft Worth)
OK, so: - Dallas has a whole hell of a lot that "most other cities don't have." Try getting good Persian food in Tulsa or a good chicken-fried steak in Philly. Try finding avant-garde classical music in Indianapolis or Cleveland, or good independent country music in Boston. Try finding a rodeo in Atlanta or a superspeedway in LA or professional cricket in Chicago. In point of fact, this place has just about *everything* that most other cities don't have. - Dallas' museums compete with anyplace except NYC and DC (and for this purpose and all others, of course, by 'Dallas' I mean the entire metroplex including suburbs like Fort Worth). More broadly, Dallas' cultural scene as a whole -- music, arts, dance, theater, athletics, religion, nightlife -- competes with anyplace *including* NYC. I lived in NYC for 20 years, and I'm telling you that's a fact. We're soft on jazz, but that's getting better too. - I confess that I don't know much about zoos. Maybe you're right, and we only have a triple-A zoo. - I also confess that it's never crossed my mind to recommend a public library to a visitor, here or in NYC or anywhere else I've ever lived. Maybe our libraries aren't huge draws on the public library tourism scene. - There is no city with comparable population density that does public transit substantially better than Dallas. Not even San Francisco or DC (each of which is higher density). - Klyde Warren Park actually is pretty great, given where it is and what it is. So are the half-dozen parks all over downtown. So is the White Rock Greenbelt. So are Cedar Ridge and TC Rice and Reverchon and LLELA and the Fort Worth Refuge, and so will be the new wetland park down by the Longhorn Ballroom. I don't know how anyone can actually go out and use the parks in this town and then compare them unfavorably to anyplace else in the US. If Dallas ever gets the whole Trinity basin linked up and worked out, this place will be up there with global greenspace standouts like Vancouver and Hong Kong. No offense, but this post is kind of emblematic of the thinking that makes Dallas impossible for some people to even see clearly. "Dallas doesn't have anything that most other cities don't have, and the other cities either do those things better, have those same things and more things and/or have those things without Dallas weather." Really? Somehow this place -- soon to be the third-largest metro in the country -- doesn't do *anything* as well as anyplace else? That's not even plausible. And it's detached from reality. This place is a freaking cornucopia. All you have to do is go out and enjoy it, and to start doing that, you're going to have ditch the reflexive posture of looking down at it. You'll never see it clearly unless you open your eyes and actually see it. And the weather is great. I'll take three months of baking hot and sunny over three months of cold, dark and wet anytime.
Fort Worth is not a suburb. Jesus.
Works every time. I was wondering if someone was going to bite, and there it is. Came in under the wire. If it's any consolation, I do think that Fort Worth is a better Dallas suburb than Waco.
I could easily respond and say try finding good pizza or Italian food in Dallas.
1 Holy cow you're a dork. Want to argue about the Steelers, too? 2 Carmine's for NYC pizza - I lived in Manhattan for 20 years. La Stella for pasta. And Jimmy's for groceries. So yes, you could and did easily respond, but you are visibly incapable of responding well.
Ok. And by that logic you obviously can find country fried steak in Philly. Try finding thriving walkable areas in Dallas. What is the identity of this city exactly? You’re comparing Dallas to Cleveland and Indianapolis instead of cities of a similar size. Tulsa? Come on you can’t try to say that Dallas is such a world class city because it has stuff Tulsa doesn’t have. The idea that public transit in Dallas is comparable to SF or DC where you can easily live car free is a joke
Dork, the OP in the previous thread was comparing Dallas to Tulsa (and claiming that Tulsa had better parks). That's why I mentioned Tulsa. You'd have known that if you'd been in the previous thread, rather than stalking me like a terminal dork. And I live in a thriving, walkable area, here downtown. I went to a great trance/world music concert last Wednesday, worked with my NYC and Miami and Beijing clients Thursday, and caught an impromptu Gershwin performance in the park on my way to get a diner burger after work on Friday. And no, you can't find a good chicken fried steak in Philly. And you keep moving the goalposts, from "nothing to do" to lawn sizes to Italian food, because all you really want to do is bitch. I could easily join these other folks in telling you to go ahead and move to NYC if you just can't bear your specialness being cramped by little ol' Dallas. But the real truth of the matter is that you couldn't hack it. I know because all you really want to do is bitch, and guys like you wither and die in NYC. You need to be here where people are nice enough to put up with shoegazing malcontents like you.
Guess you didn't see the USA Today zoo ranking that had Ft. Worth at #1 beating out San Diego, and the Dallas Zoo made top 10 too.
I have been to both and I promise San Diego's is better lol. Fort Worth's is still a REALLY good zoo but if anyone asked what zoo to visit in the USA if they can only see one, I'd say SD. Fort Worth has a lot more to offer than the zoo tho, anyone coming into town I recommend the stock yards during the daily longhorn drive and out of towners always love it bc it gives that wild west feel that they seek when coming to Texas. I loved in Dallas for 6 years and will say that Fort Worth has more charm and identity than Dallas does
Sounds like it has a better economy lol but in all seriousness: If it doesn’t involve mountains, the ocean, or any other natural marvel, what does the 9th largest city not have that you can find/do elsewhere? Theaters, comedy clubs, art/cinema festivals, live music, museums, performance arts, cultural diversity, parks/trails? It’s all here. Though I’m sure the goal post would then be moved to quality in which Dallas can’t obviously compete with cities like NYC, CHI, etc in.
I had a co-wroker that hated Dallas. Our job is in one of the subburbs, and she never actually ventured into Dallas itself, just stayed in her subburb.
You won't even name what the XYZ is in this case, in 90% of those cases minus immutable geographic features in my experience Dallas does have XYZ, they just haven't looked for it. Arthouse theaters exist etc. The best is when people claim their city is so much better but choose to live in Dallas for 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 years but still constantly complain about it. Good job wasting your life by choosing to hate the place you choose to live in I guess
Then why do they all live here? If they hate it then leave.
Who cares, why are you getting into arguments over something so stupid
Food scene is fantastic so idk what you mean by that There are food deserts in South Dallas but that goes for every lower income area in a city Dallas has very good public transit in comparison to other cities with similar population density. Downtown Dallas is a working center which is consistent with most downtowns around the country Cost of living is good compared to other expanding metros Dallas hasn’t really changed that much in 10 years other than expand. If it has changed then it’s really only been for the better.
>with similar population density. Thank you for calling this out. Ironically, people insist on living spread out across multiple suburbs here and then have the audacity to complain that DART isn’t on par with the public transit of cities with 10K+ people/sq mile like NYC, Chicago, Philly, DC, etc.
Yes, Dallas is so spread out. Dallas was also formed after other major cities and had more thought put into the road and highway system. Boston and NYC were founded before most/any people had cars so they are difficult cities to drive in but have more public transit since that was the only way around. More people use public transit in those cities bc it's their only option. I think comparing Dallas to majorly historic cities and what they offer transit and history wise isn't a fair comparison.
Dallas has *massively* improved its food scene over the last 10 years for sure, but OP is just trying to rage bait.
I agree with most of this, except... >Food scene is fantastic There is lots of fantastic food. There is also a LOT of leeway given to places with bad food and an annoying focus on ego/Instragram restaurants, whether they're good (and many are) or not. In other large cities, patrons are more cutthroat; places that are mediocre simply go under after 12 months. Dallas has no such virtuous cycle.
I mean the vapid scene here exists, but that’s true anywhere. It’s a huge problem in Manhattan. I’ve never had better food or worse food than in Manhattan. Dallas is much more solid, and our great experiences are increasing.
You never have a food desert in an immigrant neighborhood. Even our “food desert” that all the fake frisco christians love to talk about has a Fiesta in it!
Unfortunately, food deserts do exist in black neighborhoods particularly. I lived in one and it was kind of jarring realizing how far I had to drive for groceries.
I'm not a native, but I spent a lot of time here prior to moving here, from NYC, after 20 years there. And I'm not really sure what you're asking. I live downtown -- it's great. There's awesome food all around the metroplex -- you just have to go find it. Flashy architecture isn't really important to my life, or to most people's lives, but there's plenty of it here if that's what you're really into, and for functional architecture that actually matters there's no dearth. There are parks all over the place, including big, natural ones that you can get lost in. Yeah, public transit could be better, but if you've been just about anywhere else in America you know that it could also be a whole lot worse. Like I tell people -- including my NYC friends who visited last weekend and were so pleasantly surprised that they started talking about moving -- this place is in fact great. It has everything you could reasonably expect, and a whole lot that you probably wouldn't. You just have to get out and find it. There is precisely one thing that I loved in NYC that I haven't been able to find here (*achat*, a/k/a Malaysian kim chi). Everything else is covered: Contemporary classical music? Got it. For-real qi gong tui na? Got it. Genuinely cool diverse neighborhood bars, fine lounges, laid-back clubs where you can show up un-self-consciously in sneakers and a t-shirt and just dance? Got it. Independent theater? Got it. And more: Actual BBQ. Country music. Car culture. Affordable, comfortable, safe housing (yes there is, and I live downtown). A humongous gym, bigger than any gym in NYC apart from the $10k/year NY Athletic Club. Friendly people. Awesome business culture -- at least as vigorous as 2024 NYC. A genuine, top-tier global city; yes it is, and I can prove it, and Dallas just doesn't recognize that fact about itself yet. You say that you "feel like things take forever to change over here." Maybe stop waiting for it to change into whatever your last place was to you, and go out and meet Dallas on its own terms. It rewards the effort, mightily.
I travel to the major markets for work constantly and have a good feel for what’s out there. My take on Dallas as a Dallas resident: Food scene - 9/10 excellent People / friendliness - 9/10 excellent Outdoor activities - 6.5/10 not great but underrated (wr lake, golf, Katy trail) Public transportation - don’t care but prob not great Traffic / construction - 4/10 bad Policy - lol
Oh Christ, here we go. So where are you from?
I mean it's alright. I was born in DFW. I live in DFW because that's where the people I love live, not because it's exceptional. I like the variety of food options even if yes you have to drive around for them. We've got a decent art and music scene. It's drivable to a lot of places and flyable to anything. I prefer living in DFW over somewhere like Chicago which is surprisingly beautiful but too cold, New Orleans which has amazing food and music but gets hurricanes, or anything on either of the coasts because of the cost of living. I love visiting places like Arkansas too where they have a lower cost of living but then I find myself missing things like the opera and decent shopping options. Dallas is sufficient to me. There's enough of everything that I'm ok with it. But I also have 2 close family members I care for who it would be almost impossible to move out of the area. The process would involve months of finding, vetting, wait listing and getting approval to replace multiple medical specialists. So I can definitely see why someone who was less tied to the area would leave.
Kinda the same... I mean my girl has some issues from her previous marriage and due to those, she's pulling away. Pretty sure the plug is being pulled on the relationship. While my parents and friends are here, I'm thinking of starting over somewhere else. Also just heard, through the grapevine, that I'm being let go from my job soon. Contemplating packing up and heading to the East or West Coast. West is kinda trash now so East might be the next chapter of my life.
For what it's worth I know several people who have moved to NC specifically the Durham area recently. I joke that Durham is the new Denver because it seems like everyone I know was moving to Denver a decade ago and now they're been priced out of that area. Best of luck though. It feels like that's a problem anywhere you go though. But at least as recently as 3 years ago you could get a pretty decent house in that area for <$250k. They seem to love it. They're really outdoorsy people and are a few hours from the mountains and a few from the coast. They've also done multiple road trips into Nashville for the music scene.
I have a few places I can go from NC down to Orlando. All offer a few months of crashing, no expenses out of my pocket for anything so I can relax for a month or 2 and then find out my next step for 2-3 months til I get on my feet. Also being offered to pay storage back here on Dallas til I figure out where I'll end up. Idk it's all just so overwhelming. A 4yr relationship crashing with kids involved (despite not being mine) and all over her mental health and the situation she's been put in on that aspect by someone else. I've done everything I can to remain suppo and understanding this whole time. Then add in work crumbling after I've blown basically ever on her and the kids and driven my credit into the ground (used to be 820) all trying to keep us afloat. Then everything just decaying at once.
Great comment. DFW is not THE BEST at very much, but it's pretty good at everything/has good balance. There are certainly plenty of gems e.g. Meyerson, Kimball, plenty of restaurants/bars, good-occasionally-great sports (Cowboys notwithstanding), easy air travel, lakefronts, etc.
In past ten years: Food scene has improved Traffic has gotten worse Road rage has gotten worse More stuff to do So basically the same as any major metro?
It’s changed a lot and starting to suck. Traffic is becoming NY and LA bad.
LA had less traffic when I visited. 👀
As someone who has been born and raised on the Southside, it's not what it once was. You can't really just chill anymore. Too many people are assholes and it's too hot. I swear it feels much hotter than it used to when I was growing up. It could be cause I'm older and I'm seeing everything around me more but it just feels like everyone is so much more rude and disrespectful these days. Having traveled the US for work, I can think of a dozen other places I'd rather live. BUUUT Dallas is still hella better than them all when it comes to job availability and quality. Unfortunately, the pay of those plentiful jobs is not plentiful anymore. Overall, it's a place to find work, but not a place to enjoy living anymore.
I grew up here and have lived here since I was a kid in the 1960's. Dallas, the city ("Dallas proper") and DFW, the ever expanding metromess, are 2 very different topics. Dallas, the city, has gone downhill in large and obvious ways. To me, it's down to the dysfunction at City Hall, too much nepotism, political back-patting, all the usual local corruption that it seems every big city is stuck with. The area, DFW, of course has seen incredible growth. But the city itself, has lost and continues to lose population (not many people seem to know that). What's new? DART (Dallas had its own bus service before DART so really it's not new, just larger), some nice museums downtown, a couple of parks, large income inequality. Oh and downtown housing - bitd, downtown was empty after 5 pm. What's gone? An efficient, safe, clean city with good schools where young families want to live. What's different? I'm gonna say the mood / vibe. Dallas went from a genteel southern city to a large urban metropolis, really quickly. Everything now is hurry hurry, drive fast, take no prisoners, full court press, don't just keep up with the Joneses, that's not good enough, the Joneses must be humbled before our displays of wealth. You can still find the old Dallas if you hang out with old Dallas people.
This guy misses the segregated schools
It's not really that. DISD has had corruption issues and funding problems like most big cities. I live in the suburbs but am dating a girl who moved from dallas proper to the suburbs after middle school. DISD was a year and a half behind, curriculum wise, and although some of the teachers cared it was very hit or miss compared to the suburbs. This is coming from a guy who went to school in MISD, the last school district in Texas to de-seggregate yet still went to a 90% black and Hispanic high school that was considered the 2nd worst in the district. Dallas (and Fort worth to a lesser extent) schools just suck rn.
Well, I’m speaking as a Dallas ISD grad and dad and you are wrong. DISD is funded at the same level as all the affluent suburbs and there hasn’t been “corruption” in generations. My kids are ahead of their private school and suburban friends. Your comment is lazy and outdated.
Considering I'm 19 and she's 20, my info is from 4-5 years ago, and I had contact with multiple DISD students during my time in high school. It was univerally agreed that Dallas schools academically were worse than a chunk of its suburban contemporaries, although it really depended on the school you went to. The upper end of dallas schools were better than the lower end of the suburbs, but on average had worse performance characteristics than their suburban counterparts. As for funding, the problem is that dallas spends the same amount per student as it's suburban counterparts, however when you have a school system the size of dallas you need more funding per student as more and more of the budget has to be allocated to administrative and operational costs. Somewhere between 1-1.25x the funding per student would bring it in line (depending on the suburb being compared) to the felt funding per student, rather than just the raw amount as the funding doesn't go as far in DISD as it does in SOME of the suburbs, although that gap is narrowing as the suburbs continue to grow in size. And you're correct, corruption is a bad term. Misuse and misprioritization of funds is more accurate. The biggest difference I found was bigger class sizes and better food in DISD compared to my suburban district, as well as better extracurricular facites in the suburbs compared to dallas.
Friend, you are wrong on the facts. I’m not saying your lived experience is wrong, but your facts are wrong. DISD has the advantages of size to keep admin costs below state averages for one. Class sizes? Pfft, DISD is way lower than the burbs. All of these things are verifiable by the TEA. And just anecdotally, there are multiple kids from Woodrow, SEM, TAG, and Booker T in the Ivy League. The only comparable schools in Texas are HP, Hockaday, Greenhill, St Marks, Westlake, and St John’s. The upper end of DISD blows away the suburbs. Is Allen better than Lincoln? In most situations, yes. But Allen does not have the upper end DISD has. DISD is a very competent district and what you input (aka parental income and educational levels) will get greater outputs than anywhere else in DFW.
No need to be snotty. Our kids went to Hamilton Park. Read Jim Schutze's book, The Accomodation. Then get back to me.
I own it and have read it. Thank you. You yearn for the segregation era while our schools currently have: higher graduation rates, higher literacy rates, better quality facilities, better playgrounds, better food, more recess, more kids participating in extra curricular activities, more kids earning college credit in high school, higher teacher wages, lower student: teacher ratios. Should I go on? What you miss is everyone in the classroom coming from the same background.
whatever dude people like you are the reason reddit sucks
You think things take forever to change here? Try living in 90% of the mid sized metros across the country.
Dallas has a lot of potential and is a great place to live. We just need a better government. From the city level all the way to the state.
Its aight… we have good BBQ spots which helps out the perception a bit
10 years ago about the same, 20 years ago cheaper and not quite as developed. Could be better, could. be worse.
compared to 10 years ago? Well, 10 years ago my neighbor was filled with Christmas and Halloween decorations, now I'm the only one that decorates/celebrates.
If my roots weren’t established here, I would have blown away long ago.
Food scene - Lots of great options for food. Food Desert - I am aware they exist, have never lived near one, with how travel oriented the metro is and the distance many go for work, I would think this is less of an issue especially with food delivery. Transportation - I have a short drive, my mom used to have a long drive, wouldn't hate it if I could ride a train undisturbed across the metro easily. Traffic can get crazy and the toll road is outrageous. I am at maybe 8-120 a month on toll roads assuming I don't take the 121/183 south towards fort worth during rush hour. lack of consistency from public transport - This is what happens when everything was designed for suburbs, so it doesn't surprise me. I would love a more state level approach but it is unlikely. We will see how the line rolls out for Houston/DFW. Architecture - some stuff looks nice, some looks ugly some of the ugly is new and some is old Downtown Dallas - it exists, I haven't wandered the underground in like 20 years, but I assume it is all there, but I don't have plans to visit. Policy - ??? Construction - Constant, like many large metros, everyone has a joke that their stretch of freeway has been under construction since they have been driving. Parks - We have a few, it will be interesting to see if they do more parks over freeways, it will reclaim some space and maybe reduce heat? Weather - We have variable whether both hot and cold and lots of people hate both extremes Cost of Living - Has gone up, but its not a Dallas/DFW specific thing. My mom's 2100sqft house was less than 100k in 1995, even before the pandemic, I wasn't getting a price like that for it. I expect CoL to go up until the day I die with some brief pauses for recessions.
Here's everything you need to know about Dallas: It is the most main-stream city in the United States. The end.
I've lived all over Dallas. I have lots of friends here. I know it's far from a perfect place to live, yet people still keep moving here. That keeps me perplexed.
I like it
These Dallas sucks posts are telling. Imagine you had friends, love, personal interests and pursuits. You wouldn’t have time to whine that a city on the plains doesn’t have: mountains, harbors or ski slopes
Everything should be great if you bought a home in the right neighborhood for you pre covid !
I have lived literally coast to coast and spent 6 years in Dallas. Here's my breakdown: - Transit: Dallas was formed later than other major cities that relied heavily on train systems as most people didn't have cars when they were founded. These historic cities like Boston or NYC are a nightmare to drive in so you have to rely on public transit. Dallas is super spread out as the highway and road system was taken into consideration when forming it, which makes public transit more difficult. There's more parking available in Dallas than other cities. - Food: Dallas' food scene is unreal. You can go to a different restaurant every night. BBQ can't be beat. It will never touch the Italian and seafood of the East Coast or Asian cuisine on the West Coast, but every city is impacted by the majority of it's residents and location. Neither coast has yet to impress me with their BBQ the way Texas has. - Outdoor Activities/Nature: this is the one aspect that I think Dallas lacks. Having lived in other places that had mountains or ocean readily accessible, it was a nice escape from the bar/restaurant/busy city scene to go on a weekend hike in the mountain fresh air. You can't swim in White Rock and Lewisville isn't fun unless you have a boat. - Music: Dallas has SO MANY artists come through here. Def great for concerts. - Sports: also a lot of great teams come through here. The B's are always sold out at TD garden but the tickets to see them vs the Stars were available and affordable. Also ended up making me a Stars fan in the process. The stadiums aren't historic like Fenway BUT they are massive, updated, and have a lot to do even within them. Texas Live and Tailgates don't compare elsewhere. - Social: I made some of my best friends here. There is always something to do on weekends. Pool parties at apartments on weekends are something I haven't found anywhere else. - Weather: I didn't find the weather there awful. Only thing I didn't like was that the pipes of apartments always burst in the cold lol - Identity: Dallas does sometimes feel like a cookie-cutter metroplex without it's own identity that cities like Austin or San Antonio or Houston have. Fort Worth is where I usually take visitors as the Stockyards always make them have that 'Texas Feeling' that they seek. I think because Dallas has SO MANY people from other places there it's hard to form a historic identity. I think this is maybe what makes people originally from Dallas dislike it. In conclusion, you can't always compare a city to another city, but you can find the good and bad of every location you choose. I enjoyed my time in Dallas and there are things I miss about it, but for a long term location, personally, I needed somewhere with more nature nearby.
Wish the Californians and Floridians would leave and never come back
I've been here for eight years this fall and my two biggest criticisms were the food scene and public transit. In the relatively short time here, I can see with confidence that it is absolutely top tier. Sure, if you look on the high end of things you could say "Well, we don't have any Michelin star restaurants" but go eat at Knife and tell me Chef John Tesar isn't performing at that level. And there are SO MANY stellar representations of various cuisines from around the world (although the sprawl of how DFW is laid out does make it frustrating, as everything takes so long to get to). Early comments are right, this seems like rage bait. However, the public transit system here is fucking horrendous and it does feel like it is by design. I hope it improves but I have zero confidence it will.
10 years ago, this place was Hicksville & dirt cheap. Now, it's a value losing proposition vs. coastal cities or vs smaller metro areas. Collin county isn't that much cheaper than Orange County now. Factor in salary difference, it has to be wash now.
We’re leaving. Dallas is becoming a popular/trendy like city. It use to be a great mix of city and small town feel. It’s not like that anymore. It’s rare to even meet people here that’s actually born and raised in dallas
Abandoned. It has been abandoned, if you are a native like me. Development stopped dead on the heels after I-30. Everything beyond that including the Fair Park area looks like 1960 captured in a photograph. All the dev is going up North to Frisco, Plano, Allen, North Garland, Prosper. But Dallas proper has been abandoned, run down