Ralph

My professional group had their convention in Dallas. As I'd never been there, I was hoping to get some western culture. But I was roundly disappointed. Hard Rock Cafe, Six Flags, Planet Hollywood, Galleria Mall were all okay, but I know I can see those anywhere else. Dallas seemed to be just an overgrown, hotter version of my home, Baltimore.

X Bellman

Damn! We were planning on going to Dallas next month to visit relatives. Is it really that bad?

gen

No. It's worse.

Jeff

LOL, Ralph.
Pull up any of the recent posts (last 6-9 months) with Dallas in the title.
You'll read plenty of scathing reviews.
Dallas is pretty soulless if you're looking for something unique.
It's a whole lot of whitebread suburbs and a couple pockets which make it unique.
Highland Park is the highlight of Dallas in terms of neighborhoods with charm or character.
Downtown is rather generic.
What is it that stands out about Dallas?
Seattle has a true character all its own.
Ditto San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Minneapolis, NYC, and so on.
Dallas?
I'm still trying to think of its hallmark or signature.

X Bellman

I was there a couple of years ago at the Cotton Bowl. There was a big ice storm that day and I didn't get to see much other than the one salt truck the city has. I also did a Dallas search and didn't find much. I hope Ralp is wrong because we are going back!

p.

Ralph, you were too far east. The "West" begins in Fort Worth !
Paul

MB

I had the great misfortune of living in the Dallas area for almost 6 years. I knew from day one we were in the wrong place. It has none of the charm and history that one finds in the older east coast cities. Everything is expensive and we were there when our kids were young and we were on a shoestring budget. If you drive more than 20 miles from the outerbelt(635) in any direction, you will see a fat lot of nothing. Did I mention the extreme heat in summer,fire ants, scorpions and some of the nastiest storms I've ever experienced. The best day of my life apart from the day I married and had my kids was the day we moved away. That was in 1989. My kids are grown now and they survived Dallas thank God. We even laugh about it sometimes. However, my husband knows that if we ever take a road trip that requires traveling through Texas we will detour around Dallas no matter how much time it adds to the journey. Having said all this, I am a believer in the old addage that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Next time you get the chance to travel west skip Dallas.

Not Yor' Daddy

Oh please! "Everything is expensive"-Dallas is one of the most reasonable large cities to live in. The scenery around Glen Rose outside Dallas is lovely. Oh my, didn't you forget to mention the rattlesnakes? Sounds more like Dallas survived you than vice versa.

Silka

Hmmm ... so, xx, Dallas is not a place for people with young kids? Do tell - is it OK for young people with no kids, or people with kids over a certain age? Isn't the ability of people with a moderate income and normal human expenses to live/travel comfortably a large part of what makes a city a good place to live/good travel destination?

xx

Silka read MB again. She didn't say normal budget, she said shoestring budget. That's tough anywhere. I also said, "what a great area to raise a family in", and that meant young kids too, as ours were when we moved there. 3 and 5. The youth oriented opportunities were phenomenal. Innumerable lighted soccer fields, active Indian Guide and Indian Princess groups. It was a very family oriented area and we thank our lucky stars that's where our kids were able to grow up. We also thank our lucky stars that when they were ready for college, there were 3 excellent state universities to choose from.

MB was there at a time in her life when things were tight. That is not Dallas' fault. Dallas is a city of haves, which she was not at that point, but it is NOT an expensive city to live in no matter how you look at it, and the programs mentioned above for families hardly cost a cent.

X Bellman

Well, I hope they have some good bars or it's going to be a long 3 days for me.

Jon-Eric

Growing up in New Orleans a lot of us end up in Houston or Dallas for school and/or career. For me it was Dallas and while Dallas was very good to me I cant say I was totally at ease there.
Its very modern, but after growing up with antebellum this and antebellum that it was a nice change. There really are some wonderful area's other than Highland Park, Park Cities, Deep Ellum etc... In the late 80's I certainly noticed an air of phoniness, but in fairness maybe EVERYWHERE had that in the 80's I dont have a wife or kids, but if I had I might have stayed and settled in Plano or Farmers Branch etc... I dont remember Dallas as being particularly unkept and I was never a crime victim while I was there and they seemed to have a decent school system from what co workers would tell me.
I also didnt think it was expensive UNLESS you went house hunting in Highland Park or the area by Preston CC.
Actually now that I think of it in general things like utilities, taxes and what have you were even less than New Orleans. I didn't enjoy the traffic on the LBJ, God only knows what its like now. Everytime I moved I found a pie or some such welcoming treat on my doorstep, that was nice.
As for the original posters comparisson to Baltimore, uh, no honey, Dallas is the one with the attractive women!

X

Oh, puh-leez- Indian Princesses?! You are kidding, right? That may be one of the best crystallized examples of what is at the rotten core of Dallas- a bunch of hypocritcal people running around trying desperately to inculcate in their kids values that are either firmly based in steroetyping, bigotry and empahsis on conformity over intellectual activity and/or totally inconsistent with what the kids see in their parents' behavior. There's a reason Plano - the place that al lthose Dallas "haves" aspire to live - has such a huge problem with teenage suicide and heroin addiction.

Kent

I actually agree wholeheartedly with both Jon_Eric and X.
Lots of truth in those statements.

But....X Bellman....that doers not mean you can't have an enjoyable time during a brief visit.

X Bellman

I will def. give Dallas my best. I am surprised at all the negative comments about Dallas. It can't be that bad! What's the weather like in Late Feb?

GeeGirl

Bellman, the weather in February should be fantastic. Spring will be springing!

When I first moved to Dallas 10 years ago to go to SMU, I thought I had come to live in the most wonderful place in the world. The weather was fantastic, the people were beautiful, at night you could smell the Mrs. Baird's baking bread and there were all kinds of resturants and hip places to go. So much more exciting than my little southern Illinois hometown of 9,000 whose only claim to fame was the only McDonald's in a 30 mile radius.

After traveling to other large US cities like New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago, I know now that Dallas isn't nearly what I thought it was. It is not a cultural center, it does not have a tourist friendly downtown or reasonable public transportation system -- yet ( I have high hopes for the DART Rail System). There isn't any beach, no forest and no mountains. It is simply a flat, large area where lots of people live.

Why? Reasonable housing costs, adequate employment opportunities (present economic climate excluded) friendly people and temporate climate, which are all resonable deciding factors in determing where to live. (It snowed today, but it is the first time in a year to do so, and it was 70 degrees three days ago.)

Ralph is right. For a tourist, Dallas is filled with shopping, SUVs and cheesy theme resturants. Jeff, I'm not sure you'll ever hit on a defining trait about Dallas. It doesn't really have a soul. It is just where we live.

The things I love about Dallas can't be found on a map or tourist pamphlet. Dallas is a perfect stranger holding a door for you as you enter a store. Dallas is the beautiful fall day spent at the State Fair of Texas eating a Fletcher's corn dog. Dallas is the wide open skies that seem to go on forever and start with a glorious sun rise and end with a spectacular sunset. Dallas is sitting on the patio at your favorite lunch place in February enjoying the sun. And there are so many good reasons to raise children here.

Yeah, not much of a place to visit. But I wouldn't live anywhere else. Besides, there is always someplace to eat and everything is air conditioned. That's my 2 cents.

z

Bellman, Late February in Dallas is beautiful springlike weather. You should like it.

Maybe you could characterize Dallas as a small Chicago... all the urban things people go to large cities for...

It's true, some people don't fit in when in Dallas... and they really give you an earful on boards like this... but millions of people do fit in... and they love it.

You should find many enjoyable things there...

Joey

Bellman, Dallas has all the bars and clubs you could ever want... vast diversity in its alcohol flows, if that's your pleasure...

Some night life districts...

. Deep Ellum (one of the birthplaces of the Blues)
. West End
. McKinney Avenue neighborhood
. Knox-Henderson district
. West Village
. Mockingbird Station
. Main Street (small now, but up-and-coming)

And that's just in the center city...

p.

GeeGirl & z, you got it right ! I came on a class, met my wife & we're still here, 30 yrs later. It is getting a bit big for my liking now, maybe we'll move to Ft Worth !

convention cowboy

Did you expect cowboys herding longhorns in the convention hall? You could have brought home horse manure as a momento.

Just maybe your professional group had the convention in Dallas because of the warmer winter climate. Ya think? You need a reality check.