Chicago or Dallas, continued
 

It's not letting me post on the original thread. And my first attempt to start this new thread failed as well. So, here we go again.

bo_jack, I'm sorry to nitpick but....Living in Villa Park, your suggestion to take the train out to the suburbs is well taken. However, having grown up in a town of 3000 in rural Southern Illinois, I have to quibble with your description of the suburbs as small towns (altho' I realize that you did qualify it by saying "as least the way most of us would like to think of it"). Even though some of the suburbs in this area have small populations, Oakbrook Terrace, for example, they're really not small towns. They're part of a major metropolitan area. And there are huge differences in attitude, availability of goods and services, access to entertainment, etc., etc. between small towns and suburbs. They're just not the same thing at all. While I'd certainly agree that Villa Park, Lombard, etc are quite different than the city or even the closer in suburbs, I just don't think they can be characterized as "small town America".

Yes, I see that they closed it down. Why? It didn't seem any worse than many other threads and it did stay pretty much travel related.

Okay, here are a couple of excerpts from xbt2316's posts in the other thread:

1. "Dallas, at this time, does seem to be 75% the size of metro Chicago, and it is gaining."

2. "Dallas is a little bit lower in the food chain than Chicago, although it should surpass Chicago in size and urban facilities in the next 25 years or so, just as LA surpassed Chicago."

For #1: I ran the numbers, and if Dallas and Chicago added population at the same rate from 2000-2005 as they did from 1990-2000, Dallas's metro population is now about 60 percent of Chicago's.

For #2: In 25 years (again using the same population increase numbers as in calculation #1), Dallas's population would be about 71 percent of Chicago's. If the difference in population growth from 1990-2000 (Dallas adding roughly 250,000 more people than Chicago every 10 years) were to continue at the same rate in the future, it would take about 130 years for Dallas to have the same population as Chicago.

So those are the statistics I'm using to argue my contention that Dallas isn't 75 percent the size of Chicago, nor will Dallas be the same size as Chicago in about 25 years. (I didn't bore you with the detailed calculations, but I'm confident the numbers are correct.)

I have nothing against Dallas--two of my brothers live there. I still look forward to another trip to Chicago far more than I look forward to another trip to Dallas.

Sorry about the duplication. I see that my first attempt to start this thread did go through. But I swear it wasn't there the first time I checked!

xbt's injury was greater than the doctor thought after he hit his head.

xbt says "If you disagree, prove me wrong with objective information. I believe that for whatever Chicago institution tou talk about, I can refer to a similar institution in Dallas, except fot things which are specific to history or geography." Aren't "things which are specific to history or geography" often the very reasons one picks a particular destination?

debating with xbt (while amusing) is an exercise in futility.

I am still not unconvinced he (very cleverly, I might add) does it only to get a rise out of people.

There's no other rational explanation for his opinions on places he's never been - and how they fare in comparison to Dallas.

I don't know, chepar, did you ever meet our San Jose poster? This guy peristently told every person asking about San Francisco that San Jose was a much better tourist destination. He HAD been to SF, though LOL! I think some people just get so fixated on one thing they throw their common sense out the window.

I hope xbt is just joshing us but I have a feeling he's not.

Yes, chepar...I fell for that ploy on the "Dallas vs. San Antonio" thread. BTW - I got a chuckle out of your "kettle meet pot" line. :D

I have visited Dallas often (as well as Chicago) and know that both cities have their great aspects, but Dallas is not the "end all" of travel destinations. IMO, there is much, much more to visiting a place than tallying statistics. But, that's just MO. :)

From the OP's criteria, I agree that Chicago is probably better suited on this particular trip. Perhaps he/she can save Dallas for another time, and by all means should visit there since it's on his/her travel wish list

From Frommers Online Guide Books, I present the complete list of attractions for Dallas:

Dallas County Historical Plaza
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Zoo
Fair Park
Meadows Museum of Art
Old City Park
Swiss Avenue Historic District
The Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden
The Dallas World Aquarium
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
The Studios at Las Colinas
Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art

And for Chicago:

Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Arlington International Racecourse
Art Institute of Chicago
Auditorium Building and Theatre
Baha'i House of Worship
Brookfield Zoo
Cafe Brauer
Chicago Architecture Center
Chicago Botanic Garden
Chicago Children's Museum
Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago Fed Visitors Center
Chicago Historical Society
Chicago Public Library/Harold Washington Library Center
Chicago Trolley Company
Chicago from the Lake
City Council Chambers at City Hall
City Gallery
DuSable Museum of African-American History
Field Museum of Natural History
Fine Arts Building
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
Gray Line
Historic Pullman
International Museum of Surgical Science
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Lincoln Park Pritzker Children's Zoo & Farm-in-the-Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Museum of Science and Industry
Mystic Blue Cruises
National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
Navy Pier
Newberry Library
Oriental Institute Museum
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Polish Museum of America
Ravinia Festival
Robie House
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
Sears Tower Skydeck
Shoreline Sightseeing
Six Flags Great America
Spertus Museum
The Hancock Observatory
The Smart Museum of Art
The Spirit of Chicago
Unity Temple
Wendella Sightseeing Boats
Windy

And I notice the Chicago list even omits a few things like the Shedd Aquarium, the country's largest (I think). Plus there's the architecture, the neighborhoods, the food, the greater variety of clubs, theater and cultural events.

Nothing against Dallas, I've never been there and I'm sure it's a fine city, but honestly, which of the two would you rather visit.

Oops, I just saw the list does include the Shedd.

Take a look at the descriptions and tell me if they sound comparable.

The Shedd is a city treasure and well deserving of its title as world's largest indoor aquarium. A mix of standard aquarium tanks and elaborate new habitats, this marble octagon building is filled with thousands of denizens of river, lake, and sea. The only problem with the Shedd is its steep admission price. You can keep your costs down by buying the "Aquarium Only" admission, but then you'll be missing some of the most stunning exhibits.


The first thing you'll see as you enter is the Caribbean Coral Reef. This 90,000-gallon circular tank occupies the Beaux Arts-style central rotunda, entertaining spectators who press up against the glass to ogle divers feeding nurse sharks, barracudas, stingrays, and a hawksbill sea turtle. New technology includes an enhanced sound system and a roving camera connected to video monitors mounted on the tank's periphery, which gives visitors close-ups of the animals inside. It's worth sticking around to catch one of the daily feedings, when a diver swims around the tank and (thanks to a microphone) talks about the species and their eating habits.


The exhibits surrounding the Caribbean coral reef re-create different marine habitats around the world. The best is Amazon Rising: Seasons of the River, a re-creation of the Amazon basin that showcases far more than fish (although you'll get to see some sharp-toothed piranhas as well).


You'll pay extra to see the other Shedd highlights, but they're quite impressive, so I'd suggest shelling out for at least one. The Oceanarium , with a wall of windows revealing the lake outside, re-creates a Pacific Northwest coastal environment and creates the illusion of one uninterrupted expanse of sea. On a fixed performance schedule in a large pool flanked by an amphitheater, a crew of friendly trainers puts dolphins through their paces of leaping dives, breaches, and tail walking. Check out the Oceanarium schedule as soon as you get to the Shedd; seating space fills up quickly for the shows, so you'll want to get there early. If you're visiting during a summer weekend, you may also want to buy your Oceanarium ticket in advance to make sure you can catch a show that day. The newest signature exhibit is Wild Reef -- Sharks at Shedd , a series of 26 interconnected habitats that house a Philippine coral reef patrolled by sharks and other predators. The floor-to-ceiling windows bring those toothy swimmers up close and personal (they even swim over your head at certain spots).


If you want a quality sit-down meal in a restaurant with a spectacular view of Lake Michigan, check out Soundings, right there inside the aquarium. There's also a family-friendly cafeteria.
Allow 2 to 3 hours.

Dallas Aquarium:

Housed in a former warehouse in the West End district, the Dallas aquarium not at Fair Park is a good place to hide out from the sun downtown. My niece and nephew enjoy communing with the stingrays, sea turtles, sharks, and reef fish. Their favorite, though, is "Orinoco -- Secrets of the River," an immersion into the tropical rainforest of Venezuela, a cool area teeming with Peruvian squirrel monkeys, endangered Orinoco crocs, jaguars, and soft-billed toucans. Plan on about an hour's visit. A restaurant and a cafe are on the premises.

Hopefully I've presented enough "facts" to show that Dallas is hardly comparable to Chicago.

Incidentally, a complaint was made that Chicagoans brag too much. Well, we're not the Windy City because of the weather. We earned the title by out boasting New York to be granted the honor of hosting the 1893 World's Fair, aka The Columbian Exposition. Bragging is a proud Chicago tradition.

And how could I forget America's 5th coast, the stunning beauty of Lake Michigan (and the other Great Lakes). Unlike some cities, we don't have to worry about where our drinking water will be coming from.

For those who thought xbt2316 was trying to pull Chicagoans chain, he is from Dallas and trying to promote his city. Attorneys say "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your b******". xbt2316 has chosen the latter because he fails at the former. And even then, he does not succeed.

Quantitative analysis can help with making decisions (At least I think so, I am a statsitican by training). However, one must focus on the factors most important to the decisionmaker. In xbt2316's case, he focuses on growth and size. Good arguments for why to move reside in a city, but not for reasons to visit.

londonengland set forth 6 criteria:

- good restaurants
- sport (want to catch a baseball game)
- architecture
- views from the top of buildings
- water based activities (cruises etc)
- music (more classical and pop than jazz and rock)

In each case, I would argue that Chicago is better than Dallas.

Restaurants - Chicago wins easily. Fine dining, Chicago has three restaurants rated in the top 50 restaurants in the country. Dallas none. There is Chicago style pizza; Never heard of Dallas style pizza. Dallas will be better if you want barbecue or mexican food.

Sport - Chicago. Been to both Wrigley and the Ballpark at Arlington. For classic baseball experience, Wrigley is the winner. The whole atmosphere surrounding Wrigley is much more festive. The Ballpark is in the middle of an entertainment simplex where the best meal you can find is at TGI Fridays or Hooters. Also as londonengland said "a Cubs game is a must".

Architecture - Chicago. Again, tehre is a Chicago school of architecture. No Dallas school of architecture, unless you like Hyatts and suburbs. Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan are prevalent throughout the city. Other than Fair Park, which is an interesting example of depression-era spanish style influence, not much architecturally significant to Dallas.

Views from top of buildings - Chicago. As previously discussed, Sears Tower and Hancock Tower have great views of the city and Lake Michigan. Dallas has Reunion Tower.

Water based activities - Chicago. Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great Lakes. Several cruises are available. Dallas, have to go to Possum Kingdon Lake and go water skiing.

Music - Chicago. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is led by the world reknowned Pinkus Zukerman. The Dallas Symphony features perfromances by Tommy Tune and the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings. Fort Worth is a better source of classical music than Dallas. Pop is probably a draw. Depends on what type of Pop. Dallas does have an interesting hip-hop and alt rock scene.

Based on the six factors defined by londonengland, Chicago has a commanding 6-0 lead. Game over. Thanks to xbt2316 for playing the game. Sorry, no parting gifts.

londonengland's description of both cities is correct. Chicago is a fun city to visit, especially when you are in your early 30s and single; Wrigley Field is a great experience; the nightlife is very diverse. Texans are very friendly (I hope so, I live here).

Actually, I like Dallas. If I had to chose whether to move to Dallas or Chicago, at this stage of my life, I would probably choose Dallas. Dallas and Fort Worth combined can be interesting to visit. The art museums are outstanding and the women are beautiful. However, it is perverse to want to visit a city because of its proximity to an assassination. How many people visit Buffalo because of the McKinley assassination or Washington D.C. because of the assassinations of Lincoln and Garfield?

Maybe it doesn't belong on this thread at all but flamingomonkey just noted so many details of Shedd Aquarium that I feel like I should add this:

AS OF TODAY 1/14/05- the Shedd is FREE for the next week. (Last free day is Thursday, Jan. 20) They have reopened and are having their 75th Anniversary. There is a new Wild Reef and the tremendous clock in the lobby has been refurbished by Tiffany's for the occasion as has many other displays/ venues. It is supposed to be fabulous.

I can't imagine how it could get any nicer as I was just there last summer.

Also this is SOXfest weekend. And so I have to say that there are two ball parks in Chicago. And the trip to the other one from downtown is super easy and very safe. Sox tickets go on sale today at 10am, except for the Cubs series. I think Mayor Daily is buying all of those. LOL (But not far from the truth.) U.S. Cellular Field is very nice for families. Last summer I met quite a few out-of-towners there, including some NASCAR drivers. It's actually much friendlier than the "friendly" one. Have a baseball frenzy and see both. Sons have done two in a day. I wouldn't go that far.

Ah, JJ, thanks for standing up for us Southsiders! As the wife of a Cubs fan, times can be tough but I always tell him that at least the people at Sox games are there for the team not the ballpark!

And it's Mayor Daley. How could I have done that? Freudian slip, I'm sure.

And swalter518, check the airlines board for my ATA report. And we may camp out on the overnight in the Cell this summer, and have my grandkids run the bases etc. Don't know yet. Tons of family fun and good food at the Cell. Monday nights are still 1/2 price and a good deal for baseball $$ today.

My favority day at the Cell is bring your dog day. Hilarious to see a big St. Bernard wearing a Sox hat in the seat next to you!

People, you're arguing the wrong argument. XBT also believes that, at this time, Chicago is agead of Dallas-Ft Worth in terms of visitor interest and public facilities.

However, XBT's contention is that the difference is not as significant as the individual interest in visiting one city or another. If a visitor wants to eat good Mexican, or see the JFK museum, or visit the original Neiman-Marcus, it doesn't really matter if Chicago has 25% more restaurants.

FlamingoMonkey, I looked at your list, and for almost every Chicago attraction you listed, there is an equivalent Dallas attraction...

Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Dallas has one too)
Arlington International Racecourse (Lone Star Park in DFW)
Art Institute of Chicago (Dallas' complex of museums in the Arts District)
Auditorium Building and Theatre (an auditorium is a tourist attraction?)
Baha'i House of Worship (Dallas has historic churches)
Brookfield Zoo (Ft Worth Zoo, Dallas Zoo)
Cafe Brauer (never heard of it. Is it a cafe? )
Chicago Architecture Center (Score one for Chicago)
Chicago Botanic Garden (Dallas Arboretum, Ft Worth Japanese Gardens)
Chicago Children's Museum (
Chicago Cultural Center (Dallas Arts District)
Chicago Fed Visitors Center
Chicago Historical Society (Dallas Historical Society)
Chicago Public Library/Harold Washington Library Center (Dallas Public Library)
Chicago Trolley Company (Dallas' McKinney Ave Trolley)
Chicago from the Lake (Dalas from White Rock Lake)
City Council Chambers at City Hall (Dallas City Hall designed by I M Pei)
City Gallery (??? )
DuSable Museum of African-American History (Dallas African-American Museum)
Field Museum of Natural History (Dallas Natural History Museum
Fine Arts Building (
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (Dallas Theatre Center by Frank Lloyd Wright)
Gray Line (Dallas Gray Line, FW Gray Line)
Historic Pullman (Historic Deep Ellum)
International Museum of Surgical Science (Dallas dentistry museum in Baylor Univ)
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (Dallas Center for Contemporary Art)
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (Score one for Chicago)
John G. Shedd Aquarium (Dallas World Aquarium)
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Lincoln Park Pritzker Children's Zoo & Farm-in-the-Zoo (AS above, Da,,as and FW zoos, children's zoo, etc)
Lincoln Park Zoo
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (Dallas Latino Cultural Center)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Fort Worth Modern Art Museum)
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Museum of Science and Industry (Dallas Science Place, FW Natural History Museum)
Mystic Blue Cruises (Lake Ray Hubbard dinner cruises)
National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum (Dallas Vietnam Veterans diorama)
Navy Pier (West End, Victory (in progress), other places)
Newberry Library (Various libraries at SMU)
Oriental Institute Museum (Crow Collection of Asian Art)
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (Dallas
Polish Museum of America
Ravinia Festival (Van Cliburn Piano Competition)
Robie House (Dallas' historic houses in State-Thomas)
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel (Dallas' Thanksgiving Square Chapel)
Sears Tower Skydeck (Reunion Tower)
Shoreline Sightseeing (Dallas carriage rides from
Six Flags Great America (Six Flags over Texas)
Spertus Museum (??)
The Hancock Observatory (one for Chicago)
The Smart Museum of Art (Dallas' MADI Museum)
The Spirit of Chicago (Dallas Frontiers of Flight Museum)
Unity Temple (Dallas is full of historic churches)
Wendella Sightseeing Boats (JFK assassination tours)
Windy (Yes, Chicago is windy)

For each specific Chicago attraction, there almost always is a corresponding Dallas attraction. And Dallas has other attractions that I did not list, due to lack of a Chicago equivalent, such as Dallas' Womens Museum, or the Hall of State, or the original Neiman-Marcus, or the vast geodesic-domed Gaylord hotel.

Enuf already!
Chicago will always win this contest, and xbt2316 will never get out of dreamland!

But if one actually GOES to Chicago and visits, say, the Art Institute, one would know that there is NO comparable museum in Dallas. The Art Institute is vast, historic and world-renowned, with the best collection of Impressionist artworks outside of France. Chicago's come a very long way from the "Hog Butchers to the World" days, believe me.

And actually there are some great Mexican restaurants in Chicago, including Topolobampo/Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless' stellar North Side duo.

On the other "unique" Dallas things, wouldn't a spin to the JFK Library be a more worthwhile destination for info on JFK (and it's located in Boston-- another stellar city)? And c'mon now-- other than the over-the-top catalog offerings, what really makes Neiman Marcus any different from any other upmarket department store? Seattle's Nordstrom has a similarly high level of service in its stores throughout North America, and I find them much more pleasant. I was quite underwhelmed at the Dallas NM store, honestly (and get the same feeling at their Newport Beach outpost).

LDLee,

Glad to hear you'd prefer to live in Dallas over Chicago... we need good statisticians...

Of course I disagree with some of your evaluations.

Wrigley Field may be historic, but Ameriquest Field (Baseball) is newer, has oontemporary features, looks like a more comfortable facility. I like it.

For basketball and hockey (hopefully next year), the AA Center is currently the most expensive and lavish stadium in America. It is stunning.

For architecture, Dallas has some good houses by O'Neill Ford and even a Frank Lloyd Wright house, but it has contemporary architectural masterpieces by IM Pei, Phillip Johnson, the Rem Koolhaas building is on the horizon, as are the Caltrava bridges... I like Ricardo Legoretta's Solano complex, and his work on the Dallas Latino Cultural Center.

Food... the Mobil Travel Guide lists 187 Dallas restaurants that they awarded one star... Chicago is better at around 220... but Dallas and Chicago are in the top 5. And as you said, Dallas has regional specialties that are compelling.

Music... the Dallas Symphony is one of the top orchestras in America, although the Chi Phil has a slightly better reputation. The DSO records, it tours in Europe, including a couple of appearances at the Proms in London, and it plays in the Meyerson center, one of the world's acoustically perfect and splendid concert halls. The Fort Worth Symphony is not comparable, but is a good class B orchestra.

For jazz, the UNT lab bands are the best in America, and have recorded numerous times... their concerts are a must-see or hear.

History of music? Dallas' Deep Ellum was one of the homes of the Blues, and Leadbelly, T-Bone Walker and Blind Lemon Jefferson walked those streets. The first piece of music with the word "Blues" in the title was called "The Dallas Blues".

Water based activities... Dallas is surrounded by a dozen or so large lakes, with every conceivable kind of water sport. The surfing is as good as it is in Chicago (namely, nonexistent) and many of the lakes have a rugged natural beauty more reminiscent of the Pacific Coast, Texoma for example).

Weather... Today, January 14, I am walking outside in a short-sleeved cotton t-shirt, at my campsite on Lake Joe Pool. What's Chicago weather like today?

rjw_lgb_ca,

I'll probably agree with you about the Chicago Art Institute, as a apecific destination, however Chicago may have nothing as good as the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. The NY Times called it "the best private collection of sculpture in the world".

Sure, each city has things that are unique and worthy of interest. We could play tit-for-tat endlessly, but the truth is that Dallas and Chicago are both interesting and preeminent American cities, with much to offer a visitor.

Yeah, I like that large lake, Lake Lewisville, you have--most dangerous body of water in Texas, I believe!Or at least I have been told by many many of my Dallas acquaintances and associates.

BeachBoi,

No, not like Lewisville... it is full of sport cruisers tied together with parties going from boat to boat, and all having a jolly fun time...

More like White Rock Lake, or Lake Worth, or Lake Arlington, or Lake Grapevine, or Lake Joe Pool, or Lake Ray Hubbard, or Lake Lavon, or Lake Ray Roberts, or Lake Tawakoni, or Lake Texoma, or Sulphur Springs Lake, or Eagle Creek Lake, or Lake Whitney, or....

Personally I liked Coos Bay, Oregon better than Dallas, not to mention Winnemucca, Nevada, Duluth, Minnesota,
Minot, North Dakota, Key West, Florida, Kokomo, Indiana, etc.

ok xbt. time to take your pill and go to bed now.

hehe..xbt you can't compare Chicago from the lake to Dallas from White rock lake.

I mean I love WR and run there every weekend but its not like you can take a cruise thru' WR lake :)

The key phrase is COMPARABLE attractions. Reread the descriptions of the aquariums in Chicago and Dallas and tell me that they sound about equal. Comparable doesn't mean just the same type of attraction, but that they are substantially equal. The same holds true for the Art Institute and most other Chicago sites.

And I'm stunned that you would compare any lake in Texas to Lake Michigan or the Great Lakes in general. If you can see one end of the lake from the other, it isn't even close.

Oooo. Good taste Shea.

Kokomo, Indiana happens to have the only killer Art Deco county courthouse in the state. :-)

As for the weather, yes it is sub-zero in Chicago at the moment. However, I just got home from the opera (btw, the Lyric is superior to the Dallas Opera) and it really isn't that bad walking through downtown when it's 10 below.

I, too, in the past, have been lured in by xbt's egregious claims that Dallas is a top-notch tourist destination. We don't know much about xbt, other than he/she is persistent and will counter nearly any argument with some off-the-wall, irrelevant fact about the DFW metroplex.

We also know that the entire premise behind xbt's comparison of cities is that the larger the population, the better a tourist destination it will be. The same goes for the correlation between population and how desirable a place it is to live in.

Using that logic, we should enjoy a visit to Baghdad more than a visit to Washington, DC. Also, we should find that Tehren is a better place to live than San Francisco.

Rather than let his/her bunk get to you, just base your opinions on experiences. Using that as a guide, Dallas is not even in the same league as a big-time city like Chicago. Enjoy!

Flanmingomonkey, how do you know that the Lyric Opera is better than the Dallas Opera? You go to the Lyric Opera in Chicago, obviously, but I'd guess you are not an expert on the Dallas Opera.

BTW, the air temps in your city make it sound like hell on earth.

Hazelmn, it sounds like this XBT, whoever he is, really twisted your tail in some previous thread.

From the posts that have gone across this thread, from XBT's point-by-point comparison of Chicago vs Dallas attractions, I get the impression that Dallas is a pretty good town. If it's 75% of Chicago, it's a pretty good town.

I think some of you have a problem with Texas that has nothing to do with merit. Maybe politics? In which case, I'm not interested in your opinions.

Wow...talk about a thread going off and taking on a whole other life beyond the original post. I wonder if the guy from London is even reading any of this. He must think us Americans are nutty. LOL :)

TravelDiva, I think he asked for a point-by-point comparison of Chicago vs Dallas. He certainly got it.

BTW, xbt2316, you mentioned something called the "Frontiers of Flight" museum in Dallas. I'm interested in aviation. Can you tell me about it?

Yeah, and then some.

Has anyone noticed that Chicagoans and Texans are unusually proud of where they live. I agree this has turned into a school yard contest of my city can beat up your city.

I don't think anyone here is suggesting that Dallas is a poor place to visit. I've spent much time there, and I love the great Tex-Mex and Bar-B-Q (Sammy's is my favorite), the springtiem bloom with all of the BlueBells, and I agree that the American Airlines center is a top-notch sporting venue.

But the question was to compare Chicago and Dallas, and there really is no comparison.

Flamingomonkey,

A spitting contest is precisely what I want to avoid.

It is a foregone conclusion that Chicago is larger than Dallas, and its greater population provides it with stronger amenities for a visitor. That is pretty much the general opinion in this thread.

My interest is in showing that Chicago and Dallas belong to the same CLASS of cities... they are both centrally-located regional capitals, lots of things to do, see and eat and drink in either one, with much influence on the United States as a whole... but neither Chicago nor Dallas are in the same class as a New York, Los Angeles or Washington DC.

As a corrolary to my point, both cities are of a size as to present a stunning urban experience to a visitor. If Dallas has 10,000 restaurants, and Chicago has 12,000 restaurants, a 3 day visit to either city would just scratch the surface. For museums... Chicago also appears to be stronger, but similarly, a few days would not be enough to see the fine museums and exhibitions in either city.

The areas in which Dallas has an advantage are in the realm of weather, price and newness. Its sports facilities are newer, and more state-of-the-art, as are its theatres and exhibition spaces. Costs in Dallas are lower, less inflated than Chicago... the same things are cheaper. And weather is also favorable to Dallas. Also, people in Dallas have a higher disposable income due to the low cost of living, eat out more often, have more shopping square footage per capita... all the things that would benefit a casual visitor as well as a resident.

Saracen, the "Frontiers of Flight" museum in Dallas is an aviation museum. It is a huge building, with exhibits about local and national aviation history, many aircraft suspended from the ceiling, historical exhibits, aircraft mockups and cutaways, interactive exhibits, etc. It is nowhere as large as the Smithsonian Air and Space museum in DC, but it's still a pretty interesting couple of hours.

One thing I enjoyed was the Hindenburg exhibit... info about the airship, its demise, even artifacts recoveres from the wreckage.

It has a section on the Alexanter Calder decoration of Braniff Airlines in the 1960's, where abstract art meets painted airplanes...I liked the cutaway section of the cockpit of a 737... something like what I saw in the Deutsches museum in Munich. Perhaps the Science and Industry museum in Chicago has something like that?