Willy1

...Dallas gets the Ritz because Dallas is the Texas city that most fits the "image" that the Ritz associates itself with. Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio are all hot, growing Texas/Sunbelt cities, but all of them lack the "prestigious" image that Dallas has continued to promote. When people in other parts of the country/world think of Texas - the often think of Dallas first, and Dallas' public image is directly associated with huge wealth and prestige. JR Ewing, in large part, branded that perception of Dallas into the minds of people all over the world. But, that's only because art imitated life in a way with that show. At the time Dallas hit the air, the urban cowboy craze was just sort of sweeping the nation. they took the urban cowboy concept and found out that many of the "cowboys" in Dallas were actually very wealthy, very powerful, business tycoons. Hollywood jumped on the chance to build on the urban cowboy thing and the result was a hit tv show. Unfortunately for Texans, they also created a long-lasting stereotype that really doesn't fit reality here in Texas. You never seen cowboy hats and suits in any of the major Texas cities... not even in FW.

Back on topic... Houston is larger than Dallas, but isn't as wealthy and doesn't have the public perception as a wealthy city that Dallas has. I know Houston is a wealthy city - but Dallas is one of the country's, if not the world's, wealthiest cities. Fort Worth has promoted itself too much as "Cowtown", even though the cattle industry in FW now isn't anything like it once was. FW, although also extremely wealthy, is too down to Earth to attract such upscale projects like The Ritz. FW prides itself, in a lot of ways, as being the Anti-Dallas; the opposite side of the metroplex with an opposite attitude. That's part of the reason FW is one of the fastest growing large cities in America. Austin is just too Earthy and non-traditional for The Ritz and the economy in Austin isn't what it was a few years ago. Austin has passed it's prime and is beginning to slow down in growth. Plus it's probably too small of a market to attract top tier projects such as The Ritz. San Antonio, while being a very large city, doesn't have the cosmopolitan feel that Dallas and Houston have. Nor, does San Antonio have the amount of wealth found in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.

Basically, it boils down to public image. Places like The Ritz only build in cities that fit their corporate image. If another Texas city were to get a Ritz it would more than likely be Houston.

I've never known the Angels as Los Angeles, but rather Anaheim. The same for the Raiders. No one calls them the San Fransisco Raiders. Greenbay Wisconsin only has 93,000 people, with no name recognition problems there either.

I've always known the Texas Rangers as the Arlington Rangers. And for a city (yes, city) of over 300,000 people, I don't see getting name recognition being an issue.

Everyone already knows where the Cowboys are from, now they'll just know who footed the bill: Arlington.

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I've been a life-long resident of DFW and I've never ever heard the Rangers referred to as The Arlington Rangers. In fact, if you called them the Arlington Rangers, I think most people around here would assume you were talking about a high school team or some other sports team than the Texas Rangers... (remember, there is an Arlington, VA and Arlington Heights in the Chicago area)

The difference between Oakland and Arlington is that Oakland is considered to be one of the Bay Area's anchor cities... Sure, it's probably technically a suburb of San Fran, but it's also more of an anchor city for that metro area. Arlington is not considered to be one of the "anchor" cities in the Metroplex in the same way that Fort Worth and Dallas are... Most people in DFW think of Arlington as a major suburb of Fort Worth. Arlington is sort of a suburb on steroids. It's incredibly congested and very suburban feeling. There isn't really anything urban feeling about Arlington at all - except the traffic. Arlington doesn't even have it's own mass transit system - not even buses. FW provides all the busing for Arlington.

Arlington Rangers... Arlinton Cowboys... It will never happen. You have to remember that the Dallas Cowboys are much more than just a football team. They're an image and they're one of the most highly prized franchises in all of professional sports. In addition to that, think about the trademark rights and all that go with it. If I'm correct, I believe that Dallas Cowboy merchandising is one of the most profitable merchandising brands among pro sports as well. People have an attachment to the "Dallas Cowboys" name much more than some of the other pro sports teams... That is the main reason that Dallas - the city - screwed up by losing out on the chance to have their name sake sports team move back into the city... The stadium belongs in Fair Park. I personally think it's a complete crime for the Dallas Cowboys to move to Arlington. At least Irving is in Dallas County. Arlington is completely in Tarrant County... So Dallas County won't even see any tax revenue from the stadium. I cannot even imagine what traffic on 30 is going to be like when they build the new stadium. Between the Rangers and Cowboys it's going to be gridlock on game days, and since baseball and football seasons overlap that's not going to be good. I also don't think that all the "urban village" development that would have taken place in Fair Park will ever be built in Arlington. Arlington is close to being built out and it's just not that nice of a city... I think the Dallas Cowboys will regret moving to Arlington. Jerry Jones is just out for the almighty dollar... he would have built the stadium in Waco if they'd come to the table with the best offer.

Oh, and just for reference sake, Arlington is the third largest city in DFW with a population of 355,500 with 3606 people per sq mile. Dallas' pop is 1,232,100 with 3195 people per sq mile. Fort Worth's pop is 618,600 with 2069 people per sq mile. I believe Arlington is the most densely populated large city in DFW when it comes to people per square mile. Highland Park has 8,850 people, but that's 3961 people per sq mile. University Park has a pop of 23,150 and 6,233 people per sq mile. Just a little FYI.

I believe that - but I also believe Austin won't be losing its appeal anytime soon.

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Actually, Austin's population has started to decline in the last couple years. The dot com bust and downturn in technology companies has hit Austin very, very hard... Austin is a popular/cool city, but it's not booming like it was a few years ago... they've hit a plateau.

Y'see I think in the reality TV world the villaness of Dallas is that woman from "Wife Swap" in the first episode (not sure you remember but she was SO picky and yet so rich)

The hero of Dallas (suburb) is their own "Kelly Clarkson" not to fear Houston we have:

Beyonce (Destiny's Child) and now whoever "Baby Bash" is (which I hear he is upcoming to be a star!

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Correction: Kelly Clarkson is not from a suburb of Dallas. She's from Burleson, a suburb of Fort Worth... That would explain why she's so down to Earth and not a pretentious wanna-be.

Everyone on here is so hell-bent on bashing Dallas that they have overlooked one of the state's best cities... Fort Worth. Okay, FW hasn't totally been forgotten but it sure does represent a very small portion of the Dallas-Fort Worth section of this forum. So, I thought I'd add some information about what's going on in FW... These are just three of the huge projects that are going on in FW right now... I'll post more later...

__________________________

From Star Telegram 4/11/05:

Developer buys downtown land

Fort Worth architect and real estate developer Ken Schaumburg recently bought a second downtown city block for a residential development, perhaps for an extension of his Le Bijou town house development or a high-rise tower.

_________________________

Posted on Tue, Mar. 08, 2005

Building likely to come down

By Sandra Baker

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH - XTO Energy is reviewing bids to demolish the vacant Landmark Tower downtown and it's a "relative certainty" that the 30-story aluminum-sided building will come down this year, a company executive said Monday.

Steve Palko, XTO's president, also said the company is considering building a 50-story office tower on the site at Seventh and Houston streets. _____________________

Posted on Sun, Jun. 20, 2004

Fort Worth: the Vancouver of the South?

By Mitchell Schnurman

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Can Fort Worth really emulate Vancouver, British Columbia?

But Vancouver has turned out to be the inspiration for one of Fort Worth's most ambitious projects ever: the Trinity River vision.

The Trinity plan has evolved in the past nine months, becoming even more alluring. The latest proposal, unveiled publicly last week, has a more elongated town lake, rather than a round orb. A number of canals have been added, and the space resembles a river delta.

http://www.trinityrivervision.org/Conceptu...Layout=Lightbox

***Edited to remove copyrighted content***

hey thanks for the info. It's going to be a couple of weeks before I get up there but you'll probably get an email from me right before I go. I'm pretty pumped to have something new to do while in Dallas.

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No problem at all... Tell me what you like to do and I can probably direct you to the right places. You'll love downtown FW... Too bad you're not going to be here this weekend... The FW Main Street Arts Festival starts this Thursday and it is amazing. It's the largest civic event in DFW... Over 500,000 will attend the 4 day event in downtown FW. It's a giant arts festival that draws artist from around the world to display/sell their works. It's packed with people, site-see'ers, food, live music, drinks, and usually great weather. It stretches from Sundance Square all the way to the Convention Center. It is a great time and a really awesome thing to behold when there are hudreds of thousands of people all crowded up and down Main Street.

But, there are lots of little eateries, bars, and cool places to "hang out" in FW. It just depends on how you like to spend your time. If you like to bike ride or rollerblade you might want to consider bringing a bike or blades because the FW Bike trails are extensive. They run from Benbrook in far SW FW to downtown, then split... one branch turns north and runs to the Stockyards, the other leg goes east to River Legacy Park in Arlington.

You might want to consider checking out the Fort Worth Architecture Forum to find out more about FW before trekking over from Dallas. It really is a whole different feel than Dallas... My favorite BBQ place in FW has T-shirts that say "Life is too short to live in Dallas". I'm sure a Houstonian like yourself would love to have one of those.

Places to go...

* Restaraunts/Bars:

* 8.0 in Sundance Square....

* Reata in Sundance Square (this one is a bit expensive, but they have a great rooftop bar overlooking Sundance Square... You could just have a drink and take in the incredible view.)

* 4 Day Weekend Improvisational Comedy (Sundance Square - I graduated from this comedy school and the weekend shows are incredible. The guys are really talented and just taped a pilot for ABC. Also, they trained at Second City in Chicago. www.Fourdayweekend.com)

* Railhead BBQ - locals favorite for cold beer and great BBQ (this is where the t-shirt comes from) Just north of I-30 on Montgomery St. (5 minutes west of downtown off I30)

* Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaraunt - wicked margarita's. North of Downtown off Commerce Street. It's famous, every celeb that comes to DFW goes there....

Sites:

* Kimbell Art Museum - Cult. Dist

* FW Museum of Moder Art - Cult Dist

* Amon Carter Museum of Western Art - Cult Dist.

* FW Zoo... South on University off of I30 (West of Downtown)

Send me an e-mail before you come and let me know what you're looking for and I'll point you in that direction.

Actually, I'm a native FWian... so let's see... You need to definitely checkout downtown. Sundance Square is great! The cultural district is great too - world reknown museums and lots of great little art galleries. The FW Zoo is ranked among the best in the country - it's really nice and usually beautiful this time of year. Of course, if you want to experience "cowtown", which really is a big denial of what FW really is these days, then you need to hit the North Side. Billy Bob's is the world's largest "honkey tonk"... not my thing, but if you like country music, it's the place to go. Also, Joe T. Garcia's mexican restaraunt is world famous and it's just a few blocks from the historic stockyards - also fun to see if you're not from FW. Joe T's food is debated - some love it, some don't. I recommend the family style enchilada dinner. The margarita's are great (if not just killer strong). And, the patio is unbelievable. The restaraunt is one of the largest, if not the largest in the state. It seats over 2000 at one time. The gardens in back are adorned with plants imported from mexico and the tropics, a swimming pool and various fountains. The atmosphere is great - mariachi's, etc. It's a fun place. But, bring cash because they don't take credit cards or checks. April is also the time of year that nascar fires up at the Texas Motor Speedway in far North FW, if that's your thing. The TMS is GIGANTIC. It's the 3rd largest sports stadium on Earth - from what I understand. It seats something like 250,000. If you want to know anything else, just ask... I'm blank right now. Have fun while you're here. FW really is the better half of the metroplex.

"Wreck 'em Tech".... Love that!

Now I know what you meant. Although, the stockyards in FW are more historical and more of a tourist thing now than an actual working stockyard. The FW Stockyards are great... They're kept it preserved as part of the city's rich history and have successfully transformed it into an urban village that actually is designed around the historic structures that were built back when FW was a small wester outpost. It's sort of the anit-urban development in that it IS an urban village, yet it's well over a hundred years old. Stockyards Station is the converted cattle pins which now house various retail shops and restaraunts. It's a great place to visit if you've never seen it. It's very unique and full of Texas history.

Also, there is a strong chance that XTO Energy is going to build a 50+ story tower in downtown FW. We're waiting for the official announcement. There is also a rumor that another 50+ story residential tower is in the works for Downtown FW... In addition to that, there will be more highrises built along the Trinity River as part of the Trinity River Vision once it's underway. FW has experienced incredible growth in the past 5 year and it's jut now starting to pick up steam. It's going to be incredible to see how different FW is 5 years from now.

All the land along 7th Street between downtown and University Drive to the west of downtown has been purchased by developers and plans are going to transform 7th Street and the entire intersection of 7th and Univ. FW CBD is going to bust with development to the North, West, and South...

Wow... this is an interesting thread! Finally a thread (anyone else ever notice that there is only a one letter difference between "thread" and "threat"?) where everyone can discuss a sensitive and potentially explosive issue without completly blowing up and having the thread shut down.

I think it's interesting that people - in 2005 - can finally be so civil when talking about issues surrounding race/nationality. But, if you dare say anything nice about Dallas everyone completley freaks out and wants to kill your entire family. LOL.... I think there is honestly something very funny about that! Seriously, I think it's great that Houston has such a rich mix of different cultures. Most Texas cities don't have that.

As far as the whole thing about illegal immagrants and closing the boarders... I'm a Native-American (Cherokee and Caddo) so I say all of y'all need to get the heck out!!!! LOL!!!!! I am just kidding. America wouldn't be America if it wasn't a melting pot. However, I am a little bitter that y'all killed off all the natural wildlife in America.

Game. Set. Match.

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I stand corrected. I'd heard - apparently from an incorrect source - that Tech had passed the Air Force Academy for the title and that our championship golf course was what pushed us past their prior record, which was set when they opened a new runway at the academy.

I wasn't aware that eAtMe's 3000 acre off campus female dining hall (aka grazing pasture) was included in their main campus count. Anyway, congrats on being bigger. I still wouldn't want to go to A&M. Cults aren't my thing. LOL... Just kidding. I know it's a great school and there are great people there. I just personally didn't want to go to A&M or UT, even though I was accepted to both.

Serious question though - are those 5200 acres actually developed, or is there a lot of vacant land? I remember A&M seeming very small compared to Tech's campus. The buildings were closer together, but it really didn't seem all that big to me...

I loved Lubbock when I was there. Tech was a blast. I had a lot of friends that went to UT and A&M, but neither of those schools even appealed to me. I went to both Austin and BCS when at Tech for football games. I may be crazy, but I liked Lubbock better than either one. I like Austin, but Austin has gotten big enough that it no longer feels like a college town. BCS was so small that it seemed boring to me. I mean, A&M rags on Lubbock and BCS is nothing but Texas A&M basically. Lubbock has a lot of the amenities that DFW has - just in tiny portions by comparison. You have to have a sense of humor about things when you move to Lubbock from DFW or Houston, or any big city really. We always laughed at Lubbock "International" Airport - all 6 gates of it. (there may be more now) I was at Tech during the first Gulf War and I took a girlfriend to the airport for her to fly back to Dallas. About 2 miles from the airport the National Guard stopped us to inspect our car to make sure we weren't some sort of terrorist. (You know those Suicide Car Bomber always have a fraternity sticker on their back windshield!!!) Anyway, being a complete smart a** college kid... I popped off to him when he asked "What airline are you flying". Well, there were like 4 at most flying to Lubbock at the time... American, Southwest, Contenental, and Delta. So, I told him we were flying "Quantas" since it is an "international" airport, right? Well, that comment ended up getting me frisked and my car searched by a bomb dog. It was a pretty funny ordeal. We laughed all the way to the airport after that. I mean, like Al Quiada is going to attack Lubbock or something.

Anyway, I loved my time at Tech... The school is great - and great big. Did y'all know that Texas Tech is the world's largest University campus? And, the people in Lubbock are the nicest people you will ever meet. The weather out there is crazy. My first week in Lubbock I was on the phone with my parents when one of those famous West Texas dust storms hit. I'd never seen one before and didn't know what was going on. I remember telling my dad "Oh my gosh, downtown Lubbock just disappeared into a giant red cloud that is moving this way..." The next day on the news I learned that 2 men who had been working on a billboard sign had been blown off the sign and into power lines when the winds from that dust storm hit them. They were killed. I also went tornado chasing one time with my girlfriend at the time. I mean, the tornado was just out there in a field like it was no big deal. I was amazed at how casual everyone in Lubbock is when Tornadoes are reported just outside of town... They're practically a daily occurance in the Spring. My roommates and I lived outside the loop on the edge of a giant cotton field and from our roof you could see forever and we kept "tonado beer" in our fridge and whenever we saw the "tornado icon" in the corner of the TV screen (they don't interupt TV programming unless the twister is inside the city) we would grab the beer and get on the roof to watch the twisters outside of town. It was amazing. But, I don't recommend tornado chasing... the hail damage to my car was a bit difficult to explain to my parents.

Another fond memory of Tech campus is the little prairie dogs that used to live on campus. The blend in with the brown grass in the winter and they'll chase you if you walk too close to their hole/den. Oh, and west Texas tumbleweeds! Those are all cute in the Roadrunner cartoons, but most people don't realize that they're covered with thorns and will tear you up if they roll into you. I was also amazed at how big they get... My roomie and I had one as a Christmas Tree one year.

Ahhh... the memories. I was shocked the last time I was in Lubbock at how much it has changed since I left in 1992. It's great to see the school thriving and growing the way it is.

Juneau Alaska is the largest city in America according to land size at 3081 square miles - look it up... that's not a mistake. It's larger than the state of Delaware and has a population of less than 35,000. Jacksonville is #2 with over 800 square miles. Oklahoma city is in there somewhere too... Of course, you very conveniently limited the poll to the Top Ten cities so that you could spin the debate that started in the other thread.

Maybe your next poll should be, "What is the largest U.S. City with a name spelled H.O.U.S.T.O.N."

If you want to talk about Dallas, how about taking it to the Dallas board?

This is the Houston board.

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Gladly... I just thought I'd add something to the Houston forum since there seems to be so much conversation about Dallas on this board already. The Houston Board has an entire topic devoted to Dallas-Fort Worth.... I would have thought that conversations about DFW and Houston would have been welcomed here. I guess not...

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. The weather in Dallas is beautiful today. Hope it's the same in Big H.

Dallas more High Tech? Yeah right. I guess you didn't heard the news. Houston is number 1 in technology, and ranked number 10 in the nation. Dallas is 27th in the nation.

What else you said? Oh, Dallas more diverse then Houston? Dude, you must be smoking weed and still high from it. Dallas is nowhere near Houston on that level. Houston has a chinatown probably bigger then subburbs in dallas, and come to think of it, Dallas don't even have a chinatown, nor a midtown. He said Dallas is more diverse then Houston Dude, go study more on houston.

People pisses me off when they don't know the full details about houston, that's how the bad image get's out about houston that they be assuming. I study Houston alot. I reads. Do you?

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kjb434 and twentyseven, thanks for standing up for me. It's nice to see that there are some friendly people in this forum. I originally fired back at houstonsemipro, but after reading your statements defending my posts I decided to delete what I had written and not lower myself to his level. (But, trust me -- y'all would have laughed your a--es off and what I had written in response to him.) Anyway, I hope no one else was offended or experienced the obvious "flash anger" that houstonsemipro experienced when he "reads" my post - or would the correct tense be "readsed"?

Anyway, thanks for making me feel welcome.

Hey Houston19514, I'll have to go find the source for that percentage difference. I didn't think to write it down... I'll try to get back to you on that one. It was the result of a google search somewhere. I'll try to trace my steps...

twentyseven, I'm not all that schooled on the Houston economy. I've just read that Houston's economy is still in large part, dependant on the oil/energy sector - much the same way the DFW economy was in the 80's. I know that it is more diversified than it used to be, but from what I understand - albeit, that may very well be bad information - DFW is a more diverse economic region. Now, however, as opposed to years gone by, DFW is no longer the energy mecca it once was. Well, I say that, and then realize that the 50-story building being proposed for DF FW is being built by XTO energy - one of the oil/gay companies that is booming due to the large oil field boom just west of FW. LOL. Anyway, DFW has become a mecca for high tech, aerospace/engineering, telecomm, defense contracting, and all sorts of other varied and diverse industries that didn't used to call DFW home. The last couple of recessions barely even made a difference in DFW... things just sort of kept on trucking along as if everything was normal. The exception was that new construction might have slowed a bit. As for raw migration, I honestly don't know which city is experiencing the most influx of "aliens" from other parts of the country/world. I do know that as a native Texan/Fort Worthian, it is very rare to meet other natives of the DFW area these days. It seems like everyone in DFW is from another part of the USA, if not another nation altogether. I worked for a large telecom company a few years ago and over 50% of the employees (about 10,000 total in DFW) were from another country - India, Japan, the middle east, etc. Another good 30% were from the Northeast/New England. I loved the diversity in the corporate culture. The guy in the office across from me actually had to take off time to go home for his arranged marriage. When he came back to the US from his wedding/vacation. He had a new wife he'd never met before. I thought that was just amazing... I'd never met anyone who'd actually been in an arranged marriage before. His wife had never left her village before in her entire life - and then suddenly she was married to a man she'd known for less than 48 hours and moving to a foreign country to live with him. I had a billion questions for him about it. He was a super nice guy and humored me by answering all my "stupid American" questions. LOL

Anyway, I'm off topic.... I don't know which has a higher inbound migration rate between DFW and Houston. All I can say is that DFW is experiencing a significant influx of migration to the area from other US cities and other nations alike. I think the stats indicated that something like 600+ people a day are moving to the Dallas area. I heard that stat in passing on the news yesterday evening. In fact tonight on the news they showed footage of 1000+ people being sworn in for their US Citizenship at the Will Rogers Collesium in Fort Worth. So, I know FW has over 1000 new residents today that it didn't have yesterday. The story even said these were people who were not counted in prior FW census figures because they didn't officially live here since they weren't true citizens. I think all Southwestern US cities are experiencing a high level of migration from the NE cities.

Thanks for the unemotional fact-based posting.  It was rather refreshing.  Now, if I may quibble, just a bit.  (All based on facts, no emotion here).  Regarding the various projections of future populations.  Most of those projections are based on the assumption that past growth rates will continue, which makes them almost meaningless. On the other hand, the most recent Census estimates show the Houston Metropolitan Area growing faster than the D-FW metropolitan area (measuring from 2000 to 2003).  It will be interesting to see the next batch of estimates.

Your statement that D-FW is about to overtake Philly as the nation's 4th largest metro area, while possibly true, does not exactly give a full picture.  The new census definitions cause some oddities when looking at what is now known as Metropolitan Statistical Areas.  I think the more accurate and useful comparison is really to Combined Statistical Areas (CSA).  In the case of D-FW (and Houston as well) almost the entire Combined Statistical Area is also in the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); but in the case of many of the other largest metro areas, large chunks of the areas are left out of the core MSA.  Thus, if you compare D-FW MSA to other MSAs, you are comparing almost the entire D-FW CSA to, for example, San Francisco without San Jose, etc; Boston without Worcester etc.; Washington DC without Baltimore.    I believe the CSA rankings are as follows (using 2000 census numbers):

1.  New York City

2.  Los Angeles

3.  Chicago

4.  Washington-Baltimore

5.  San Franscisco

6.  Philadelphia

7.  Boston

8.  Detroit

9.  Dallas-Fort Worth

10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale

11.  Houston

It's likely that D-FW has overtaken Detroit as the eighth largest CSA since the 2000 census.

The MSA rankings, using 2000 census numbers: 

1.  New York City

2.  Los Angeles

3.  Chicago

4.  Philadelphia

5.  Dallas-Fort Worth

6.  Miami-Fort Lauderdale

7.  Washington DC

8.  Houston

9.  Detroit

10.  Boston

11.  Atlanta

12.  San Franscisco

See what I mean?  I can't take very seriously any ranking that says that both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are larger metropolitan areas than either Boston or San Francisco.  As has been said before, "just because You WANT something to happen or WANT something to be true, it doesn't mean that it IS what you WANT it to be"

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I totally agree with you. The DFW at #5 thing is a little misleading because certainly there are areas of the country that have fallen down the list. I mentioned it a bit in my post when I was talking about the San Fran/San Jose thing... I just didn't go into full detail about it because, in all honesty, I was tired of typing. LOL. But, it's true that some of the larger metro areas took a hit to their rankings when they were divided by the Census Bureau. However, the Census Bureau is the "official" counter of populations so it's one of those situations where you have to ask yourself whether or not their methods are accurate. Obviously San Fran/San Jose is a larger combined metro area than DFW... But, according to the Census Bureau the commuter patterns that dictate whether or not an area qualifies as a true "Combined Metro Stat Area" no longer support San Fran/San Jose being one metro area. It seems that - by the Census Bureau's definitions - the DFW area is growing more unified, while cities like DC/Baltimore and San Fran/San Jose are becoming more independant of each other. That said, it is possible that as Fort Worth grows into being a more self-reliant economic engine, FW-Arlington migth once again be removed from DFW and Dallas and FW could once again be two different metro areas. Something to think about...

As for which one is growing faster, Hoston v. DFW... I've seen both. When I was looking today I found one stat that showed Dallas grew at 8.52% over a 3 or 4 year period, while Houston grew at 7.21%. I also found a page that listed DFW as growing at the second fastest rate of any of the top 10 metro areas, just behind Atlanta over the past 20 years... So, there are stats out there to support both. Only time will tell which will grow faster in the years to come. One thing is for sure. Both will continue to march up the list rather than down the list of biggest metro/urban areas and both will continue to represent the great state of Texas very well... Both are destined to be among the world's largest metropolitan areas...

I think it's safe to say that Texas boasts not just one, but two "largest"... Houston is the largest city in Texas while DFW is the largest Metro area.

Listen, dallas metro is bigger then houston metro because of population, not of land size. Houston metro land size is bigger, and have room to produce more. So, yes houston will surpass dallas metro in population.

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"I think Houston will eventually pass up the Dallas Metro... The "Migration" here seems to be a bit faster, and has been since the 1930s... There only basing it on current rates, and populations. They can't exactly predict the future, and neither can we. Because rates change (dramatically in some cases) over the corse of a month, to years...

Its my Prediction, Houston will probibly out grow the metro with in the next 30 years..."

Look guys, just because You WANT something to happen or WANT something to be true, it doesn't mean that it IS what you WANT it to be. You have to look at the facts before you can just state something as being true or not... I WANT to drive a Hummer or a Mercedes. I can even go out and tell people that I drive a Hummer or a Benz if I want to... But the fact is, I drive an Isuzu Trooper. And you know what - I love it. Now, if all I focused on was the fact that I don't have an H2 or a Benz, the I probably would miss the fact that I like my Trooper.

It seems that the standard rebutals to the "DFW is bigger" thing are "Houston is bigger in land size therefore we'll be bigger in population eventually" or "It takes two to be Houston; Dallas AND Ft Worth". That reminds me of the scene on the elementary school playground where one kid says to the other, "my dad can kick your dad's butt because he's bigger". It just a silly rebutal.

Houston is primarily all Houston, while DFW is made up of many suburbs. That is very true. Houston has been aggressively annexing surounding towns for decades while Dallas has not. In fact, the suburban areas surrounding Dallas actually have a greater population now than Dallas proper. So, if you compare the two areas, it's really difficult to comare them side by side... But doing so proves nothing anyway. The quality of a city has nothing to do with its size. Some of the best cities in America are small cities - Santa Fe comes to mind.

Anyway, here are some unbiased facts to read instead of getting into a pushing match in the playground sandbox...

1. The city of Houston is considerably larger than the city of Dallas.

2. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is considerably larger than the Houston Metro Area. (No one in DFW seems to even think about this, so why is it such a big deal for Houstonians?)

3. Houston's square mile footprint is larger than the square mile footprint of Dallas. Houston = 579 Sq Miles. Dallas = 343 Sq Miles. However, city rankings go by population more often than area. No one really even pays attention to square miles. In fact, no one would even guess the "largest" U.S. City when it comes to land area... Houston is not the largest, and if you're going to go by that stat then Hostonians are going to be even more embarassed by who is larger than Houston according to land area. Juneau Alaska is actually the "largest U.S. City" when ranking by land area. Juneau has a land area of 3081 square miles - yep you read that correctly and that's over 5 times larger than Houston! And Juneau's population is about 31,000. Okay, so then Houston must be the largest in the lower 48, right? Wrong. Jacksonville Florida sits on 841 Square Miles and Oklahoma City sits on 607 Sq. Miles... Houston is somewhere in the neighborhood of 579 sqare miles. And, there might still be other cities that are larger than Houston - this was just a quick search. I didn't look at a complete ranking. Another thing to consider... No one would ever consider Houston or DFW to be larger than NYC in any stretch of the imagination, right? Even Los Angeles pales in comparison to NCY when it comes to size... right? Wrong again. In fact, did you know that DFW Airport is actually larger land-wise than Manhattan? That's a fact. Manhattan sits on 23 square miles of land... DFW airport sits on 29.3 square miles of land. DFW has no population, and Manhattan is one of the most - if not THE most - densly populated urban areas on Earth. All of NYC combined is only 303 square miles... yet NYC metro is home to nearly as many people as the entire state of Texas while being roughly half the size of Oklahoma City. Point is, you can't really compare Dallas and Houston on this level because it would be like trying to compare LA to NYC. One is mainly suburban sprawl (Dallas and LA) and the other is incorporated city (Houston and NYC). Of course, if you want to get really obscure and cast a hypothetical on this scenario and add some of the suburbs to Dallas then the situation would be different. Pretend for a second that Dallas suddenly annexed Plano, Richardson, and other suburbs until it was the exact same size land-wise as Houston... just for the sake of a true side-by-side comparison... Dallas MIGHT (no one knows for sure because it can't be done) be larger than Houston population-wise because it would more than double Dallas' population.

4.Houston will not surpass DFW in population unless there is some sort of economic collapse in the DFW metroplex at the same time there is some sort of economic boom in Houston. The reasons cities boom or bust is based on the local economic strength of cities - job growth, cost of living index, economic diversity, etc. The projections are pretty strong that DFW will continue to widen the population gap over Houston Metro because the DFW regional economy is one of the strongest in the nation... not just because people in Dallas "think" or "want" to be bigger than Houston. Houston also enjoys a strong economy, but the problem is that Houston has not been as successful in diversifying it's economy in the years since the oil industry collapsed. The DFW economy is one of the most resilient economies in the country, therefore it is less likely to suffer during times of economic recession and/or depression. In fact, during recent recessions, DFW actually retained its rapid growth. One projection I saw - and there are many out there - stated that the population of Houston Metro in 2030 will be around 7.2 million. DFW's projected 2030 population is 9.1 million. However, even as we speak they are tallying the latest population figures to be released in April. The growth rate in DFW is so brisk that they projections can't even keep up. For example. Fort Worth was not projected to hit 625,000 until 2010, but Fort Worth has probably already surpassed that number, or is very close to hitting it now - 5 years ahead of the projected date.

I'm sure some of you reading this will will see all this as some sort of a slap in the face to Houston. But in all honesty, the DFW area is in trouble because of the growth. Although infrastructure is in a 24/7 state of construction, they won't be able to keep up with the population demands and the air quality and transportation systems are going to lag behind which will created a difficult living environment. DFW has grown too quickly to keep up, so as the years go by traffic, congestion, and all sorts of other urban problems will become reality in DFW. These are not good things.

5. DFW is set to overtake Philly as the 4th largest metro area. It will probably happen in 2005 or 2006, if it hasn't already happened. Philly continues to slow down and DFW was only about 300,000 behind Philly in Jan 2003. DFW is adding over 150,000 per year (or somewhere close to that) therefore DFW should be neck and neck with Phily by now.

6. Fort Worth Factor. For most of her history Fort Worth has been sitting in the shadows of her sister to the east. However, that is changing quickly. Fort Worth is aggressively annexing the extra jurisdicional territory (land outside the city limits that they have first right to) in the same way that Houston has annexed in years gone by. The result is that Fort Worth is about to - or possibly already has - surpassed Dallas in area. This means that Fort Worth will not become landlocked by the surburbs around it the way that Dallas has. Experts are now projecting that Fort Worth will eventually overtake Dallas in population to become the largest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex - but that has nothing to do with the fact that FW is going to be larger land-wise. In this instance it's merely the result of FW trying to avoid becoming landlocked. However, the Dallas economy will probably still lead Fort Worth in job growth for decades...

7. Some believe the reason Dallas and Fort Worth merged to become "DFW" was to beat Houston in some sort of population race. This is not true. The DFW Metroplex became one metro area because the U.S. Census bureau determined that the commuter patterns in the DFW area were such that the two areas really were one larger metro area. The city governments really didn't have anything to do with it. There are tons of people who live in FW but drive to Dallas for work... Such commuting patterns led the U.S. Census bureau to reclassify the Dallas Metro and Fort Worth-Arlington Metro areas into one larger Combined Metropolitan Statistical Area. Likewise, the reverse has been true in other cities that have be split into smaller metros. San Fransisco/San Jose were divided because the silicon valley develepment in San Jose shifted commuter patterns in the Bay Area and people began moving to San Jose to be closer to their jobs in Silicon Valley. Therefore, they were no longer commutting to San Fran which had long been the local epicenter for jobs in the Bay Area. San Fran and San Jose are now two different metro areas and San Fran as slipped in the rankings as a result. Same thing happened in DC/Baltimore...

8. Houston's Skyline is bigger than Dallas'. This is true. Houston's skyline boast taller buildings and more of them than Dallas. Dallas will not overtake Houston's skyline when it comes to height because there are FAA height restrictions on how tall the buildings in downtown Dallas can be. Currently the tallest building in Downtown Dallas is the 921 foot Bank of America building. The FAA granted permission for that tower, but it is the tallest building that Dallas will ever see in its downtown core unless flight patterns at Love Field are altered to accommodate taller buildings. Fort Worth on the other hand, has no height restrictions and it is expected to start adding skyscrapers in the next couple years. This trend is due to the 99% occupancy rate in the FW CBD which has created a lack of class A office space. Additionally, there is a rising demand for high rise urban living in DT FW. Just this week, XTO energy announced plans to demolish the Landmark Tower (damaged in the 2000 tonado) and to possibly replace it with a 50-story office tower. More towers are on the way. And, once the Trinity River Plan is built in FW, more office and residential towers are expected to pop up along the new waterways as demand sores. The FW Trinity River Plan is going to double the size of downtown Fort Worth, which is already considered one of the nations best examples of urban renewal...

Well, I'm tired of typing. My point to all this is that DFW is a great city with great people - like it or not. The exact same thing can be said for Houston - it's a huge city filled with great people who are proud to live in Houston.

To me the idea of comparing cities is like comaring snow flakes. No two are alike and therefore they cannot truly be compared to one another. All of them have things that are good and bad about them. Point is, it's all subjective. Houstonians can point out all the reasons they hate DFW - the Dallatude, the skyline, the lack of things to do, whatever... DFW residents can turn around and ramble off a laundry list of things they hate about Houston - the humidity, the smog, the people, the traffic... It is and endless cycle that does nothing but waste the energy of the person who choses to fling mud at the other city.

I hope these points are met with objectiveness and not a back lash of typical elementary school "my city is better than your city" lame rebutals. If so, I'm sure this thread will be closed too...

Hey everyone... I'm new to the forum. And, yes I live in that dreaded and loathesome area to the North... but I'm not a hostile visitor so please put down those torches and pitch forks.

I have to say that I'm a bit surprised by what all I've found here on the Houston site. I grew up in Fort Worth, which is often compared to Houston because of the cities great love of the arts and anything cultural. FW really goes out of her way to embrace her Texas heritage and to preserve the "old west" roots that gave birth to the city that FW is today... a city that has been ranked as the fastest growing city with a pop. over 500,000 for the past few years (of course, that's something I'm sure will be debated on this forum). The experts are now predicting that Fort Worth will surpass Dallas in the next 15 years or so in population. Fort Worth is also set to surpass Dallas in land area within the year (by the end of 2005)

Anyway, I travel all over the DFW area on a daily basis and I'm very familiar with most of the metroplex. But, I'm also somewhat familiar with Houston... To me all the "competition" between Dallas and Houston is odd. I mean, the cities are nothing alike at all. So, it's really hard to even compare the two in my mind.

Houston - like Fort Worth - has developed through aggressive annexation. The city limits of Houston refect that... Houston and Dallas differ here. Dallas has not be aggressive in annexing, and thus, has become landlocked by suburbs. As a result, the density in Dallas is growing and the city has no choice but to grow skyward. Hense all the highrise urban living developments going up all over North Dallas/Uptown. Houston has a thriving downtown area that is unlike Dallas... DT Dallas is 25% vacant. However, they're starting to turn it around by taking a hint from Houston and FW... Dallas is now in the midst of a strong surge of turning old vacant office towers into residential living. But, it is Fort Worth that is catching everyone's attention these days. Fort Worth has approved and is starting its Trinity River Project that will dwarf the one in Dallas. The FW TRP (Trinity River Project) is going to create San Antonio-like river walks, and it's going to double the footprint of downtown Fort Worth by creating a town lake north of the Tarrant County Courthouse that will be complete with canals with high rise living and office towers. It's being modeled after Vancouver BC. It is going to change the face of Fort Worth forever and thrust Fort Worth into being a top tier city... On the south end of Downtown, the lancaster corridor is undergoing redevelopment and many of the cities older office towers are converting to living. Plus a new convention center hotel is approved and on the way... Downtown FW, unlike Dallas, is at 99.8% capacity and because of that, new skyscrapers on in the works... basically, FW is busting at the seams in just about everyway imaginable. Look for 2005 to bring big big news out of FW...

There is a rivalry between Dallas and Fort Worth that dates back to the early days of each city. That rivalry started when the mayor of Dallas made a snide comment about how Fort Worth was so dead that a panther was once seen strolling the streets of Downtown before plopping down to take a nap; apparently even the panther was bored. But, instead of firing back... Fort Worth embraced the comment and now FW is referred to as "panther city" by a lot of locals. There are even pathers incorporated into much of the public art around town as a reference to those comments from the East. However, it's only the "old school" Fort Worthians who object to being part of "DFW". Ever since the creation of DFW Airport, the two cities have been working more cooperatively than in the past. Of course, there is the battle over the Wright Admendment... but that's more about economic protection for FW's half of DFW, not any sort of sibling rivalry between Dallas and Fort Worth. What I don't understand is where the Dallas/Houston Rivalry started... Was it really because of the TV show? Does it have something to do with the old Cowboys vs Oilers thing? I have never heard of any real root cause to the Dallas/Houston thing... but I do agree with some other people on this thread... It seems to be coming from Houston because you never hear anti-Houston talk in Dallas....

So, what is Houston's growth predicted to be like in coming years? I seriously don't know... I know they're predicting DFW to double in size in the next 30-40 years. And, I've heard that the 9.1 million predictions are under-estimated due to the growth in the FW side of DFW...

Anyway, from one person in DFW --- I like Houston a lot. I think it's cool that Texas can have so many big cities that all feel so completely different from each other. Houston, San Antonio, Austin, DFW.... they're all very different flavors.

I wish that we had the skyscrapers in Dallas-FW that y'all have in Houston. I think Houston's skyline rivals LA and Chicago... I would definitely list it as one of the nation's most impressive skylines.

Ft. Worth reminds me of Lubbock in the aspect that they have agriculture just outside the CBD...i like the feel of having the city next to the country..dont get me wrong i love a true urban paradise...but this combination makes me think of the vast diversity of Texas and its residents

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey brijonmang,

I'm a former Red Raider and life long FW resident... where is there agriculture right outside of FW's CBD? Were you referring to Trinity Park/River on the West side, or were you referring perhaps to the park land to the East of DT FW? To my knowledge DTFW is no where near anything agricultural. The thing about FW and Lubbock that are similar to me are the people - both are home to that famous Texas-brand hospitality that made our great state so great...

From the media - not me... there are lots of ways to measure growth... LA, NYC, Vegas, Houston... FW... they're all growing at impressive rates. But, this is just one of the sources I use to support my claim that FW is growing faster than cities such as Vegas. It should also be noted that latest population figures put FW at about 620,000... so we've actually passed one or two more cities on the list by now. We're at least number 19 and possible 18th by now. The numbers mentioned in this article have already been blown out of the water according to NCTOG figures.

*****

No bull!

Cowtown climbs five spots among nation's most populous cities

By Aman Batheja

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Fort Worth is on the move on the population charts. So is Dallas. They're just going in opposite directions.

Jumping past five cities -- including Boston, Seattle and Washington D.C. -- Fort Worth is now the 20th-largest city in the country with 585,122 residents, according to 2003 census figures to be released Thursday.

Dallas, meanwhile, was supplanted by San Antonio as the eighth-largest city in the country. Dallas, which gained less than 2,500 people between July 2002 and July 2003, dropped to No. 9.

Fort Worth has been enjoying a robust growth rate for several years. But Rocky Gardiner, with the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said Cowtown is growing even faster than previously expected.

Two years ago, the council forecasted Fort Worth to have 624,000 people by 2010, Gardiner said.

"With the growth we're seeing lately, they could surpass that by 2006," Gardiner said.

Most of the growth is in north Fort Worth.

Besides making the top 20, Fort Worth is also the fastest-growing city of more than 500,000 from July 2002 to July 2003, increasing by about 2.8 percent, or 16,000 people.

And from April 2000 to July 2003, Fort Worth grew 8.1 percent, making it the fastest-growing city of more than 500,000 during that time, according to the Census figures.

"We have found that delicate balance between economic development opportunities in our city and the quality of life in our neighborhoods," said Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.

The city's booming population will undoubtedly affect public policy, Moncrief said.

"We're no longer 25. We're now 20. Certainly as we go into this next budget cycle, it's something we're going to have to be mindful of," Moncrief said.

While city services will need to continue to be expanded to sustain the growth, Fort Worth is big enough to handle the newcomers, according to Fort Worth city planner Fernando Costa.

Approximately 1/3 of the city's land remains vacant and suitable for development, Costa said.

"We can accommodate a great deal of growth within our city limits, which in a sense makes Fort Worth different from many other large cities," Costa said.

State demographer Steve Murdock said both Fort Worth and San Antonio's growth is due in part to the availability of land surrounding the city. Dallas, on the other hand, has little space left for new development.

"Dallas is a very contained area. Growth like this simply isn't possible there," Murdock said.

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, who had just given her state-of-the-city address Wednesday, was disappointed to learn of Dallas' drop in the standings.

But she said it would not be long before her city surpasses San Antonio again, especially after the completion of the Trinity River Corridor project, which will consists of lakes, trails, an equestrian center and the Great Trinity Forest, which will be seven times the size of Central Park.

"They have that little, teeny, tiny riverwalk, and when we get our big, huge Trinity River lakes project with our nice bridges, I think that's going to turn around real fast," she said.

In Miller's address, she said the river project and other city efforts will make Dallas one of the most livable cities in the nation within the next five years.

What's especially interesting about Fort Worth's growth is where the new Cowtowners are coming from, Murdock said.

Other Texas cities are growing rapidly largely due to international migration, Murdock said. He noted that Fort Worth's ability to attract a mix of international and domestic residents speaks well for the area economy.

"Domestic migrants are what demographers call 'highly selective.' They tend to have higher incomes and are higher educated than the areas from where they move. It means you have a growing economy with some well-paying jobs," Murdock said.

Other cities in North Texas are also enjoying substantial growth.

Little Elm, on the north shore of Lake Lewisville in Denton County, grew 31 percent to about 12,000 people from 2000 to 2003, making it the country's seventh-fastest growing city of any size during that time.

Town manager J.C. Hughes called the figures "mind boggling" but not unanticipated.

"Frisco is right next to us so I think it was a natural progression for people to look down the road to us," Hughes said.

He said population growth will likely grow even higher in 2008 when a corridor connecting Little Elm to the Interstate 35 is completed.

In Crowley, south of Fort Worth, City Manager Truitt Gilbreath downplayed his city's 8.7 percent growth rate.

"Being a smaller city, naturally our percentage would be greater than larger cities where the numbers are growing faster," he said.

Gilbreath agreed that the quality of life in a smaller town combined with its proximity to Fort Worth attracts people to Crowley.

"You have a little more opportunity to be involved in a small community," he said.

Burleson public information officer Sherry Campbell-Husband attributes Burleson's growth of 6.8 percent to the city's semi-rural environment, good schools and proximity to the retail stores and other amenities of Fort Worth.

While dealing with growth can be painful, it's worth the hassle, Campbell-Husband said.

"Our mayor is fond of saying 'A community that doesn't grow dies,'" she said.

ONLINE: www.census.gov

Montrose1100,

Actually, Fort Worth has grown faster than Las Vegas in the past few years. Plus, much of Vegas' growth is in the suburbs, not Vegas proper. However, what I said was that FW is the fastest growing city with a population over 500,000. It's been published in several different reliable sourses and covered quite a bit by the DFW media. However, it's after 2:00 am and I don't have the energy to hunt down the information. But, trust me... it's true. I know it's a shocking statistic. Who would have ever dreamed that sleepy ole Fort Worth would be the hotbed of such incredible growth. But, all you have to do is spend a little time in FW to see what all is going on. It's insane. The difference in FW's growth compared to some other large cities, is that FW is growing at the central core and in the outer areas... so FW is growing both upward and outward at the same time. It's unusual to see a large city growing at the core and outward at the same time. Plus, FW is also annexing to prevent becoming landlocked. There is a HUGE housing boom going on in dowtown FW... right now there are tons of older former office towers being converted to lofts. To give you an idea of the central core's growth, the population downtown was about 1000 just a couple years ago. Now it's around 2800, from what I read on the FW discussion board, and they're expecting the number to sore to over 10,000 within a few yeas as newer high rise residential towers go up. Right now the hottest address is THE TOWER, which was the Bank One Tower before being destroyed by the tornado that hit downtown in 2000. It's nearly sold out and only the a few penthouse properties remain from what I understand. It basically sold out overnight. Sales were so brisk that they cancelled all plans for rental units in the building and immediately put them up for sale. Now there are a hand full of other new buildings being announced for construction, as several other prominant older office towers convert to urban lofts. The growth in FW is just now starting. 5 years from now it will be a very different city than it is today. FW is ramping up for the kind of growth Pheonix has seen in the last decade. In fact, growth over the last couple of years has been so rapid that the North Texas Coucil of Governments - a board made up of DFW cities - is having to adjust the population projections they made for FW in 2000 because the city has already shot past the population they predicted for 2006. They are now saying FW could top the 700,000 mark by the end of the decade and possibly pass Dallas around 2020 or 2025. Given that Dallas is just under twice the size of FW now... that's a pretty incredible prediction.

Hey everyone,

This is my first post on this board... I'm on the Dallas and Fort Worth boards all the time, as I'm a FW resident who spends a lot of time between both Dallas and Fort Worth...

I like your place on the web here. Great board - very informative. I thought I'd also take the opportunity to shed a little light on the DFW trends since I noticed y'all talking about the DFW thing in on the Houston Board.

Just a few of the facts about Dallas and Fort Worth...

Fort Worth - FW is now the fastest growing city in the nation with a pop over 500,000. (Even the NTCOG can't keep up with the pop growth) This trend has been quietly going on for the past couple of years. Experts are predicting that FW will eventually surpass Dallas in population, although it will take a while. In the past year, FW has passed several cities, jumping from #27 to #19 in population. Washington DC, Seattle, Denver, Charollotte, Boston, El Paso, Milwaulkee, and Denver are among the cities that FW has surpassed in the past year or so. FW now ranks just behind Baltimore, Memphis, and Austin... all of which have been experiencing population decreases. Experts are predicting FW to continue booming for years to come since the Eastern half of the DFW metroplex moves closer to becoming landlocked. FW is predicted to reclaim the spot as the state's 4th largest city (replacing Austin) within the next two years which will also make FW the nation's 16th largest city. Unlike Dallas, Fort Worth has unlimited growth potential and the city is set to double in land size through the annexation of extrajurisdictional territories within a few years. FW is determined not to become landlocked by suburbs. Meanwhile one of the nations most successful urban renewal projects continues to boom in downtown FW. With the approval of FW's Trinity River Project, FW will soon double the footprint of downtown and add city lakes and canals in the process. Add that to the fact that FW's downtown occupancy rate is holding steady at 98% and odds are that new skyscrapers will be popping up soon. The Pier One Place and Radio Shack corporate campuses are just the tip of the iceberg... much more is to come in Downtown FW. Of course, if you add all that to what Fort Worth already offers - a world class zoo, world class museums, world class performance hall... FW is poised to blow her own cover as the state's best kept secret. The masses will soon discover the great things that have been lurking in Dallas' shadows all these years.

Dallas - Nothing keeps Dallas on her toes more than the on-ward march of her little sister to the west (not to mention her recent move to #3). Dallas and FW have always had a competitive nature about them. Someone said Dallas and Fort Worth are united, but seperate. That's exactly right. They're like sibling rivals. FW has strived to become the anti-Dallas, while Dallas has strived to keep FW in the shadows. Dallas is now scrambling to follow the example in urban renewal that FW is setting. Dallas will not be #3 for long. Dallas is set to approve its own Trinity River Plan which will renew the inner city, and Dallas is busting at the seams with new urban villages sprouting up in the uptown area off McKinney Ave. The trend toward moving to the burbs is slowly revearsing itself in Dallas as more upscale "urban high rise living" is being built. Mid-rise residential skyscrapers are popping up all over the ring surrounding downtown Dallas. The newest claim to fame in Dallas is an urban view of downtown from the balcony of one's trendy "uptown" highrise penthouse. Dallas has always wanted to be the NYC of the south and due to being landlocked and the fear of slipping in the rankings... They might just actually pull it off. If you think you've seen Dallatude - just wait until they turn things around! They'll be unbearable! Of course, there's only one thing standing in the way of all the great plans in Dallas - the city's government, which is ripe with potential for a sitcom! Of course, the city government is also the reason the Dallas Cowboys are more than likey moving to Tarrant County. Dallas REALLY fumbled that one! The Cowboys back in Fair Park -- that would have been a HUGE boost for the inner city and an urban renewal dream come true. But, they let it slip and now the Super Bowl that should have been in Dallas will take place in Arlington of all places.

Oh yeah - then there's that other big city in DFW, Arlington. They should change the name to Thrill Ride City. Arlington would still be a country town if it weren't for Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, the Texas Rangers, and coming soon The "Dallas" Cowboys? Now, the city without a skyline or mass transit is the state's 7th largest city and their biggest claim to fame is that they're the state's largest suburb.

The Metroplex - anyway you shake it, growth is the name of the game in DFW. Not only are the major cities experiencing huge growth and renewal, the DFW suburbs are some of the fastest growing in the nation as well. Furthermore, now that some of the other metro's have been re-defined by the US Census, DFW is now officially ranked the 5th largest metro area in the nation, with a population right at 6 Million, DFW is just behind Philly. Philly will defintely slip behind DFW by the end of the decade, and the DFW Metroplex population is expected to nearly double in the next couple decades. Some experts predict that DFW will eventually pass Chicago, and - guilp - even LA. by the end of the century.

Anyway, that's enough of the 411 on DFW... I hope y'all enjoy reading my own personal view of the DFW trends... I know Houstonians don't care much for Dallas (I know it's just a stereotype...). But, remember that the state's most Houston-like city also resides in the DFW area. FW is a lot like Houston in that the city has a huge appreciation for the arts and preserving historic buildings and the flavor of the city's rich Texas heritage. And, FWorthians definitely like and admire Houston. It's a great city... if only y'all could figure out a way to get rid of those hummingbird-sized mosquitos.