Earlier this morning, I put up a post praising Jaap van Zweden, the new music director at the DSO. In the comments, someone said, “Finally, something good happening in Dallas.” The comment got me wondering. Is that the way most people feel? That there really isn’t much good happening in Dallas? Because I personally see a lot of reason for hope. I won’t bias the poll by going into my reasons here. But after you’ve voted, please leave a comment as to why you voted the way you did. Thanks.
28 comments
23% for “the city’s kicking butt”?!?
Okay, it’s time for the Mayor’s staff to get off the Internet and get back to work!
You need an “all of the above.” To wit, the city is …
KICKING BUTT, as always, when it come to private capital investment. The entrepreneurial energy here is staggering!
OKAY when it comes to culture — things are certainly looking up with, for instance, the exciting developments in the Arts District, but it’s still so earnestly aspirational — it all smells kind of nouveau riche.
FEH I JUST LIVE HERE when it comes to most quality-of-life issues. Pollution, traffic congestion, and a lack of natural beauty so brutally relentless it grates the soul. Still, it could be worse.
IN DEEP TROUBLE in the public sector. Corrupt, incompetent, malfeasant, endlessly contentious and shamelessly grandstanding. The place is run like it’s freakin’ Monroe, Louisiana, for crying out loud.
“okay but cautiously optimistic”: Arts District a plus. Trinity debacle a minus. Revitalization (at least in part) of downtown a plus. Convention Ctr hotel debacle a minus. South Dallas on the upswing a plus. Cesar Chavez debacle a minus. Stars a plus, Mavs playoffs debacle a minus. Cowboys a neutral for now, lack of major league baseball a minus. AA Center/Victory a plus, Arlington sports complex a minus. Growth in uptown a plus, coming real estate crash a minus. Frontburner a plus, unnecessary censorship a minus. In other words, for every positive thing going on in Dallas, there’s a negative that works to try to offset it. But the trend seems to be positive overall.
I agree with JS on most points (although I don’t think a city really rises and falls on the performance of pro sports teams). One thing is missing, though. DISD provides one headline-making minus after another.
“seen better”
Moving here from Chicago, I would say that Dallas is lacking in most every area by comparison. The only spots where things are better here is that cost of living is cheaper overall and the winters are so much better!
I agree with Daniel. For various reasons, I wanted to select all of them.
I agree with Daniel on there needing to be an “All of the Above” choice. Whenever I’m in town, there are plenty of things to be excited about (Arts District, Uptown, etc) and some things that boggle the mind (Trinity River).
And to Chicagoan: yeah it’s pretty hard for anything to beat the lakefront (esp in Lincoln Park or Lake View) in the spring, summer and fall. Winter on the other hand…
Where is the “Its okay but when the opportunity to leave the area and move to Austin came, I jumped on it” option?
Chicago is in a different league than Dallas. Dallas could fairly be compared to Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Seattle, San Diego, Philadelphia, Houston. It would rank somewhere in the middle, though only Houston is hands-down uglier (although the built environment in Phoenix makes Dallas look like, well, Chicago). It’s the relentless lack of scenery that is Dallas’ worst liability. The corruption and incompetence of elected/appointed officials is actually entertaining in its way.
“It’s the relentless lack of scenery that is Dallas’ worst liability.”
What he said.
I voted ‘okay’.
here’s why: This weekend the Audobon Center opens, which looks to be way cool. I plan on attending the opening, and doing a hike on Saturday.
I toured the Dogwood Canyon this Spring and Audobon does a great job with things like this.
The green line station in Deep Ellum promises that this historic area, just might get new life.
Local theatre is strong, just re-subscribed to Kitchen Dog, after the terrific Pillowman.
Art Conspiracy just announced it’s 4th annual location. (full disclosure, I’m on that Board)
Yes, DISD budget catastrophe and Trinty boon doggle makes me weary of political leaders, but there’s a lot of cool stuff happening in this town. I’ve met lots of neat folks: photographers, artists, musicians in the last two years and there’s a lot going on if you take the time to explore it.
While I think that, overall, Dallas’ scenery could use improvement, I do think some parts (Oak Cliff) are quite scenic.
I never really understood why the city relentlessly grew north over pancake-flat land while practically ignoring the hilly land to the south.
I went with the “Kick Butt” vote. I moved to downtown from Plano about 8 months ago and I love it.
A huge chunk of Deep Ellum is going to get new ownership which should end the stagnation of the last 6 years so that’s awesome.
Arts District is coming up.
The city is business friendly and cost of living is reasonable so more companies like AT&T will continue moving here as the economy gyrates.
Best of all, I don’t have kids yet so the DISD can’t eff them up!
Everything is coming up roses
Dallas is a city run by incompetents and cliques, which is why the focus is on the inane and nothing of value gets accomplished.
All Dallas had to do was look at the list of reasons Boeing went to Chicago and work on addressing them, but it hasn’t.
The school district needs to be divided up. It’s apparently too large to be run successfully.
The city council should be dissolved. We pay money for them to meet and the city manager runs things. Why do we need the council? What have they done for me lately?
The mayor needs to be replaced. He’s an irritating do-nothing with big promises, but not like the entertaining irritating do-nothings other places have had.
We need leaders that will take responsibility for their actions. I keep hoping.
I have to combine. I’m proud to live here, this is my home, we have seen better days, need to get rid of the corruption and incompetent peeps running the City.
To Don in Austin…
While you may enjoy Austin, but even from there you apparently still miss El Grande D.
@Enrique:
Good point. I spent a half-life in the area so there is still some remnant umbilical.
Its like a relationship with family or in-laws. You care about them and want to keep up with their lives, even visit a few times a year, but you don’t necessarily want to share a zip code with them. Plus I enjoy assisting with putting the ignorance into the “snarky celebration of ignorance” that is FB.
well, as a relative newbie…here since Nov. 1, 2005, after 33.5 years north of the Mason-Dixon line and east of Pittsburgh, i chose to vote for B) the city is OK (which is AP style, but who’s counting)
and that’s really the bottom line for me: Dallas is OK
Dallas ain’t great
Dallas ain’t bad
and i don’t think Dallasites want to hear that they’re all just as normal as folks in Portland, Ore., and Portland, Maine, but it’s true, man, you’re not unique, we’re all the same
certainly the utter lack of any semblance of scenery aside from the sooooo effin boring and uber-suburban chili’s/walmart/lowe’s/giant panda/chili’s/target/home depot/pei wei wallpaper that lines each and every road in a 50-mile radius is extremely troubling, but that’s going on all across America and a problem for another thread
Dallas seems to me to be like that guy in the PG-13 movie that everyone’s really hoping makes it happen
but…
@jrp
It depends where you live. Take downtown, draw a five mile diameter around it and you don’t see the “uber-suburban chili’s/walmart/lowe’s/giant panda/chili’s/target/home depot/pei wei” retail orgy you described. That’s all suburban sprawl, and if it weren’t for the fact that I have family and friends that live in the burbs I would say nuke it from orbit. But whatev.
You’re stretchin’ with the Swingers reference but I like your style.
I think Dallas is doing well, despite being run by incompetents and riddled with corruption. The citizens’ thirst for progress compensates for the bozos running the city.
“It’s the relentless lack of scenery that is Dallas’ worst liability.”
You really need to hang out at Primo’s on a Tuesday night. There is most definitely no lack of scenery (mountain ranges).
I live in LakeWoebegone, I mean Lakewood, the anti-Potemkin Village of Mayberry with Money. The sun and moon rise over White Rock Lake and they set over the spectacular skyline of Big D. The kids are third and fourth generation. Our houses are paid-for. Our trees are big. We have the best dog park and the best dogs. We have the perfect Fourth of July. We have two Heisman Trophies. We also have two Blue Ribbons. Our high school is 80 years old in a land where older is better. Matt’s chile relleno satisfies. Our old post office is a winery. Our theater tower is a beacon of pride. The Avalon Sewing Club knows all. Even our rats are celebrated and above-average. Our glasses are crimson-colored.
Only Aunt Bea’s pickles are bad.
Guess how I voted?
Remove Belo anti-Dallas bias and “Live Better Here.”
Dallas and surrounding areas is the land of opportunity–it is what you make of it. Where else is the cost of living this low that has as much to offer as Big D? I can’t think of any, not in this country anyway. No city is without its problems, but overall, the quality of life here is darn good. Anything you want is within reach–even mountains and oceans–just a half-day away with the purchase of a cheap airline ticket. Those who can’t see beyond the urban sprawl need only look up to the sky.
I left already
Anyway, I’m more than optimistic about Dallas; I just hate driving, so for me bigger cost of living in other cities is justified.
Dallas is a tough city to run these days. There’s not much reason for it to exist — gone are the days of cotton and oil, and today’s it about real-estate and fostering a strong business climate, things that other cities can compete against us with. But overall, it’s a proud city, and its recent focus on improving the arts and downtown living have rehabbed my opinion about it.
Point taken, Dallasite.
I voted for option one.
For a guy like me who started out at zero and is doing pretty well I think it’s a great town. The towns that are often compared to Dallas also have their pluses and minuses.
It’s moving in the right direction. For the first time in who-knows-how-long we have
(most) north and south city council people pulling together for positive results. One by one we’re getting rid of things that should’ve been addressed years ago.
There’s a lot we have to undo. But we’re also farther along than many metros. Dallas traffic is bad, but have you driven in Atlanta lately?
We have a good amount of foreclosures, but Cook County (Chicago) has so many that the sheriff wants to have a moratorium. Chi-town is a great place, but I like the fact that we don’t have below zero wind chills for 4 months out of the year.