How weird is it that I go to Dallas every day but have seen almost none of it?
Like many residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, I live in the suburbs but work in Dallas. I drive to work five days a week to my office in North Dallas, then drive home when I’m done. And that’s pretty much the extent of my association with Big D.
I was reminded of just how foreign Dallas is to me when Fort Worth urban blogger Kevin Buchanan took a self-guided tour through the city, comparing Dallas’s urban design to that of Cowtown’s. (And yes, I know how much he hates that term; wouldn’t want to promote Fort Worth’s agricultural roots too much, would we?)
Anyhow, while I disagree with Buchanan on a lot of things, I agree with him that much of Dallas is designed more for car traffic than foot traffic. It’s designed to accommodate workers who commute in by car to work, not for residents or visitors to spend leisure time there. And while there are a handful of attractions to be found, there aren’t many, and those that exist are spread out really far from each other.
As a result, there’s very little incentive to drive way back across town to visit on my time off. After all, what would I do when I got there? If you’re going to a Mavericks or Stars game, there’s the American Airlines Center, but the adjoining Victory Park is almost completely vacant. (What few restaurants and retail stores open there struggle to stay in business.) You could go to the Dallas World Aquarium, but the nearby West End is also pretty vacant. There’s the State Fair in the fall, but the fairgrounds are pretty quiet the rest of the year. Or there’s the Sixth Floor Museum if you still have any interest in the JFK assassination.
But if you just want to stroll around town to eat and shop and listen to live music, you won’t be going Downtown. Other than a plethora of skyscrapers, there’s not much there.
Contrast that with some other big cities like Chicago. I’ve visited Chicago a few times on business, and when the weather is nice, it has a lot to offer. Grant Park and Millenium Park sit between downtown and Lake Michigan, offering plenty of family-friendly space to hang out. The Navy Pier, Lincoln Park, and the Magnificent Mile also offer plenty of activities, just to name a few. Downtown is extremely pedestrian-friendly, and the buses and trains allow most workers to take public transportation to work rather than have to navigate the already-insane streets.
Dallas, meanwhile, can’t even figure out how to build a convention center hotel.
Listen, I don’t mean to bash Dallas, I really don’t. I just don’t have any strong feelings towards it, despite the fact I’ve lived in the Metroplex for over 20 years. Yeah, I guess I could make more of an effort to get to know the city better. Who knows, maybe I would learn to appreciate it more. But for now, other than a biweekly paycheck, there’s not much compelling me to come back.
Previously:
Better than Fair
