Dallas vs Atlanta

[bigboyz05]

All 3 are roughly similar IMO - it's simply a matter of preference.

Ft Worth has a decent skyline, not at all in the range of those 3 but suprisingly impressive.

Houston has the third largest CBD right behind New York City and Chicago and that's not including Uptown which by it self would rank #14 as a CBD. From what I've read on Skyscrapercity more and more towers are going up all the time. Dallas is doing well with all its developments like the Victory project.

[Greens!]

i still think dallas is doing better because its growing faster.

[urbanvb]

One difference between the two it appears is the weather. Atlanta has lots of trees and the Big D is very dry with short stubby trees.

[rantanamo]

- Dallas is not very dry with short stubby trees. Dallas has a dry and wet season. North and west of the city are the vast shrubby plain Dallas is known for. Perhaps because most see Dallas from DFW airport. The city itself is very green and sits on a river watershed that creates many valleys lined with creeks and mature oak and walnut. Great contrast to the suburbs most see.

- Dallas has many skylines spread throughout the city and suburbs: CBD, Uptown, Turtle Creek, Mockingbird, Stemmons Corridor, Park Central, Platinum Corridor, Preston Center, Telecom Corridor and Las Colinas. This doesn't take into account that Victory and Cityplace West are forming two skylines of their own within Uptown. On boards like this, you usually only see downtown.

- Have no idea which city has more, but Dallas has 19 tower cranes up right now in downtown and Uptown alone, and is growing pretty fast in urban development and population. For whatever reason, the construction threads here aren't as updated as other sites, but Dallas is enjoying one of its biggest booms ever right now.

Wondering if Dallas has done anything in the last 5 years? No question

[urbanvb]

That's an awesome pic. It really shows the density in Dallas. And 19 cranes? Wonder how many Atlanta has?

[teshadoh]

True - I thought Dallas had a nice canopy of trees in several neighborhoods, but comparatively fewer trees than Atlanta. But not that bad, eastern TX is a lot greener than central, southern or western TX.

As for cranes, downtown Atlanta might have 4, & midtown right now is in between some planned towers for later in the year, so there might only be 1 or 2. I have no idea how many are in Buckhead, but I would assume at least 5.

What I did like about Dallas was the downtown / uptown was more compact, rather than the sprawling lower dense core of downtown & midtown Atlanta. Also, as pretentious as I found Uptown, it was interesting to see a combination of Atlanta's Midtown & Buckhead directly adjacent to Dallas' downtown.

[Santiago6678]

I voted for Atlanta.

Both Emporis.com and Skyscraperpage.com list Atlanta as having a slight edge over Dallas in terms of buildings planned, approved, or under construction. However, there's a discrepancy between the two about which city has the most completed skyscrapers. So as for buildings, each city seems about the same. I like Atlanta's skyline better though and continued infill between downtown, midtown, and Buckhead could create one massive long horizon skyline in the future.

Aside from buildings though, I think Atlanta holds an advantage both nationally and internationally in name recognition. This is not to say that the name Dallas is unheard of outide the region, but between the two, Atlanta seems to be more well known as destination among young professionals from all over the world (much of this could be attributed to Atlanta's many universities including Emory, Georgia Tech, Morehouse, Spelman, etc.) as well as among older adults. Also, undeniably Atlanta is much more known for its hip/hop r&b scene. Of course this doesn't make a city, but it does attract a large number of young people of all races. Also, as mentioned in another post, Atlanta seems much more progressive and liberal, which feeds population growth among young people--the group that most supports population growth.

Finally, I think many would agree that Atlanta has more natural beauty. Dallas may have trees and rolling hills, but not to the extent Atlanta does.

[rantanamo]

Uptown and downtown skylines by the great Ninjatune

[rantanamo]

Dallas has way too many skylines besides downtown. Uptown, Turtle Creek, Mockingbird, Preston Center, Campbell Center to Presby area, Park Central, Platinum Corridor, Telecom Corridor, Stemmons Corridor, Las Colinas and DT Fort Worth so far.

Platinum Corridor at LBJ and the Dallas North Tollway looking east

You can see a lot of them scattered here

Another cluster at Mockingbird and central just to the right of downtown from this vantage point

[rantanamo]

I don't know how you could say Atlanta is more known worldwide. I'd say both have their reasons for world notoriety. Dallas unfortunately is known for Kennedy, the TV show(one of the most popular ever worldwide), Dallas Cowboys, UT SW Medical(usually ranked in the top 5 worldwide). Dallas has enough Fortune 500s to hold its own and has surpassed the 6 million person mark. Dallas isn't what I'd call a hip-hop city, but as far as music goes, has held its own in the Grammy department.

And something Dallas gets no credit for

[mrchris386]

I agree that both of these cities are booming and very successful in their own areas, but I believe Dallas has the edge. I lived in Dallas for 11yrs and visit family there every so often, but I also travel to Atlanta quite frequently for business ( I work for AirTran airways).

As far as buldings go, Atlanta has the apperance of seeming larger because it isn't as dense as the Dallas infastructure, and this is definately more noticeable in the Downtown-Midtown area. I do believe that Atlanta's skyscrapers are prettier, but Dallas has more and the Dallas economy is going through more of a boom right now. I believe this even more so since Donald Trump recently expressed great interest in building three major structures in Dallas over the next few years.

The Dallas area rapid transportation system (DART) is also a lot more intricate and you can tell just by looking at the maps, as previously stated from someone else. Dallas is also served by two major Airports, with DFW being the principal one, whereas Atlanta only has one major airport that everyone is forced to go to the Southside of town to use. I do like the MARTA connection to the airport, but DART also has progressing plans for rail to reach BOTH airports and I believe the DART trains are better maintained. MARTA trains seemed very nasty IMO.

Both of these cities are both horrible with crime rates, so neither one is better in that aspect, but I do believe Dallas has a lot nicer areas.... as far as the scenery though, Atlanta probably has the slight edge because of all the trees, but that is due to its lack of denisty.

Anyway, this is probably just becoming pointless because it all really boils down to personal opinion/preference, but I just thought i'd be like everyone else and put my .02cents in.

GO DALLAS!!!

=)

oh yeah, this is a nice picture of Dallas, other than it being gloomy from clouds:

and this one:

[Mike D]

Although I voted Dallas, I'm interested in visiting both cities. Dallas's active plans to exapnd its light rail system are what swung my vote in favor of Dallas.

[Santiago6678]

I don't know how you could say Atlanta is more known worldwide. I'd say both have their reasons for world notoriety. Dallas unfortunately is known for Kennedy, the TV show(one of the most popular ever worldwide), Dallas Cowboys, UT SW Medical(usually ranked in the top 5 worldwide). Dallas has enough Fortune 500s to hold its own and has surpassed the 6 million person mark. Dallas isn't what I'd call a hip-hop city, but as far as music goes, has held its own in the Grammy department.

My statement that Atlanta is more known worldwide than Dallas is based on having lived in Europe and regular trips to the Caribbean and Latin America (although Mexicans probably know Dallas better).

[Greens!]

Dallas is really well known in Latin America. Most people who immigrate into the US go through Dallas on I-35 and there is a huge latin american population in DFW. There are also alot of transplants from New York who came along with American Airlines.

Im going to post some pictures of Arlington (from my 2 years at UTA before transferring)

Arlington (pop 375,000), while not as affluent as other suburbs, has a unique character and is extremely diverse.

some photos......

wall of a building on Abrams

alley in Arlington near campus

incoming storm (that one produced a tornado in the area)

some UTA student housing at sunrise

UTA College of Business Admin. at dusk

Preston Hall

view from my old apartment

random neighborhood scene in Arlington

my brother posing next to a chalk mural at UTA

there is also a large asian population in Arlington, when i go back to Texas in a few weeks ill have some better pictures.

[Martinman]

Counting cranes doesn't seem very scientific to me but according to Emporis' high-rise stats

Dallas

Under construction

7

Under re-construction

7

Approved

8

Proposed

15

Atlanta

Under construction

15

Under re-construction

0

Approved

6

Proposed

31

For the record I think vs threads are silly because every city is different and has a different story to tell and thats what makes traveling so much fun.

[Santiago6678]

Greens!,

Were those pics supposed to represent Arlington's diversity? Why did you post those?

Also, when you say "most who immigrate into the US go through Dallas on I-35," I think you're being a little narrow-minded. Mexicans aren't the only group of Latin American immigrants. And saying there's a huge latin american population in DFW is confusing as well. Do they live in the airport?

[Greens!]

Santiago6678,

those pictures were intended to represent the diversity of the DFW metro area. the arlington area, while part of the metroplex has its own unique identity. the pictures were to show the ethnic, urban, and geographic diversity of suburban dallas.

i sometimes find it hard to have an accurate impression of a city without taking the whole "place" into consideration, which i was trying to do with those pictures.

as far as immigration goes, i should have said "many" instead of most.

there is, however a significant amount of latin american trade going through Dallas on I-35 which makes more sense then what i said earlier.

I did not say anything about Mexicans, I am well aware of the many countries that make up latin america.

and by DFW, i meant the Dallas-fort Worth metroplex, not the airport, i should have been more specific.

sorry

[Newnan]

For the Dallas MSA, the 2004 figure I get is 5,700,256.

If you combined the Atlanta metro with a metro the size of Ft. Worth, its MSA would probably be around that number if not higher. Not to be mean spirited, but it seems like Dallas has an unfair advantage in this category.

What are the numbers just for Dallas?

[EbonyGardens]

To me, Dallas and Atlanta are booming. Both are major economic centers in the South, got plenty of Fortune 500 companies with branch offices/headquarters in their respective cities, etc.

[Spades]

If you combined the Atlanta metro with a metro the size of Ft. Worth, its MSA would probably be around that number if not higher. Not to be mean spirited, but it seems like Dallas has an unfair advantage in this category.

What are the numbers just for Dallas?

Well Dallas itself is over 4 million now. But both the DFW CSA and Atlanta CSA cover just about the same area anyway. People from Houston say this same thing. Both Dallas and Fort Worth functions as one just like the Bay Area and DC-Bmore.

[teshadoh]

Greens - Arlington is an interest 'suburb', which is a stretch because due to it's massive size & location between Dallas & Ft Worth. Though my wife always considered Arlington a suburb of Ft Worth, since when she lived there she drove to Ft Worth.

Anyways - I visit there every couple of years, for what it is, it is somewhat interesting. But it's too bad that Mexican restaurant that served breakfast tacos burnt down, it was great.

[Aporkalypse]

If you combined the Atlanta metro with a metro the size of Ft. Worth, its MSA would probably be around that number if not higher. Not to be mean spirited, but it seems like Dallas has an unfair advantage in this category.

What are the numbers just for Dallas?

It's kind of like SF and Oakland, the two developed together and feed each other's growth and there is no break in development between the two downtowns at all. There are a lot of commuters between Dallas County and Tarrant County (Ft Worth).

Dallas is a city of 1.23 million and Dallas County alone has 2.25 million residents.

[Greens!]

Thats true, there is no boundary between Dallas and Fort Worth. Using that argument you would also imply that NY, NY and Newark, NJ cant be included in the same metro area, although they are 11 miles apart and there is no break between them. You could also say that Minneapolis and St. Paul are two seperate metro areas.

vs.

see the blobs?

Aporkalypse, the numbers just for Dallas should include the 500,000+ in Collin County, the 435,000+ in Denton County, and the 43,000 in Rockwall County. These are mostly Dallas suburbs and this excludes the 1.5 million+ in Tarrant County, many of whom do not work in Fort Worth. I know that im forgetting the counties south of Dallas as well.

oh and not to be unfair with the maps, these are what i could find until someone posts better ones.

[Aporkalypse]

Expansion Management magazine named Chicago the #1 city for corporate relocation this year with Dallas #2. Last year Dallas was ranked #1.

[GoodNews]

I like ATL better because it doesn't have a sister city like (FT Worth) to help spawn its growth.