Dallas: Final post and city evaluation

If you aren't familiar with our evaluation scale or why we've creating our own when so many are available, read this first! While in each city, I've been writing about what we like, don't like, and what we've found to experience. All posts on Dallas can be viewed by clicking the Dallas tag at the top of the page.

A few favorites:

Dallas: So what is actually bigger in Texas?

Dallas: Thoughts from the Dallas Museum of Art

Dallas: Downtown lights of Reunion Tower and Omni Hotel 

Dallas: Manatee Eating Lettuce, Modern Art, and Bull Riding

The Scoring

(1-10 with 5 as average)

 --------------------------------

Dallas

Culture: 5
Environment:  9
Vegetarian Restaurants: 4
Cost of Living:   8
Transportation/Infrastructure: 8  
Climate: 6
People: 4
Pass/Fail: Pass

Notes: I can genuinely say I miss Dallas. It's clean, dog-friendly, fairly inexpensive, and eventful. The economy is doing great and there is room for growth. It gets really hot, but that's what A/C is for. You don't have to shovel your car out from under piles of heat. Though it didn't seem particularly progressive, we were sometimes surprised by pockets of genuine culture, art, and some of the best vegan food ever.

We ranked Dallas lower in certain categories, but the city's growth should naturally resolve these. A solid foundation is being laid in Dallas to create one of the best places to live in the country. I'm looking forward to seeing what the city Dallas becomes five years from now.

Philadelphia: Final post and city evaluation

Thoughts from the Dallas Museum of Art

I wore headphones to the museum today. I didn't waste time on paintings that didn't interest me. The headphones blocked out distracting conversation and the echo of my heals. I spent about 35 minutes wandering around and  20 sitting in a 3rd floor chair that overlooked the crowded street, Klyde Warren Park, and the Sculpture Garden.

Thought 1: Within a gallery, everything in view is created. Many museums are works of art themselves. The choice of font and color used in the "out on loan" post card left in place of a display item is a creation. The display cubes and colors are similarly, a creation. What art is and isn't is the topic of many books, but to really see that there is very little difference between art objects and intentionally created none-art objects is a great experience.

Thought 2: Before photography, paintings must have been amazing. How else could one see a place  second-hand like the ocean, a jungle, or the mountains and really understand? I imagine people who had never seen the ocean crowding around a painting of it. With photography, painters are still admired for their skill, but what function do they fulfill for viewers unless the image is altered in a surreal or abstract way?

Thought 3: Most artwork comes from the minds of a small group of people. Even a movie, comprised of hundreds or more inputs is still miniscule compared to the art of life-- the view from the window. This is one reason artists must "steal" from reality and why the best works of fiction and fantasy take decades to create. The decades of manpower behind the single perspective shown in an in-depth fantasy movie are matched in seconds on the street.

Thought 4: Combining these thoughts, I realized that everything in view from the window was in art piece created from the wills of hundreds of artists. The corporate skyscrapers; the sculpted park, planned to the last shrub; the pedestrians' choice of outfit, the outfits themselves created by designers. These were moments of art more complex than any in the museum and they would never be recreated.

Why then do we need museums? I think it's the same reason we need designated art. For the frame. The museum building itself acts as a frame and says, "Look at me, I'm an important aspect of society. You can come here, look out the window, and think about art." Ideas like the above ensue.

Maybe we'll eventually move beyond this.

Reluctant Chauffeur: Thoughts from the Philadelphia Museum of Art

**The above painting is "Calle de Gabino Barreda", by Gunther Gerzso, one of my favorites from the Dallas Museum of Art.**

Dallas: Manatee Eating Lettuce, Modern Art, and Bull Riding

I'm still planning a few posts involving Dallas, but this will be the last about what we've been doing. We're about to pack up, take a quick vacation, and move to our next city! I could stay here longer. Much of Dallas is like a good poem. I could enjoy many of its parks and environments regularly and still want to return to them. This doesn't mean I want to live here forever though, just that I don't feel entirely ready to go. Here are some things we've done recently.

Luche Libre Wrestling (above): Cinco De Mayo festival! We were enticed by one of the biggest festivals at nearby city hall. It had everything from big name performers like Nelly to Luche Libre Wrestling. The event was entirely free and was tied to the immigration march of thousands of people through downtown. Si Se Puede!

 

Arboretum and Botanical Garden: A short drive or bus ride from the downtown area, the arboretum was a beautiful experience. If you're not particularly into intentionally sculpted landscapes or interested in the labeled trees and flowers, I'd recommend exploring White Rock Lake first. Walking around the lake is just as beautiful in many ways as the garden. Avoid $10 parking by walking from the nearby lake parking or taking a bus.

Crow Collection of Asian Art: Right next to the Dallas Art Museum and just as free. If I had known how small it was, I would have stopped in much sooner, but I kept putting it off because of time I thought I'd need. Now I want to go back and we're out of time! A Tantric art exhibit grabbed my attention as it related to a book I'd just finished. Interesting exhibit for people of all maturity levels as it can be viewed spiritually/abstractly, carnally, or both.

 

World Aquarium: This "Aquarium" has everything from ant-eaters and monkeys to snakes and panthers. Instead of a bunch of tanks or even just a bunch of really big tanks, multi-level green

Dallas: The good, the bad, and the annoying

Before leaving Philadelphia, I wrote about problems I saw and experienced while living there: Philadelphia: The rough and tumble. Similarly, our time in Dallas has been great overall, but the city has shortcomings that we'll consider when deciding where to live long-term. Dallas issues are different from Philadelphia issues. What I didn't like about Dallas sprouted from people and mindsets while much of what was problematic in Philadelphia surrounded aging infrastructure, overcrowding, and entrenched organizations. Many of the things I didn't like about Philadelphia, were handled great in Dallas. The differences make me look forward to experiencing the next city and seeing what's working, and not working, there.

Transportation

Drivers: Dallas drivers are terrible. I don't care what the insurance companies say. It's a mixture of big city recklessness and aggression mixed with small-town incompetence. They can't merge, don't know how to politely assert, turn left on red, pull into crosswalks, drive slow in the left, tailgate in the right, sit at greens, and run reds. They often weave in and out of traffic despite having a clear left lane. I ended up on a hood when a taxi took a turn into the crosswalk. Pedestrians have the same disregard. Insurance studies are based entirely on reported collisions and don't consider weather, ice, traffic density, or frustration level.

Traffic: Lots of it, but it's a city. What do you expect? No complaint here. Some grid-lock in uptown areas but I love how the downtown lights are timed so you can cruise 15 lights without getting a red.

Confusing and faded road lines: On the highways old line aren't completed erased and new ones are fading so it creates confusion at high speeds among slanting lanes. Downtown, lanes change position after intersections so when you get to the other side cars are straddling lanes and have to make sudden adjustments to get back in place.

Valet Parking: Excessive and out of control. (I wrote a whole post on this one!)

Crime

(White powder scare next to our apartment)

Street Harassment: Again, this is something I expected from Philadelphia having lived there years ago, but didn't experience. I have yet to leave our apartment in Dallas without being asked for money. It's not even the kind of passive requests received in New York by someone camped out on the sidewalk. It's all types of people passing in the street or approaching to interrupt what I'm doing in a park or restaurant.

Chicken Bones: Chicken bones all over downtown! This isn't a real complaint, but I see them everywhere as does my dog. It's generally a clean city-- just cut it out with the

Dallas: So what is actually bigger in Texas?

During our three month stay in Texas, I've kept an eye out for big things. It wasn't intentional as much as an unavoidable result of the unforgettable slogan, "Everything is bigger in Texas". See something big in Texas? It must be because, "Everything is bigger in Texas". It almost gets annoying. 

There are a number of tourists traps in Texas that capitalize on over-sized objects, but that's not just a Texas thing, ridiculously sized anythings exist in states all over the country. What is bigger in Texas that might have led to the creation of the saying, Everything's bigger in Texas", that wasn't merely a result of the saying? Besides, state-pride, I'm honestly not sure.

What's true about Texas is that it's expansive. The feeling comes not only from a large amount of flat land and the size of the state, but also the way its roads and cities are designed for expansion. This, coupled with a spirit of independence, confidence, and state-pride, makes Texas feel big. The attitude is great when it comes to passing an 85 mph speed limit increase law, but not so great when twisted into small-minded egotism.  Besides that, what's actually bigger is a lot more boring than you'd think.

Highway Intersections:  Within minutes of entering Texas from the east, I noticed the intersections or "highway stacks". Not only are many of them stamped with a Texas icon, but they're massive. I've seen plenty of these large "spaghetti intersections" in other cities, but in Texas they are everywhere. Many are in the middle of nowhere. Supposedly it's cheaper and less complicated to build these stacks than to regrade.  Pictures don't do justice, but below is the High-Five Interchange outside of Dallas, the first of its kind ever built. 

Dallas Airports: After research, I learned that the Denver Airport is larger than DFW, but having never been to Denver, DFW felt huge. After going through the toll-booth to

Dallas: The Art Museum @ Midnight, Revolving Restaurant Views, Roller Derby, and Daiquiris from a Drive-Through.

It's been an eventful week in Dallas! Yesterday we tracked, on foot, a hit-and-run driver from the scene to further downtown where her battered car was being pushed from the road by some friendly citizens and the safety patrol (who didn't know what she had done yet). Wednesday night, Obama stayed in the Omni across from our apartment for the dedication of the new Bush Library. Early in the week, police cars and camera crew raced down our street every couple hours clearing the way for the driver and camera crew filming an Infiniti car commercial. There is a lot going on that we only saw in passing: Jazz festival, Earth festivals, and Taco festivals. Here are some of the other things we've been doing in Dallas, lately:

A View From Reunion Tower: The tower's observation decks are closed for renovations, but the restaurant is still open. Not wanting to bother with reservations and expensive non-vegetarian Wolfgang Puck food, we took the elevator up and got a drink by the bar. This was

Dallas valet parking: Excessive and out of control

I've enjoyed Dallas a lot more than I expected. Having been here only two months, we've found a number of vegan restaurants and all types of ongoing events. I feel like we're watching the city progress in front of us. Despite this, I like to be realistic about the negatives. I have have fun criticizing what I deem to be stupid. This post's target: Dallas Valet Parking. It's excessive and dare I say, wrong (I do).

Before moving to Dallas I never gave valet parking a second thought. I understood it. Valet parking shows a touch of class. In other cities, it exists in places where parking is scarce or distant. Valet parking for restaurants in crowded cities is great because you don't have to drive around for an hour and then get towed or pay a fine when you don't make it back in time (I'm talking to you Philadelphia!). Valet parking is used at hotels to make it easier for people to get their bags to their room. It's used for the elderly patrons at old-school Italian restaurants with big parking lots. Currently, our apartment building mandates valet because the spaces in the attached garage are too tight. I understand the need, but even in the case of our apartment, it's almost always more of a hassle than a luxury and I avoid it when possible to save money, get the exercise, and protect the car.

Dallas doesn't understand any of the above. They stick valet nearly everywhere because, apparently, many people here are too lazy. They have valet at the movie theater-- a regular movie theater, plenty of spots. But they have valet! They have valet at the mall-- not a special mall, the kind with JC Penny's  and a Macy's. Again, plenty of spots, but valet parking! Dallas isn't short on space like other cities, there is usually plenty of street parking within a block and good sized parking lots attached to most restaurants-- but guess what? Many still have valet!

It's not that all restaurants have valet or even that most restaurants have valet. It's just that I've never seen so many unnecessary examples of valet in one city. Surely there are others and I'm just inexperienced, but what does this say about the people who live in places like this? What type of person doesn't see the frivolity in paying $10+ to avoid walking 50 ft? Sure, it helps the economy. NJ mandates full-service gas stations. Other states build toll-booths. But aren't there better ways and better things to spend money on?

Valet like this screams, "I'm too selfish and ignorant to figure out how to better spend my money."

Dallas: Downtown lights of Reunion Tower and Omni Hotel

President's Day 2013

We moved to  Dallas without seeing our apartment first. The description of the apartment we chose read "views of the lights on Reunion Tower and Omni Hotel". We decided "view" was a good thing and left it at that. It wasn't until our first night in our new place that we discovered what the description was actually describing.

Valentines Day 2013

 

Both Reunion Tower and Omni Hotel are covered in LED lights that are controlled by artists from remote locations. Designs are changed on a regular basis to reflect city events and holidays. The Omni Hotel will occasionally display in its lights a convention or other large event that is being held at the hotel, but otherwise the lights are purely decorative-- no ads. I started taking pictures of each new design, but gave up after seeing how often it changed.

February/March 2013 Pictures

Dallas: Galaxy Drive-In, Stars Hockey, Lakes, Bridges, and more

Galaxy Drive-In: $6 for a double feature and these aren't old movies (the above is an old picture). Six large screens each with a related double feature, and you can buy more snacks than can be healthily consumed for under $10. Definitely worth the drive from Dallas.

Dallas Stars Hockey: You can't beat live hockey. There was a good sized crowd with a great announcer and music. Everything from blimps, t-shirt cannons, cheerleaders, trash talking video clips, and "taco goals" that

Comedy: A quick video introduction to regions in Texas

From the film Bernie with Jack Black:

Dallas: White Rock Lake, North Texas Irish Festival, and more

Time continues to flow quickly by in Dallas! With upcoming family visits and a couple area trips planned, we've added a week to our stay. Here is some of what we've found to enjoy over the last couple week.

White Rock Lake (above): Not the largest lake near Dallas, but it's centrally located and sizable enough for jogging and biking. Nine miles of trails surround the lake and pedestrian bridges, boardwalks, and a variety of birds make jogging a scenic experience. A large dog park sits on the north side and nearby kayak trucks rent boats out in hourly increments. Once I recover from a jog I took earlier this week, I'm hoping to head back for another and some picture taking. Wouldn't might getting back in a kayak either since I left mine in Tennessee. A 4 million dollar boathouse was recently approved for the middle of the lake.

Dallas Farmer's Market: In my first post on Dallas, I mentioned how many of the city's best attractions are recently completed or works in progress. The Farmer's Market is no different. It was built in 1941 but will soon be in the middle of some serious upgrades. The buildings at the market are broken up into "local" and "produce resellers" so you know where your food is coming from and who you're supporting. It's the closest produce seller to our apartment so we've been multiple times.

Fair Park and North Texas Irish Festival: -- When I think of fairgrounds I think of a field or a parking lot, maybe a few barn-like buildings. This is the site of the Dallas Fair, but it's nothing like this. Year round it's the site of multiple museums like the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Children's Aquarium,  and Texas Discovery Gardens. There are

Dallas: Home Sweet Home (for a while anyway)

 

A few pictures from our new place in Dallas. The building itself isn't as nice as the last. It was built in 1965, and despite renovations and updates, still has negative characteristics of that time (small bathrooms, kitchens, closets, and lower ceilings). The downtown location, however, is exactly what we were looking for.

Dozens of restaurants are within walking distance as well as dog parks, museums, and small stores. The Arts District and Dallas Farmer's Market are a short drive (or long walk). One of the city's main DART (train) stops is a

Dallas: First impressions, neighborhoods, Dallas underground, and the JFK Memorial

With a full work and school schedule between Lindsay and I, the first two weeks in Dallas have flown by. We've been able to explore by taking long walks and have gotten a feel for the neighborhoods and area, but looking forward to doing quite a bit more. Here is what we've been up to so far...

Initial Impressions and Observations: If you haven't been to Dallas in a while, it's improved. Some of the best things we've found so far were new for 2012 and 2013. Dallas has a horrible reputation for crime, but according to statistics and online opinion, rates are in decline.

Notes thus far:
↑ Dallas has a number of great free attractions from the Dallas Art Museum to the Uptown Trolley. While other cities charge upward of $20 for museums, Dallas lets everyone in, all the time.
↑ Free city-wide wi-fi. No comment.
↑ Dog-friendly downtown. There are a number of dog parks within walking distance. Even parks without designated dog-parks still provide disposal bags and ground level water fountains.
↓ Not the best city for vegetarians. It's cattle-country, what do you expect?

JFK Memorial: Inside the white walls pictured above is a black marble slab with JFK's name. I interpreted the thick vault-like walls as protection most Americans would have wanted to provide; that a city that failed to protect him before, protects him now (white vault walls) in death (black JFK center), even if only in a metaphorical regret filled way. Maybe that was just me after having watching assassination footage and looking over the motorcade route before visiting since the plaque describes the memorial as an "open tomb concept"; "a tribute to JFK's spirit of freedom". The memorial is next to the Old Red Museum  and other attractions we plan to visit soon.




Dallas Pedestrian Network: We live right downtown so learning that there is an entire network of restaurants, shops, and walkways below ground was exciting. On a rainy day, it's possible to cover a large portion of the city underground and even above ground on building connectors. After exploring a bit though, it's still interesting, but I can understand why Dallas is working to move things to street level.

The network is used primarily by office workers in huge financial centers. The stores and shops close as early as 3pm and it makes the downtown look sparser than it really is. Other cities like Philadelphia and NY have bigger underground networks with more stores and restaurants, you just don't hear about them because they're tied to subway systems (DART runs above ground) and basement levels of stores. Here is a link to a great map funded by Kickstarter if you're still interested: www.noahjeppson.com/downloads/tunnel_map_0112.pdf

Officially unpacked in Dallas!

We're getting settled in Dallas, becoming used to the districts, and building our "places of interest" list. I miss Philadelphia and everyone there, but I can't complain about 60° and sunny! We've already taken quite a few long walks to explore the area . We've visited uptown, Deep Ellum, and scoped out the infamous "Dallas Underground". Pictures and details coming soon. I've added a "Dallas" category above to quickly see the posts on Dallas.

Here's to Philadelphia!

(TIA Photography)

We're all packed up and about to head out. This city has been great! We'll miss being around family and the great restaurants and outdoor areas we've found. 

On to Dallas with excitement and a little regret...