Cultural wasteland
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3/8/2018
Moved to DFW in 2011 with the intention of setting here for good. Dallas Fort Worth has a great business environment, better weather than Chicago, and a lower cost of living. Many big companies like Toyota, Liberty Mutual and Jamba Juice have relocated their headquarters here, causing very rapid growth.
As other reviewers have said, there is not much to do apart from shopping and eating. There is world class art in Dallas' museums but the latter are strangely empty. Good restaurants are not concentrated in any one area but in several. It does not help that the city is very sprawly and getting anywhere requires planning pretty much a half-day trip.
Add to that the lack of public transportation -- DART only goes so far, so everyone is in a car, causing constant gridlock -- and you've got a recipe for insularity.
Given the sprawliness and the lack of public transportation, urban development tends to concentrate on building out each sub-region. There is no reason really to venture far from where you live, whether that's Arlington, Plano, Denton or wherever. You've got your Aldi's, Old Navy, and manicure place a few blocks away. Why bother going all the way to the museum?
This insularity manifests itself in many Texans' perceptions of the world. I have met a lot of native DFWers who are deeply uninterested in anything outside of DFW, much less Texas. Conversations are vapid. The script is to talk about where you work, where you live, how DFW is booming and how all this progress is driving up property prices, maybe the Cowboys if it's football season.
Meanwhile, there is a marked lack of amenities for the disabled, such as automatic doors and ramps. Texans are surprised when I say that these are mandated by law in other states. There are also no sidewalks. Because no one walks, the assumption is that you'll drive. Bus stops -- if you can find them -- are pretty much poles stuck in lawns. If it rains, passengers are standing ankle-deep in mud.
Texans are not aware of these shortcomings, partly I suspect because they're uninterested in how other states deal with issues of disability and mobility. This tells you much about their views of other issues that have nothing to do with economics but a lot to do with why citizens love their cities, issues like preservation of historical architecture, for instance.
If you are moving from a culturally rich city to DFW, do know that you will be starving for the activity that you took for granted back home. It simply is not here and never will be.
Gladys | Chicago, IL