http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/features/2645845 A not so Big D learns to deal with downsizing By SYD KEARNEY Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Dear Dallas, We were so sorry to hear of your loss. If it's true that size matters, it must hurt that San Antonio has passed you in population. Being No. 3 doesn't quite mesh with a nickname like Big D. (Maybe we should call you Biggish D.) Anyway, we will always remember fondly the swagger, the bragging: "We've got bigger hair, a huge ol' fair and a fistful of Super Bowl rings." As Texas' largest city, Houston is here to help you through this latest trauma. Remember what they say about coping with grief? There's shock, denial, anger, depression and acceptance. Judging from the local dailies, a whole lot of shock and denial already has begun. "We can't be the third-largest city in Texas," whined the Dallas Morning News' editorial page. It later compared the city to another small gem, San Francisco. (Go ahead and snicker — we did.) Another paper captured Dallas Mayor Laura Miller in a cranky mood. Dismissing San Antonio and its "little, teeny, tiny River Walk," the mayor predicted the city wouldn't be No. 3 for long. Miller's secret weapon to subdue the Alamo City: a $246 million flood control project complete with lakes, trails and an über-park. "I think that's going to turn around real fast," the mayor chirped of the project that won't be complete until 2008. So, Dallas, don't be hatin'. San Antonio isn't growing to spite you. It's just that a whole lot of folks would rather live there than in a town whose football coach is charmingly called "the Tuna." And don't be sad. Being No. 3 isn't the end of the world. (Your homeboy Ross Perot finished third as a presidential candidate, and it didn't ruin his life.) Besides, your civic leaders already are on the case. Just last week, your Convention and Visitors Bureau launched a new media campaign: "Live Large. Think Big." The Morning News quoted CVB president Phillip Jones as calling the campaign "the new story of Dallas." But, perhaps, you would feel better with the old, glory days stories of Dallas. If so, it must be comforting to know the first season will be out on DVD in August. In sympathy (and We're No. 1), Houston
from the dallas media and from my friends in dallas i'm starting to detect a serious inferiority complex. it was raised during the super bowl weekend...there were articles posted here from dallas reporters saying, "why houston?? why not here??" this is what happens when you allow a tax base to erode. people b****ed and moaned when Houston annexed Kingwood...but you simply can't let your tax base move so far out of your central base that you can't support the city, itself. see detroit. right now dallas has the worst occupancy rate for a downtown of any city in the nation...and it's getting worse. companies are building on the outskirts and not moving to the central city. that's very bad news for dallas...but good news for houston who competes with them for corporate relocations.
San Antonio SUCKS! I am not just saying that because I hate the Spurs. I went to SA for a weekend and it looked like a backward ass town from like 50's or something.
MadMax, bingo! Dallas itself really isn't that big a city. What makes the population big is the suburbs. Dallas without its metroplex is well... not Dallas. People here are flocking to the burbs. From living here for 6 years, the biggest difference I see about Dallas Metroplex is that it's a city with a bunch of satellite cities around it. The satellite towns are all growing outward and somewhat inward making the metroplex less densely populated in several areas. Houston on the other hand looks like you plopped people down in the middle and it just kept expanding and expanding. There is a mass-migration of people from "Dallas proper" to these burbs, but it's still technically Dallas... just as Bellaire and Alief are still Houston (um, right?). The "Dallas proper" population number is pretty worthless in the big picture of things like traffic, population, etc. BTW, Houston was recently ranked the "most toxic city" in the nation. So... THERE!
wanna see a good Dallas/Houston fight? check out the message boards at http://www.houstonarchitecture.info - they go at it like little kids with this Dallas vs Houston rivalry.
technically, dallas, doesn't get it though. that's why cities preserve annexation rights. because of the tax burden. when i start moving out of the city or even the county the city is located in, my tax money isn't going the same place anymore. cities fight like hell to avoid this...Detroit is the best example of this...and that's where Dallas is headed.
I'm not sure why anyone here (in Dallas) cares that San Antonio is a bigger city than Dallas, especially if they want to claim that Dallas has "...and a fistful of Super Bowl rings." since Dallas doesn't have any Super Bowl rings. The Cowboys didn't win a Super Bowl until after moving to Irving. If size means anything, the metro region is still the largest in Texas (and if claiming the Irving Super Bowl titles, Dallas must be laying claim to the region). I understand all the tax base stuff and how important that is for the city itself, but the size alone? Size isn't everything, and it shouldn't be the main point of concern in the city. Even as the #2 city in Texas, Dallas had a lot of problems that need addressing but lack the leadership to get it done (and I think the weak mayor system creates a lot of problems). For what it's worth, though, Dallas isn't shrinking. It's just not growing as fast as others. It still grew 1.5% from 2000 to 2003 while cities like Detroit shrank 3.7%.
i agree..it's not that important...but it bothers the hell out of my friends from dallas!!! and it is an indicator when growth slows so much.
I don't disagree that it's an indicator of something, but the problems with the city are there whether population grows or not. And population grew throughout the 1990s (and about three times the current rate) while most of those problems still existed (consider that while growing 18% between 1990 and 2000, the city of Dallas still had lower economic growth than many large cities growing at a smaller rate). An indicator that the city is getting worse? Quite possibly (though, like in many cities, there is a good deal of housing growth in the near-downtown areas. That could very well pick up and increase the Dallas population while not solving a single problem the city truly faces). The problem in Dallas is that it has become a "can't do" city. Too many competing interests with no single person having the ability to overcome the intracity bickering and put together a coalition to get things done. Many of the institutions are corrupt or have been in recent years and there's entirely too much "good ol' boy" network stuff going on in terms of what does get done. i agree..it's not that important...but it bothers the hell out of my friends from dallas!!! I'll never understand that. If the place I'm living has what I want it to have and I enjoy living there, what difference does it make as to whether it's larger than some other city in the state? That's just too shallow a concern for even me.
I like making fun of Dallas as much as anybody, but there's no denying that those necks figured out how to build a functional light rail system that people can acually use. Houston't joke of a system (and its moronic drivers) is profiled to the city's disadvantage in the New York Times today. Also, spin the dial around Dallas' radio to be reminded of what a deplorable wasteland Houston radio is. Not that Dallas is a listener's mecca or anything, but if you can't best Houston in this regard, you are beyond hope.
Why the fuss about a drop in population? I'd be ECSTATIC if three out of four Houstonians moved away.
It's not even a drop in population, it's a drop in ranking. But Houston isn't growing as quickly as it had been over the course of the 1990s. Houston added an average of over 32,000 residents per year during the 1990s. They've only added an average of just over 18,600 per year since 2000.
Hell, I wouldn't mind if half of Dallas packed up and left town to move to Houston or San Antonio or somewhere else. The traffic is so damn messed up all around that it would make things much better in my opinion. I could care less if what rank we are on population. "Get the hell out of Big D so we can rename it Little D" is my new motto.
