Growing up in Houston, I always loved coming to Dallas. Once the city’s skyline was in view, I got excited. I don’t exactly know what I was excited about other than cooler weather and seeing my relatives, but it was always a welcome change. When I lived in Fort Worth, I liked the town, but if I wanted to go to the good record stores and venues, I’d have to make the 40-50 minute drive to Dallas. Now that I live in Dallas, I rarely go anywhere else because everything is in Dallas. However, something that keeps coming to my attention is the fact that people in Dallas don’t like going to Fort Worth and vice versa. Here’s my question: Why?
I’ll admit it: since moving to Dallas in 2002, I’ve never wanted to move back to Fort Worth. I still enjoy going to Fort Worth from time to time for various things (like the Good Show or a show at the Ridglea Theater or Wreck Room), but I usually stay within the Dallas city limits. I like it here because it’s so spread out and there is no shortage of fun things to do (bars, venues, record stores, bookstores, museums, etc.).
Talking with people who live in Dallas, Fort Worth sounds like it’s nine hours away. We’re talking a 40-50 minute car ride here (sans traffic). This is the same amount of time it takes to get to Denton from either city. To some people I’ve met who live in the suburbs north of Dallas (like Flower Mound, Lewisville, Frisco and McKinney), Fort Worth seems even further away. I know some people that do the long commute daily and I gotta commend on such a long trek. The traffic on I-30 can be a beating even when there are no major accidents working.
I’ve heard stories that there is some kind of longtime rivalry between the two biggest cities in the Metroplex and that’s why there is a rift. It's like two siblings that don't want to acknowledge each other. Fort Worth has a vast supply of good stuff but Dallas has even more. Maybe this is more of a nonsense rivalry more than anything else. Maybe it’s something with the people that are born and raised in their respective towns. There might be an unspoken hostility to the other town for one reason or another. For us transplants, we just scratch our heads.
I’ll admit it: since moving to Dallas in 2002, I’ve never wanted to move back to Fort Worth. I still enjoy going to Fort Worth from time to time for various things (like the Good Show or a show at the Ridglea Theater or Wreck Room), but I usually stay within the Dallas city limits. I like it here because it’s so spread out and there is no shortage of fun things to do (bars, venues, record stores, bookstores, museums, etc.).
Talking with people who live in Dallas, Fort Worth sounds like it’s nine hours away. We’re talking a 40-50 minute car ride here (sans traffic). This is the same amount of time it takes to get to Denton from either city. To some people I’ve met who live in the suburbs north of Dallas (like Flower Mound, Lewisville, Frisco and McKinney), Fort Worth seems even further away. I know some people that do the long commute daily and I gotta commend on such a long trek. The traffic on I-30 can be a beating even when there are no major accidents working.
I’ve heard stories that there is some kind of longtime rivalry between the two biggest cities in the Metroplex and that’s why there is a rift. It's like two siblings that don't want to acknowledge each other. Fort Worth has a vast supply of good stuff but Dallas has even more. Maybe this is more of a nonsense rivalry more than anything else. Maybe it’s something with the people that are born and raised in their respective towns. There might be an unspoken hostility to the other town for one reason or another. For us transplants, we just scratch our heads.
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I have to say that I like downtown Ft. Worth way better than downtown Dallas, for lots of reasons--more vibrancy, less homeless, etc. (I've expounded on that subject in this post; scroll down to the section that's headed under "Cowtown after dark.")