dallas vs. houston

In case any Texan was wondering, this Texas Monthly article outlines the case of its headline quite nicely: Dallas Is Better Than Houston. (You need to be a Texas Monthly subscriber to read it, but really, shouldn’t you be anyway?) I spent chunks of my teenage summers in Houston, and I’ll take Dallas every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Some of the best lines (from the author, the late A.C. Greene):
– “Dallas has three seasons: summer, winter, and two weeks of fall, but Houston has only two: the beginning of summer, and the end. Houston humidity doesn’t just wilt your shirt, it eats away your courage. Smog is constant and ubiquitous, but Houston’s proud of it. It holds to the conceit that pollution is a sign of progress.”
– “The whole damn thing is too big, too spread out. Nobody quite knows for sure where he is in Houston. Even the taxi drivers are confused. Your chances are no better than three-in-five that coming from Houston Intercontinental Airport (second largest airport in Texas, the largest being DFW, need I note?) you’ll draw one who can deposit you where you want to go without having to stop and ask for help along the way. In some cities this sort of thing happens because the cab driver is too new. In Houston it happens because some part of town’s too new.”
– “I’m from Dallas,” you say, anywhere in the world, and for the next few minutes you don’t have to worry about making conversation. Everyone has an opinion about Dallas. But try saying you’re from Houston, and after the words “petroleum” and “rich” have been said a few times, the dialogue lapses.”
And a few choice quotes about the city:
– “Houston is an example of what can happen when architecture catches a venereal disease.” — Frank Lloyd Wright
– “After you’ve listened to the talk you begin to feel that the creation of the world, the arrangement of the solar system, and all subsequent events, including the discovery of America, were provisions of an all-wise Providence, arranged with a direct view to the advancement of the commercial interests of Houston.” — A. E. Sweet and J. A. Knox, 1882
– “I like you, Houston . . . you don’t put your slums in one unsightly place. You spread them all over the city.” — Architect O’Neil Ford