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 Liberal Unfriendly Place: Dallas, TX
These are comments on Dallas, submitted by other Turn Left visitors. They do not necessarily represent the opinion of the webmaster. You may add a comment on Dallas if you want.
 The story about Houston prompted me to write about an even more
conservative Texas city. At least Houston has the Montrose district;
Dallas has no such refuge. When not at college, I live in Ft. Worth
(Dallas' sister city) and boy am I glad! Although Ft. Worth is probably
just as conservative, it's much more laid-back and cultural than Dallas;
it features a world-class art museum, for example. Dallas, in a word,
is a mess. It's not surprising that this is "the city that killed
Kennedy." It's polluted, clogged with probably the worst traffic jams
in Texas, ugly, and filled with many unfriendly and/or greedy people.
It also has the worst racial problems of any major city that I've heard
of. Unlike many cities which have only white racists, Dallas has racists
of all colors. Recently, a fistfight between blacks and whites broke
out at a school board meeting. Since I've lived in the area, there has
been at least one instance of videotaped police brutality against a
black man that went unpunished. Dallas also has Commissioner John Wiley
Price, an African-American who calls any minorities with political power
(except himself, of course) "coconuts" and "oreos" for being "brown on
the outside and white on the inside." Whatever happened to Martin
Luther King's dream of a day when skin color is meaningless? Comparing
Dallas with Austin would be a good way to prove that liberal cities are
much better places to live than conservative ones, as if we didn't
already know that!
...and another comment...
I too live in Fort Worth, but will comment on the Dallas-Fort Worth area as
a whole. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is very close to being slapped with
sanctions due to high ozone levels. The area would have less of an ozone
problem if the cities would get together and create a coordinated mass
transit system to cover the region. Currently, Dallas has a bus and light
rail system and Fort Worth has a bus system, but there is no mass transit
between the two cities or in suburban areas. Too many conservatives in the
area feel that an expanded mass transit system in the area would allow
lower income/minorities to venture out of the central city areas. Many
also believe that if a person does not have a car, then they don't have a
right to take advantage of all the Metroplex has to offer.
...and another comment...
I have lived in Dallas all of my life, but I'm ready to move after
coming out as a gay man.
Dallas is pitiful to begin with as far as aesthetics. This is about
the only major city you'll find where Culture is spelled with a K!
Liberal? Are you kidding? There is a tiny 3 mile square area called
Oak Lawn where there are gay nightclubs (Dallas does have good clubs),
but otherwise it's the Land of the Baptist Konservative.
About the only thing you'll find here is lots and lots of freeways,
concrete with cracks filled with black tar, weeds in the medians, and
strip malls. Not to mention sweltering heat in the summer (No, it's not
a 'dry heat'). No scenic beauty within hundreds of miles. Huge Baptist
churches-- "Baptidomes"-- adorn our fair city and where space is tight,
there are more "Christian outreach centers" in the strip malls.
Media is conservative, with over a dozen Baptist-owned radio stations
spewing out 24 hour a day conservatism. If they're not religious
stations, the only other talk medium is strictly right-wing. All
liberal or moderate points of view are usually quickly abandoned when
they do happen to appear on the airwaves. A liberal talk show host Tom
Lykus was on for about 2 weeks on one radio station -- he said that
"Dallas had better get used to me!" Well, Dallas didn't and the station
was sold to a conservative media giant who quickly turned it into
another Christian talk station. One of our most popular stations in the
area--KLTY--is a Christian pop station. Lots and lots of "pro-family"
bumper stickers abound. Get the picture?
No, I will not recommend someone who's liberal come to Dallas, although
if enough liberals could infiltrate the area, who knows--Dallas might
actually become a nice place to live!
...and another comment...
Southern Baptists and Dittoheads dominate. Very spooky place. Most
liberals are in the closet and speak in code. Fort Worth had a strong
liberal tradition (Jim Wright, etc.) which is rather quickly eroding.
Racism is a big problem, and comes is all colors, but Fort Worth is
exempt from most of this.
...and another comment...
Absolutely agree on everything that has been said about Dallas.
I've lived in this horrible city for over 8 years but am planning my big
escape to California next year. The people here are unfriendly and
rude, the traffic is horendous, the city couldn't build a major road if
it's life depended upon it (Los Angeles managed to fix all of the roads
in the city after the earthquake in less than a year, Dallas has been
working on one major road for 8 years now!!! and it's still not fixed),
it's ugly, it's hot and there isn't a whole lot of culture here.
Southern Baptists rule in Dallas, it's the land of the
big-haired-make-up-put-on-with-a-trowel-Republican-wife. The Dallas
Cowboys are a football team to be ashamed of - if they're not being
arrested for drug use they're being arrested for rape or sexual assault.
In a nutshell - if you have any views that even veer slightly from the
ultra-right wing stay as far away from Dallas as you can. Horrible,
horrible place to live.
...and another comment...
I couldn't agree more. I've lived in Dallas all my life (34 years) and
I'm about ready to find somewhere more friendly. My sister's car was
vandalized because she had a Mondale-Ferraro bumper sticker on it.
Anti-abortion activists will line up near the homes or offices of
doctors, with huge, ghastly signs with pictures of aborted fetuses on
them . . . I think you see what I'm saying. Oh, and the comment about
culture is sadly true too. At the so-called "art-fests" there are some
fine artists, sitting sullenly, selling nothing, while bad lithos of
longhorn cattle do a land-office business.
And the comment about the heat is true, too. . . It's an oven this year.
...and another comment...
After all of the attacks were made against Dallas as a non-liberal city,
I have got to respond. Anywhere you go is going to have a diverse group
of people in regards to their political, moral, and religous stands.
Noone can ever escape that. I grew up in Dallas and I moved to Austin
and have lived here for a couple of years. While attending UT, I have
found Austin to be a liberal city in some regards, but as a gay racial
minority, it is really hard to find avenues for cultural expressions
here in Austin. In that sense, Austin is very conservative and
undiversified. Dallas is a very diverse city with a lot of avenues,
activities, and events for gays and lesbians of different races,
cultures, and backgrounds to explore. Austin is a smaller city and
usually caters to the tastes of one or two particular groups of people.
Dallas also has a gay district, the Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn area with
nice retail outlets, clubs, and apartment communities just minutes away.
Austin has no such thing. I will not trade in my experiences here in
Austin and at UT for nothing, however, I would never consider settling
here. For all you individuals out there who are gay or lesbian and enjoy
areas of entertainment that are not "mainstream", than I strongly
suggest Dallas or Houston as favorable cities to live at in Texas.
However, if these areas are of no interest to you, then Austin might be
a favorable place for you to live.
...and another comment...
Sad but true are the negative comments on Dallas. Dallas' parks are dirty and
few and far between. But guess what - The new black mayor has joined with the
white power brokers to pass a bond package to build a unneeded freeway on the
banks of the polluted Trinity River. Just what Dallas needs- more pollution,
more flooding and building a Trinity River park that anyone with an ounce of
sense will stay away from. The current sewer stench from the Trinity River is
unbearable to any driver within 5 miles.During the summer months I have tried
to hold my breath while driving across any Trinity River bridge.
I have lived off and on in Dallas since 1958, the only daily Dallas newspaper-
The Dallas Morning News(DMN) - lacks any moderate point of view. It always
slants toward the conservatives' point of view. One has to read other national
publications to even find out what is happening in the USA and the world. But
don't worry DMN will cover the sports teams on the front page even when great
worldly matters are delegated to inner pages (if mentioned at all).
...and another comment...
I was born in Dallas in 1948, graduated from high school in Dallas in
1966, graduated from college in Ft. Worth in 1970, moved to Mississippi,
to Tennesse and back to the Dallas area in 1976. I have visited many
towns and cities all over the United States during my fifty years. I
found that each city or town had its good points and its bad points,
good people and bad people, good culture and bad culture, and every
place had problems to solve. Dallas is no exception, but overall I
would choose the Dallas area to live in over any of the places I have
ever visited. Given the negative, intolorant comments I have read at
this website, Dallas will be a better place when the individuals who
wrote these comments have moved away from Dallas or stay away if already
gone.
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