Done with Dallas

I’m a few days behind and there’s much to tell about Austin, but first a bit about Dallas. All in all, it was a decent place to spend a week. Actually, to be honest, in 4 work trips to this area I have yet to really do anything in Dallas city limits, aside from a visit to the Texas State fair back in October. Our office is in Lewisville, about 15 miles outside of the city (aka, “the metroplex"). Coming from New England it's odd to come to a place that not only was developed on seemingly limitless space, but has been mostly developed in about the last 20 years. Everything here is new. And huge. And since everything here was developed with cars in mind, anywhere you go is likely on a 4 lane highway. Going out for the paper in the morning? Chances are you're hitting 70 on the speedometer at some point on the way to the 7-11. Ironically, for a place we're you're driving everywhere you go, the roads are full of giant gas guzzling trucks and SUVs (as opposed to Boston, where everything is within a mile and everyone drives hybrids). I mentioned to someone from here that I had a Subaru and I really think that they had to stop for a moment to figure out what I was talking about.

Of course with all of this driving, it would help to have some good music in the car, and for the third trip in a row, I forgot to bring CDs. Being left to the mercy of Dallas radio is not something I would recommend. I've identified 3 major options- Spanish speaking stations, religious broadcasting, or country music. Needless to say the radio has been on "seek" pretty consistently, but I did find the Steve Harvey show in the mornings, which I have to say (with no irony) is just about the funniest thing I have ever heard. Otherwise I settled for country, and 5 days of that absolutely deserves a post of it’s own.

Anyway, sprawling overdevelopment generally doesn’t increase a city’s character, and the burbs of Dallas are no exception. Driving down the highway you are treated to the repeated view of endless shopping centers, with big box stores placed like lego pieces everywhere you look. The shopping centers are so big that the parking lots connect for miles- you can literally drive from one city to another without leaving a parking lot. I wasn’t joking when I said that I wasn't sure if the town I stayed was just a shopping center. It’s not- but it’s close. It includes this area of retail Pleasantville- a massive planned community of stores, restaurants, and homes that went on for blocks- I tried to walk it all and maybe got through half. 

So to sum up- great weather, bad radio, and way too much time in the car. Not a bad place to spend a week, but I'm happy to be off to Austin and vacation.