So, Who Kicks More Cultural Ass: Dallas or Fort Worth? All Things Considered, We'll Find Out This Afternoon.

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., Mar. 1 2010 at 4:00 PM

Categories: Arts, Things We Like

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All Things Considered kicks off on KERA-FM (90.1) right about ... now. And even if you're not a frequent listener, well, today might be a good day to tune in. Why? Because of this piece, which, from the looks of today's rundown, comes about 10 segments in:

Dallas, Fort Worth Battle For Cultural Supremacy

There's a showdown brewing in Texas: between the neighboring cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. They're not fighting over land, or water, or oil or gas rights; they're fighting for cultural supremacy. Who's got the best art museum? Who's bigger in the music world?

If you miss the broadcast, I'll post the link to the audio, which should be available 'round 6ish. And we really should meet back here to discuss after the piece airs.

Update at 5 p.m.: NPR has made the audio available for download.

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Life is too short to live in Dallas.
How about instead of spewing hate about cities you live in, you do something to contribute to changing things? How impotent are you people? (Kara H)
Okay, Miguel, I'll incorporate your edit. Fort Worth is full of hick Republicans, and it's a better-run city than Dallas. Hey, the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau can have that one for free. See? I'm not such a douchebag after all.
Judging from the comments on the Fort Worth side...Fort Worth is every bit as white trash as I've heard.
"Fort Worth is full of hick Republicans." It's also a better-run city. Congratulations though, you proved yourself to be a first-class ass. In a city full of douche bags, you stand out. Signed, a Dallasite
@hammertimes=funny @master c: kick the yankees ass for him..if you need any help from a proud FortWorthian I'm here for the tag..Go home Tony, signed everyone @tammy"There's nothing cultural about the very clean, very bland downtown and the cheezy stockyards. Plus I couldn't believe how segregated Fort Worth seems. Different cultures actually hang together here, not so much in Fort Worth." What about the Bass Hall in the "very clean downtown" or Mainstreet Arts festival or Cinco De Mayo? "Different Cultures actually hang here" I'm assuming you mean the hoodrats that come out at night or possibly the parking lot folks that put boots on your whip or tow it from the Fairgrounds.. "cheezy stockyards" don't have much of a retort for this one, except it's more historical than damn near everything east of here. Tis cheezy though, probably to keep y'all Newbys from coming over very often..
Guess it was the "in Austin" part of your moniker that tripped me up ...glad you don't live here, dummy.
Master C. I don't know what Houston's rep is, since being from Boston, Dallas is the only city from Texas I've ever heard much about. I visit both because of work and all I know is Hosuton is a dump...so is Fort Worth. And dummy, I'm not from Austin..just here for two weeks. I don't know if Austinites are as proud as you claim. I DO KNOW, I would choose Austin...or Dallas...over that dump Houston (or Fort Worth) any day.
Oh but you missed the chance to pimp your own! How odd. Every Austinite is so proud of Austin...reminds me of that wart on your butt. Houston's bad rep is part of the secret of it's success.
You're so right, Master C.!! Everytime I visit Houston, I think what a beautiful place!! Please kept that toxic waste filled swamp out of this conversation. And Fort Worth has all the charm of the wart I had removed off my butt last month.
Good thing Houston is not in the race, it would dwarf dfw. They have size, money, ethnicity, and freakiness that we can only dream of....I think we have lots of good little things... but get real, Dallas is a big ugly shopping town and Fort Worth for all it's charms, wants to be just like us.
Fort Worth has two nice museums..but that's it. I've never got where the idea that Fort Worth is some cultural mecca came from. Dallas is waaay ahead of Fort Worth in the true cultural dept. There's nothing cultural about the very clean, very bland downtown and the cheezy stockyards. Plus I couldn't believe how segregated Fort Worth seems. Different cultures actually hang together here, not so much in Fort Worth. I've been in Dallas for three years and when I first went to fort worth, I was extremely disappointed. It's pretty much a crap town..the Modern is a thing of beauty though. And if Fort Worth is so cultural, why had I never even heard of the place until I moved here?
And the point of all this is . . . . ?
@Bradford's broken shoulder: you misspelled "The Fare"
As a newcomer, I say no competition, unite the differences and highlights-- DFW will be better.
@chevytexas, I hate being dragged into the age old debate of whom is better/classier..thanks for the fair summation. Big Bob W, can't believe you sided with Thelisma..we fort worthians damn sure do buy art just like the "millionaires" in Dallas. Dallas doesn't suck, it has the fair going for it.
Can all agree that NPR's piece, courtesy of Texas residents Burnett and Goodwyn, made our cities look like idiots? (Or helped us further our idiocy?) mediawonk - please weigh in here.
Huh, the chief warbler of the Turtle Creek Chorale, yeah that's a great arbiter of art. The Henry Mancini of gay music. Anyway, if you've been involved in mainline museums, you'd know Ft. Worth blows Dallas away, always has. That's because a few families in Ft. Worth can afford it, and unlike Dallas, don't need their name carved on the parking garage. Professionals in the arts communities around the country know this. More producing artists have always lived in Ft. Worth than Dallas in the last 40 years I've been engaged in the arts. Ballet, opera and public involvement in these have prospered in Ft. Worth. Public engagement in Dallas has chiefly revolved around a few buildings, just as it does now. Music, if you mean recording artists, gets the heck outa both cities as soon as they can. That leaves us TC Chorale and even they get blown out by the Boy's Choir. Pardon the pun.
Which city has the largest Velvet Elvis, that's the true indicator of real art.........But since Wilonsky is one of those snotty Dallas types then the winner is Fort Worth
dunno who wins or loses in this scenario...but the truth is hardly anyone is proud to say they live in dallas. they might say they're proud to live in oak cliff, maybe...yet ask anyone from fort worth and the response is unanimous.
Legally, Texas can NOT secede. Texas may split itself into little baby states if it wants to, but I am confident the whole Civil War put any "right to secession" arguments to rest. (For most of us, that is.) So, I say we split ourselves into the State of Dallas and the State of Fort Worth and leave the rest of Texas to fend for itself. We'll buy fine art from Fort Worth, they'll use civic funds to buy it back and put it in museums, and everyone will be happy.
WHATEVER you all think....... each city has it's own charm, sophistication and uniqueness. Because of the gas line running thru Ft. Worth, they are infinitely better off financially than the City of Dallas. However, within 10 - 15 years, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Arlington will be a huge Metroplex like Los Angeles..... so hopefully they will start appreciating each other in different ways. Bottom line is.. we are all TEXAS and it's the BEST STATE in the entire union.. ! Perhaps one day, some strong individual will pass the bill that Texas wishes to secede from the Union because as Texans, we can surely organize a finer, more intelligent Government than what we have right now ........ ! And legally, before you make a negative comment, Texas has the right to do that !!
This is like two crows fighting over an empty French Fry container in the parking lot of a Mickey D's in Garland. (..."I know, it looks like it has been destroyed by zombies, but that's just Garland") The serious money in both towns want to buy culture like a developer upgrading the tile in the bathrooms of their latest office buildings. It doesn't work that way, and never has. I am surprised there was no "Shootout at the OK Coral" theme to this story. Oh wait - never mind...there was!
Who was it that said, in Dallas, people are more likely to praise the person who commissioned the sculpture than the person who actually sculpted it...or something like that.
Here's Goodwyn's bio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1939802.
Bob, I did indeed mean to mention that -- and to invite Wade to Tradewinds Social Club so we could hash out this whole "Big D" thing. And, Thelisma nailed it?
In Ft Worth, people appreciate fine art. In Dallas, people buy fine art.
Our locals are as likely to say "Big D" as San Franciscans would say, "San Fran." Whish is to say, not. Robert, please note that Wade Goodwyn was one of the producer reports of this piece. The man lives in Dallas.
As soon as director of Turtle Creek Chorale artistic director Jonathan Palant said, "Everything's bigger and better in Dallas" at the very beginning of the segment, I considered turning out. Turns out, all Dallas has to offer is the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Hunh. Coulda sworn there was more to "Big D" (and, really, I've lived here my whole life and never ever ever called Dallas "Big D") than one collection of brand-new buildings. And to think, some Friends of Unfair Park hated The New York Times's Sunday shopping piece. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/02/in_this_mornings_new_york_time.php To summarize: Fort Worth's new slogan: "The City Without An Ego." Dallas's: "Doesn't Smell as Cow-Shitty as Fort Worth."
Art: Dallas may have prettier art buildings, but Ft.Worth beats the art collections in these buildings hands down. Music: Dallas blows the socks off the Fort Worth music scene.
Dallas wins, IMO, mainly because of the work done to relo the Arts District downtown, generate donations to continue to grow and develop it and the clear community support behind it. Fort Worth has an excellent cultural base as well, but it's due to the generous Bass family, not the entire community.
Fort Worth is full of hick Republicans. It is more racially segregated than Dallas by orders of magnitude. And they'll beat on a po' homo's head with billyclubs and bootleather. But you can go see grown men paid to saunter about in cowboy regalia amid the Charminghistoric Stockyards (TM), and pretend to yourself they weren't paid, which would be unspeakably ridiculous if it were true. You can even challenge them to a fistfight, bellowing that they're a yellow-belly, secure all the while that they can't fight back or they'd get fired, and amused that, at some level, that must really kill their soul. You can further amuse yourself by realizing that gay-hating Fort Worth is shelling out perfectly good money to install Village People-esque gay archetypes in their shit-stinking streetscape.* So there's that, I guess. ______________________________ * Do not grasp the cowpoke's testes. But duh: They have signs telling you that much.
If saying Dallas is better will keep the Dallas-ites out of Fort Worth, then Dallas is better ...
Bob, I'll let it stand. But, come on, people -- let's stay on topic. Please?
@brian Nesbitt: Yes, and Dallas has such a sterling record of justice to stand on ...
I'd like to vote the above off topic comment off this island.
ft worth deserves no honor. not after the city has decided to prosecute the victims in the rainbow lounge raid. shame on you ft worth.