When it comes to the most exciting cities in Texas, the big three — Dallas, Houston and Austin — would surely top most people's lists. But not Movoto, which just put Dallas in fifth place. Our fair city ranks behind not only Houston and Austin but also Galveston, which came in first, and Conroe, which tied for No. 3.
We'll give Movoto the benefit of the doubt on Galveston, because it's located on the Gulf of Mexico and thus a prime spring break destination. But Conroe? The far north Houston suburb boasts a population of around 56,000 people, and its biggest attraction is a man-made lake — which isn't even within city limits. That hardly qualifies as a hub of "entertainment and thrills."
Movoto started with the 100 most populated areas in Texas, then looked at a number of per capita factors, including nightlife and live music venues, "active life" options, fast food restaurants (you're dinged if you have too many), percentage of restaurants that are not fast food, and percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34.
It appears the "per capita" part of things hurt Dallas compared to the much smaller Conroe and Galveston, both of which got major points in the active life category despite having what would seem to be fewer options than Dallas.
And what about Fort Worth? It was crowned the best downtown in America, and it doesn't crack the top 10? Cowtown, along with Richardson, Denton and Arlington, did make the next 10 on the list, but that's little consolation.
Other cities in the top 10 included San Marcos, McAllen, Tyler, New Braunfels and Bryan. Yep, you read that right.
Dallas apparently has less to do than both Galveston and Conroe, according to a new survey.
