City Competition
Dallas gets shut out of top rankings in Travel + Leisure's America's FavoriteCities 2012
- Even if we didn't make it into the top five for categories such as people,quality of life, nightlife or dining, there is much to love about Dallas.Courtesy photo
- Five and Ten is one of our ctiy's finest luxury boutiques. Dallas ranked No. 8in luxury shopping.Photo by Steve Wrubel
- Evidence that Dallas has some of the most atrractive and stylish people in thecountry.Photo by Bruno
- Cowboys Stadium is one of the most visited tourist destinations in oursports-crazed town — No. 16 most sports-crazed town in the U.S., according toT+L.Dallas Cowboys/Facebook
- Klyde Warren Park is the new outdoor hot spot — to lounge, eat and listen togood muisc — in the Arts District. But it didn't help us in the rankings forculture or quality of life.Photo by Jerry McClure
- Dallas has myriad fine-dining options, including John Tesar's recently openedSpooon in Preston Center.Photo by Kevin Marple
- Dallas ranked No. 9 in barbecue, but sausage and brisket from Pecan Lodge willalways be No. 1 in our hearts.Pecan Lodge Catering/Facebook
- Dallas got shafted in the top five of Travel + Leisure's America's FavoriteCities 2012.Travelandleisure.com
There's nothing like flipping through the pages of Travel + Leisure — especially this time of year, when we're plotting our holiday getaway.
But the December 2012 issue was a bit of a letdown. In the ranking of America's Favorite Cities, Dallas was nowhere to be found. At least not in the top 5 positions for the featured categories and subcategories:
- Best for People: Stylish, attractive, friendly and intelligent
- Best for Quality of Life: Weather, architecture and cool buildings, safety, and affordability
- Best for Food: Fine dining, cafes, ethnic food and street food
- Best for Shopping: Luxury stores, independent boutiques, antique stores and home décor and design shops
- Best for Culture: Museums and galleries, classical music, historical sites and monuments, and theater
- Best for Nightlife: Singles scene, happy hour, music scene and cocktail lounges
Come on. How does Dallas not beat Charleston in fine dining? And, at the very least, Dallas should make the friendly list. Southern hospitality is not a myth.
Houston got the same cold-shoulder treatment, but thankfully the editors recognized Austin in a few subcategories. The live music capital grabbed third-best singles scene, second-best street food and fifth-most intelligent people. San Antonio showed up as third-most affordable city, third-best ethnic food, and fourth-most historical sites and monuments.
When surveying the complete results, including 16 online-exclusive categories, we finally saw where Dallas ranked:
- No. 16 most sports-crazed people
- No. 8 best luxury stores
- No. 9 best barbeque
- No. 16 most affordable
- No. 18 best sports bars
It's a shame that Travel + Leisure missed out on what's really happening here. Perhaps next year they'll take notice of the slew of hot new restaurants or important cultural openings such as Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Klyde Warren Park and Dallas City Performance Hall.
Of course, we can take comfort in the fact that there were only 40,000 votes — not even a quarter of Dallas' population. We feel better already.