Well?
Austin. Easy.
From everything I’ve ever heard, Austin.
What makes Austin more cosmopolitan than Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, etc? The opera, ballet, fine dining, theatre, museums… stop me when I get close.
Well, Austin is a good choice.
I do have to say though, that their Museums (esp of the fine art variety) are rather lacking.
If you go by the definition of “The opera, ballet, fine dining, theatre, museums” then I fail to see how Dallas or Houston don’t get a nod.
My choice overall (not having been to Houston) is Dallas.
From what I hear, Austin has a smokin’ blues scene goin’ on. Thats reason enough for me to want to go there.
Depends on the definition of “cosmopolitan”.
From Merriam-Webster:
Cosmopolitan:
1 : having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing
2 : having wide international sophistication : WORLDLY
3 : composed of persons, constituents, or elements from all or many parts of the world
Well, of the three cities mentioned, Houston is by far the most international of the three, and arguably has the best opera, ballet, theatres, museums and possibly even fine dining in the state.
I’d say that based on the definition of the word, Houston wins hands down.
Dallas. Most snooty too.
Worse than L.A.
If your looking for museums, shopping, opera, ballet, theater, exc. then Houston is your best bet. If your into the music scene, then go to Austin. Houston’s music scene sucks for the most part.
Well, I never…eh, you may have a point there.
I’d have to say Dallas or Houston for the “worldly” definition - Austin is more a party town than a cosmopolitan town, IMHO.
I didn’t intend that the items in my list were necessarily the definition of cosmopolitan. I just wanted to be certain that Austin was indeed the most cosmo and not just the hippest, coolest, trendiest or most fun. Which it sounds like it could be. How about which of the three has the most international cuisines/restuarants?
Dallas.
Austin may be cooler, but it ain’t more cosmopolitan.
While Dallas is no slouch as a cosmopolitan city, I think Houston is more of an international gateway, if that’s the measure. Culturally, Houston has got lots to offer, both as noted with regard to the fine arts, as well as with a seemingly endless variety of nightlife.
I’m not familiar enough with Dallas’ cultural scene to stack the two up point for point, but the Big D’ll have to muster quite a bit to match Houston.
Austin is more of a big college town that developed a music scene and then finally boomed during the tech years. It’s still in the growing pains stage of the transition to Big City.
San Antonio, while still (I think) a bit larger, reminds me a lot of Austin in the '70s, just before the tech boom hit. We may see quite a bit develop there in the next couple of decades.
All in all, I’d have to say Houston is the most cosmopolitan city in Texas.
Unless you’re counting Anchorage.
I think DFW airport has to weigh in favor of the Metroplex if we’re taking international gateway effects into account(not sure I’d ever seperate out just Dallas, there is just too much intertwined in the metroplex to really isolate it). So many conventions and businesses come to DFW because it is convenient. This, even if not permanent, adds a fairly large dimension of other worldviews to the DFW area population. I found some numbers on population demographics of the various large cities in Texas not long ago for a GD thread and I’ll see if I can dig them back up. They were pretty interesting.
Enjoy,
Steven
I agree completely, if the economy was better Austin would be a fine/cool place to live, but I think Houston is the more “cosmopolitan” city by far (now Tapioca Dextrin will be mad at me).
unclviny
Is it Dallas or Houston that has the most breast implant surgeries in the U.S.? I think that might answer the question. 
Throw a stick, hit a blonde. That goes for Dallas and Houston!
Austin is cool, Dallas is cosmopolitan. I prefer cool.
Well, Houston, I would guess. I mean, c’mon. It’s the 4th largest city in the USA.
A city of that magnitude has got to have the most international cusines/restaurants.
Using Dallas as an example (as I haven’t been to houston):
Symphonies:
Morton Myerson Symphonic hall vs. The bass hall (if I recall correctly). NO comparrison.
Ballet: Dallas has a major dance troupe. Austin’s is more of a local one.
Airports: Dfw vs. Austin’s. Again, no comparison. DFw has at least three airports that I can think of.
Fine dining: While, yes Austin does indeed have some swanky places to eat, I don’t think it has more than Dallas does.
The museums in Austin are dismal and lacking. As of now, there is not a major art museum there. DFW (if it’s fair to include Fort Worth) has two that are internationally famous: the Fort Worth Modern and The Kimball.
Music-wise, Austin has us beat hands down.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Austin and would prefer it over Dallas (if not for the allergies!), but they simply don’t compare in regards to being cosmopolitan. It’s a great city and a fun place, but that wasn’t the question.
I’ve lived in Austin (13 years) and San Antonio (4 years), and I live in Dallas now (4 years). And my older brother lives in Houston. So I’ve at least got some personal knowledge. Short answer – my vote goes to Houston.
In my opinion, Austin is the coolest city in Texas. It’s laid back and easy going. People frequently go out in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. The city has intentionally held on to its provincial feel because the people there love it. In recent years, it has increasingly developed an element that aspires to “hipness” (hence, 4th Street, where the bars have become less like the old Antone’s and more like the Sky Bar in LA). However, its main attitude and one of its main attractions is that it’s a big city without a big city vibe. Unfortunately, that means it does not have good museums, opera, and just has decent restaraunts, in part because the most popular spots are the institutions that have been there forever. The stereotypical Austinite wears shorts and a t-shirt (with a witty saying), and snarks about conservatives while sitting on a patio drinking beer and listening to Jerry Jeff Walker, before going to Zilker and playing frisbee golf.
Dallas is Texas’s hippest and trendiest city. Dallas allegedly has more shopping and restaurants per capita than any city in the US (I heard this statistic from a few members of the Chamber of Commerce shortly after I moved here – I can’t vouch for its accuracy either then or now). It has a number of the nation’s best restaurants and hotels. People typically go out in trendy (and often expensive) clothes – slacks, button-downs, and leather shoes. The rumor about Dallas is that it has more people with $50,000 a year jobs driving $40,000 cars than anywhere else in the world. Having said that, it’s also a great place to be young because the women are stunningly beautiful, and the night life is 2nd to none in Texas. It’s also pretty solid culturally, since the Dallas Museum of Art (which now includes the recently opened Sculpture Garden), the Kimball (in Fort Worth), and numerous smaller collections exist, and the symphony is pretty good, too. The stereotypical Dallasite is a BMW-driving 28 year old with a carefully mussed hairstyle, wearing an untucked Thomas Pink shirt and Prada shoes, and standing in a bar called “Suede,” drinking a vodka tonic and trying to make eye contact with the blonde at the end of the bar.
San Antonio is Texas’s most cultural and family-friendly city. San Antonio stresses its Mexican heritage, almost to the exclusion of everything else. The best dining typically features some sort of Mexican flair or fusion, or is just outright Mexican food (mmmm, Alamo Cafe). The museums are better than Austin, but much worse than Dallas or Houston. The symphony and opera are sparse, but they do have the wonderful Grand Theatre. Perhaps the best way to describe San Antonio’s culture is to describe the radio stations. When I lived there, there was one top 40 station, 2 classic rock stations, about 5 country-western stations, and about 4 tejano stations. Having said that, I always thought SA would be a great place to raise a family. The people just seemed friendly, and the city’s cultural events seemed more geared toward family than any other city. The stereotypical SA native wears boots and jeans and talks about football in Spanglish while drinking beer in his cousin’s backyard while his grandfather works the grill.
Houston is Texas’s most business-oriented community. If Austin is geared toward college living, Dallas is geared toward yuppie living, and SA is geared toward family living, then Houston is geared toward big business. It’s located close to the water, so business was able to thrive around both oil and shipping. The only “feel” I ever got from Houston is “Big City.” Rush hour starts at 3:00 and goes until late in the evening. In order to get anywhere, you have to get on an interstate, which spans 8 lanes to each side, is bumper to bumper, and is still going 75 mph. But along with all those people comes money and interest in cultural events. Houston has outstanding museums (the Houston Museum of Fine Art is wonderful, and while I’m not huge on it, the Houston Museum of Modern Art is supposedly pretty good for its area), and great dining (although I’d give the edge to Dallas, I can see how some might think otherwise). The nightlife is really good, too, but unlike the other Texas cities, where the nightlife has largely congregated into distinct areas, Houston’s nightlife is spread out. I haven’t been to the symphony in Houston, but I’m willing to bet it’s great, too. I won’t even venture to guess what the stereotypical Houstonite is like because in a city that big, a community for nearly every stereotype exists.
Based on the definition of cosmopolitan meaning international, from my experience it could be nothing else but Houston. The sheer diversity of this city is staggering. There’s a shopping mall that caters exclusively to the Asian community. There’s a huge new Islamic center downtown (funded by Hakeem Olajuwon). There are five tacquerías (that I know of) within a mile of my house. Any ethnic cuisine you can think of, we have restaurants serving it. There’s a section of town where the street signs are in Chinese. And we’re bigger than Rhode Island.