I Resent That

“Business Week” recently ran a list of America’s Most and Least Favorite Cities, and my home town of Dallas ranked ninth least favorite. Adding insult to injury, the article says, “The top negative attributes, according to the survey, were the people—their backgrounds, talents, and perspectives (49%); environment—climate, park space, natural resources (39%); and image (38%).”

Well. Harumph.

C’mon, we’re not all J.R. Ewing. (That show ended in 1991, people.) Or even W, who will soon return to Dallas. We are reasonably diverse—Texas may be red but Barack Obama won Dallas county and Cathedral of Hope is the world’s largest gay and lesbian congregation. Dallas has trees, parks, great restaurants, distinct neighborhood and even art. Lots of major institutions vied for the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher’s outstanding collection of contemporary sculpture, but it stayed right here. We also have Fort Worth, which has even more art. Oh, and here’s my favorite piece of Dallas trivia: Local PBS affiliate KERA was first in the nation to broadcast “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” I think that’s pretty nifty.

Sure, we have problems. I’ve been known to gripe a little. OK, a lot. It’s a hobby. But really, what place doesn’t? Please, next time you’re in Dallas, get out of the airport. You only think you know what the city is all about.

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