Texas town named most boring city in America

[bnk]

Id flip Fort Wayne with Laredo, Texas and the list would be perfect.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Yes, I agree. These are towns that are remote, spread out and just decentralized.

Nothing remote about Plano and Irving. They're right in DFW, which consists of about 7 million people. For me they would be boring simply because they're classic suburbs.

Some of the places on the list are definitely remote, though. But that in itself doesn't make a place boring. Many cities or metros in the U.S. are remote (e.g., Denver, Boulder, Santa Fe), but are not necessarily boring.

Again, this is a subjective list. What's boring for some people is just fine for others. The world doesn't revolve around what some list says put together by someone with their own preferences. That's why these lists are often useless other than to help verify our personal biases (and to piss off those whose hometowns are criticized).

[Parkway]

I'm going to nominate Scranton as the Pa city that should have been on the list. Its not that Scranton is nothing to do there its just that I always got the feeling that it should have more going on than it does.

[SHiRO]

Originally Posted by Parkway

I'm going to nominate Scranton as the Pa city that should have been on the list. Its not that Scranton is nothing to do there its just that I always got the feeling that it should have more going on than it does.

But Dunder Mifflin is there! And the Steamtown Mall! Not to mention Schrute Farms!

[Xing]

"Lubbock Texas?!" - Bob, "La Bamba."

[OfCourse]

Should also toss the entire Rio Grande Valley on that list. The only thing the Valley has going for it is South Padre Island.

[Dr Nevergold]

I would extrapolate that any town that is small and primarily suburban is a drab, boring place. But that's just me. There are plenty of people that prefer small town life and don't want commotion or options of a larger city.

[KevinFromTexas]

The crazy thing is Lubbock was the most interesting place in the immediate area, and only because of the skyline. I have family near there in a small town called Levelland. Yes, it's actually called Levelland. The most exciting part was when I saw the first tumbleweed I'd ever seen.

[mrnyc]

i dk, the streets of laredo are pretty famous. and lubbock is where buddy holly is from. i find that somewhat isolated places like those on this list tend to have a lot of character. if not the bldgs so much, then the people. especially when you compare them to your typical suburb with its cookie cutter planned communities and the like.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

i dk, the streets of laredo are pretty famous. and lubbock is where buddy holly is from. i find that somewhat isolated places like those on this list tend to have a lot of character. if not the bldgs so much, then the people. especially when you compare them to your typical suburb with its cookie cutter planned communities and the like.

At the same time, both Laredo and Lubbock have a lot of suburban developments that look just like those in any American city. Lubbock has a large number of affluent neighborhoods, and Laredo has some that are super wealthy and pretty scenic (and some serious poverty, too).

The neat thing about Laredo is that the downtown area is essentially Mexico, with the hustle and bustle, narrow streets, throngs of pedestrians, and clogged traffic. I don't find that boring at all.

I like your point about the character of people.

[James Bond Agent 007]

I dunno it doesn't seem right calling a suburb "boring" when it's in a big metropolis. If there's not much to do in Plano just take a short trip to Dallas. It's not like suburbs like that were intended to be exciting places, they're just bedroom suburbs. If one day Dallas suddenly annexed Plano the area formerly known as "Plano" would suddenly be deemed "exciting" just because it magically became a part of Dallas. Pretty arbitrary.

[Shasta]

I am no fan of Lubbock but there is no way it is the most boring city in America. It is home to Texas Tech. TTU is a party school full of slutty women. I wouldn't want to live there, but I can think of HUNDREDS of places I'd want to live less.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

I dunno it doesn't seem right calling a suburb "boring" when it's in a big metropolis. If there's not much to do in Plano just take a short trip to Dallas. It's not like suburbs like that were intended to be exciting places, they're just bedroom suburbs. If one day Dallas suddenly annexed Plano the area formerly known as "Plano" would suddenly be deemed "exciting" just because it magically became a part of Dallas. Pretty arbitrary.

The problem is the 2 hour commute it takes to get to Dallas from those suburbs. It's not uncommon for people in those suburbs to drive 100 miles a day. That is insane.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

The problem is the 2 hour commute it takes to get to Dallas from those suburbs. It's not uncommon for people in those suburbs to drive 100 miles a day. That is insane.

Yeah, some of the DFW suburbs are WAY far from downtown Dallas. What's mind blowing is that, using Google Earth, you can find distances of 60 miles from point A to point B within DFW. And it's solid city and suburbs in between, all within the Metroplex (e.g., if you live in SW Fort worth and commute to McKinney).

Surprisingly, Irving is only about 10 miles from downtown Dallas and Plano is about 15 miles. The commute can still take a long time due to traffic. A friend of mine who lives in Plano takes the light rail into downtown Dallas, and he says it's very quick. I think he takes the red line.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

At the same time, both Laredo and Lubbock have a lot of suburban developments that look just like those in any American city. Lubbock has a large number of affluent neighborhoods, and Laredo has some that are super wealthy and pretty scenic (and some serious poverty, too).

The neat thing about Laredo is that the downtown area is essentially Mexico, with the hustle and bustle, narrow streets, throngs of pedestrians, and clogged traffic. I don't find that boring at all.

I like your point about the character of people.

i did a tour of 'la frontera' aka the entire southern us border, end to end awhile ago. of course that was over several years/visits, not all at once! it turned out that laredo>brownsville was the final leg. usually i only stayed overnight somewhere, but i liked laredo so much i stayed two nights at the historic la posada hotel in san augustin square. it was fun exploring around there and in nuevo laredo. the shopping around the border is crazy busy like old canal street was. downtown is quiet, but has some interesting buildings, like a couple old deco theaters, abandoned, yet preserved by the texas weather. i ate well, swam in the hotel pool, met the tecos, the minor league baseball team at the time, at a meet and greet, and loved just hanging around there. i even went to mass at the historic church on the square as it happened to be over easter sunday. afterward, they had a procession that was very colorful. i dk about living there, but from a visitor's point of view i have a great memories of los dos laredos and their historic areas, there was nothing boring at all about it.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

I dunno it doesn't seem right calling a suburb "boring" when it's in a big metropolis. If there's not much to do in Plano just take a short trip to Dallas. It's not like suburbs like that were intended to be exciting places, they're just bedroom suburbs. If one day Dallas suddenly annexed Plano the area formerly known as "Plano" would suddenly be deemed "exciting" just because it magically became a part of Dallas. Pretty arbitrary.

I agree. That was the point I was making with North Las Vegas. Millions of people flock to LV to be entertained. That's why it exists.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

i did a tour of 'la frontera' aka the entire southern us border, end to end awhile ago. of course that was over several years/visits, not all at once! it turned out that laredo>brownsville was the final leg. usually i only stayed overnight somewhere, but i liked laredo so much i stayed two nights at the historic la posada hotel in san augustin square. it was fun exploring around there and in nuevo laredo. the shopping around the border is crazy busy like old canal street was. downtown is quiet, but has some interesting buildings, like a couple old deco theaters, abandoned, yet preserved by the texas weather. i ate well, swam in the hotel pool, met the tecos, the minor league baseball team at the time, at a meet and greet, and loved just hanging around there. i even went to mass at the historic church on the square as it happened to be over easter sunday. afterward, they had a procession that was very colorful. i dk about living there, but from a visitor's point of view i have a great memories of los dos laredos and their historic areas, there was nothing boring at all about it.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay there. To me, any Hispanic city is anything but boring.

[atlantaguy]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

This is probably the most accurate "top 10 list" ever posted on here.

LOL! And you know any of this how? I seriously doubt you have ever been to any of these places.

I find it beyond humorous that anyone from a State so full of the some of the most boring and depressing cities in the Country could ever come to such a conclusion.

I'm calling it 'anti-anywhere-but-where-I-know' bias, plain and simple.

[Owlhorn]

Irving is about 10 minutes from downtown Dallas. It has a huge "urban" center, movie studios, half of DFW Intl Airport, millions of sq ft of office space. It is one of the most diverse cities in Texas with large indian and Pakistani populations along with Hindu temples and Mosques and a thriving Indian community of stores and restaurants. The Byron Nelson PGA golf tournament is played there and it hosts the Dallas Cowboys headquarters, not to mention being home to a few fortune 500s. It also has pretty decent nightlife and is served by the DART Orange line and TRE commuter line.

Plano is like Irving on steriods. Its about 20 minutes from downtown Dallas. It has almost 300,000 people. While it has a ton of typical suburban housing, it actually has a well maintained old downtown with lots of shops and restaurants. It also has a huge urban towncenter on the west side which I would say is by far the most successful of these types in the entire state of Texas by a large margin. Probably the largest of these new urbanist developments I can think of and they are going to more than double it in size. Lots of nightlife there. Its also home to several fortune 500s and is served by DART's red line. Within less than a mile from its borders sits Frisco's sports facilities(Frisco Rough Riders, FC Dallas, Stars minor league hockey, Mavs D-league team). Not to mention Plano is likely the 2nd or third most diverse place in the state behind Houston proper which allows them a huge variety of restaurants and shopping.

In DFW much of the diversity is to be found in these suburbs. If you want to go to an ethnic grocery or restaurant of some type, especially those of Asian origin, many are to be found in places like Plano, irving, Garland or Richardson(probably why many visit Dallas and think we don't have these amenities). those residents don't have to come to Dallas for nightlife or entertainment either. The funny thing is, there are some suburbs around DFW that have pretty much nothing to do. Interesting they would choose these two.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

Irving is about 10 minutes from downtown Dallas. It has a huge "urban" center, movie studios, half of DFW Intl Airport, millions of sq ft of office space. It is one of the most diverse cities in Texas with large indian and Pakistani populations along with Hindu temples and Mosques and a thriving Indian community of stores and restaurants. The Byron Nelson PGA golf tournament is played there and it hosts the Dallas Cowboys headquarters, not to mention being home to a few fortune 500s. It also has pretty decent nightlife and is served by the DART Orange line and TRE commuter line.

Plano is like Irving on steriods. Its about 20 minutes from downtown Dallas. It has almost 300,000 people. While it has a ton of typical suburban housing, it actually has a well maintained old downtown with lots of shops and restaurants. It also has a huge urban towncenter on the west side which I would say is by far the most successful of these types in the entire state of Texas by a large margin. Probably the largest of these new urbanist developments I can think of and they are going to more than double it in size. Lots of nightlife there. Its also home to several fortune 500s and is served by DART's red line. Within less than a mile from its borders sits Frisco's sports facilities(Frisco Rough Riders, FC Dallas, Stars minor league hockey, Mavs D-league team). Not to mention Plano is likely the 2nd or third most diverse place in the state behind Houston proper which allows them a huge variety of restaurants and shopping.

In DFW much of the diversity is to be found in these suburbs. If you want to go to an ethnic grocery or restaurant of some type, especially those of Asian origin, many are to be found in places like Plano, irving, Garland or Richardson(probably why many visit Dallas and think we don't have these amenities). those residents don't have to come to Dallas for nightlife or entertainment either. The funny thing is, there are some suburbs around DFW that have pretty much nothing to do. Interesting they would choose these two.

Thanks for setting the record straight. There's a lot of misinformation and misconceptions out there about not only Texas cities and suburbs, but cities and suburbs all over the country. It would be great if SSP members could take the lead and do less spreading of stereotypes, not only in comments but also in photo threads. For example, there could be photo threads of suburbs like Irving or Sugarland near Houston showing mosques, temples, people from all over the world practicing their customs and in identifiable dress, crowded parks, people cycling and jogging, ethnic restaurants, etc. What is typically shown now is cookie-cutter housing and strip centers, which do of course exist but which are not nearly the full story.