Dallas vs Hampton Roads: Driving Edition

There are always fun differences as you travel to different places. Here are a few I've noticed from my recent transition back to life in Hampton Roads. So if you're moving from Dallas to Norfolk or vice versa, or if you're just really intrigued by small cultural differences within the States, I present ...

Dallas vs Hampton Roads: Driving Edition

1. Pedestrians vs Drivers
   When I was living in Dallas, I had this fear, an overwhelming fear, that someone would jump out in front of my car and I would kill them. "It's one of my goals in life," I would say, "to not accidentally kill someone." While Jacob could understand why I did not want to commit manslaughter, he did not really understand why this was a concern of mine. Until we arrived in Norfolk. Twice during the first week of our time here, we witnessed very very close calls. Closer than running out into the street like a moron (which we all know is danger) but "Augh! That man narrowly escaped being hit by that vehicle!!" Now Jacob knows the fear. Now the fear is real.
   On the other hand, driving in general is far better in the Hampton Roads area than Dallas. To drive in Dallas is to flirt with death. They are aggressive and feel entitled. If they are about to miss their exit, they have no qualms about shooting in front of you across three lanes of traffic to get there. They are the kind of people who reverse on the interstate to avoid making a U-turn. In Norfolk, driver's don't try to kill one another. It's quite nice.
2. Downtown
   In my first week in Dallas, I went downtown everyday. I had thought that this is what you did in Dallas. I got lost multiple times a day until, Wednesday, I came to accept that getting lost was a feature of driving in Dallas. (I still stand by that.) Most people look at me like I'm crazy. "Why would you do that? Why go downtown with threat of death over you?" Finally, coming home, I remember why that seemed like a good idea at the time.
   In Norfolk, everything is downtown. Does a day pass when we don't find ourselves passing the Scope? Probably not. Jacob at first thought I was manipulating things to force us into Downtown a lot. No. That is just where you go.
3. Smog
   In Dallas, there are smog warnings. Sometimes construction signs declare that you should roll up your car windows and try to stay inside as smog levels have risen to concerning levels. I never really noticed or smelled any difference.
   Norfolk smells like poison. I don't know if their emissions laws are super lax here because they haven't hit the problem that Dallas has. But, as a pregnant lady, Norfolk is rank with the smells of various emissions, burning rubber, construction odors and more. I've been surprised at how many different ways poison can smell, but a short drive down i-264 will give you quite an inventory.
4. Size
   In Dallas, everything is spread really really far apart. Dallas is the pretty much in the middle of nowhere which means they have a lot of room to sprawl. Hampton Roads, on the other hand, is nestled in a bunch of water ways, giving us some distinct building limits. So we crowd together and build up. Everything is about 20 minutes from where I'm staying in Norfolk. In Dallas, everything was at least 10 minutes away and all the cool stuff was 40 minutes away. (Consequently, we had boring lives. Live in North Dallas, trust me.)