Which city in the Metroplex has the lamest name?

[antoinekhuu]

My vote is Sachse. A Lot of times, I heard people pronounce it more like "sexy"

[Columbus Civil]

Balch Springs is a pretty bad one.

[RobertB]

I'd vote for Sunnyvale. It's not named after a person, place, or thing... it sounds like something a developer would come up with, like Glengarry Glen or Glen Ross Farms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glengarry_Glen_Ross_(film)).

[WestTexan]

...

[CityLove]

My vote goes to "The Colony." I just think it's weird to have "the" in your town's name.

[JasonDallas]

I voted for White Settlement but a lot of people from outside Texas think Plano is rather strange.

Jason

[freewaytincan]

I hate them all but Garland has the most negative connotations for me.

[DalMac]

I'm with you CC. Balch Springs is by far the worst.

[mikedsjr]

Garland just sounds like it smells.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I'd have to go with Balch Springs, too.

[RobertB]

I voted for White Settlement but a lot of people from outside Texas think Plano is rather strange.

Jason
Although probably not the folks from Plano, Illinois (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=plano,+il), makers of equipment found on nearly every bass boat (http://www.planomolding.com/content/index.cfm). In fact, I used to think that my Dad's tackle box was made in Texas, once he told me that the word wasn't "Piano".

[effulgent]

Where's Euless on this list? If that doesn't sound like a hick Texas town, I don't know what does.

[RobertB]

When I first moved here, I remembered the smaller mid-cities with the mnemonic: Hurts Euseless Buford.

[Columbus Civil]

Why did my "Dumbest poster?" poll get deleted??

[mikedsjr]

Where's Euless on this list? If that doesn't sound like a hick Texas town, I don't know what does.

No more than farmer's branch. It makes you wonder what they were thinking when they named it. Especially if he had lots of kids.

[St-T]

xxx
xxx
xxx

[Tnekster]

Balch Springs is a pretty bad one.

I kind of think the same. It sounds like Belch.

[Boredkid]

....

[texman]

but a lot of people from outside Texas think Plano is rather strange.

Jason
Plano actually comes from the Latin word Planare which means flat.

[Lakewooder]

Or from "Plain".

[gc]

I can't bellieve this thread has so many posts.

[Justin Terveen]

^ lol

[texman]

Or from "Plain".
Smart ass. My explanation is cooler.

[F4shionablecHa0s]

haha. I am a Sachse mustang in addition to being a sexy mustang.

[Geaux Tigers]

I voted for Wilmer, but my real choice is Belch Springs. What a dump.

[warlock55]

Plano actually comes from the Latin word Planare which means flat.

Well, I heard it got its name from Anglo settlers who thought Plano meant "plains" in Spanish. Only one letter off - not so bad, right? ;)
That seems more believeable than any of those early settlers knowing Latin. hehheh

[RobertB]

From the Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/PP/hdp4.html):
"When the town established a post office in 1852, it considered Forman and Fillmore, for President Millard Fillmore, as possible names, but postal authorities approved Plano, Spanish for "flat," suggested by Dr. Henry Dye because he understood it to mean "plain," his description of the surrounding terrain."

[tamtagon]

I voted for Wilmer, but Balch Springs is bad.

What about Krum?

[frankchitown]

My two least favorite are missing...Waxahachie and Lancaster. Those names have hicksville written all over them

[antoinekhuu]

Can Mod add balch Spring to the list due to popular demand?

[gc]

^ Done

[frankchitown]

Wow, that was quick. I wish all my wishes came true so easily

[RobertB]

Dalworthington Gardens is currently #2, but there's a pretty cool Depression-era story behind the name.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/DD/hjden.html

Dalworthington Gardens, one of the most unusual communities in Texas, is located in east central Tarrant County between Interstate 30 to the north and Interstate 20 to the south, about twelve miles southeast of Fort Worth. The community was established as a subsistence homestead project during the Great Depression under the authority of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The homestead program was administered by the Department of the Interior. Its original purpose was to help families attain a better standard of living through a combination of part-time industrial employment and subsistence agriculture. The idea was to locate homestead projects near large industrial centers where city workers could live, grow gardens, and raise farm animals to supplement their regular food supplies. Dalworthington Gardens was one of five such projects located in Texas and the only one still in existence today.

In early 1934 the federal government approved the Dalworthington Gardens charter and allotted $250,000 to buy 593 acres of land. Earlier it had been suggested that the name of the community be an admixture of the names of the three interested cities, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington. The land was divided into seventy-nine sites that varied in size from three to thirty-two acres. Forty-three acres was reserved for a community house and park. Three unpaved gravel roads ran north and south, and three ran east and west. The project was not a relief program; applicants for homesteads were required to pay 10 percent down on a homestead and show proof that they could repay their loans. A typical monthly payment was less than $25, including mortgage and management payments and all utilities.

By May 1935 about 85 percent of the construction work on Dalworthington Gardens was completed. By spring 1937 every homestead was either filled or being processed for occupancy. Early residents formed a cooperative known as Texas Industries and built furniture, stepladders, and butter churns. On June 29, 1949, residents voted to submit a petition to have their community incorporated as a town. The population of the community grew from 267 in 1950 to 757 in 1970. By 2000, Dalworthington Gardens had grown to a population of 2,186, mainly because of the town's proximity to Dallas and Fort Worth. Modern and expensive homes were interspersed with the original homesteads built in the 1930s. Many of the old homesteads are designated with historical markers, tangible proof of the work of the Dalworthington Gardens Historical Commission.

[antoinekhuu]

The town looks pretty expensive to me with some new upscale constructions.But the area surround it is Arlington's dump

[FoUTASportscaster]

What is a balch?

[CityLove]

What is a balch?

Balch ( P ) Pronunciation Key (bôlch), Emily Greene. 1867-1961.

American economist and sociologist. A founder of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (1919), she shared the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize.

The only thing that came up on either dictionary.com or m-w.com (Mirriam-Webster).

[FoUTASportscaster]

So it is a spring named after an economist and sociologist. Makes sense.

[jdwillis]

BALCH SPRINGS, TEXAS. Balch Springs is on Interstate highways 635 and 20 and U.S. Highway 175 ten miles southeast of Dallas in Dallas County. It was founded around 1870, when the family of John Balch settled in the area and found three springs, one of which was never dry. The perennial spring was kept cleaned and bricked up and became a gathering place for families in the area to fill their buckets and talk. In 1900 the area had only a cemetery and scattered farms. Several years later a school was built and named after the springs.



Hope this helps.

[domicile]

My vote was for Flower Mound. There is something I really dislike about the word 'mound' in general. Then, trying to sweeten it up by adding 'flower' just doesn't work at all.

Perhaps Honey Heap or Velvet Pile would work just as well.

[jdwillis]

My vote was for Flower Mound. There is something I really dislike about the word 'mound' in general. Then, trying to sweeten it up by adding 'flower' just doesn't work at all.

Perhaps Honey Heap or Velvet Pile would work just as well.

Another little bit of history...



FLOWER MOUND, TEXAS. Flower Mound, south of Denton and northwest of Dallas in south central Denton County, is a residential suburban community of 20,000 acres on the shore of Grapevine Lake. It was established soon after Sam Houstonqv settled a tribal dispute in 1844 and Indian raids in the area ceased. Permanent settlers moved in, attracted by the quality of the soil, which was suitable for raising cotton, corn, and wheat. The Peters colonyqv named the town for a fifty-foot-high mound covered with Indian paintbrush; the mound was once used by Indians as a holy place. Unlike many pioneer settlements in Denton County that were bypassed by the railroads in the late nineteenth century or unable to survive the Great Depression,qv Flower Mound maintained a steady population throughout the first four decades of the twentieth century and became a substantial farming and cattle-raising community.

[gc]

My wife showed me the "mound" a few weeks back while driving through...

[dfwcre8tive]

Another little bit of history...

You can visit the old 'flower mound' now fenced in with a historical marker next to a shopping center near FM2499 and FM3040. Flower Mound was named for the 12 1/2 acre Mound that stands above the prairie flatlands and is believed to have been a sacred ceremonial ground for the Wichita Indians. From the top of the mound you can see the downtown Dallas skyline. During certain times of the year it is covered with blue stem grasses and lots of different wildflowers.

http://mrsdennison.com/0304/Community/fieldtripmound081.jpg

[domicile]

Fascinating trvia about Flower Mound. I still don't like it. But, thanks for the history lesson. Now I can bore my Father-in-Law with it just to try to keep up with all the knowledge of trivial items he has.

He is a sexual intellectual, otherwise known as a F**king Know-it-All.

[antoinekhuu]

Wilmer is catching up fast.THe name is bad. It is even worse when they called it Wilmer-Hutchins

[chico_jay]

wilmer reminds me of elmer's glue for some reason, and whenever i see the city name i think of the monkey on the bottle of elmer's glue. that's my only reasoning for my choise.

[RobertB]

wilmer reminds me of elmer's glue for some reason, and whenever i see the city name i think of the monkey on the bottle of elmer's glue. that's my only reasoning for my choise.
It's not a monkey, it's a bull. Elmer is Elsie's husband. Really (http://www.wackyuses.com/wf_elmers.html).

[jdwillis]

It is amazing how many people don't know that sort of trivia.

What's the calf's name?

[dfwcre8tive]

What's the calf's name?

From the previously provided link:

"Elsie the Cow and her husband Elmer have two calves, Beulah and Beauregard."

Beulah... now that would be an interesting town name!

[FoUTASportscaster]

I need a name for a town in Sim City. I'll use that

[Geaux Tigers]

At least we don't have to worry about towns with names like White Haven and Hot Coffee. Both are towns in Mississippi. I know White Haven got it's name as a new suburb south of Memphis as just that, a haven of white people looking to get out of central Memphis back in the 60's.