Hoping To Relocate Soon (Dallas, Fort Worth: rent, house, find a job) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

jreed324 · 02-14-2011, 07:48 AM

My husband and I are looking to relocate to the Keller area soon. We are planning on living off our savings for 6 months. I am very nervous about the move but we have been talking about Keller for years. We finally feel it's time to take the plunge. I am an IT Trainer/Curriculum Developer/Instructional Designer working on my Ph.D and he is a Correction Officer. Here in New York, Correction Officers have Peace Officer status. We understand that this is not the case in Dallas. I would like for him to get on the Dallas PD or perhaps work in one of the smaller town PDs. Any law enforcement on board? Any advice for us?

As for me, there seems to be lot of positions that I qualify for and I have just started submitted my resume. I would love to have a job before making the move but I am worried I will not be considered since I have a New York address. Anyone in my field on board? Any idea on what the average salary is? I don't want to price myself out of the market. I know I wont make what I make now and I am okay with it. We can't wait to get to Dallas. We have a son and it's important to us that he is brought up in a place with good values, good schools, and a moderate cost of living. We are so done with New York.

TurtleCreek80 · 02-14-2011, 09:01 AM

Keller is about 40 miles northwest of Dallas - about 60-75 minutes each direction in traffic. It is much closer to Fort Worth. You should probably post on the FW forum and focus your job search there.

DFW covers 600sq miles. It's best for you to find jobs and then pick a place to live so you're not commuting several hours a day. To put into NYC terms, would you ever live in Westchester County and work at JFK? Probably not.

jreed324 · 02-14-2011, 09:06 AM

Thanks! I appreciate your response. We are both use to crazy commutes now. We leave in eastern long island and commute to Queens. It's the way of life here, I guess. I will certainly also look in Fort Worth. It would be nice to not have such a long commute. If we have to though, we are prepared and use to it.

TurtleCreek80 · 02-14-2011, 09:12 AM

Is there a reason you're particularly drawn to Keller- family or friends there?

Because there are dozens of other DFW burbs with affordable housing and good schools. If you both got jobs in/near downtown Dallas, Rockwall or Richardson would have the housing and shocks you're seeking, but a 25-30 minute commute. I'm not knocking Keller at all, but if you havent spent mug time in DFW, you may not realize that it's pretty typical for a DFW suburb and not an anomaly.

jreed324 · 02-14-2011, 09:17 AM

The biggest draw for us are the homes. It blows my mind what you can get for under $200K! We have a house on LI that is worth $50K, if that in Texas. If I told you what we paid for it, you would die! We would probably rent for 2 years, then look at buying. Hopefully the market stays buyer friendly. All we care about is a large enough home, fenced in yard, 2 bathrooms, minimum 3 bedrooms on a not too busy street. We aren't too picky.

TurtleCreek80 · 02-14-2011, 09:20 AM

I added on to my previous post- you should re-read. If you draw a line circling 10-20 miles out from downtown Dallas, you can find a nice home for $200k eith good schools in about 50-75% of that area.

Keller is not atypical of DFW suburbs. Find jobs first, then look for housing.

BigDGeek · 02-14-2011, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I added on to my previous post- you should re-read. If you draw a line circling 10-20 miles out from downtown Dallas, you can find a nice home for $200k eith good schools in about 50-75% of that area.

Keller is not atypical of DFW suburbs. Find jobs first, then look for housing.

Agree with all of this, couldn't have said it better myself.

jreed324 · 02-14-2011, 09:23 AM

Good advice. Thanks.

Aside from the housing situation, any law enforcement or I.T Trainers with advise for us? I'd like to know of any success stories on here? Was anyone able to find a job with a non Texas address?

Squirl · 02-14-2011, 09:28 AM

I am just wondering if there are residential requirements of police officers....do they have to live in Dallas, or at least Dallas county to be officers on the police force?

jreed324 · 02-14-2011, 09:33 AM

Here are the requirements according to the Dallas PD website. I am hoping it's like New York City. As long as you are a resident of New York, you can be a NYPD or NYCD officer. The counties have different requirements.

Dallas Police Department (http://recruiting.dallaspolice.net/index.cfm?page_ID=10130&subnav=0 - broken link)