Compare NC piedmont area to somewhere outside Dallas.

[AlGreen]

East Texas, like the rest of the southeast, is largely composed of evergreen pines, but there are still a lot of hardwoods in the area. The Piedmont will be hillier and will have more fall color.

[Ceij]

There is no commute. I won't be traveling on the daily bases anywhere.

[Ceij]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

She did- so I suggested the burbs I know with walkable neighborhoods, and then pointed out that in our area there are many more walkable area in the city (which are still suburban looking vs urban/dense) than outside of it.

OP will probably have to give on either living somewhere walkable or living outside the city if she chooses DFW....and of course, it all goes back to where the job is )which we don't know.

I'm not necessarily looking for an area that feels suburban. I don't want to live next to skyscrapers. I don't want to live where it takes a 40 minute+ drive to get out of the city. I've driven from Texarkana to Port Arthur on 59. I loved that drive. Colorado has pine trees, almost no deciduous trees (unless it's in someone's yard). And even for the pines you have to drive into the mountains to be surrounded by them, to be in a forest of them.

I've driven from Albuquerque across to Little Rock, up to Nashville, down to Savannah, completely around Florida, and all the way back on 10 to El Paso. I never made into the Carolinas.

I spent my summers as a child, first on a farm near Hamburg, AR, then on a farm near Jasper, AR. I preferred Hamburg. I don't need rolling terrain, the autumn colors in Jasper are amazing. For anyone who has been to Estes Park to see the "Turning of the Aspens" you will know how little it would take to impress me, as far as autumn colors are concerned.

I'm pretty sure if I move to NC, my occasional craving for Ethiopian food will go unanswered. I'm also sure I won't recognize the Mexican food in NC. As well, no bagels or NY pizza in Dallas. I can get reasonable pizza in Denver, not a decent bagel to be found. I think the food in Texas is similar to the food in Colorado.

um, that's about it.

[Ceij]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

They do- but where is your job located? It's pointless to tell you to look at Waxahachie (30 miles south of Dallas) if your job is in North Plano (25 miles north of Dallas).....you'd be signing up for a 75-90 minute each way commute!!

Plano has a "urban development" called Shops @ Legacy which is a mixed-use (condos, apartments, & retail), but the residences are expensive and the retail is limited- mostly fairly high end restaurants & bars....no grocery store or pharmacy or gas station and just 1-2 banks.

McKinney has a cute downtown square in the historical district (which is fairly pricey for McKinney), but again it's mostly shops & restaurants. No grocery store, though I believe the Farmer's market is there sometimes.

Southlake has a nice town center with shopping, groceries, and many other amenities, but there are only a dozen or so townhomes within walking distance and they are $500k++.

I'm racking my brain of places in the suburbs that meet your needs and honestly there are very few.

If you were open to city living (still a suburban environment with lot sizes of .25-.5 acre....bigger than most suburbs), several neighborhoods in Dallas itself meet your criteria. University Park in central Dallas has a neighborhood with a 95 walkability score- there is everything you could possibly need (groceries, nails/ hair, clothing & home shops, banks, public library, public pool, restaurants, a university, doctors, etc) all within a few block's walk. That is zip code 75205/75225- stay within .4 mile of the Starbucks at Milton & Hillcrest to be the most "walkable" distance.

Junius Heights/ Lakewood Heights/ Upper Swiss Avenue neighborhoods in East Dallas (75214) are super walkable- Whole Foods, theatre, lake, restaurants, bars, banks, etc all right there at Lakewood Village. Same with Devonshire and Greenway Parks neighborhoods in 75209. Uptown (75204) is more densely populated (condos & apartments vs previously mentioned neighborhoods which are mostly single family), but super walkable and access to free McKinney Avenue (main "drag") Trolley and the DART rail.

Great suggestions! and thanks for the zips.

[AlGreen]

I was actually able to find a few Ethiopian restaurants in Research Triangle area. A simple Google search is all it takes. I'm sure that you're bound to find several Mexican rest. in the area, but whether or not they're as good as what you find in Texas, I can't say.

As far as DFW goes, I honestly can't think of any place that meets your criteria without living in the city itself or one of the suburbs. You could always consider several towns in Northeast Texas that would put you close to Arkansas, but I don't know that any of them are all that walkable, and you will have to drive hours to Dallas for your restaurants.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Ceij

I'm not necessarily looking for an area that feels suburban. I don't want to live next to skyscrapers. I don't want to live where it takes a 40 minute+ drive to get out of the city. I've driven from Texarkana to Port Arthur on 59. I loved that drive. Colorado has pine trees, almost no deciduous trees (unless it's in someone's yard). And even for the pines you have to drive into the mountains to be surrounded by them, to be in a forest of them.

Knowing all that, I'd look into McKinney's historic district / square area that I previously suggested. It's on the far north side of the metroplex so no major traffic if you're driving out of town to the north or east. To get south (to Austin, San Antonio, etc), you'd have to drive 40 miles straight through Dallas so would want to time your drives to not be during rush hour. There are beautiful country roads (no tall trees, but gorgeous wheat fields and lakes) in the Princeton/ Lucas area to McKinney's east.

You may find the Lakewood area of interest. It's in Dallas, about 3 miles northeast of Downtown (aka you can see the skyline from White Rock Lake in Lakewood), but it's a friendly community with mostly quiet streets and lots of big green mature trees & parkspace. It's not like your home would have a 60-story building next door; zoning is very good in Dallas. Lakewood is 5 minutes from I-30 and very easy to get out of town to the south & east. To go north, you'd have the same 40 mile drive as from McKinney, just going north instead of south.

The University Park area I mentioned is extremely walkable but I get the vibe from your posts that it's going to be too "city-like" and congested for your taste.

[AlGreen]

Unless you're leaning towards Texas, OP should look into Chapel Hill, NC. It seems to be the closest to what you're looking for. Of course I found your Ethiopian restaurant in the city, as well as several Mexican restaurants that received mostly positive reviews, and there are a lot of New York transplants in NC, so I would count on being able to find atleast one or two good bagel shops or Italian restaurants. The Research Triangle is a somewhat large area, but isn't "big city" per se. If you can't find something in CH, Durham is about 20 minutes away (Raleigh is about 40 min). Washington, D.C. is about 5 hours away for those weekend trips into the city, if you so desire.

As far as walkability goes, I found one thread that kind of delves into the topic:

walkable neighborhoods in CH

When it comes to scenery, here are some examples of what you can expect to see in the area:

Photos of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary & Surrounding local areas

Don't be scared of NC. It's really a great place

[TXJoy]

Originally Posted by Ceij

For anyone familiar with both, please help me decide. Weather, community, economy, food, taxes and fees, cost of living, politics. I live in the Denver area. I'm a Dennis Miller republican, some might call that a Rino. I love, love, love, deciduous trees. I hate the wind. I'm not a big fan of humidity, but realize it's part of living in a warmer area in a forest. I don't like living in the big city, but an area where I can walk to the store, restaurants, etc, from where I live would be great. I love the food in PA and NYC area. Will I be able to get that in NC? What about Mexican food? Anything else I should consider? No children, so those considerations aren't there. Oh, 40+, female, single.

Any random thought might be valuable.

I live in Durham NC and am from DFW area. The Durham area is loaded with trees. A lot of pines, but lots of other kinds too. The fall color of trees is beautiful in this state. In the DFW area, there are no forests. That area is prairie. Flat.

As far as walkability, even here you need a car. Chapel Hill is spread out and only the downtown area is walkable in any sense of the word. In Durham, downtown is walkable but limited amenities. The area by Duke is somewhat walkable, but more eclectic. In the DFW suburbs you absolutely have to drive to get places. Traffic at rush hour is mildly a pain in the Triangle NC area and is horrible in the DFW area.

Climate is way different in the summer. DFW is HOT all summer long, like many days at high 90s or 100 or more. NC last summer the average temp was below 90. Some snow here in the winter especially in the foothills and mountains. DFW is variable temperature wise in the winter, very little snow.

NC is mostly conservative, with pockets of liberals. There is currently a democratic governor but the legislature is Republican controlled. TX is republican controlled. In NC they tax your car on top of registration, tax your pets, have a state income tax, car insurance is not cheap, and gasoline costs more than Tx. There are no toll roads in the piedmont, but in DFW there are several. TX has no state income tax. Housing is cheaper in the DFW area than the Triangle area of NC. Although there are TONS of houses for sale here because the economy has been harder hit in NC than TX.

Just my take. I love Texas as it is my home, but I really like the beauty of NC.

[elan]

Lowry is very unique, that's going to be hard to match. I'm tempted to say South Lake close to the town center.

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

3. Weather- someone earlier this week described our weather as "extreme". Summer is HOT- 100+ degrees nearly every day from mid-July through August. We run AC from late Apeil through mid-October. It can be 90+ many days in those months. October, Nov, April, and May are the mildest and best weather months. Spring brings torrential rainstorms, often with hail, and the potential for tornados. Texas thunderstorms still scare the crap out of me and I've lived here my whole life. It is quite windy here- especially on warmer days in the winter, for whatever reason. Winter brings an ice storm or two each year, and lately more snow. But the weather bounces around all winter- one week 75, two days later 22 and ice on the ground. I don't think it gets too humid here- way less than coastal areas but more than the desert.

That might be the most accurate description and most honest evaluation of the North Texas climate I've ever seen TurtleCreek80. You didn't sugar cost it.