Dallas vs Minneapolis (Houston, Plano, Irving: middle-class, apartment, HOA)

[lukeache]

Hi all:

Couple in our 30's, both college educated, looking for our first home here in Minneapolis/St Paul and we have been turned off by the high prices, an average home where we live goes for 250K. I was looking for homes in North Dallas (Plano, Addison, Frisco) and the same house goes for exactly half! Comparing jobs, jobs in Dallas(at least college professional level), pay the same! Dont get me wrong, we love Minneapolis, but we want to be able to afford a nice house without being broke. I have never been to Dallas but lived in Houston for 4 years and have a love-hate relationship w/ Houston.
I was wondering if Dallas is similar to Houston in the sense of long commutes, very spread out, hard to meet people, typical Republican attitudes, etc, after all it is Texas, but I was wondering if Dallas is considerably better than Houston..opinions, please!

[DentonPirate]

You get what you get. You can meet people if you get out and meet people. Here, its churches, clubs, etc. You're not going to meet people walking on the street...too danged hot. Don't like Republicans? Don't move to Plano or any other North Texas suburb. We're tired of bleeding hearts, having to deal with the results of their actions (open borders, paying for benefits to illegals, high crime from the same, etc).

Commutes? Depends on where you work. For example, if your job is in the Legacy Corridor, and you live in Plano, it's probably minutes. If you work in downtown, good luck. We have the equivalent of the population of Oregon driving into downtown each day.

You want to move here? Get an apartment in Irving/Las Colinas area. It's centrally located. Then, once you have your job(s), you can decide where you want to live, what type of neighborhood you want to live in, etc. Don't just look at housing prices. Look at hidden costs, such as utilities, HOA dues in some areas, Municipal Utility Districts in others, and rapidly rising property taxes

Don't expect things to be rosy. You and 6 million others want things your way. Ain't gonna happen. You'll love some things, like others, hate others.

However, you'll get what you put into it. People won't bend over backwards to accomodate you, but you'll generally find us friendly and generally tolerant...even to Yankees.

[Lakewooder]

It's very easy to meet people in my neighborhood. I was just getting my car inspected an hour ago and I met three people who live in the neighborhood. We always have something to talk about or know someone in common, school talk, etc...I would say it's the same in North Oak Cliff, Oak Lawn, parts of Uptown, Park Cities, Knox-Henderson, Lower Greenville etc..

There are everything from new houses (some of us feel they are over-sized to be charitable), new townhomes, all the way to many neighborhoods of almost exclusively historic homes (that would from the early 1900s to the 30s and 40s here). Also Downtown is being populated rapidly with old office buildings being redone as well as new buildings going up and there's really a neighborhood feel there...

As far as politics it's pretty diverse but we all get along and can 'talk' without arguing. Dallas County itself is currently dominated by Democratic office holders.

[padcrasher]

I love MSP my wife is from there. The GOP wave is dying down here even in the suburbs( in no small part to Bush's less than 50% popularity). So don't let that stop you from moving there. It's a typical mixed bag, closer in to downtown there is more to do (live music/museums/food choices), more culture, but more crime, terrible public schools.

[Lakewooder]

Disregard that last item about Dallas having terrible public schools - some are bad but some are the best in the country. The suburban people always feel the need to run down all 220 Dallas schools because they love to validate their decision to lose thousands of dollars buying a big white elephant in the suburbs. And the crime in Dallas is very localized. Watch the local news on television and you will see a lot of crime reported in the suburbs. Frisco last year had a 25% rise in crime.

[padcrasher]

Very well. Then check the school ratings of your local Dallas HS/Middle/Elem and see for yourself. The link is on another thread. Then they can make a more informed decision. BTW, My own white elephant suburb just increased in value more so than any other large suburb/city in DFW for 2006.

[padcrasher]

My my. Lakewood Neighborhood - Woodrow Wilson HS - Rated failing.

This is what you're defending?

[Lakewooder]

Yes because you have to analyze the statistics, not take them at face value without doing any digging. Our schools are not homogeneous where everyone is a middle-class minnow, we have the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor. See what the parents say on greatschools.org. They give it very high ratings. And how many National Merit Semi-finalists and Ivy League -bound graduates does your school have?

And I'll bet you that my neighborhood also has a higher appreciation rate than yours.

[padcrasher]

Well, taking your advice I went to greatschools.org and they rated Woodrow Wilson HS a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. (Ten being the highest).

I'll leave it at that.

[galore]

The impressive yet affordable, compared to Minneapolis, housing is probably not in Lakewood or more generally not within LBJ.