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I have just been offered a job, which has afforded me an opportunity to remain here in San Antonio or relocate to Dallas for the same position. I've only been to Dallas once when I traveled for the interview. I have been here in San Antonio for 4 years studying and I graduate in less than a month.
I'm married with twin 2 year olds and I would like to make the move to Dallas but wanted to weigh my options. Maybe if someone has lived in both cities or just love or hate one of the cities;I would greatly appreciate any feedback.
So, I do not need a job when relocating to Dallas, but my wife would. She has a degree in International Commerce (Import/export/logistics/supply chain) from Mexico (Tec de Monterrey) and has not been able to find any position related to her area of study that pays well (we would be fine with 40+ for her). In this job market we have not been able to get her in for interviews yet alone an offer, so she has been working for various call centers just to be making something. Does Dallas offer more employment opportunities than what we have been experiencing in San Antonio? And if so, anyone got any leads?
We would be looking for an apartment or house for rent for the first year in Dallas and then we would want to go ahead and purchase once we know which area is best for our family. Well, we do have a dog, boxer, so I guess our best option would be to rent a 3/2 house for around 1400ish/month or below. We would prefer to be close to public transportation although we do have two vehicles, but wanted to check out if the public trans was worth it.
Just out of curiosity how much of a commute would Irvine,FW, and surrounding cities be to downtown Dallas (West end)?
I know everything I need to know about San Antonio, which I kinda want a change, but am hesitant to just jump into Dallas, because of the girls.
Again any advice would be welcomed. Thank you!
We will figure out the school thing later on when we decide to purchase. How far a
So, I do not need a job when relocating to Dallas, but my wife would. She has a degree in International Commerce (Import/export/logistics/supply chain) from Mexico (Tec de Monterrey) and has not been able to find any position related to her area of study that pays well (we would be fine with 40+ for her). In this job market we have not been able to get her in for interviews yet alone an offer, so she has been working for various call centers just to be making something. Does Dallas offer more employment opportunities than what we have been experiencing in San Antonio? And if so, anyone got any leads?
We would be looking for an apartment or house for rent for the first year in Dallas and then we would want to go ahead and purchase once we know which area is best for our family. Well, we do have a dog, boxer, so I guess our best option would be to rent a 3/2 house for around 1400ish/month or below. We would prefer to be close to public transportation although we do have two vehicles, but wanted to check out if the public trans was worth it.
Just out of curiosity how much of a commute would Irvine,FW, and surrounding cities be to downtown Dallas (West end)?
I know everything I need to know about San Antonio, which I kinda want a change, but am hesitant to just jump into Dallas, because of the girls.
Again any advice would be welcomed. Thank you!
We will figure out the school thing later on when we decide to purchase. How far a
If ya got a job in Dallas, then you can make the transition no problem. I'll bet your wife will have better luck here than there.
Public transportation sucks and you'll find the traffic here is way worse than SA.
Dallas is dog-friendly, that should be no problem.
If you're bored of SA, that would be a plus for moving to D. DFW is not DF, but there's enough to see and do here to keep you busy. I recommend living in the city, not the burbs. I lived in Plano for 3 years and now three months in Lake Highlands and already feel so much better about it. Shop inside 635 and you'll be happy.
BTW, right real estate prices are rock bottom and you can get a much better deal buying that renting. A decent place under 100k is very doable right now.
Commute from Irving to West End is NP. From FW is forget it.
I know it's a buyer market, however, I need to know the city and the areas by feel and reputation and proximity to certain amenities before I bite the bullet and purchase something. So, I'll stick with renting at least for 6 months before purchasing, I do not want to get stuck in a nice property in a horrible area.
Good to know Dallas is Dog friendly, not many places in San Antonio that cater to Dogs.
So, why do you recommend the city rather than the burbs? Is the lifestyle truly that different? What would you say would be the cost of living trade-offs between the burbs and the city-life. Thanks
The 15 miles of combat on 75?
The feeling I was on a moonbase?
The generic everything?
The shrubs they call trees?
The artificialness?
The no parks?
The no water?
The "superior water system"?
The indistinguishable strip malls?
I think everything north of 635 was made in China and assembled in less than a hour.
Dallas is more real. The trees are mature. There are parks. Downtown. White Rock. Housing from various eras, not just the last ten years. Pubs with character - not everything a chain. More vitality and character. Rec Centers - my rec center has a full gym for 18$ a month. Big Shucks vs Long John Silvers. The Zoo! Fair Park! There's not one quality park in Plano, probably all Coco. Neat things in Dallas - Union Station. The clocktower. A little grit is good for the soul. And most of all, no commute. If you're gonna work in West End, there are plenty of good options to live near there. Driving down Main St to work is a helluva lot nicer than driver down 75. Life changing in fact.
I hate to even think about. I'm just glad I'm outta there. At first we chose Coco to get our bearings and for the much ballyhooed school system, but my son hated it there. Jury is still out on Lake Highlands Jr High, but so far okay. Home school options and city living is definitely an option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FatherofTwinGirls
So, why do you recommend the city rather than the burbs? Is the lifestyle truly that different? What would you say would be the cost of living trade-offs between the burbs and the city-life. Thanks
I hate to even think about. I'm just glad I'm outta there. At first we chose Coco to get our bearings and for the much ballyhooed school system, but my son hated it there. Jury is still out on Lake Highlands Jr High, but so far okay. Home school options and city living is definitely an option.
Moderator cut: see comment
Its a matter preference. I lived in Dallas for the first two years I lived in Texas and thought it was ok. Didnt really love or hate it. It was more expensive than I thought it would be and its still mostly strip malls. Living there, you really see that Dallas (much like its other sunbelt peers Houston, Phoenix, and Atlanta) is overall extremely suburban outside a few areas (even inside of 635). I figured if Im going to live in a suburban area, I might as well get more for my money.
I live in Plano like it better. Still suburban like most of Dallas itself, yet the homes are newer, the schools are better, and its a lot cheaper. There is also a lot more in the way of Asian culture here which my wife likes since shes from Thailand.
The quality of the suburbs is much better here than where I came from (Southern California). I would advise a visit before any move is made. Find for yourself what area you would really like.
Last edited by BstYet2Be; 11-21-2011 at 01:22 AM..
Reason: Personal attacks are not permitted per ToS. We may attack ideas but we do not attack the speaker.
We just moved to a suburb of Dallas, Carrollton, from San Antonio. My husband was promoted and transferred up here, and we are very excited to be here. There is a completely different vibe up here vs. there. It's much more fast-paced in the Metroplex, much much more diverse in terms of ethnicities, and there are so many things to do.
First, housing. We opted to buy. We did a lot of research on high schools since we have a 9th grader we didn't want to traumatize too much. He attended and LOVED Warren High in NWSA and we were concerned with uprooting him. He's been at his new school a week and other than the block scheduling they utitlize (which meant he may have had to do night school to "catch up"---thankfully they gave him credit for some of his "seat time" and he already had his algebra credit from 8th grade) he is very happy. He was in AFJROTC at Warren, so he's moved over to Navy JROTC, and he's already blended in with the athletes, thanks to football and basketball. We couldn't be happier with his transition. Next semester may be a little different since he'll have to take 4 core classes rather than coasting this semester with 4 electives. He's saying "I got this!" now but next semester may be a different story. Time will tell.
We also spent hours and hours driving around, and did not "settle" on an area. We had very specific desires for our new neighborhood and we believe we've found it. Housing prices here are similar to SA. We did up our housing budget to hopefully price ourselves out of some of the issues we dealt with in San Antonio........specifically, tagging and stray dogs and a general "honey badger don't care" attitude about living conditions. No, not all of SA is run-down or ill-cared for, but our particular neighborhood was headed there fast. One really nice feature here with many homes is the alleys in the back.......so the front of the homes have a really clean look rather than the parking lot look. Our new neighborhood doesn't have an HOA (well, it's voluntary I think) and the homes are yard are impeccably well-kept. In SA we had a mandatory HOA and enforcement of the rules was spotty.
I don't know much about the job market since my husband already had a good one and I'm not looking just now. I will say that everywhere we go is hustling and bustling, so it appears that things are very robust here. Also, they say SA is friendly but it's much more so up here, in my opinion. Traffic gets crazy busy, but people here don't seem to drive angry, but they do in SA. They're just in a hurry here, not mad at the world.
Other differences........it's colder. There are more grocery options! Just this past week I've shopped at Kroger, Albertson's, and Sprouts. That makes me very happy. There are tons and tons of restaurants that are not chains.......little hole-in-the-wall type places, in random strip malls, that are turning out some really good food. We've vowed not to eat any chain food until we've tried the mom n pops first. We will be kept busy!
Say good-bye to cheap CPS electricity. I'm scared to get our first bill from TXU......you have to shop around for your electricity provider. I did *some* research but probably not enough. I'm locked in for a year now, so hopefully it's not going to put us in the poor house.
Overall, we're excited to be here. We love our home and our new neighborhood. People are more active here, and it seems to be more dog-friendly. There is a light-rail station just blocks from my house, and as soon as we are fully settled in, I'll be jumping on it and heading in to the city. Pretty jazzed about it. Also, it's HARD not to get caught up in the Dallas Cowboys! Our first weekend here, before our household goods arrived and we didn't have anything to do, we caught a game at the new stadium and it was amazing! So much fun!!
Good luck on your decision. I'm going to miss SA, as I was there for over 25 years, but it was time for a change.
BTW, right real estate prices are rock bottom and you can get a much better deal buying that renting. A decent place under 100k is very doable right now.
Where can you get a decent place in a safe neighborhood with good public schools for "under $100k" in Dallas right now? Show me. Like, post some listings.
Where can you get a decent place in a safe neighborhood with good public schools for "under $100k" in Dallas right now? Show me. Like, post some listings.
I completely agree... but "decent" is subjective. Many people will slirt out several areas in Dallas where you can get under $100k, but they just hold different standards of what "decent" means.
The generic everything?
The shrubs they call trees?
The artificialness?
The no parks?
The no water?
The "superior water system"?
The indistinguishable strip malls?
I think everything north of 635 was made in China and assembled in less than a hour.
Dallas is more real. The trees are mature. There are parks. Downtown. White Rock. Housing from various eras, not just the last ten years. Pubs with character - not everything a chain. More vitality and character. Rec Centers - my rec center has a full gym for 18$ a month. Big Shucks vs Long John Silvers. The Zoo! Fair Park! There's not one quality park in Plano, probably all Coco. Neat things in Dallas - Union Station. The clocktower. A little grit is good for the soul. And most of all, no commute.
Come on, seriously? I guess in those 3 years in Plano, you didn't happen to stumble upon a single park? Funny, I lived in Plano for over 20 years and have been to a multitude of them. (Even worked for Parks and Rec growing up.) Or the Plano Rec Center, which just recently got new additions and renovated. That thing has been there since I was a kid, and was one of the best public rec centers in the country.
Trees? My parents bought their house in 85/86 and there were two 10 ft trees out front. Now, they are about 30 ft, and the neighbor's tree even dwarfs that. Or how about McKinney, where I live? It's only been around since 1850, you don't think there are any mature trees up here??? Or the old downtown square (with plenty of pubs and restaurants with character, btw.)
I've lived in Uptown for 6 years as well, so I know what Dallas is about also. You're giving an obviously very biased opinion (with a lot of false information to boot) to the OP, which isn't very helpful.
Thanks for the info guys. The family and I are excited to start this next chapter in our lives and hopefully Dallas will provide us the ideal place to call home.
So, in terms of the weather as compared to San Antonio, how long are the winters and how cold we talking. I'm from the midwest so I am used to the cold, but there is a reason why I moved there 10 years ago and haven't been back.
Just out of curiosity what type of house/neighborhood can 200,000 get in the DFW area? If it is like San Antonio, it probably can get a decent house, but at the sacrifice of a good neighborhood or vice versa?
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Be,
