Moving to Dallas-Ft Worth?- My review!! (Houston, Fort Worth: low income, crime rates)

[lukeache]

Hi all:

Just wanted to post my review of the DFW area for those who might consider moving to Dallas-Ft Worth Area. I must say that I really enjoyed my visit to the area, although I would visit it at least a couple more times before deciding to move there, it is not a bad place by any means

Weather: The worst thing by far about my visit was the weather. It is hot and muggy, not as muggy as Houston, but still muggy. You get sweaty really easily, however most places keep their AC cranked up really cold. I guess, it can be uncomfortable for people coming from other non-Southern places but it can be dealt with. At night, I was expecting the humidity to go down, but it is still pretty hot and humid even late at night.

People: I would say, all kinds of people, rednecks, blacks, Hispanics, trashy people, nice people, mean people, but I did not really see a lot of conflict. It is by all means a huge city and cosmopolitan, so it really does not have a "redneck" feel to it. Quite a few homeless people downtown and more of a "ghetto" feeling to it. West End bus transfer station is a bad place and I should have avoided it. I was actually "robbed" there, someone came up to me, asking me if I needed some help, gave me some false information and asked for money. I can safely assume that Dallas took a lot of Katrina refugees and there is some really ghetto people that roam downtown, I would not avoid downtown entirely though, but I would be much more careful being there. After work hours, downtown is dead anyways, so not the place most people would hang around anyways. Just a regular downtown with all the social problems of a big city.

Skyline/Buldings: Impressive architecture, some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen anywhere, amazing skyline, in some places, you get that "concrete jungle" feeling.


Neighborhoods: As far as neighborhoods, I would probably choose Richardson! Richardson is very close to downtown, you get a lot of older homes, mores established neighborhoods, and only about 15 miles from downtown. Also, it borders Dallas, so it is hard to say where Dallas ends and Richardson begins, but the proximity to DART stations also gives you more alternatives as far as commuting. I disliked Plano, Allen and McKinney immensely. It is just some of the most boring, soulless, characterless, cookie cutter crap you can get and this applies to most of the suburbs I have visited. Living in Plano would be the same as living in Scottsdale,AZ, just different name, everything looks lifeless and plastic, great place for 30K millionaires and wanna be rich people. Calling this place "upscale" is truly an insult to someone's intelligence. Upscale to me would be Greenwich, Connecticut. Upscale places don't have Wal Marts, check cashing places and mobile home parks LOL. The truly wealthy people in DFW live in Highland Park and University Park, not NE suburbs, these neighborhoods by the way are great, beautiful and have character, if you can afford it, by all means!! I still think that Richardson would be a good bang for your buck, pretty middle class, not bad and more established.

Ft Worth: I really liked Ft Worth, more than Dallas. It is smaller, it feels more like a real city and it has a great downtown! One problem with Ft Worth is that there are a lot of parts of this city that are rundown and very poor. I had a chance to visit the SW quadrant of this city and indeed it is very poor and rundown, I would not live in those neighborhoods off of Mc Cart Ave, not even for free, it is a very poor part of town and I would assume mostly Black and Hispanic? Other sections to the East of downtown are pretty shady too, but as you move towards the West, actually towards Benbrook Lake, it gets nicer. If I was to live in Ft Worth, I would buy a house close to Benbrook Lake, thats where the money seems to be. One problem with living in Ft Worth would be the commute into Dallas. You can ride the train from downtown Ft Worth to Dallas, but it takes almost an hour. If there was a more efficient transportation option that would bring you from Ft Worth to downtown Dallas in 20 minutes, I would definitely live in Ft Worth.

Conclusion: DFW is a good area for those who want to live in a big city at a lower price. The area has all the problems of any major city, but crime can be higher than in other places. It is a city where very nice neighborhoods are not too far from not so desirable neighborhoods yet not too far from total ghetto neighborhoods, so I would research an area extensively before moving, including crime rates. It is a very generic metro area, not bad, not spectacular. Living in a cookie cutter suburb would take away from the experience for sure, so I would prefer to live somewhere close to Dallas or Ft Worth, but not too close. Someone compared the Dallas -Ft Worth area to a huge suburb and I have to agree that it is a fair comparison. You would be surprised how dead some parts of this city are off rush hour, it can be a total ghost town, even though it is a huge city. I would definitely give it a try!!

[MaryS80]

This ones gonna tee off a lot of folks.

[m00se]

Originally Posted by MaryS80

This ones gonna tee off a lot of folks.

I don't see why it should. Though not an all-inclusive review, I would say it is a fair to good review of what the writer saw. Remember too, this is his opinion to which he is entitled.

It appears the writer only visited the parts of Dallas that most on this forum try to steer everyone towards, plus Fort Worth and downtown Dallas. Ironically he did not visit any suburbs that are devoid of the Joneses, but comprise normal folks with a decent living. Perhaps now that he's gotten some of the boring areas out of the way he may visit again and explore areas where normalcy abides.

Like any place on earth, D/FW has a little bit of everything for everyone who seeks it. D/FW is very livable and offers enough where anyone can find their own niche. Those meeting the most disappointment seems to be the ones who completely followed the steering that is constantly done here.

[cdelena]

I lived in Dallas for many years and would say you got a very good feel of the place. There is nothing in your observations I would argue with. Good luck.

[socketz]

"Living in Plano would be the same as living in Scottsdale,AZ, just different name, everything looks lifeless and plastic, great place for 30K millionaires and wanna be rich people. Calling this place "upscale" is truly an insult to someone's intelligence. Upscale to me would be Greenwich, Connecticut. Upscale places don't have Wal Marts, check cashing places and mobile home parks LOL. "

That's your opinion.

I think the far West side of Plano is easily one of the best places to live in the DFW area.

Maybe you should visit Willow Bend, Kings Ridge, Shoal Creek or the Glenangles area. These areas could not be further away from what you described, which sounds to me like the older lower income area way east of the 75...that's about 5% of Plano. Your beloved, Richardson actually has alot more shady areas than Plano (I work there, I know).

Anyway, to each his own. It's cool that you took the time to put this much info together, even if I don't agree with some of it.

[BSL63087]

Originally Posted by MaryS80

This ones gonna tee off a lot of folks.

I think the OP posted a very unbiased review of how he or she truely felt about thier experience. It wasn't biased at all and seemed pretty accurate so I don't think anyone should be mad or whatever.

[Willys]

Originally Posted by lukeache

Hi all:
I really enjoyed my visit to the area, although I would visit it at least a couple more times before deciding to move there, it is not a bad place by any means

Lukeache, I hope your visit was all you wanted it to be and that your future visits will fill in any blanks you may have.

Your comments are worthy. My response would be, 'Welcome to the USa', but of course, you're already in the USa.

[KewGee]

lukeache,

Great post and very truthful opinion. If your post ticks off anyone, they need to learn to deal with it but in all honesty, I don't see why anyone would find the truth offensive. )

[lukeache]

A few more things that struck me about the DFW area is the huge number of check cashing places and pawn shops. I guess, if you go to Houston or Miami, you would see the same thing, but it is a good indicator that there is definitely poverty there, maybe more so than I see here in Minnesota where such places are more limited to the "low income" areas. If you do a search, you will find such places and pawn shops even in the "upscale" areas like Plano, Allen and Frisco, a reminder that the "upscale" places are not that upscale, after all. Also:

DFW Airport: I was truly overwhelmed by the size of the DFW airport.Honestly, I simply did not know where to go sometimes, and I have been to LAX, Newark International and JFK many times. This airport is just HUGE! It can be very hard to get around if you dont know where you are going.

Improvements: I can say that that Dallas is really trying to improve its image. DART is expanding and they will be creating a few more DART lines, and soon Rowlett will have its own DART station. I love those stores they built by the Mockingbird DART station and the new Angelika Film Center. You can just jump off the train, go shopping, watch a movie and hop right back on. I think that in terms of public transportation, Dallas is way ahead of many cities. Although the system is not perfect, it works pretty well. I guess, what they need to do is find a better way to connect people from Downtown Ft Worth to downtown Dallas. The Trinity is OK but it takes an hour to go from the Intermodal in Ft Worth to Union Station and no service on Sundays. If they could come up with a quicker, more effective way of connecting these two cities, it would be awesome. Also, Dallas needs to make the city more walkable, I am not sure if there is a way to make that happen but it is very hard to walk around this city. Like Houston, it is almost like the city was not built for pedestrians. This city needs to be more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. I think this city will improve a lot in the next 10 years!!

[subslug]

I had a chance to visit the SW quadrant of this city and indeed it is very poor and rundown, I would not live in those neighborhoods off of Mc Cart Ave, not even for free, it is a very poor part of town and I would assume mostly Black and Hispanic?

This part certainly shouldn't offend anyone...... Don't worry though, in your opinion Blacks and Hispanics probably can't read this anyway.