Do you think I'll be happy in Dallas? (Houston, Austin: fit in, for sale)

[Chris1917]

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out if Dallas would be a good fit for me. I'm relatively liberal, a Buddhist and tend to like things that are quirky rather than mainstream. Do you think I would fit in ok there?

[TrueDat]

That's not a lot of information to go on (what do you do for a living? Where are you now? What are your interests besides being relatively liberal and Buddhist?) but implied in your question is the assumption is that everybody in North Texas is Christian, conservative and mainstream, not that there's anything wrong with that. This is a question that comes up a lot on this board, to the point of annoyance, some might say.

If you're moving from, say, San Francisco or Portland, then it's going to seem that way -- at least at first. But, remember there are nearly 7 million people in the region, so you can find a community of like-minded souls if you look.

It also depends on where you land in DFW. If you're in such in-town, older, more eclectic neighborhoods such as East Dallas, North Oak Cliff, Oak Lawn or Deep Ellum, it's not nearly as strait-jacketed as you may have been led to believe. There's a decent art, music, and restaurant scene. Uptown, just across from downtown, isn't extremely racially diverse but it is the most walkable, urban part of town with lots of bars and restaurants and being on the DART light-rail and trolley lines. I've actually known people who lived there, who either worked in Uptown or downtown, who, gasp, didn't drive.

Yet even the neighborhoods of more suburban North Dallas and the northern suburbs (often derided by in-town hipsters) are more diverse than some might think. After all, it's the burbs (Richardson, Plano, Garland, Irving, Haltom City, Arlington) you have to go to for good, authentic Asian food because that's where the bulk of the Asian communities are. And, you mentioned that you're Buddhist, and one of the most notable Buddhist temples -- which offers awesome yet cheap Thai food for sale on Sunday afternoons -- is in the middle of North Dallas http://watdallas.com/

Politically, Dallas city and Dallas county are blue (and, someone will no doubt point out that's because Dallas is now a majority-minority city but, still, it is what it is) but it is in the midst of a sea of red. The next blue county is Travis County (Austin) and that's three hours away. And, no, we don't ride horses to work. You have to go to Fort Worth for that.

You should visit and get a feel for the place. There's only so much you can glean from a message board.

[Squirl]

You will be happy if you make friends easily and don't distain those unlike yourself. Basically, if you are a generally happy person, you'll be happy here if you can stand the weather and the fact that we are a prairie town far, far from the ocean......

[oomph]

The reality is you need a left to have a right and you need a right to have a left. You also need to have cultural philistines in order to have an avante garde. You get to choose how happy you want to be. Being open-minded is a a characteristic you cultivate.

[jason87x]

You're talking about the most diverse (in every way) metro in the world. You'll be fine here.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Chris1917

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out if Dallas would be a good fit for me. I'm relatively liberal, a Buddhist and tend to like things that are quirky rather than mainstream. Do you think I would fit in ok there?

Depends on how well you deal with being surrounded by people who aren't like you. We have people like you here, but not many.

[Chris1917]

Thanks for the insights you guys. It's not that I want everyone in the place I live to be just like me, but I guess I just don't want to feel like too much of an outsider. I do plan to visit Dallas in a few months when I get some vacation time. I'm living in Portland, Oregon right now, so I've been pretty spoiled in terms of quirkiness for the last 4 years. And before that I lived in New Orleans. I'm looking for a city where I can have a good job, live close to where I work in an affordable appartment, find a good circle of friends who I can relate to, and have a reasonable amount of fun things to do on the weekends, which it sounds like Dallas has a more than enough to offer. I've heard people say that they think Houston or Austin would be a better fit for me instead. What do you guys think? The job market is really pulling my toward Dallas. I also like the idea of the DART and all the lofts I see advertised on craigslist. They actually seem to be affordable!

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by jason87x

You're talking about the most diverse (in every way) metro in the world. You'll be fine here.

It is extremely diverse here, but that may be a stretch.

To the OP, like you Im liberal. I am a Christian and I dont consider myself mainstream or anti-mainstream. I personally am very happy here. I have yet to have a lecture about politics or anything from anyone.

[Chris1917]

Hi justme02, that's pretty encouraging. I'm not someone who likes to talk politics but I just like knowing that I wouldn't be an outcast if I happened to express my true feelings about political/social issues if it were to come up. Also, a lot of my friends are lgbt so it's important to me that people be accepting and gay friendly. I'm not saying everyone has to be that way but...

[TrueDat]

If the job situation is pulling you to Dallas, then I'd go with Dallas. Unless you have some compelling reason to go to Austin or Houston, I wouldn't move to either one just based on stories like this: Houston Tops Our List Of America's Coolest Cities To Live - Forbes

While there are often wars of words among advocates of Dallas, Austin, and Houston on these boards, the cities themselves aren't all that radically different from each other in the way that, say, San Francisco and Orange County are different from each other where politics, climate, and geography are at polar opposites.

Coming from Portland, you're probably going to find it's not Dallasites you have trouble with but that fireball in the sky you see so little of in the PNW. The people will be fine; it's the heat that's going to take getting used to, especially if you like Portland's weather and aren't craving a change.

As for the LGBT community, there's a huge, active gay population in Dallas-Fort Worth with separate pride parades in Dallas and Fort Worth. In fact, the whole It Gets Better campaign was sparked by a gay Fort Worth city councilman.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/.../15/130596355/