On paper, it seems like the quality of life in Dallas is not that great... (Houston: sales, low crime)

[WhatUpFLA]

Yes, DFW has one the strongest economies of any major metropolitan area in the U.S.
Yes, it's relatively easy to secure employment in Dallas compared to other major cities in the Sun Belt.
Yes, housing is very affordable and relatively new.
Yes, for the most part, the people living there seem polite and friendly.
Yes, there seems to be a vibrant singles' scene, especially for educated professionals.

But for me, the thrill ends there because I can't seem to move past all of the other perceived drawbacks of the area.

It seems like Dallas doesn't have too much going for it in terms of weather, scenery, recreational opportunities, geographic proximity to other major metropolitan areas and weekend getaways, traffic, crime, pollution, pretension, and taxes (specifically property and sales taxes).

Is Dallas really as great as people on this forum make it seem, or are those Dallas boosters people who were "forced" to relocate to the area because they were unable to secure gainful employment elsewhere? IMO, Dallas sounds like a nightmare on paper.

[RonnieinDallas]

Originally Posted by WhatUpFLA

It seems like Dallas doesn't have too much going for it in terms of weather, scenery, recreational opportunities, geographic proximity to other major metropolitan areas and weekend getaways, traffic, crime, pollution, pretension, and taxes (specifically property and sales taxes).

Those are all negatives associated with living here, so I don't think you'll like it here. Look for another place to move(charlotte, Denver, Little Rock come to mind).Why are you leaving South Florida? I thought things were doing well down there.

[bencronin04]

weather: It's hot in summer(the make a/c) and fairly nice most rest of the year. Yes we get hail/thunderstorms but they make shelter for this.

scenery: It is pretty boring

recreational opportunities: We have parks and lakes, but yes no mountains or oceans

geographic proximity to other major metropolitan areas: just a few hour flight from almost any major metro in the us?

weekend getaways: Lakes, East texas "forrest" and hills, gulf to the south though its not too pretty

traffic: compare to other major metros we actually have a lower level

crime: same as traffic

pollution: same as traffic

pretension: this is honestly found in almost every major metro

taxes (specifically property and sales taxes): but no income tax thus attracting a lot of large corp head quarters and jobs!

[sossie]

Well we weren't forced to relocate we actually asked to move-

* WEATHER- a few months of really hot -a/c and pool take care of that-rest of the year is wonderful-no snow to shovel-humidity is fine compared to Fl and other places I have lived

*Scenery-depends what you like-everyday I take the back roads to see the longhorns and horses and all the beautiful horse farms
* Recreation-well bike riding and marathon running are big around here given the amount on the roads on the weekend-alot of boaters here too. Parks are all over the place particularly around the lakes-kayaking ,fishing,horseriding,disc golf ,regular golf ,hiking and MX bikes in the park near us alone-i seen windsurfers and water skiing on our little lake too and then of course sports are BIG -Oceans at the gulf-South Padre Island...

*DFW airport can get you anywhere you need to be-even Australia in 14hrs!
*Getaways-just had a long Weekend in San Antonio-fab! In the fall I plan on travelling up to Arkansas and the mountains up there to see the fall foilage. Going to visit TX little grand canyon in the next month and plan on going to BIg Bend pretty soon-spending a week in Colorado at Xmas and yes we are driving!
* traffic is no worse than any other major city
*crime ?? experienced none but then only minor stuff where I lived before
* pollution-air is clean and crisp where I live in North TX (DFW) 15 min from airport. I have an asthma child so this is a biggie-actually been better for him here no attacks
*pretension-try living in the North East
* Taxes-sales tax yes (but so did where we came from) No income tax!!! Property taxes are higher than most other states-but it's relative-we could have bought a house with the same sq ft as our previous house and actually paid less property taxes than our previous state because housing is cheaper-we chose to by a bigger house which was much more energy efficient than our other house and we are paying about 1k more a year in Property taxes but way less in utilities (significantly)

[TrueDat]

Yes, all nearly 7 million people here are unemployable anywhere else.

Yes, it's hot in the summer for long stretches but that's the case for much of the Southern half of the country, from Phoenix to Miami. The winters, springs, and falls are generally fine.

Having lived in South Florida, I think that area more than rivals Dallas for crime, traffic and pretension.

As for not being close to other major metros, this is true of a lot of cities -- Denver or Miami/Ft. Lauderdale for example.

I'll give you the scenery -- though the blackland prairie and wide-open skies do have their own beauty.

[WhatUpFLA]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Yes, it's hot in the summer for long stretches but that's the case for much of the Southern half of the country, from Phoenix to Miami. The winters, springs, and falls are generally fine.

If it's not warm, it's not fine. That's my motto.

I'm not concerned about summers in North Texas because I really enjoy hot, sunny weather. However, I am concerned that the warm season in North Texas is not long enough for me as it seems to be considerably shorter in duration compared to warm seasons of Central and South Florida. Early October to late April seem to be fair game for chilly weather. IMO, that's a little too long. Also, it seems as though the cold winters and wet springs don't really compensate for the scorching hot summers.

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Having lived in South Florida, I think that area more than rivals Dallas for crime, traffic and pretension.

You lived in Miami-Dade County; I live in Palm Beach County. Southern Palm Beach County is much safer than anywhere in Miami-Dade. Also, the traffic and the drivers up here are more manageable than down there. The further south one travels in South Florida, the traffic worsens and drivers become increasingly more aggressive.

Originally Posted by TrueDat

As for not being close to other major metros, this is true of a lot of cities -- Denver or Miami/Ft. Lauderdale for example.

I consider Tampa and Orlando major cities, especially compared to where I'm from (Providence, RI).

I didn't grow up in Los Angeles like you.

[TrueDat]

Fair enough but, in roughly the same amount of driving time as Boca to Tampa, from Dallas you can be in Austin, San Antonio or the Hill Country for a change of scenery. Or, you can go east "behind the Pine curtain" over to Shreveport or north up to Oklahoma if you want to gambling. Granted, we're not talking about hitting Manhattan for the afternoon but, except for the no ocean beaches part, that's not all that different from your options in Boca now.

[CREW747]

The pros far outweigh the cons of living in DFW....plenty of scenic areas with hills and trees.All of Texas is not flat,ugly and treeless,absolutely false.Every single store,eating establishment,entertainment you can think of.Great suburbs with dafe neighborhoods and fantastic schools.The city of Dallas itself reminds me of a huge suburb with alot to offer.

We could live in many other places but choose to live here in DFW.Granted at fitst,jobs took us here,but now we would not want to live anywhere but Texas.Dallas ,Austin and Houston metros all have alot to offer.In my opinion all 3 are pretty much the best spots to relocate to right now.

[CREW747]

Originally Posted by WhatUpFLA

Yes, DFW has one the strongest economies of any major metropolitan area in the U.S.
Yes, it's relatively easy to secure employment in Dallas compared to other major cities in the Sun Belt.
Yes, housing is very affordable and relatively new.
Yes, for the most part, the people living there seem polite and friendly.
Yes, there seems to be a vibrant singles' scene, especially for educated professionals.

But for me, the thrill ends there because I can't seem to move past all of the other perceived drawbacks of the area.

It seems like Dallas doesn't have too much going for it in terms of weather, scenery, recreational opportunities, geographic proximity to other major metropolitan areas and weekend getaways, traffic, crime, pollution, pretension, and taxes (specifically property and sales taxes).

Is Dallas really as great as people on this forum make it seem, or are those Dallas boosters people who were "forced" to relocate to the area because they were unable to secure gainful employment elsewhere? IMO, Dallas sounds like a nightmare on paper.

The Dallas area (DFW metroplex) has scenery, recreational opportunities, geographic proximity to other major metropolitan areas and weekend getaways, low crime, great schools and fantastic neighborhoods.

Traffic is no worse than any other large metro area.I can not stress enough to those looking to move here how large the DFW area is.Some of the desirable suburbs people seek out for the good schools,amenities and safe neighborhoods are approaching 200,000 people( Frisco,Mc Kinney for example).Plano alone is close to 300,000 people.


There really is a place for everyone here in the Dallas metro area.Dallas, Fort Worth and the surrounding suburbs make DFW what it is.I really do not think there is a better metro area right now to relocate to than DFW.Houston and Austin are close options....

[DitsyD]

No place is perfect, but Dallas is not a nightmare. I've never been forced to live here.

Weather~Just enough to have four seasons. While we might have tornados, we don't get blizzards or hurricanes.

Scenery~No mountains or oceans, but there are hills and lakes. Lots of trees and grass and creeks. Identifiable buildings/skyline downtown. Lots of parks and nature preserves.

Recreational opportunities~Lots of water skiing, biking, hiking, running, swimming, sailing, fishing, kayaking (that white water on the Trinity is rough), football, softball, basketball, soccer, golfing. Other than snow sports and deep sea fishing and mountain climbing, I'm not sure what Dallas is missing.

Geographic proximity to other major metropolitan areas and weekend getaways~I don't know what maps you are using, but Fort Worth is close. Austin, Houston, and Oklahoma City, are less than 4 hours away. Southwest Airlines is headquartered here and they offer flights to many cities. Skiing in Colorado is common. Weekend getaways to the Hill Country are popular.

Traffic, crime, pollution~Comes with being a large city, but not outrageous.

Pretension~It's not pretension if it's the truth.

Taxes~No state income tax.

If you are the type of person that focuses on perceptions rather than facts, then nothing we say will make a difference, will it? Well, some other readers may look at the facts and not be as swayed by your perceptions.