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Old 04-22-2013, 04:43 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
5,680 posts, read 11,499,458 times
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What do I like? Um, EVERYTHING so far! The traffic (and the way people drive) doesn't thrill me, but everything else has been far above & beyond my expectations.
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Old 04-22-2013, 04:44 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
5,680 posts, read 11,499,458 times
Reputation: 1915
Quote:
Originally Posted by DitsyD View Post
Texas has mountains. There are the Guadalupe Mountains near Hudspeth and the Davis Mountains near Fort Davis. You just have to drive a far piece to get to them. Closer are the hills near Austin. We enjoy spending time there.

If y'all move here, well Howdy and Welcome.

What I like about Dallas though ~
The people. The natives are usually pretty friendly and want to help. The newcomers, such as you and your husband, are usually friendly and interesting to know.

The diversity. We may not have the Italian groceries, but we have lots of other foods covered. Same goes for restaurants. People in Dallas love to eat out and we have lots to choose from.

There are lots of hike and bike trails in the city and suburbs. White Rock Lake is a jewel. Or, there are many nearby lakes for boating and skiing (not much for swimming though).

It is home to The State Fair of Texas each October. The Fair, held at Fair Park, is the best state fair, and one of the largest in the country. Concerts, fried foods, car show, rides, attractions, live stock, creative arts competitions, and so much more. Fair Park itself is a collection of Art Deco buildings from the 1936 Texas Centennial Fair. A nice place to explore, even when the fair isn't open.

Dallas is close to Fort Worth, where the West begins. Be sure to visit their Historic Stockyards and then their Water Gardens and awesome museums. Go to the Stock Show and Rodeo in January for another taste of history.

I like our Dallas museums too. Not just the Dallas Museum of Art and the new Perot Museum of Science, but the Nasher Sculpture Garden is unbelievable. The Meadows Museum at SMU is full of truly great Spanish Art.

Dallas Heritage Village is a collection of 19th century buildings from the area, that tell a bit of the story of the people of Dallas. A hidden in plain sight gem near downtown Dallas.

While San Francisco has its cable cars and New Orleans their well known street cars, Dallas has their own historic streetcars, or trollies. Take a free ride through Uptown. The cars are vintage, and run on some vintage tracks. I met my now husband on the streetcar.

Tuba Christmas, a concert in Thanksgiving Square, just before Christmas every year.

Neiman Marcus. The NM flagship store downtown. Their windows; especially their Christmas windows. A must see every December.

NorthPark. More than a shopping mall; a place to view modern art. A place to see ducks and turtles swimming in the pond.

The Greek Food Festival. The North Texas Irish Festival. The Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games. The St. Patrick's Day Parade on Greenville Avenue. The All British and European Car Day at White Rock Lake. The Italian Car Show in Grapevine. SouthFork Ranch. The Flying Red Horse atop the Magnolia Building.
OK.... You had me tearing up, and I've only lived here for a few months! Great post.
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Old 04-22-2013, 04:59 PM
 
Location: Dallas area, Texas
2,353 posts, read 3,841,633 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Made_it_To_the_Metroplex View Post
OK.... You had me tearing up, and I've only lived here for a few months! Great post.
Thanks. These are all things that I would miss if I moved away.
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Old 04-22-2013, 05:00 PM
 
871 posts, read 2,679,812 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennyamc View Post
Hello! My husband has been accepted to a great school in Dallas, so we are seriously considering moving there. I have been to Dallas and other parts of Texas several times, and honestly, never pictured myself living there. Let me explain: most of my life I have lived in a small town, which my husband and I prefer because we enjoy quiet, open spaces, and freeways that don't become parking lots. Also I like to make frequent trips to the ocean and especially the mountains (Yosemite is just a few hours from me). The mountains lift my spirits so much, and I love the outdoors! So living in the metroplex will definitely be a big change! I know there are good things about Dallas though. So to help me better appreciate the area, would some of you mind sharing with me what you like about the area? I have read other threads about people moving to Dallas, but they mainly talked about where to buy a house or find a job or good school. We have the job/housing stuff under control, and we do not have children to consider. I am more curious about your thoughts on why you like living in Dallas. (I have noticed some people on here are not particularly fond of the area, so if that is you, thank you for being kind and not offering any discouraging thoughts. I have enough of those on my own. :-) Thank you!
I grew up with Yosemite only being a few hours away and love the mountains and oceans too. (Born and raised in Bay Area).

Here's what we like (like you said, no reason to get into what you don't like):

1.) Our Dallas suburb having fiber internet (FIOS). Coming from Silicon Valley where in 99% of SV you can't get good super-fast fiber to the premises internet, this was #1 thing we wanted and got and love love love it;

2.) Movie theaters (DFW metro is probably just behind NYC/LA in terms of types of movie theaters and unique ones and what not. Movie theaters sounds blah, but if you lived in a place where they only have standard multiplexes, theaters like Studio Movie Grill, Angelika, Magnolia, new Alamo Drafthouse coming to Richardson, iPic, and even our new theater in Wylie are VERY refreshing). Wife and I are movie/film buffs, so this matters to us. A lot;

3.) Cost of living. Not so much the cost of regular things, but the cost of a home. I think we paid $56/sq ft for our 2005 built home in 2009, and it's hard to beat. I don't even know if you can get a 4 year old home even in the Central Valley of CA for that price per square foot. It was my dream to have a huge home theater in a house I owned, and I'd never have realized that except for being here.

4.) People do in fact seem friendlier in comparing my hometown suburb in CA to my suburb now. I do think some of that is because of the demographic difference between the cities, but where we live with its 40k population (but was about 15k in 2000), we get a small town feel that we never got in a Bay Area suburb, although in Wylie we are miles-wise closer to Dallas than being in Fremont and driving to SF (although Fremont -> SJ is about the same as Wylie -> Downtown Dallas).

5.) Easier to get to nice shopping here than Bay Area, CA, from where we are in our suburb, specifically thinking about Northpark, which has shops that in the Bay Area or other cities, would only be downtown (Which goes to next point) of the major city.

6.) Downtown is pretty dead in Dallas, and that's a good thing. Things are hoppin' in the Arts District, Uptown, Deep Ellum, etc but strict downtown, which for any city is the hardest part of town to traverse, is kinda dead. We love this because it would suck if the big things happened in pure downtown.

7.) There are lakes for our water needs, we live very close to two (very very close to one, Lake Lavon). People diss the lack of geographic beauty in TX, but around these lakes you can find some nice, pretty areas of Texas that are underrated.

8.) Forgot to add, THE FOOD! Sure, we miss certain places to eat back home, but there is a good variety in the DFW metroplex. I'm a steak lover and DFW does not disappoint!! The real Mexican food is good here too (that is, once you get past all the TexMex places). Great selection of all types of cuisines too.

Also, when it comes to grocery shopping, you've got Whole Foods, Central Market (!, love this place!) and now recently, Trader Joe's, along with the regular stuff (Walmarts, Albertsons, etc) and even the price conscious Aldi's. You greatly benefit here from competition and no unions (unless I am mistaken. I know grocery union is huge in California), high end to low end, grocery shopping is great here.
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Old 04-22-2013, 05:53 PM
 
390 posts, read 712,166 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DitsyD View Post
The diversity. We may not have the Italian groceries, but we have lots of other foods covered.
We have Jimmy's. Doesn't get much better than that.
Jimmy's Food Store- Dallas, Texas
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Old 04-22-2013, 06:08 PM
 
Location: Texas
44,256 posts, read 64,135,030 times
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Op, I love the people, the layout, the fact that there is zoning, the weather, the land...I love my community (West Plano), my house, the fact I can get to the beach or mountains or just about anywhere in a couple of hours thanks to the airport (which I also love - though I don't like American Airlines)...any kind of food, entertainment, shopping, ethnic grocery...until I move away to my beach house on a tropical island, I am happy right here.
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Old 04-22-2013, 07:22 PM
 
Location: Dallas area, Texas
2,353 posts, read 3,841,633 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seat21d View Post
We have Jimmy's. Doesn't get much better than that.
Jimmy's Food Store- Dallas, Texas
We have ONE Italian grocery (and NO Italian bakeries).
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Old 04-22-2013, 08:38 PM
 
3 posts, read 5,117 times
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Thank you everyone for your responses! Diversity is certainly a good thing, as is good food. :-) And it is nice to know there are at least hills and lakes nearby. (When I was there last week, I liked how green all of the grass and trees were everywhere! Is it normally that green or just in spring?) Plus all of the festivals sound fun. Thank you for the suggestions of sites and activities to check out!
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Old 04-22-2013, 09:10 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,130,593 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennyamc View Post
Thank you everyone for your responses! Diversity is certainly a good thing, as is good food. :-) And it is nice to know there are at least hills and lakes nearby. (When I was there last week, I liked how green all of the grass and trees were everywhere! Is it normally that green or just in spring?) Plus all of the festivals sound fun. Thank you for the suggestions of sites and activities to check out!
The grass normally goes dormant in winter; if it's still green, it means someone has planted a ryegrass cover crop which will die off when the weather gets hot.

Lawns are green this time of year; in summer some lawns suffer under the heat and start to yellow or even die off. If you keep it well watered it will be fine; if you have watering restrictions, it's not easy.
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