Possibly moving to DFW from NYC. (Dallas, Austin: rent, insurance, house)

[tcualum]

I would look in Grapevine. You can cut through the airport to get to work, the school system is great, it's safe, and there's a good lake. I don't know how the hiking is around there though. I wouldn't recommend the Joe Pool Lake area if you're in the Grand Prairie school district. In many areas you could afford a house on your budget but you may not get everything else you want too. Also, the real estate market for homes in your budget is hot right now. Since your kids aren't in school yet I would rent a small place for 6 months to save for a down payment and start intensively exploring the different areas before you buy or worry about school districts. When you're ready to buy though be prepared to move quickly because the desirable homes at your price points are going fast.

One thing to understand about DFW is that the school district lines doesn't always match city boundaries so you really have to be careful. Also, some school districts offer school choice while some offer neighborhood schools. Finally, most schools districts only offer free preschool to low income families if they offer it at all.

No matter where you move be resigned to being a two car family. Everything is way more spread out than you can imagine. Just the DFW airport is larger than the island of Manhattan. Most of the museums are in downtown Dallas and near downtown Fort Worth so they aren't close to the Mid Cities or Grapevine. Dallas and Fort Worth residents who can afford it send their kids to private school if they can afford it or move to the suburbs when their kids start school. The suburbs will be less cosmopolitan and more conservative than you're used to. Hollywood does exaggerate how much though.

As for food, my mother-in-law is vegetarian. There aren't any great vegetarian restaurants around here so we usually go out for pho, Indian, Thai, Mediterranen, Mexican (just make sure the beans are vegetarian), Italian, burrito place like Chipotle, pizza, etc. Some of the better local burger places offer good vegetarian burgers. There's a big selection of restaurants in DFW and a lot of them now have their menus online so you can check in advance. On the plus side there's some great grocery stores here so cooking is great and relatively cheap. Some of them such as Central Market and Whole Foods offer a good selection of vegetarian takeaway food.

[beerandon]

The only vegetarian/vegan specific restaurants that I know of are going to be in Dallas or Fort Worth proper, but you'll have some options almost anywhere (see post above from tcualum). Dining options are seemingly endless and ever-changing here.

[beerandon]

Joe Pool/Cedar Hill is too far of a commute with traffic, I would think, but maybe not with the new turnpike. The area is hilly and more scenic than most places around here, which is a plus. I have no clue what the schools are like, but some of the neighborhoods around the trails are known to be bad/have break ins. I agree on Grapevine being a fit for you. There's at least 3 hiking/biking trails around the lake with decent scenery and picture-esque rocky terrain, good schools, affordable housing, clean and low crime. You can take day trips to other areas if you want to be in nature and not surrounded by homes and highways. Texas Hill Country is not far away for a weekend trip. In fact, the northern tip is 60-90 minute drive south to Glen Rose. Not too far north, as close as a two-ish hour drive, you have some (small) mountains in Oklahoma and the Ozarks or Ouachita about 5 hours east to Arkansas.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by dad2015

Thanks again to all those who took the time to read and reply to my inquiries.

I'd like to add one more thing to the 'not so important but curious to know section '

*I know Dallas is famous for its BBQ but how are the options for vegetarians? We mostly cook our own meals but it's nice to go out to eat once in a while. I'm sure there are restaurants that cater to vegetarians, what part of town these would be in?
Thanks again everyone!

Surprisingly, BBQ in the DFW area isn't that great. You have to go to central Texas to get the best BBQ.

If you like Indian food, there are plenty of good Indian restaurants around the metro. There's a really good vegan restaurant in Arlington called Loving Hut. Arlington, despite it being bland and boring, has an awesome selection of restaurants.

[Aceraceae]

There is excellent bbq here.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by dad2015

Thanks again to all those who took the time to read and reply to my inquiries.

I'd like to add one more thing to the 'not so important but curious to know section '

*I know Dallas is famous for its BBQ but how are the options for vegetarians? We mostly cook our own meals but it's nice to go out to eat once in a while. I'm sure there are restaurants that cater to vegetarians, what part of town these would be in?
Thanks again everyone!

We eat BBQ maybe 4-6 times a year. Dallas has VERY diverse food options, much more than the stereotypical BBQ, steak, and Tex-Mex you're probably imagining. Coppell/Irving has a lot of Indian residents so you'll find a lot of vegetarian options there. Spiral Diner and Cosmic Cafe are two of the better known vegetarian/ vegan restaurants in Dallas, although many locally owned places will have vegetarian or vegan menu options - even at Tex-Mex joints! The suburbs tend to have more chain restaurants so it might be a little more difficult than in Dallas or Fort Worth, but you won't starve here!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

Surprisingly, BBQ in the DFW area isn't that great. You have to go to central Texas to get the best BBQ.

If you like Indian food, there are plenty of good Indian restaurants around the metro. There's a really good vegan restaurant in Arlington called Loving Hut. Arlington, despite it being bland and boring, has an awesome selection of restaurants.

You might want to get out more.

In no order..........
CattleAck BBQ
Pecan Lodge
Lockhart
Slow Bone (disclaimer I know Jack Perkins pretty well so maybe I'm biased - he owns Maple and Motor burger joint as well)
Meshacks
and about a dozen other little tiny places.........like the dive at 407 and 35.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by tcualum

I would look in Grapevine. You can cut through the airport to get to work, the school system is great, it's safe, and there's a good lake. I don't know how the hiking is around there though. I wouldn't recommend the Joe Pool Lake area if you're in the Grand Prairie school district. In many areas you could afford a house on your budget but you may not get everything else you want too. Also, the real estate market for homes in your budget is hot right now. Since your kids aren't in school yet I would rent a small place for 6 months to save for a down payment and start intensively exploring the different areas before you buy or worry about school districts. When you're ready to buy though be prepared to move quickly because the desirable homes at your price points are going fast.

Good luck with a Grapevine rental under $1700. 41 rentals on the market in GCISD and only 4 below $1700/mo. Median rent in Grapevine is around $2200.

[KerrTown]

OP, seems you're already settled in NYC and doing well.

Let me touch on a few points about Texas in general.

Originally Posted by dad2015

*How are the schools? Are good public schools only located in expensive/high property tax neighborhoods?

Generally yes. The property taxes fund the school districts (a Texas concept) and are usually billed separately from the general property tax by the county. The amount of tax you pay determines the level of service you will get from the government entity.

If you can't afford to live in the affluent, master-planned communities that transplants flock to, there are many good areas (sometimes in the same school district) that are much closer to the city core but are slightly older (yesterday's new houses) or less affluent with well-maintained (not the shiny new schools with professional stadium caliber arenas in the MPC areas) facilities.

*We have a car but if I have to drive to work, will my wife be able to take the kids to places (e.g. parks, museums, water park) without a second car, or is it considered a necessity to get around?

If you live in the middle rings and beyond, you definitely need a second car due to the wider land area that the hub-and-spoke bus system cannot cover. Even if you live in the core, you might need a second car if your trip needs to transfer in Downtown. Those connections can be hair-raising, more so than an airplane connection.

*my wife is a CPA and will eventually go back to work,
is downtown (btw do you guys use that term for the conglomeration of businesses in the city?) the most likely location for jobs in accounting?

It seems from an outsiders point-of-view (I'm from Houston) that the professional services (Big 4 accounting firms being one of them) tend to be in Downtown Dallas. But if she wants to work as a company's accountant, their offices tend to be in the suburbs, radiating around Legacy Center near Frisco/Plano. That's about 25 miles from Downtown Dallas, or 30 miles from Oak Cliff (~5 mi SW of DT Dallas) mostly on the Dallas North Tollway.

____________ Not so important but curious to know ___________

*do people in Dallas bring up religion in conversations? We're a secular family and want to keep it that way, so I'm curious how important this is when meeting new people.

*how about politics? Do people bring up political views when you don't know each other very well?

Politics and religion go together in this state. New legislation is influenced by the dominant Evangelical Christian community and their "morals" (really mores) which is one of the two wings (other being the business community who may happen to be conservative Christians) of the conservative GOP that runs Texas. The addition of "under God" in the Texas pledge and the introduction of the moment of silence as a way to bring back "school prayer" without running afoul of the First Amendment's prohibition of endorsement of religion by a public body are examples of these. The abortion restrictions, death penalty, etc. are other examples.

Considering Dallas as being in the Bible Belt, with a Baptist church on every major intersection , people asking which church you go to should not be considered an insult. They just want to know if you might bump into each other at their church, especially if you're new to the neighborhood. I mean your neighbor might be Catholic too and be a parishioner at the local parish and will be happy to show you around and introduce you to everyone (and maybe give you juicy tidbits on how the social structure is set up).

Politics usually doesn't come up unless you ask/bring it up or notice bumper stickers/yard signs.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by EDS_

You might want to get out more.

In no order..........
CattleAck BBQ
Pecan Lodge
Lockhart
Slow Bone (disclaimer I know Jack Perkins pretty well so maybe I'm biased - he owns Maple and Motor burger joint as well)
Meshacks
and about a dozen other little tiny places.........like the dive at 407 and 35.

I made a trip down to Austin and Lockhart a few weeks ago. The BBQ in DFW doesn't even begin to compare.