How is Dallas/Ft. Worth handling it's rapid growth? (Plano: income, property tax)

[Jimbo302]

Originally Posted by kidicarus89

Have you ever been stuck in Bay Area traffic jams when 101 is clogged up? I'd kill for Dallas' multiple freeway and major roads that allow you to take alternate routes across the city.

Ha! Point taken.
It is still terrible, that is just a different level of "suck". Similar to the difference between being punched in the nose and being shot in the stomach.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by kidicarus89

Have you ever been stuck in Bay Area traffic jams when 101 is clogged up? I'd kill for Dallas' multiple freeway and major roads that allow you to take alternate routes across the city.

Been stuck in epic traffic jams in other countries that I'm sure are comparable to Bay Area traffic.

Try sitting on the M6 for four hours in the middle of winter sometime.

What are you trying to prove, anyway...that we should stop complaining about ever-increasing congestion and commute times because the Bay Area sucks? Do we get to complain about it when it gets as bad, since that's where we're headed?

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

That's a tautology - ie it's totally meaningless. Furniture stores also charge interest - so does that mean they are secretly banks?

Interest is charged because the interest rate represents the generalized risk of someone not repaying their loan. Credit scores are tools used to determine someone's individual risk, since banks don't really take your word for such things.

Just for the record....furniture stores get the money that they finance from.....I'll let you guess that answer. And there isn't anything secret about it.
You really think xyz furniture company has a department calculating how much you owe them on financing? Better yet do you believe they are lending THEIR money?

Credit reports are one way banks gauge risk against their income. Interest on loans is a primary source of income for banks, not a primary risk management strategy. The fact is banks make risky, high interest loans because they are great income. Until they are not. But thats a conversation for another thread.

[Hacker1234]

After being in DFW for 12 years, after coming from Bay Area CA. I moved back to the west coast.

Traffic is crazy, property tax is crazy. I figured if im going to be poor, might as well be poor on the coast next to mountains.

Ended up in the Seattle area. Cost of living right now is pretty much a wash.

[Gravy Train]

Interesting, though I refuse to believe cost is a wash. The same home fetches $220/sft in Dallas that $360+ buys in Woodinville, nowhere close to Seattle. I'm burned out of DFW though and would like to make it work up there.

[Hacker1234]

You are forgetting the insane property taxes, toll roads and electric costs..

[happycrow]

Much of that is voluntary based on your residential strategy and willingness to acclimate.
Yeah, if you're trying to keep your very large house at PNW temperatures while living on a tollway-dependent commute, of course DFW is going to be stupidly-expensive. But you can live well here for quite a bit less if you're a bit tactical about how you set yourself up.

By contrast, no rearrangement of my life will allow me to get back to the family digs in CA, or even near them.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Hacker1234

After being in DFW for 12 years, after coming from Bay Area CA. I moved back to the west coast.

Traffic is crazy, property tax is crazy. I figured if im going to be poor, might as well be poor on the coast next to mountains.

Ended up in the Seattle area. Cost of living right now is pretty much a wash.

I'm asking this question without the slightest hint of sarcasm or defensiveness....how is the COL in Seattle a wash?

Because we'd be ready to pack up now if that's true.

*waits with bated breath*

[Hacker1234]

It used to not be the case, but with home values sky rocketing and mix in very high property taxes it has gotten very expensive. And with no end in sight. Seattle on the other hand has very low property taxes, but higher home costs plus higher wages.

Doing the math, after saving all the money from not paying high property tax and with the higher income. Its a wash. Was able to get a nice 3000 SQ FT home, easy 30 min commute to work. House has no AC, so no crazy electric bills. No Toll roads to deal with, I was paying over 200 a month on the DNT.

It all worked out great.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Hacker1234

It used to not be the case, but with home values sky rocketing and mix in very high property taxes it has gotten very expensive. And with no end in sight. Seattle on the other hand has very low property taxes, but higher home costs plus higher wages.

Doing the math, after saving all the money from not paying high property tax and with the higher income. Its a wash. Was able to get a nice 3000 SQ FT home, easy 30 min commute to work. House has no AC, so no crazy electric bills. No Toll roads to deal with, I was paying over 200 a month on the DNT.

It all worked out great.

I'm happy for you but most people are going to find that per income Greater Seattle is more expensive and by a good bit than DFW.

For example at median income purchasing power is higher in DFW.