Getting strange feedback from the locals. Why did you move here? (Dallas: condo, buy)

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by Chloe333

Anyone pining after the cool summer temps in Colorado needs to remember that those are cool mountain temps not necessarily cool summer front range temps. It does cool down at night there on the FR but I've been pleasantly surprised how it cools down here a bit as well. People said it would remain at 95 or more here even at night. The most frighteningly dehydrated I have ever gotten is running on FR trails in the summer and it happened a couple of times. It was extremely, brutally hot and I quickly dehydrated in the arid, dry environment and began feeling physically ill. It can get VERY hot in Denver in the summer.

Yeah, I grew up in Boise which is similar to Denver in weather, except that it is usually a degree or two warmer in the summer and a few degrees colder in the winter. Both are dry, Boise is actually a tad bit drier. Both have nice cool summer nights. Even 100 degrees in Boise/ Denver is nothing at all like 100 in Dallas.

In 2011 Dallas had a whole 40 days of highs over 100 degrees. (Record stands at 42, 1980) Denver had it's longest +90 degree streak in 2012 I believe and it was like 24.

Dallas was actually pretty mild today, but even then it's 85 in Dallas with 63% humidity and Denver is 71 with 38% humidity.

We will get the the point where it will be 95 degrees at midnight here, believe me it's coming. It even happened last summer which was "Mild" I specifically remember getting out of a pool at 1 am and looking at my phone and seeing 96 in Dallas lol

You might end up prefering the Dallas summers, who knows, but believe me it will get hot lol

[DTXman34]

Don't pay any attention to cBach. He (or she?) is completely ignorant about what life is like in Dallas or anywhere else outside of the so-called utopia of Austin. He (or she?) is so arrogant and smug to believe that people are "forced" to live in Dallas and secretly just want to move to utopia aka Austin. cBach literally believes most of us poor fools trapped in Dallas spend the majority of our time eating at chain restaurants and shopping in indoor shopping malls.... as if there are no lakes, trails, concerts, festivals, cool artsy areas, etc. ANYWHERE in the greater DFW Metroplex. Sweeping generalizations of over 7 million people.

I just love how this poster invalidates my 6 year experience in Dallas. This city is getting better and more vibrant every day. cBach can really go kick rocks.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by cBach

I didn't ask for you to prove Denver is better than Austin. I asked for you to prove Dallas is better than Denver, but YOU CAN'T.

This is why Austin is better than Denver;
We have San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas very close.

Wow! I thought Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas were God-awful, wretched places? Wouldn't their close proximity to Austin be a negative? Why would anyone visit those places? Everyone wants to head out of town to Austin every single weekend.

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

Wow! I thought Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas were God-awful, wretched places? Wouldn't their close proximity to Austin be a negative? Why would anyone visit those places? Everyone wants to head out of town to Austin every single weekend.

Lol yeah there is some serious cognitive dissonance in that statement.

But that do I know I live in Dallas because I hate myself, anything I like about it is clearly stockholm syndrome. lol

[Jeohnny]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

Don't pay any attention to cBach. He (or she?) is completely ignorant about what life is like in Dallas or anywhere else outside of the so-called utopia of Austin. He (or she?) is so arrogant and smug to believe that people are "forced" to live in Dallas and secretly just want to move to utopia aka Austin. cBach literally believes most of us poor fools trapped in Dallas spend the majority of our time eating at chain restaurants and shopping in indoor shopping malls.... as if there are no lakes, trails, concerts, festivals, cool artsy areas, etc. ANYWHERE in the greater DFW Metroplex. Sweeping generalizations of over 7 million people.

I just love how this poster invalidates my 6 year experience in Dallas. This city is getting better and more vibrant every day. cBach can really go kick rocks.

You're on point about the more vibrant part. About 4 to 5 years ago, I really didn't care for dallas. It just seemed a bit dull. Now I love this city. It's way more vibrant and much more to do nowadays. All of the cool neighborhoods are booming like crazy. A year or 2 in dallas is a big difference unlike some cities. It's always developing

[vailbaby]

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

Yeah, I grew up in Boise which is similar to Denver in weather, except that it is usually a degree or two warmer in the summer and a few degrees colder in the winter. Both are dry, Boise is actually a tad bit drier. Both have nice cool summer nights. Even 100 degrees in Boise/ Denver is nothing at all like 100 in Dallas.

In 2011 Dallas had a whole 40 days of highs over 100 degrees. (Record stands at 42, 1980) Denver had it's longest +90 degree streak in 2012 I believe and it was like 24.

Dallas was actually pretty mild today, but even then it's 85 in Dallas with 63% humidity and Denver is 71 with 38% humidity.

We will get the the point where it will be 95 degrees at midnight here, believe me it's coming. It even happened last summer which was "Mild" I specifically remember getting out of a pool at 1 am and looking at my phone and seeing 96 in Dallas lol

You might end up prefering the Dallas summers, who knows, but believe me it will get hot lol

Yes! That’s the biggest difference I noticed in dal. Even after the sun goes down it’s still hot as hell. You don’t ever get a break! We have had hot days in Co this June. Like 90+ but as soon as the sun goes down. 5-6pm. It feels so nice out! Huge temperature drop where you can actually hang outside. I will miss that.

[TexanByMarriage]

OP, I admire your positive attitude to the move, and I hope it stays with you long enough to make it a smooth transition! Attitude really is everything when you move somewhere new - and especially with elements like weather, that you can do absolutely nothing about.

Btw, do you have kids moving along with you? That's my single largest concern, the transition for my boys at then 3, 3, and 5 years old. But that's more of a "from Norway to US" thing, than Dallas specific.

[Chloe333]

Originally Posted by vailbaby

Yes! That’s the biggest difference I noticed in dal. Even after the sun goes down it’s still hot as hell. You don’t ever get a break! We have had hot days in Co this June. Like 90+ but as soon as the sun goes down. 5-6pm. It feels so nice out! Huge temperature drop where you can actually hang outside. I will miss that.

Boooo. I was hoping the current mid seventies temps in the evenings here in DFW were the norm and that tales of 100 degrees at midnight were just exaggerations. Will it be cool in the evenings again at least by September?

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by Jeohnny

You're on point about the more vibrant part. About 4 to 5 years ago, I really didn't care for dallas. It just seemed a bit dull. Now I love this city. It's way more vibrant and much more to do nowadays. All of the cool neighborhoods are booming like crazy. A year or 2 in dallas is a big difference unlike some cities. It's always developing

Yeah, I've lived here for 8 years and it's pretty crazy how much it has changed, and mostly for the better. It's also crazy that nearly a million people have moved here since I did

[Chloe333]

Originally Posted by TexanByMarriage

OP, I admire your positive attitude to the move, and I hope it stays with you long enough to make it a smooth transition! Attitude really is everything when you move somewhere new - and especially with elements like weather, that you can do absolutely nothing about.

Btw, do you have kids moving along with you? That's my single largest concern, the transition for my boys at then 3, 3, and 5 years old. But that's more of a "from Norway to US" thing, than Dallas specific.

I would bet your kids will be fine. At those ages, they adapt pretty well to things and are usually just going with the flow in the moment. If they were older, it might be more of an issue but they will probably just think of it as one big adventure and adapt.

My kids are teens and one just graduated but is taking a gap year before starting college. He's kind of floating around for the next year and staying in DFW on and off, but spending most of his time in NC. I have another teen who was happy that we were leaving the front range. Like me, she never took to it due in part to the terrain and intense sun, and she felt too isolated out there away from all of the family back east. So one thing I am doing is shuttling her back and forth a lot (summers, holidays, school breaks) so she can reconnect with her roots and not feel so cut off from everyone. The flight is less than two hours back to my parents' house versus the four hours from Denver and we plan to go back much more often.

The COL is definitely getting more and more expensive out in Denver, and the median home in the metro area is $565k which doesn't get you much. Bidding wars are the norm there. The towns closer to the mountains in the foothills like Louisville, Golden, etc are very pricey as well. My take is that employers think they have a captive audience out there and so they don't need to lure people with higher salaries. My own hourly rate was what I was making back in 2005 back east, but it was the going rate in Denver so I had to take it.

I do think the COL there is going to likely keep increasing and the pay rates may still lag, and so I was glad to get my offspring out of there and to a place where they have a better shot at surviving when they are adults if they choose to stay here.