New college grad moving to Dallas (McKinney, Addison: apartments, condos, townhomes)

[dmeixner]

Hi, I am a 23 year old male from Chicago, and I will be graduating college soon and moving to Dallas in August. I was wondering where you would recommend for me to live. From what I've heard, it sounds like Uptown is a pretty fun place for someone my age. I've also heard a lot of people live in Addison, which would be a little closer to work for me. However, being from Chicago, I like the big city feel, and my guess is I would get more of that in Uptown.

I'm moving to Dallas alone, and, outside of work, I won't know anyone who lives there, so if you have any suggestions on meeting people in Dallas, let me know that, too.

Thanks,
David

[Dallas native]

David,

Uptown Dallas is a great option for you. There are 1000's of apartments, condos and townhomes. It encompasses a fairly large area just to the north of downtown Dallas and much of it is walkable. There is also a free trolley that goes up McKinney Ave from downtown all the way through Uptown. One particularly good area to live in is the West Village section of Uptown. Lots of retail, restaurants, bars, gyms, the Magnolia theatre, etc...

You might also investigate living downtown. There have been lots of old office buildings that have been converted to residential buildings. Although Downtown is not quite as lively as Uptown in the evenings, it is definitely worth considering and probably a little lower cost. Addison is nice, but it is basically a very well planned suburb with some urban features. Uptown or Downtown is the real thing. Besides, if you are going to work in Addison it is an easy reverse commute up the Dallas North tollway.

Gary

[cityconvo]

Since you are coming from Chicago, I will second the idea that Uptown or Downtown would be a better fit than Addison. Also, you might look at a lot of the development taking place on east side of 75 across from Uptown on Henderson and Fitzhugh. Generally, it is a little more laid back than Uptown, but that is changing pretty fast.