An Englishman lost in Dallas! -almost! (Fort Worth, Irving: apartments, lease, lofts)

[turbom1key]

Hello!

I am about to re-locate from the harsh British weather to the sunnier climes of Dallas in early 2009. I have accepted a position with my company but could do with some pointers of where to live and waht to look out for. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
A little background...I'm 30 years old and enjoy socialising and soaking up culture. The only thing delaying this move is the thought of having to leave my friends behind in the UK! I like good food and social areas and would ideally liek to live in a ncie apartment.

I will be based near DFW airport - where are the best places to live?

What are average earnings in the area - I have had no real gauge to my offer?

Which are is the most social, Fort Worth or Dallas?

I have already seen that prices for cars, fuel, apartment renting seem to be significantly less than in the UK, but how is the cost of living?

I shall be bringing my girlfriend - is DFW area suited to young couples or is it more family orientated?

I know it's perhaps a little late to be seeking answers as I have already commited, but I have put this down to 'calculated risk' so far!

Thanks all - any assistance is warmly welcome!

Mike

[portyhead24]

I would recommend looking into Grapevine, North Irving and Las Colinas. These are some nice areas and offer some great places to live without draining your wallet. Do not expect the same kind of urbanity though that you find in the UK. Unfortunately, these places are very car oriented as is most of the DFW metro area. If you're looking for a more urbane and cultural experience I would recommend maybe West Village or Downtown but these places are quite a drive from DFW airport. Maybe you could take out a six month lease in an apartment closer to the airport and then from there decide what's right for you. Good luck.

[loves2read]

Grapevine is growing and attracting more young couples--the Southlake area as well has good retail but there are no apartments in Southlake and don't know about the rental/leasing of homes...
Frankly I would say check out downtown FTW but driving East to DFW in the morning and coming home in the evenings would not be great ... although I think it would be shorter drive than Downtown Dallas to DFW...

think maybe Las Colinas might be attractive to you--some fairly nice apartments and some of them are within walking distances of the shopping areas...

There is a TRE station at DFW that would take you from downtown FTW to the station but think there is just shutte to airport--not area in general...

[portorro]

Man, live Downtown, take the TRE to DFW. You will not regret it. Even if you dont live downdown, try to live North of Downtown Dallas and South of 635 highway. The core center of the city. You'll be glad u did.
Good luck.

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by turbom1key

Hello!

I am about to re-locate from the harsh British weather to the sunnier climes of Dallas in early 2009. I have accepted a position with my company but could do with some pointers of where to live and waht to look out for. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
A little background...I'm 30 years old and enjoy socialising and soaking up culture. The only thing delaying this move is the thought of having to leave my friends behind in the UK! I like good food and social areas and would ideally liek to live in a ncie apartment.

I will be based near DFW airport - where are the best places to live?

What are average earnings in the area - I have had no real gauge to my offer?

Which are is the most social, Fort Worth or Dallas?

I have already seen that prices for cars, fuel, apartment renting seem to be significantly less than in the UK, but how is the cost of living?

I shall be bringing my girlfriend - is DFW area suited to young couples or is it more family orientated?

I know it's perhaps a little late to be seeking answers as I have already commited, but I have put this down to 'calculated risk' so far!

Thanks all - any assistance is warmly welcome!

Mike

You will need to determine your priorities. Essentially, do you want to be close to work or do you want to live somewhere with some excitement? If you want to live near work, then there are lots of suburbs near DFW that offer a very nice, safe, comfortable environment. Grapevine, Bedford and Las Colinas come to mind. They would all be a very short commute to DFW airport.

On the other hand, if you want to live in the city with lots of activities nearby, go straight to central Dallas. Uptown, Victory Park, West Village, Downtown & Knox-Henderson all offer lots of upscale apartments which are surrounded by great restaurants, bars, cultural activities & independent movie theaters, all of which you can access on foot or via DART rail. Housing is very reasonable throughout the Dallas area, but it will be more expensive to live in these inner city areas than in the suburbs. By UK standards, I suspect it will all seem very affordable. From your comments above, it sounds like Uptown would be a great fit for you and your girlfriend. It is populated by lots of young singles and couples without children. The suburbs are going to be much more family oriented. Good luck to you.

[edubya]

I think getting a six-month lease in an apartment near the airport is a great idea. It'll give you time to scope out the metroplex and decide: 1) if you feel like commuting every day; and 2) on which side of town you'd prefer to live.

As for average earnings, you'll have to tell us your industry and approximate grade before folks can chime in and offer some guesstimates.

[John Shaft]

I suspect your cost of living in general will be less than what you are used to in England. If you didn't have a car before, there will obviously be the added expense of fuel and upkeep, but that is balanced out by less taxes. The highest taxes in Texas are property taxes, so if you are renting, you will not initially experience these.

The communities around D/FW airport are in general bedroom communities for commuters and families. In your current phase of life I would echo what others have said and try to find a place a bit closer to the more urban areas of the region. Las Colinas was a good suggestion; it is in the town of Irving and has a more single/young couples vibe than the suburbs closer to the airport - yet it is still closer to the airport than uptown/downtown Dallas. Or look west to the Fort Worth area - generally speaking it's a less lively social scene but not nonexistent (additionally, the Dallas side has the stereotypical reputation of being more pretentious and wealthy-acting; if you find this uncomfortable, the Ft. Worth side is considered more laid back. Of course these are broad generalizations). Forth Worth traffic is marginally better than Dallas.

[Macbeth2003]

Welcome,
As you have noticed COL is much lower in the US than the UK. DFW has low cost of living by US standards.
Much as I am a booster for the Dallas side of the metroplex, it sounds to me like Downtown FT. Worth might be for you. Not a bad commute, and you can always take the TRE. Downtown Fort Worth is a really good urban center for young professionals. Much cheaper than Uptown in Dallas, which isn't quote as nice as Downtown Forth Worth, but is much more expensive. If Suburban life is for you I think the Las Colinas recomendation is good, but it is very nondescript. Almost all construction is less than 25 years old for example, but as Suburbs go it is likely to be a better fit for a young couple than most.

[WillysB]

Mike, welcome to the USa... when you get here. First, your move to the USa will give your friends in the UK an opportunity to visit you and the US, as you will be their reason to travel here.

You say that your work will be based near DFW. The actual location of that work could be a major factor in deciding where to live. DFW is huge. If I worked on the west side I'd tend to live towards Fort Worth or downtown Fort Worth where you'd find the only real nite life in that area.

If north of DFW Grapevine would be a good choice as there are lots of young professionals there and restaurants but not a lot of nite life.

If east of DFW then I'd say to head for Uptown/Oak Lawn Dallas, near downtown. You'll find lots of nite life, restaurants, sweet apartments and like minded professionals.

Use google maps and search for '75219', the postal zip code for Uptown/Oak Lawn. This is an old but re-developed part of Dallas. You can find apartments from something small for about 750US, to as much as you want to part with. Lofts, condos, townhomes. And more restaurants and bars than you could burn down in a weekend.

From my London experience, if you seek something on the level of Leicester Square and Piccadilly then Uptown/Oak Lawn would be your destination. If something more like north of Oxford Circus then maybe Las Colinas would be suitable.

I used to work a bit east of DFW and for a while near the north entrance. At the same time I lived in Oak Lawn. Business traffic typically heads towards downtown in the a.m. and away from town in the p.m. My drive was about twenty minutes with rarely any delays.

As far as DFW, the airport has two entrances, one from the very south off Hiway 183 or the very north off Hiway 114. I see the thrufare is now desginated Hiway 97. Therein, you'll want to carefully weigh work and living arrangements. Again, with google maps search 'DFW'.

[turbom1key]

All

Many thanks for your quick, informative and helpful replies - I wasn't expecting such speed! You guys are a wealth of knowledge and I wish I had started asking questions sooner!!
Just to clarfiy a few points, I will be working near the airport (DFW) and I'm trying to strike the right balance of journey time Vs private time/socialising when it comes to selecting an area to live.
I don't mind driving up to 45 minutes each way to get to work and as for traffic, I'm sure nothing can be as bad as London's M25 in rush hour!!

Again, many thanks for the excellent replies, I'm already finding the American people to be so helpful and kind. It gives me confidence that I have made the right choice.

Cheers