Move to Dallas? (Houston, San Antonio, Austin: job market, neighborhoods, schools)

[angela15517]

We are a young couple with 3 small children. We live in Iowa, it is far too cold here for us. We wanted to move to Portland, but the job market scares the crap out of me. We have good job experience in a variety of fields, such as cooking, customer service, welding, painting and telemarketing. We are willing to take just about any kind of job we can get. I lived in Vegas years ago, and loved it, but that was back in the early 90's, I am sure alot has changed since then. Any advice on jobs, good neighborhoods, people, kid-geared activities? Thanks in advance!

[AKgirlinCA]

I would not move anywhere in today's economy w/out a job lined up first. Especially if you have kids to support. Just an FYI.

[Quattro72]

Plano is a good area for more family-friendly environment. D/FW is hugh and there are a ton of things to do with kids. A good site to check out for activities is GuideLive (Dallas Events / Events in Dallas-Fort Worth - GuideLive.com). Depending on where you have lived, Dallas could be a shocker to some people because the city is very cosmopolitan and there are lots of $ going around in Dallas. At the same time there are areas in Dallas that are very poor. Houston and Dallas are somewhat similar and Austin is a good blend between San Antonio and Dallas. San Antonio is a good place to visit but the city is about a decade behind - people like to that city because of its small town feel and generally people there are slow to adapting progress if any.

Again, it all depends on what you are looking for.

[grannydad]

DFW is supposed to be one of the few still decent areas as far as jobs. I live in Keller. Great schools here too. It's very nice and minutes from downtown Ft. Worth. Quite a few customer service type jobs in Dallas and Fort Worth. There are more small town feeling areas on the Ft Worth side than the Dallas side. They are about 35 miles apart. We don't seem to get the brunt of the storms over here either, at least not as often. Also traffic is not as intense on the freeways in Dallas.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by angela15517

We are a young couple with 3 small children. We live in Iowa, it is far too cold here for us. We wanted to move to Portland, but the job market scares the crap out of me. We have good job experience in a variety of fields, such as cooking, customer service, welding, painting and telemarketing. We are willing to take just about any kind of job we can get. I lived in Vegas years ago, and loved it, but that was back in the early 90's, I am sure alot has changed since then. Any advice on jobs, good neighborhoods, people, kid-geared activities? Thanks in advance!

I will give the same advise as I would give my kids and grandkids, don't move without a job lined up in this economy!!! Especially with 3 little kids. It isn't fair to them. The exception would be, having about $10,000 saved up to hold you over.

NIta