Moving to DFW possibly (Dallas, Fort Worth: real estate, apartments, to rent)

[ebuch]

I posted this in the Ft Worth forum as well, however not gotten any feedback yet in a few days, so hoping maybe you guys/gals could help.

Hey, I am starting to look into some housing down in the Dallas Fort Worth area. If I end up moving there I will be working for FWPD so I want to live in the city or very close to the city limits.

Are there any areas you recommend for a single male? I'm looking to rent or buy, depending on the area and my situation. I was looking at downtown however haven't been able to find much yet. I'd like to live near bars/restaurants/low crime, etc, but somewhere I can have a good active social life since I will be moving on my own from out of state, thanks.

[Dallas native]

Sorry you didn't get a response on the FTW forum, but you might want to give it another try. All I know about FTW is that it has a really cool downtown and a great Arts District just west of downtown. There is quite a bit of residential in downtown. Since you'll be new to the area, it probably makes sense to rent for the first 6-12 months just to get a feel for the city. Since you'll be working in FTW it seems logical to live there. Dallas is over 30 miles to the east, so it's quite a schlep if you have to do it everyday.

[ebuch]

Thanks for the reply, already quicker responses

Yeah definitely going to rent for the first year til I get myself established, however I love the pricing of real estate in Texas and buying a home eventually shouldn't be too big of a concern. I have heard great things about Ft Worth's downtown so I am pretty excited about the opportunity. However, I did notice the traffic in that area on those freeways can get to be pretty crazy much like LA.

[Dallas native]

Traffic in the DFW area can be pretty bad, but I don't think it is nearly as bad as LA. I live near downtown Dallas and pretty much stay inside Loop 12 (a circle within a 7 mile radius of downtown) and, with the exception of weekday rush hours to/from downtown, I don't think traffic is that bad. If you live in central FTW, I suspect you'll have a similar experience. If you're looking for bars, restaurants and lots of opportunities to mix in socially, then I think someplace in or near downtown FTW would be a great place to start out until you get your bearings.

[ebuch]

Thanks for the input Dallas native, would you say downtown dallas and downtown ft worth are at all similar? Same type of atmosphere, etc?

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by ebuch

Thanks for the input Dallas native, would you say downtown dallas and downtown ft worth are at all similar? Same type of atmosphere, etc?

Not really. Both are nice, but very different in scale. Downtown Ft. Worth is much smaller and has more of a quaint vibe. The area around Sundance Square is especially nice and offers lots of restaurants, bars, retail, movies, Bass Hall, etc... Downtown Dallas is much more massive with dozens of huge skyscrapers, the nation's largest Arts District Dallas Arts District and it's the hub of the DART light rail system which offers access to the rest of the city as well as FTW DART.org - DART Rail System Map. With all of that size, it lacks some of the charm that can still be found in downtown FTW. Since you're from Delaware, I'll use this comparison: the Dallas skyline is on a similar scale to the Philadelphia skyline and the FTW skyline would be more on a scale with Wilmington.

[ebuch]

Great, thank you for the advice. It looks like there are some apartments along the trinity river and near sundance square which would be nice to live near by definitely.