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I posted this over in the Phoenix thread and a few people are pointing me towards moving to Dallas. Here's my situation: I'm a 30 y.o. single, female, no kids, and college educated. Chicago native; lived in SW Florida (not by my choice, parents decided to relocate there when I was younger), Denver, Las Vegas & L.A.
I was laid off from my job in Las Vegas (Director of Marketing for a production company - I have a solid yet diverse resume) and saved myself further job hunting frustration and got out of there before the economy tanked even more. (Vegas is at 13% unemployment and most of my friends have either been laid off and have left as well. It was so bad out there I couldn't even find a serving job to fall back on - although I have previous bartending, cocktailing and serving experience. Vegas is DRIED up!)
I unhappily and temporarily moved back to Denver to be with my sister to develop plan B. (Denver is my second home as I went to high school and college out here, but was so excited to move back to Vegas for the second time a year-and-a-half ago.)
However, I seriously dislike Denver: the snow, the cold wealther, outrageous vehicle registration, ugly people, snobs, boring city, boring people, no industry, vanilla people (I don't mean just racially either. I am Caucasian but please can we have some diversity?!!!), NO night-life and horrible city for dating. There is nothing new for me to explore here and frankly, I feel like a stale 90 year old woman. This city has turned this extroverted, flamboyant chick into a miserable hermit. Denver is a great place to have children, ski and drive an SUV. For me, no thank you.
Anyways, I have some concerns and am very interested in getting your honest opinions.
1.) How's the nightlife in Dallas? Rock bars, dance clubs, fun pubs, ect. I love variety and love exploring new places. Do you think Dallas could offer me this? Not that that I'm a major partier, but I at least want the opportunity for variety of opportunities to socialize. I want a city that provides me with a fun night life and doesn't drop DEAD at 1:30am either.
2.) I'm very outgoing and have never had problems making friends; although as I'm getting older I'm seeking more quality people people in my life. (ie educated, friendly, responsible, people with mid-west friendly values...) how do you find the people in Dallas? I've heard from some it can be cliquish?
3.) How big are your bugs? Do you have mosquitos? I'd occasionally get a palmetto bug in my place in Vegas. Gross, but not a total freak out.
4.) How is the singles scene? Dating?
5.) How's the economy treating you guys out there?
1.) How's the nightlife in Dallas? Rock bars, dance clubs, fun pubs, ect. I love variety and love exploring new places. Do you think Dallas could offer me this? Not that that I'm a major partier, but I at least want the opportunity for variety of opportunities to socialize. I want a city that provides me with a fun night life and doesn't drop DEAD at 1:30am either.
2.) I'm very outgoing and have never had problems making friends; although as I'm getting older I'm seeking more quality people people in my life. (ie educated, friendly, responsible, people with mid-west friendly values...) how do you find the people in Dallas? I've heard from some it can be cliquish?
3.) How big are your bugs? Do you have mosquitos? I'd occasionally get a palmetto bug in my place in Vegas. Gross, but not a total freak out.
4.) How is the singles scene? Dating?
5.) How's the economy treating you guys out there?
1) There is no shortage of nightlife in Dallas. Alcohol is served until 2am and then there are after hours clubs. There are all sorts of clubs, bars, pubs for most every taste and orientation inside the city of Dallas. Some of the hottest areas are Uptown, Knox-Henderson, Lower Greenville Ave. and Downtown (for clubs on weekends). All of these areas would be considered inner-city Dallas. It definitely sounds like you would acclimate better to living in the city of Dallas as opposed to the suburbs.
2) The people here are as varied as they are anywhere. Generally, Texans have a reputation for being very friendly people. I've lived in other cities and I tend to agree with that assessment. Of course about 50% of the people who live in Dallas are from somewhere else anyway, so you'll meet all types. There are always lots of new people moving here, so your recent arrival here would not be unique.
3) Bugs? I rarely ever find a bug in my house, but then I do have Orkin spray the exterior periodically. There are bugs here, but they are nothing to freak out about. I saw lots more roaches when I lived in NYC than I've ever seen in Dallas.
4) The singles scene is big here. There are plenty of singles, many of them new to Dallas, who live in Downtown, Uptown, Knox-Henderson and the many apartment complexes near these areas. There's always the usual bar/club scene for meeting people, but there are also lots of opportunities for meeting people with mutual interests by joining social groups/clubs or volunteering. If you're naturally outgoing, you'll be fine in Dallas.
5) The economy is not booming in Dallas the way it was a few years ago, but it's still far healthier here than in many other big cities (esp. Las Vegas and Phoenix). The unemployment rate in Texas hovers around 8%. That's not great, but it's better than the national average of about 10.2%. Dallas home prices never exploded as they did in many places, so the drop here has been among the lowest of all major cities. Apartment rental rates are projected to drop a little bit because so many new units that were started before the Great Recession are now coming on the market. It's definitely a renter's market.
I'm in Phoenix as we speak and am moving to Dallas in January. I have a wife and 2 kids, grew up in NY, went to school in Alabama, lived in Atlanta for many years and have now lived in Phoenix for 4+. I consider myself pretty open and diverse in life. I have been to 46 of the lower 48 states including most if not all major cities, add in 3 Canadian P's, and some trips to Europe and I feel like I can cover a lot of places.
Don't move to Phoenix There are NO jobs right now unless you want to be a server again.
Here are the basic types of people in Phoenix so you can imaging the night life associated.
1. ASU students, and there are a lot of them, or early 20 somethings that want to be one. As you can imagine for a party school it includes many nights out on Mill Ave. in Tempe getting as wasted as you can.
2. Old people, usually found driving 15 mph when you need to be somewhere. They are typically found in Mesa, NW suburbs, South Chandler, and some in Scottsdale.
3. Snowbirds. These are the worst people on Earth. They're similar to #2 (more ways than one) in that they're old. The difference is that the only are in town during the "winter" months. They leak out of such fun loving places as Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan. They have nothing to do except wander around aimlessly and slowly.
4. 30-40's married people usually found in the Suburbs such as Gilbert, Peoria, and Chandler. College educated and trying to find a job in a crappy economy. These guys still like to party if they can and are found at any bar with a big patio checking out men and women supposedly off limits to married people ;-) They attend football and soccer games while trying their best to hold onto their (our) youth! (See posts regarding Plano and Frisco, TX)
5. Scottsdale people. These include more wealthy #4's, some #2's and a host of upper 20's / young 30's singles. Think BMW, fake boobs, too much collogen, and tons of debt. Also includes BIG money people in 12,000 s.f. homes and Ferraris. Usually attend local clubs / bars that sport a lot of frosted glass, fancy martinis, and 5" heels.
6. The rest of Phoenix is made up of lower to middle class (with some distinct exceptions in a few very high end neighborhoods) people of mostly 2 races, white and mexican. It's not a bad thing yet it amounts for most of the diversity you'll see.
7. Phoenix is a fairly ugly city located in one of the most beautiful states in the country.
8. There is a lot to do, as long as you like to either drink beer, camp, 4wheel, hike, ride jet ski's.
9. Some arts, but once you visit a place once there's no need to go back.
10. A very nice Zoo and 2 wildlife parks nearby.
11. No real problem with flying bugs except for some killer bees. You do have to pay attention to the scorps, and widows though.
I know it doesn't tell you about DFW, but maybe it will help anyway. I guess the best thing to say is that I jumped at the chance to move when an offer came in as I don't see PHX rebounding for another 2 years at least.
3. Snowbirds. These are the worst people on Earth. They're similar to #2 (more ways than one) in that they're old. The difference is that the only are in town during the "winter" months. They leak out of such fun loving places as Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan. They have nothing to do except wander around aimlessly and slowly.
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You could have been a comedy writer.
2. Old people, usually found driving 15 mph when you need to be somewhere. They are typically found in Mesa, NW suburbs, South Chandler, and some in Scottsdale.
3. Snowbirds. These are the worst people on Earth. They're similar to #2 (more ways than one) in that they're old. The difference is that the only are in town during the "winter" months. They leak out of such fun loving places as Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan. They have nothing to do except wander around aimlessly and slowly.
LMAO. When I lived in Florida, I would reroute my commute during "snowbird season" because they considerably slowed traffic down during the winter months. I learned to avoid any street in the morning time that had a Bob Evans, Perkins or Denny's.
DSTDVL - thank you for your candid description of Phoenix. My biggest concern is that Phoenix mirrors Las Vegas or have some of Las Vegas trash spill into Phoenix. (I found the people in Las Vegas to be illiterate, shady, unprofessional, lying shark/skanks!)
Does anyone have a favorite staffing agency or know of any companies hiring in Dallas? What areas of town should I avoid?
4.) How is the singles scene? Dating?
I always heard the dating scene in Denver was magnificent-- providing that you are a woman. I know it got its nickname of "Menver" for a reason.
The women that I have met who move here (Dallas) from out of the state hate the dating scene. They feel that both sexes are far more superficial in the Dallas area as far as appearances are concerned(specifically uptown), thus they are put off that they have to overachieve to meet the higher standard. Supposedly, many men consider Dallas women (or Texas women in general) to be among the finest in the country. Even though I have some exceptions with that statement (I prefer Floridians myself), the women I have met here seem for the most part as friendly (or not) as anyplace else.
5.) How's the economy treating you guys out there?
I'm from Cleveland originally, so I think it's outstanding. My only complaint is that it is a little too energy/tech/communications oriented for my specialty (Finance and Accounting), but it seems to do the area extremely well.
Last edited by Rumble; 12-02-2009 at 03:05 PM..
Reason: added that I live in Dallas, not PHX
DSTDVL - thank you for your candid description of Phoenix. My biggest concern is that Phoenix mirrors Las Vegas or have some of Las Vegas trash spill into Phoenix. (I found the people in Las Vegas to be illiterate, shady, unprofessional, lying shark/skanks!)
Does anyone have a favorite staffing agency or know of any companies hiring in Dallas? What areas of town should I avoid?
Vegas is Vegas, IMHO much more trashy than PHX. There's plenty of PWT running around certain areas, but in general it's much more of a professional feel. PHX biggest problem is California, they keep shipping everyone over here, hence the term Calizona. PHX has become somewhat a far suburb of LA. We have the people, the sprawl, the attitude (mostly), and the traffic.
Don't get me wrong, I actually love Phoenix. Only problem is you can't work here and the real estate market is very up and down. Who knows maybe when I'm 60 I'll get an RV and a Buick and drive around town real slow irritating as many people as possible.
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There are NO jobs right now unless you want to be a server again. 
