If you were 25-35/single professional where would you rent a place to live in Dallas? Hopefully $1200 or less. (McKinney: fit in, apartment complexes)

[jkozlow3]

My company is closing our office by May 1 and everyone will be telecommuting from home after that. Since home can be anywhere, I'm thinking of relocating to somewhere that might be a better fit for me than Colorado Springs. Dallas meets many of my needs on paper (never been) - more so than most cities (good IT job market, culture, diversity, a lot of attractive single women, friendly/easy to meet people, decent weather, decent cost of living). Not many places that I've researched seem to meet all that criteria too well. Anyway, I'm planning on coming to Dallas in May and working out of coffee shops for a couple of weeks to check the city out and see if it's a place I might like to live.

While I think I would enjoy living in a hip/dense city like NYC or SF, I'll be renting my townhouse out in Colorado and would ideally like to simply "trade" residences and live in an apartment somewhere that costs roughly what I'd collect in rent ($1100ish). I don't think I could swing anything anywhere near the city in NYC/SF for that amount.

So if you were a single professional, with a 1 bedroom rent budget of $1000-1200ish in Dallas, where would you live? Ideally, this would be a walkable area with coffee shops, restaurants, cool bars/lounges nearby. A neighborhood that was conducive to meeting other single professionals. Does this exist in my price range in Dallas? I could stretch my budget a tad if it really made sense, but I'm curious what my options are.

Also, the more specifics the better. Recommendations on specific apartments you or someone else you know has experience with are a plus. Coffee shops recommendations to work out of in these neighborhoods or bars that would be a good place to stop in for a drink during my visit are a plus too!

Thanks in advance!

[andyATMcandy]

Uptown sounds like what you're looking for... I just went through this search.

For $1200 you can get a nice 1 bedroom in the area.. don't be fooled thinking it's so expensive and lavish and unaffordable.

"Ideally, this would be a walkable area with coffee shops, restaurants, cool bars/lounges nearby."

With that, I'd recommend starting your search in the State Thomas area and the West Village area. That's the advise I was given anyway... and I followed it

[jkozlow3]

So there are decent places in uptown for $1200? I remember reading another thread and thought it was a little pricier than that. I don't want to live somewhere where I don't fit in (i.e. I pay lower rent, live in a crappier place and make less than everyone living around me).

andyATMcandy, have you moved to uptown yet?

[TurtleCreek80]

Find a map. Draw a 4-5 mile radius from downtown Dallas. Focus on the north to east parts of that circle. This includes the neighborhoods of Downtown, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Knox-Henderson, Oak Lawn & Turtle Creek, M Streets, and Vickery Place/ Cochran Heights. Zip codes 75201 (downtown), 75204 (uptown), 75206 (M Streets/ Vickery/ Cochran), and 75219 (Oak Lawn/ Turtle Creek).

There are several great coffee shops in these areas: The Pearl Cup on Henderson is in the 75206 area and is along a great funky strip of shops, restaurants, & bars. It is a few blocks from Greenville Ave which is another bar/ restaurant/ live music. In your price range, youcould rent 1/2 a duplex or apartment in a small "Melrose Place" style complex. The easiest way to find these is to drive the area & pick up flyers as it's mostly smaller landlords. There are brand new apartments on Belmont which should def be in your price range. Neighborhood over there is in transition (from little Mexico into trendy area), but the transformation is happening rapidly, even in this economy. Not sure who manages that property.

Crooked Tree Coffee Shop is in Uptown, off Routh Street. McKinney Ave is the "hub" of Uptown. The trolley runs from the arts district downtown north to the West Village at Blackburn Street. There are many huge apartment complexes here managed by Post & Gables. You will get the least for your money here, but it can be done.

Deep Ellum & Dowtown have more loft living choices. There are several great diners & coffee shops in Deep Ellum- Cafe Brazil is a Dallas institution and All-Good Cafe is a great place too! Deep Ellum is funkier, but has a great neighborhood vibe if you live there. Everyone knows each other & there are lots of artist/ musician/ creative types in the area so it wouldn't be dead silent during the day like other more "young professional" areas are.

There are Starbucks everywhere! Busiest one is in the West Village. It is open until midnight & is the "flagship" Starbucks of Dallas.

All of these areas are within a 10-12 min drive so it's easy to make a trip here and see them all.

[jkozlow3]

Great writeup TurtleCreek! Thanks, and keep the recommendations coming!

[andyATMcandy]

I have not yet, but I've been there every weekend for the past 4 weeks just touring and getting to know the area and communities.

What sq footage are you looking for? From $900 to $1200, you can EASILY find a 1 bedroom of 700-900 square feet.
Newer complexes like Marquis at State Thomas and AMLI Quadrangle are having very good rates and specials. ($500 and $1,000 cash back, waiving fees, etc...)

I personally did not like the downtown area of Dallas... I'd stick with Uptown (west village, turtle creek area)

You'll see it all on a map. As Turtle recommended to me in the past

You want to stay in between Hall and Allen St but also close to McKinney. It should all stick out on the map

[Squirl]

You can also check out Las Colinas but I think Uptown is more fun for your age group.

[jkozlow3]

Originally Posted by andyATMcandy

What sq footage are you looking for? From $900 to $1200, you can EASILY find a 1 bedroom of 700-900 square feet.

800ish square feet should be fine. $900 to $1200 for a nice place this size in a cool neighborhood in uptown, really?

[andyATMcandy]

Yes... I've done numerous hours of research over the last 4 weeks

I mean just checkout marquis state thomas or AMLI quadrangle websites to use as a reference if you want. $900-$1200 gets you a decent place.

Others worth checking out... Post Properties (they have 10 scattered around the area), Gables Properties (just choose uptown and it will show you all of theirs)

but yeah you'll find one for sure for under $1200.

[jkozlow3]

Good to know! Also, is parking extra at these places in uptown? I've only ever lived in an apartment (old warehouse loft) in a big city once and I think I had to pay like $100/mo. extra for parking. I was hoping to keep my total cost under $1200 - including parking if applicable.