Couple Planning to move from California to Texas - Dallas/Houston? (San Antonio: homes, look for a job)

[sb1981]

We are a young Indian couple (both IT professionals) currently living in Los Angeles. We have been in California since past 5 years, went to a University in CA and got married about a year ago. Both of us travel a lot (almost every week throughout US).... We are looking to settle in a city that is centrally located which would be convenient to travel to both east and west coast of the country... So we have decided to move to Texas.

We are still confused on which city we should plan to move to... We are planning to settle in the place we move and possible buy a home soon as we are want to expand our family in a year or two. So we need to decide on our move from a long term perspective. Also my wife plans to loosen up on the job and eventually look for a job that does not need traveling. So we are thinking if Dallas would be a better choice for us as compared to Houston. Any help/advice would be highly helpful...

Also we are not much familiar with either of the cities. Can anyone please recommend good neighborhoods in Dallas and Houston so we can start putting out thoughts together?

[First24]

I suggest Irving/Valley Ranch near Dallas. It's a predominately upper middle class area, nice homes, good schools, lots of shopping and restaurants. Easy access to DFW airport.

This area also happens to have a thriving Indian community.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

If you are looking for a job in the IT field, Dallas (inlcuding Richardson and Irving) will offer more opprotunities than Houston.

Dallas is part of what is known as the Sillicon Prarie. Here is a link explaning that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Prairie

The Indian population in the Dallas (DFW) metro area is also larger than it is in Metro Houston if thats a big deal at all. The difference is the Indian community clumps together more in the Houston area than it does in DFW. However the difference isnt huge. Both cities offer nice ammenities for their Indian residents, but I think Dallas offers more.

Dallas is home to many Indian grocery stores, an FM radio station (104.9) that play music from the Indian subcontinent and gives Bollywood movie reviews, several Indian movie theaters, and potentially this:

http://www.everestheights.com/

All in all, I would think Dallas would be a better choice for you.

[FarNorthDallas]

There are also a lot of Indians in the Plano ISD (school district). You have to watch where you live though because school boundaries are not the same as the city limit lines.

[Trae713]

You may like Houston, though Dallas offers more for IT, Houston's IT industry is growing fast right now (we can partly thank the energy industry here for that). Also, Houston's Indian population is larger than Dallas', too (over 100,000 Indians in the Houston area). There is an Indian district off of Harwin Drive in Houston (called the Mahatma Gandhi District). It's a really interesting area actually. Really, you can't go wrong with either city. It might actually be easier to find an IT job in Houston, than Dallas, since there is more competition up there, but you can't go wrong with either city.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

You may like Houston, though Dallas offers more for IT, Houston's IT industry is growing fast right now (we can partly thank the energy industry here for that). Also, Houston's Indian population is larger than Dallas', too (over 100,000 Indians in the Houston area). There is an Indian district off of Harwin Drive in Houston (called the Mahatma Gandhi District). It's a really interesting area actually. Really, you can't go wrong with either city. It might actually be easier to find an IT job in Houston, than Dallas, since there is more competition up there, but you can't go wrong with either city.

As I mentioned in the other thread, there are less Indians in Metro Houston than DFW:

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...mat=&-_lang=en

I dont know why people always assume there are more in Metro Houston.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

As I mentioned in the other thread, there are less Indians in Metro Houston than DFW:

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

I dont know why people always assume there are more in Metro Houston.

I got that from here: The Hindu : News / International : Now Houston has a Mahatma Gandhi district

Going by your link (which is right), there is only a 4K difference. Not much, especially considering that Houston is about 500K smaller than DFW's metro. Can't go wrong with either one of these cities. No need to be rude with your last sentence though.

[Mister Nifty]

Originally Posted by sb1981

We are a young Indian couple (both IT professionals) currently living in Los Angeles. We have been in California since past 5 years, went to a University in CA and got married about a year ago. Both of us travel a lot (almost every week throughout US).... We are looking to settle in a city that is centrally located which would be convenient to travel to both east and west coast of the country... So we have decided to move to Texas.

We are still confused on which city we should plan to move to... We are planning to settle in the place we move and possible buy a home soon as we are want to expand our family in a year or two. So we need to decide on our move from a long term perspective. Also my wife plans to loosen up on the job and eventually look for a job that does not need traveling. So we are thinking if Dallas would be a better choice for us as compared to Houston. Any help/advice would be highly helpful...

Also we are not much familiar with either of the cities. Can anyone please recommend good neighborhoods in Dallas and Houston so we can start putting out thoughts together?

Move to Houston!
As we in Texas are quite proud to have the biggest, we also have the best. So, is it any wonder that sophisticated Dallasites became quite envious recently of the news touting Houston as having one of the world's largest gay populations? Indeed, the designated "Pink City" just got through electing its first openly lesbian mayor celebrating the victory by erecting a nude statue of her in Moody Park square at the intersection where Montrose and Lime St. meet.
Because of the noterity it has received, the city expects a boost in gay international travel, especially from other bastions with gay people like France and Greece.
Besides having a huge gay population, one can actually vote in Houston while reading the ballot in Vietnamese! No kidding! The reason why is because Houston's Vietnamese population now exceeds 100,000. So, if you like Vietnamese food, this is the place to be.
And what about Mexicans? Houston is quite proud of its Mexican population as well as their gay community because their numbers continue unabated growing by leaps and bounds both legally and illegally. There are more Mexicans living in Houston than in the city of San Antonio!
And let's not forget about African Americans? The city of Houston has almost a million African Amercans with a huge number of them added to its population because of hurricane Katrina.
Besides being quite proud of its huge black, Hispanic, Vietnamese and gay populations, the city of Houston also has the world's largest Medical Center, it is home to NASA, and it is the oil capital of the world as well.
One thing going for the city is, while the people living there are quite liberal and thus willing to clean up the city's environment, the city has never had an environment being one of the ugliest places imaginable.
Indeed, there are many negatives to Houston. While it has a huge heterosexual population of white men to go along with its gay community, the city of Pasadena still has its numerous trailer parks guarded by pit bulls. One can still hear roosters crowing in the early morning just a quarter mile from the shadows of modern downtown Houston.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Several things:

1) I dont think Dallas has to be jelous of Houston for its number of gay residents or its gay mayor. Houston has more gay people total, but a smaller portion of its residents are gay. Dallas is 7.8% gay, Houston is 4.4% Gay. Not to mention Dallas has a gay sheriff. Not to mention Dallas has Oak Lawn which is just as popular as Montrose.

2) The OP didnt ask anything about which city was better for a gay person. They asked which was better for IT opprotunities and better for an Indian couple. Given that Dallas has more IT opprotunities and a larger Indian community, I think Dallas would be a better fit.

3) As you notice from the links I posted above, Metro Houston's Vietnamese population is about 80,000, not 100,000. DFW's is about 70,000. So I wouldnt call that a staggering difference. Houston does have the 3rd largest Vietnamese community, but DFW has the 4th in the US. Pretty much what you can find in Houston you can find in Dallas on that level.

4) There are Mexicans everywhere in Texas. Houston has more total Mexicans, but DFW has more foreign born Mexicans than any other metro area except LA and Chicago.

Houston is a great city, but DFW offers most of the same things as well.

[codytravers]

Why would you brag about how many gay people your city has?