Help me fall in love with Dallas! (Houston, San Antonio: rent, living)

[nickkraus]

lakewooder, some great suggestions!

well...
-(there havent been many this year but..) enjoy a severe thunderstorm turn night to day, with lightning everywhere
-See days of warmth and then days of record breaking snowfall
-Enjoy hot summer evenings outside or have a BBQ

-Go shopping at Northpark
-Cruise down central and check out Mockingbird Station or West Village for shopping and dining
-Just take a drive out west towards Fort Worth and enjoy the scenery
-eat authentic tex mex (mias or ojedas come to mind)
-Catch a movie in the COUCH theatre at the inwood theatre
-Go to the arboretum or park or lake on one of our perfect spring or fall days
-Jog around White rock lake
-walk underground in downtown dallas
-Experience the Texas State Fair and eat as much fried stuff as possible
and MANY MANY MORE

See, the thing about Texas is, its not a place that you love for its scenery or its tourist spots. You only love Texas if you live like a Texan. Build yourself a great group of friends, enjoy a good evening together outside, and just appreciate that you have the PRIVILEGE to live here (youve got to build up a big Texas ego )

Dallas is a GREAT place if you know its secrets. Just find places that you love...dont force yourself to love a place just cause other people do. Theres always somewhere new I discover here and thats why i love it so much.

[earlyretirement]

LANative is spot on target. It's a moot point wondering where people would live if the cost of living was the same. The point is Dallas is much less expensive when you add up the cost of living vs. places like LA or San Francisco or most major cities.

I think people are right....you have to accept Dallas for what it is. It's not the most exciting place in the world but the quality of life is fairly good, the schools are excellent in several areas, you can buy a nice big house in the suburbs for a relatively affordable price compared to other places in California.

I was just in Dallas a few weeks ago and saw several homes for sale in Plano. 5 bedroom houses with fairly good sized lots with 3 car garage for $327,000 in a great school district. You can't find anything close to that in many cities in the USA.

Lots of properties are sitting on the market for longer periods of time and I have a feeling prices will weaken a bit more in 2010. So value for the money is definitely there.

I lived in Dallas many years ago and while it wasn't the most exciting place in the world, the economy was strong (and still is stronger than most of the USA, especially California). I ate better than any city I've ever lived in as there is an endless supply of top notch restaurants. It was very safe and people were friendly.

Funny, I told myself when I left that I'd probably never move back but after really looking at other cities, I'm seriously considering moving back for many different reasons.

We even made an offer on a house in Plano but they rejected it so we'll wait.....

[DWong]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

If you asking me where I would rather live in the real world, the answer is DFW.

Its hard to answer a hypothetical about assuming DFW and LA having the same cost of living. They dont. We cant pretend they do. If were going to go that route, why dont I just pretend Dallas and Honolulu or Sydney have the same cost of living. Then which would I pick? Sydney. If LA and Dallas had the same cost of living I would still be in LA, but Im not.

All things considered, I would rather live in DFW. If I left DFW, it would be to Houston or Atlanta, not back to LA. We cant afford it and the economy sucks, so theres no reason to pretend that isnt the case.

Ok well that settles the questions.

yes it is purely hypothetical, which is why I'm throwing it out there.

go ahead and pretend Dallas, Maui and Sydney have the same cost of living too, bc they too would also have their downfalls.

[DWong]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

LANative is spot on target. It's a moot point wondering where people would live if the cost of living was the same. The point is Dallas is much less expensive when you add up the cost of living vs. places like LA or San Francisco or most major cities.

I think people are right....you have to accept Dallas for what it is. It's not the most exciting place in the world but the quality of life is fairly good, the schools are excellent in several areas, you can buy a nice big house in the suburbs for a relatively affordable price compared to other places in California.

I was just in Dallas a few weeks ago and saw several homes for sale in Plano. 5 bedroom houses with fairly good sized lots with 3 car garage for $327,000 in a great school district. You can't find anything close to that in many cities in the USA.

Lots of properties are sitting on the market for longer periods of time and I have a feeling prices will weaken a bit more in 2010. So value for the money is definitely there.

I lived in Dallas many years ago and while it wasn't the most exciting place in the world, the economy was strong (and still is stronger than most of the USA, especially California). I ate better than any city I've ever lived in as there is an endless supply of top notch restaurants. It was very safe and people were friendly.

Funny, I told myself when I left that I'd probably never move back but after really looking at other cities, I'm seriously considering moving back for many different reasons.

We even made an offer on a house in Plano but they rejected it so we'll wait.....

First, let's throw out cost of living, let's just say you inherited $20 million dollars... what city are you going to choose. Let's assume you can almost afford anything with that kind of money

Something that makes CA suffer like no other state is that it's outside money coming in and buying property. Just drive along the I-5 from San Diego through LA and off to Santa Barbara... no property for 120 miles is considered "affordable" to even the middle-upper class. They pay property tax on it, however they don't have income and therefore don't get hit on state income tax. I worked part time in real estate only dealing with high end properties and about 75% of the clients were out of state (many of Houston and Dallas). Southern CA and Bay Area are world markets. It's so expensive bc people REALLY want to live there and will pay 5X the costs for properties 5X smaller than most places.

Ok, now back to getting off topic.... haha
Texas, and Dallas for that matter have one of the strongest economies around. I guess we can see what less regulations, more pro bussiness atmosphere can do for people.

However, is life all about how much $ we can make? It is the size of the house and how much our net worth it? Far too many people nowadays work 48+ weeks a year, health is extremely poor and people are actually having a shorter lifespan now than before (first time in history of the world). I know money is what makes the world go round, but I see my relatives in DFW work themselves to death and for what? Because there is work.... does that mean one has to do it? Does having the Cadillac vs the Chevy mean that much more to people?

[lh_newbie]

I love hypotheticals. If only we lived in a hypothetical world. The fact is we don't. So you have to live in reality. In reality, I don't - and probably won't ever - live in California. It's too expensive.

In my world (reality), we do have to work to put food on the table, gas in the car and to pay our electric bills. To say that people in DFW "work themselves to death" and then to hint that it's just for a bigger car and that somehow only applies to folks that live in DFW is absolutely laughable. Look at credit defaults. In California, credit defaults are way higher than in DFW. One could easily draw the conclusion, founded in reality, that means that the folks in California work "themselves to the bone" and can't make ends meet. That, to me, is a problem.

Please keep your pro-California, anti-DFW rhetoric out of our forum or at a minimum keep it rooted in the real world. We don't have theoretical lives.

Brian

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by DWong

First, let's throw out cost of living, let's just say you inherited $20 million dollars...

I agree that these types of questions are a moot point. If I inherited $20 million I would NOT choose Dallas to live in. I think many people would choose other more glamorous beautiful cities.

But the reality is 99.999999% of the people will never inherit this type of money. So in the real world I think you have to be realistic.

With $20 million net worth I wouldn't select Dallas. But for real life conditions even having a net worth of a few million I'd consider Dallas for the quality of life and afford ability and ability to have a really great house without spending 7 figures. The reality is being a "millionaire" these days doesn't mean too much. A million dollars doesn't go as far as it used to.....

[Lakewooder]

Well considering that you can only draw out about $40,000 to $50,000 per year pre-tax for each million (without dipping into your principal - a cardinal rule of old money) $20 mil doesn't look so great for buying a mansion in SoCal, Hawaii or fabulous NYC abode for say $5 million and living off the rest..oh and that old death tax will soon be back with a vengance--so maybe you are only going to clear $10 million.

Since we are being hypothetical..

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

I love hypotheticals. If only we lived in a hypothetical world. The fact is we don't. So you have to live in reality. In reality, I don't - and probably won't ever - live in California. It's too expensive.

In my world (reality), we do have to work to put food on the table, gas in the car and to pay our electric bills. To say that people in DFW "work themselves to death" and then to hint that it's just for a bigger car and that somehow only applies to folks that live in DFW is absolutely laughable. Look at credit defaults. In California, credit defaults are way higher than in DFW. One could easily draw the conclusion, founded in reality, that means that the folks in California work "themselves to the bone" and can't make ends meet. That, to me, is a problem.

Please keep your pro-California, anti-DFW rhetoric out of our forum or at a minimum keep it rooted in the real world. We don't have theoretical lives.

Brian

Great post!

[exsocalgal]

You may never fall in love with Dallas but you will learn to adjust and appreciate a few small things like less congestion on city streets,wealthy school districts, and excellent Mexican food. Half Price Books can make you feel more at home and take DART down to Oaklawn and Uptown which is a whole different atmosphere than in the Northern suburbs. You'll find more independently owned coffeehouses and non chain restaurants. Good luck!

[Walter Benjamin]

There are many wonderful things about Dallas, starting with the cost of living. There are also a number of challenges. In addition to those already mentioned, two others are less frequently discussed:

* In spite of the best efforts of SMU, UTD, etc., the amount of intellectual stimulation in the form of authors, books, readings, (reading level of people you meet), etc., is very low. The "events" page of even a single top-tier bookshop on the coasts is far beyond anything that exists here. (1) [NB I'd love to be proven totally wrong on this point]

* Ethnic food (other than Mexican) that stands up to what's available on the coasts is mighty scarce. If someone touts a place that serves "great" Mediterranean or Asian food, take that with a huge grain of salt. Food criticism is extremely lax and generous. Dallas News critic Leslie Brenner has taken heat merely for accurately observing the low culinary standards. Yes, you can get a great meal for $100 here. A great meal for $20 that isn't greasy and beefy is much harder to do. [NB I love greasy & beefy]


(1)
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