Is There Any Reason For This Californian To Not Move to Dallas? (Fort Worth: 2010, waterparks)

[masalamomma]

Originally Posted by smuboy86

Since when is Austin the third major city in Texas? Wouldn't it be San Antonio a city twice the size just to the south of the Republic of Travis Country?

I really didn't mean anything by it, but since you started it... I really don't see San Antonio as a "major" city in Texas. To me it is more of a tourist place to go. I see Austin as a major city because there is alot of business going on - both government and otherwise. Austin is a major hub for both my line of work and my husband's. So to me, Austin is a "major" city in Texas, while San Antonio is not. Love to visit there once in a while though - great city.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

Just drove through there (Preston/635) this evening taking my son to a friend's house in Preston Hollow. There is the most amazing new Whole Foods Market at Forest and Preston.

Also there used to be a kosher Albertson's (grocery store) at Coit and Campbell, but it closed. The Tom Thumb at that same intersection now has a kosher deli.

We went in to that Tom Thumb a couple weeks ago on our pilot trip. That kosher deli and butcher is as nice as anything we have here in our predominantly Jewish neighborhood in L.A. Keeping kosher can be a pain in the butt when it comes to buying meat and stuff, so having that Tom Thumb is a big deal for us.There are also a few kosher restaurants back over near where that albertson's used to be along Coit, including a very tasty kosher indian place

[DFWMike]

Originally Posted by masalamomma

I really didn't mean anything by it, but since you started it... I really don't see San Antonio as a "major" city in Texas. To me it is more of a tourist place to go. I see Austin as a major city because there is alot of business going on - both government and otherwise. Austin is a major hub for both my line of work and my husband's. So to me, Austin is a "major" city in Texas, while San Antonio is not. Love to visit there once in a while though - great city.

San Antonio's population is actually larger than Dallas proper(Of course the DFW metroplex is much larger than SA's metro). I can see your concept though, Austin is more business oriented and seems more urban, however saying San Antonio isn't a major city would be kind of like saying San Diego isn't. Once your metro has 1.8 million people I think it qualifies, especially since Austin sits around 1.2 million atm. I generally think of it as 4 major Texas metros.

[aceplace]

It's pretty hard to be exact when you use terms like "major" and "minor", and San Antonio could be a major city under one point of view, although its metro is not in the top 10, or is otherwise undistinguished among American metros.

When towns like San Antonio use the word "city" when they actually mean "municipality", perhaps it is an attempt to exaggerate the importance of their community. This allows them to brag the fact that their "City" is among the top 10 in population... meaningless as that factoid may be... municipal San Antonio takes up 60% of its relatively small metro area, whereas Boston, San Francisco and Atlanta take only a small percentage of their metro areas.

[dcueto]

We are planning to move to Dallas, Texas - Forney to be exact. My husband found a job at the Dallas County and will be moving there on October 8. Meanwhile, my kids and I will be staying here until we finally sell our house here and build our new house in Forney. Anyways, one of my concerns when we move there, will there be places to go to for my kids like Disneyland or other theme parks and places like Chuck E Cheese? I have a 4 1/2 year old and a 1 year old so I want them to have places to go to or places for the family to go to have fun.

We're still thinking of renting out our house here in West Van Nuys, California and use the equity to buy a new house in Texas so that if ever we decide to go back we still have a place to live in.

What are the other nice areas to live in the Dallas area?

[blueskies49]

My husband grew up in Forney back when it was a sleepy little hick town. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's growing by leaps and bounds now, having recently added a second high school and several elementary schools. Lots of new houses going up around the outskirts. You can see some of them as you come out of Dallas heading east toward Forney. My mother-in-law, stepkids, their mother and their grandparents live there, most of them having grown up there.

There is not much to do in Forney, though, most people come into Dallas and the surrounding suburbs for entertainment and shopping, although there are antique stores and an outlet mall in Terrell which is another small town east of Forney. Dallas/Fort Worth area has anything you might want in terms of shopping and entertainment. Six Flags Over Texas (the original one) is in Arlington (where I live), Texas Rangers baseball is there, too, as well as Hurricane Harbor, a huge water park, although there are other smaller ones around. Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas which would be closer to Forney, has a Chuck E. Cheese and there are several other locations. Mesquite also has batting cages and go carts. Dallas Cowboys old stadium is in Irving but the new one is currently being built in Arlington. There is also the Dallas Stars (hockey), Dallas Mavericks (basketball) and Dallas Sidekicks (soccer). Ballet, opera, bunch of museums in both Dallas and Fort Worth, the Arboretum (gorgeous flower and landscape gardens), numerous malls some of which are upscale. Many, many restaurants. Several nearby lakes, too.

You didn't ask about the weather but I'll volunteer, in case you didn't know, that North Central Texas is in Tornado Alley and we have hot weather from May to October, with the summer months being humid and upper 90's and 100's. Except for one or two freezing spells (sometimes a little bit of snow and ice but not every year and it doesn't last long), winters are generally very mild.

[momof2dfw]

Chuck E. Cheese places all over - not my fave place to go. There is a Chuck E. Cheese in Rockwall which is not far from you if they have not opened one up in Forney by the time you move here. We have Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington (located between Dallas & Ft Worth). The State Fair of Texas opens this Friday and runs for 3 weeks (BigTex.com). By 2010 or 2011 they plan on adding more permanent rides and keep the Fair open all thru the summer w/ admission including the fairgrounds and the many museums located at Fair Park. Right now the only permanent rides are the ferris wheel (The Texas Star) and the new gondola ride opening this weekend. All of the school kids get a free ticket to the fair and a Fair Day off from school. We also have TONS of waterparks in the metroplex along w/ many local city owned pools. The closest waterparks for you will be in Rowlett and Garland (Waterzone in Rowlett and Hawaiian Falls in Garland). There are smaller free splash parks that are open and free to the public w/ one being in Rockwall. Allen has a year round pool as does Rockwall at the YMCA. Trust me, there will be PLENTY to keep you and the kids busy.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by GayleTX

The only down side I can think of is that you may not meet any genuine native Texans.....your neighbors will most likely be Californians.

Yeah, there's a reason for that...we're being invaded.

I'm a native Texan, and I'm HOPELESSLY outnumbered.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by LastDallasNative

You won't meet any Dallas natives and only a few Native Texans.

HEY! I'm a Dallas native too, born at Baylor Hospital. Dammit!

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

Just drove through there (Preston/635) this evening taking my son to a friend's house in Preston Hollow. There is the most amazing new Whole Foods Market at Forest and Preston.

Also there used to be a kosher Albertson's (grocery store) at Coit and Campbell, but it closed. The Tom Thumb at that same intersection now has a kosher deli.

The Tom Thumb at Preston and Forest has a big kosher section and deli. The Tom Thumb at Preston and Beltline also has a kosher section but it's nowhere near as big; I'm guessing Baruch Ha'Shem is a reform congregation?