Banker/Club DJ moving from Denver To Dallas (Houston, Arlington: transplants, for rent)

[djlora]

My wife and I (26 and 30 yrs old both Hispanic) have been thinking in moving to Texas for a long time now and we finally decided to make the move in October.
A couple of reasons why we are moving is because my two kids (5yrs and 2 months old) suffer from bad allergies from trees around this area. My 5 yr also gets very sick every winter from bronquitis and during school he can't go out and play if it's below 50 F. I suffer from dry eye syndrome and Denver is very dry so I know a more humid weather would be good for me.
I've done a lot of research about Dallas but I would really like to get advise from the locals as far as good areas to live and bad ones to avoid.
This is what we need:

- Our preference of neighborhood is middle class young professionals.
- We want to rent a 2 bedroom apt for 6 months and then buy a house.
- Would prefer to live close to a park to spend time with kids playing, riding bikes and walking.
- My 5 yr old starts Kindergarden in August and we need advise on good public schools.
- Both my wife and I work in banking and want to know what bank branch locations to avoid due to robberies and crime. (I'm a business banker and she is a personal banker).
- Our bugget for rent for now is 500-800
- good affordable daycare for our kids
- I'm also a club dj/vj on the weekends and would like to start networking with the local night clubs downtown to start getting a couple of gigs a month. (Salsa, Merengue, Reggaeton, Top 40, HipHop, Mashups).
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Thanks for all your help!!!!

[bluescreen73]

Man alive I wouldn't move from Denver to Dallas if you're looking to improve your respiratory outlook.

Allergies are in play year-round.

The ironically-named Mountain Cedar tree sheds pollen from November-March.

From March-August it's the usual suspects - grasses, molds, & trees.

From late July until late September/early October you get nailed by ragweed.

I'd get your kiddos tested before you move here. You may be going from bad to much worse on the allergy front.

[GayleTX]

Moving here to ESCAPE from allergies?? This is the allergy capitol of the world IMO. I was sick the first 18 years of my life with bronchitis, allergies, etc and in the hospital at least once a year.....then moved to Colorado - lived there 3 years and never had even one sick day.

Of course I realize everyone has different allergies but I would do some research before relocating. Allergies are a serious issue in most of Texas. If you'll look at a topographic map you'll see that the east half is solid vegetation, the west half has very little natural vegetation but does have wheat and cotton and dust. You need to know what your allergies are (and realize they can change at various stages of your life) before making a major move based on allergies.

[roverchris]

You might want to think about this, like the previous replies. We're considering moving to Denver (I have an interview Friday) and the heat here might get a bit too much. 100+ w/high humidity is not fun. And allergies.....well, I take Flonase and I still have issues. Same with my wife. Just saying....

[djlora]

Thank you for the advise on the allergy subject guys. We have noticed that our allergies (My son and I) completelly disapered when we were in Orlando for one week, in Miami for four days and in the coast of Mexico for two weeks. For some reason, our allergies are gone in humid places and since we don't want to move further north I thought moving south to a more humid place would do us good. We are allergic to dust mites, grass, pine and cedar trees. Also, we both feel much better at lower altitude. I'm not worried about the heat and humidity, I actually love humid climate.

[FarNorthDallas]

I would go to Florida then. Dallas is horrible for allergies - one of the worst places in the country. Our climate is not like Orlando's or Miami's. They have a lot more humidity than Dallas does.

[Squirl]

you will have difficulty finding a good place to rent in your range in an area served by good schools unless you go to Arlington or maybe Garland (you'd have to research and find schools in those districts that are rated recognized or exemplary) or are able to enroll your kids (lottery system) in an uplift charter school...you can live anywhere you want if you kid is in a charter school, and they are public schools. Here are a couple of links, one about charter schools and the other you can use to look up schools' ratings. Good luck!

2009 Accountability Rating System
Uplift Education

[TurtleCreek80]

I agree with the pp's. Allergies here are really bad and transplants seem to suffer worse than people who were born here & are more "immune".

It is extremely windy here, which kicks up a lot of pollen, ragweed, etc.

It is also not as humid as you think.

If you are set on Texas, I'd recommend Houston, which is on the coast and has much more of a humid/tropical climate than Dallas. (Palm trees and all!). Houston also shares similar cost of living index to Dallas. Not sure about the allergy situation there though.

[djlora]

Now that I been getting all this info about allergies in Dallas I am going to re think my move and possibly research other places in Texas. Houston, perhaps.

[Lakewooder]

Maybe you should visit - my allergies are only a problem during a couple of weeks in the spring and fall. But then again I am a native - not immune but don't really suffer that much.