Quote:
Originally Posted by Pennydeva
Hi everyone,
As you can tell I'm a point of struggle and I need some advice. Let me give you'll some background. I grew up in the city but now I think I grew out of the city. I need a change. my career path is in Business Administration. The job market here is at it's worst and the rent, it's seem as if every month my rent goes up. I am thinking about Texas and I can't s to convince myself to make the move. I know it will be good thing for me because I don't have any kids and I can be flexible in my career. I would like to know where is the best place for a young, single, career oriented mutative woman like myself?
I'm a city girl with a country Harte.  Help me with my decision.
Dying to leave NYC.
Angel |
I lived in NY until I was 12, grew up in CA, and have been in TX for about 14 years. I live in the Mid-Cities -- a little west of DFW Airport, and northeast of Fort Worth. Circumstances brought me to Texas, but I like it a lot. The people are very friendly, job market's great, real estate is extremely affordable, and it's more spread out than NY and CA, so you don't feel as crowded and can find parking easily (I haven't had to parallel park once in the 14 years since I've been here -- all places have little parking lots in front of them).
When I first moved here from California, I missed the ocean. But I've grown to love the lakes here in North Texas, and my son and I have fond memories of camping at them over the years. One lake, Grapevine Lake, is just 15 minutes from my house, and is just gorgeous, and has great hike/bike trails. There are lots of other beautiful lakes nearby.
When I moved here 14 years ago, I missed the food and espresso drinks I had gotten used to in California. Then, a year or two after I moved here, the place started being transformed as masses of people moved here from the north because of the job market. Now you can find good food and coffee just about anywhere.
Fort Worth is growing, and its museums are some of the best in the country. Sundance Square, the heart of Fort Worth, is a little area with shops and restaurants that was renovated some years back, and is a nice place go and hang out, without all the crowds and noise. They recently built some apartments or condominiums in Sundance Square, so it's possible to live right there, which is nice.
Outside of downtown there are some nice communities where you can get very affordable housing. Northeast of Fort Worth (where I live) is mostly suburban. To the northwest are smaller, more countryish towns. So you can find just about whatever you're looking for.
Dallas is nice, and has, of course, many shops, restaurants, theaters, etc. But it's also more crowded and closed in (and more expensive).
Where I live, the Mid Cities, is called that because it's about halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth. A lot of single career people live here (along with a lot of families) because it's easy to hop on a freeway and go in different directions (three freeways -- one to Dallas, on to Fort Worth, and one to North Dallas -- meet here). Either Bedford or Hurst works for that (Euless, also in the Mid-Cities, is east of the freeway interchange, so doesn't work as well for having access to the three freeways that join here). Arlington (Rangers and Cowboys play there, and Six Flags and other amusement parks there) is also a hop, skip, and a jump away, just about 10 minutes to the south of where I am.
So I like Fort Worth and the areas around it, and I think it's a great place to live. The schools are very good, too, in case you move here and settle down and have kids here.
To be fair, and to give you fair warning, the things I hate about living here:
1) Summer temperatures. July and August -- forget about it! Most days a least 100 degress. Fortunately not as humid as NY; but still very hard to do anything outside.
2) Mosquitos. Forget about it! During the summer it's hard to sit outside for too long (at least it is for me). Can't stand the buggers.
3) Fire ants. Lots of fire ants here, so you have to watch where you walk (OK, it's not that bad - they're not everywhere; still, you gotta watch out for the buggers.)
4) Stickers. Not the kind you put on your notebook as a girl, but the kind that grow in the grass and make it difficult to walk without shoes on. Most places have grass that's sticker-free; but if you walk somewhere that just has grass growing naturally, you have to watch out for those guys.
So I guess that's about it. Beats muggers I guess, right? And, seriously, for like $100K-$200K you can get a nice house.
Good luck with everything!
Neil
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
Dying to leave NYC!
Linear Mode
