Considering a job offer in Texas. First time moving alone. I really could use some advice. (Houston: apartment, skateboarding)

[DevonHardy]

Hey guys! I'm 20 (21 next month) and I recently got potential job offer in DFW, specially in North Richland Hills and I had a couple of questions before moving forward with the offer process.

I visited for a few days earlier this week however I wasn't able to get a sense of how things are. I did get the impression that people are very nice though !

So before I decide to pack up my stuff and move 1k miles (coming from GA) away from my family, I'd like to know your opinions on these categories:

Weather:
Entertainment:
Girls:
Dating: Are girls open to interracial dating, because I'm black?
Making friends:
Malls and shopping:
Things to do:
Overall quality of life for a young adult:

Also what are some other things I should know? Any tips and advice are greatly appreciated!

[bringamac92]

Originally Posted by DevonHardy

Hey guys! I'm 20 (21 next month) and I recently got potential job offer in DFW, specially in North Richland Hills and I had a couple of questions before moving forward with the offer process.

I visited for a few days earlier this week however I wasn't able to get a sense of how things are. I did get the impression that people are very nice though !

So before I decide to pack up my stuff and move 1k miles (coming from GA) away from my family, I'd like to know your opinions on these categories:

Weather:We have 4 seasons lol but we joke about having 2. Summer and Winter seem everlasting here, spring and fall don't last long enough.
Entertainment:Atlanta Metro and DFW metro have roughly the same population size but there is WAY WAY more to do here. You can find it all but you will need to specify what exactly your are looking for.
Girls: More diversity than the ATL, I say this with all due respect. I lived in Atlanta and it seemed you were either Black or white, and it seemed there were more blacks than anything else. We have a huge Hispanic population as well as Asian.
Dating: Are girls open to interracial dating, because I'm black? Dude? seriously? AS long as you live in the city you will be fine. avoid small towns outside of the major cities. Not that they would do anything to you, but they will let it be known that they ain't too fond of you dating their kin.
Making friends: That's on you, there are various clubs or social org's, teams, even companies that focus on "Friend Making"
Malls and shopping: Way too many places to shop. Look at this way, pick a suburb or a city, and google shopping center or mall. We have too many too list.
Things to do: What do you like to do?
Overall quality of life for a young adult: Awesome. But my advice, either do Dallas or Fort Worth or live close to a University be it TCU, or SMU or UTA. North Richland hills is a BLAND suburb.

Also what are some other things I should know? Any tips and advice are greatly appreciated!

Good luck and welcome!!!

[DevonHardy]

Originally Posted by bringamac92

Good luck and welcome!!!

Thanks man! Reading this made me more excited!

> Things to do: What do you like to do?

I'm getting back into skateboarding and playing guitar, but for the most part I come from a small town so there's never been that much to do so Idk.

> Awesome. But my advice, either do Dallas or Fort Worth or live close to a University be it TCU, or SMU or UTA. North Richland hills is a BLAND suburb.

I wish, but the office I'll be working at is in NRH and I'll be without a car for a few months so I'm stuck lol

[ChristieP]

Being without a car in NRH isn't going to work. There is NO public transit in NRH at all. You are going to be stuck riding a bike, walking, or bumming rides off coworkers. NRH is a very suburban place, and it's really not walkable at all.

[DevonHardy]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Being without a car in NRH isn't going to work. There is NO public transit in NRH at all. You are going to be stuck riding a bike, walking, or bumming rides off coworkers. NRH is a very suburban place, and it's really not walkable at all.

Yep, that's what I thought. But, apparently if I do end up taking the job I'll be able to afford a car in about 3 months. So I guess I have to tough it out haha

[ChristieP]

I hope you can find both an apartment and grocery store within walking distance of your office. That's actually a pretty tough order in the suburbs. Just know that you're going to spend a lot of weekends sitting around the apartment with nothing to do.

For what you will spend on Uber to go out on weekends, or cab rides to and from the grocery store, you could easily afford a cheap car payment. Just saying...

[Niciklin]

Welcome to the DFW metroplex! I am a sister, married with children, and have lived in this area all my life. I was in college at TCU at your age, and it was very easy to have a social life in Fort Worth, because of great places to meet up with friends like Sundance Square, movie theaters downtown, restaurants, museums, music venues and such. Trinity Park is a great place to skate, bike, hit the food truck park, and enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately, other than city parks which are lovely, you won't find much like this in NRH, or surrounding suburbs. If you can bide your time living in NRH for a little while, I would suggest saving for a move to downtown Fort Worth, where there is a bit more social life and culture. Much of getting to know people here happens at churches, so if you're so inclined, find a college or singles group at the congregation near where you decide to live, and you'll get to know people quickly. Good luck!

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

For what you will spend on Uber to go out on weekends, or cab rides to and from the grocery store, you could easily afford a cheap car payment. Just saying...

Or move to another city that isn't car dependent. There aren't many cities in America to choose from though. New York (Manhattan), Chicago, and San Francisco come to mind.

Having a car is expensive, but being stranded while it is in the mechanic's shop for repairs sucks! No bus means sitting in the waiting room or being forced to eat lunch at a restaurant within walking distance (not where/what you wanted to eat) sucks! Having access to the bus means that you can go home without bumming for a ride if it needs to spend the night for repair or finish (some/most/all) your errands for the day.

[FJB327]

Originally Posted by DevonHardy

Hey guys! I'm 20 (21 next month) and I recently got potential job offer in DFW, specially in North Richland Hills and I had a couple of questions before moving forward with the offer process.

I visited for a few days earlier this week however I wasn't able to get a sense of how things are. I did get the impression that people are very nice though !

So before I decide to pack up my stuff and move 1k miles (coming from GA) away from my family, I'd like to know your opinions on these categories:

Weather:
Entertainment:
Girls:
Dating: Are girls open to interracial dating, because I'm black?
Making friends:
Malls and shopping:
Things to do:
Overall quality of life for a young adult:

Also what are some other things I should know? Any tips and advice are greatly appreciated!

Weather: Sucks in the summer, Sucks right now, Probably will suck in January thru March
Entertainment: Tier 1 metro, You can find any sort of entertainment you want in this metro

Girls: Tier 1, the women here are nice. They really know what to do to trap a guy. Cook for you, clean for you, treat you right. Very approachable.

Dating: I'm black too. Short answer, Yes. I'm willing to bet it's more Latina women with black men than any other racial group with black men. But white women are definitely down for us too. Some of them might not be. It's a numbers game though. You will find ones that are down. There's so many latinas that love black men that I haven't really spent much time trying to date white women.

Making friends: Meh, people are flakey here. A lot of it may be due to traffic but you will make friends if you are outgoing. They're not just going to come to you.

Malls and shopping: You will have no problems. There's malls and shopping everywhere.

Things to do: Again, It's the 4th largest metro in the country behind NY,LA,Chi. You can do almost anything out here. As long as you don't expect to go to the beach, go mountain climbing, or go skiing. If you are into gambling, casinos are an hour away.

Overall quality of life: That's in the eye of the beholder. It is what you make it. Quality of life is good. Low cost of living. I think you'll have fun out here. I'm not a native Texan and I really like it here. I think I enjoy Houston more b/c I'm originally from the south and I'm a beach person. Dallas doesn't feel as southern to me and there's no beach for hours. Also Houston feels more cosmo and I just feel more accepted as a black man in Houston's metro. I haven't experienced any overt racism in DFW. It's just more bipolar than Houston. Houston is so diverse. Different races are living amongst eachother all over Houston. In DFW, most blacks are in the southern burbs of both counties. SW Dallas County, Mansfield, Arlington, Grand Prairie. You'll have snooty privileged people in the northern burbs. I'd commute to NRH from Arlington if I were you. It's a very diverse city, close to everything, and has great entertainment options.

[whatever20102015]

Originally Posted by DevonHardy

Hey guys! I'm 20 (21 next month) and I recently got potential job offer in DFW, specially in North Richland Hills and I had a couple of questions before moving forward with the offer process.

I visited for a few days earlier this week however I wasn't able to get a sense of how things are. I did get the impression that people are very nice though !

So before I decide to pack up my stuff and move 1k miles (coming from GA) away from my family, I'd like to know your opinions on these categories:

Weather:
Entertainment:
Girls:
Dating: Are girls open to interracial dating, because I'm black?
Making friends:
Malls and shopping:
Things to do:
Overall quality of life for a young adult:

Also what are some other things I should know? Any tips and advice are greatly appreciated!

PLEASE do not move here, i moved in from LA, for reasons i wasn't old enough to understand, i didn't have a choice, and am moving back asap.

not trying to be negative but based on the things you like, skateboarding, and music, you'd LOVE it in California, the weather, women, culture, lifestyle and variety are SO much better. albeit expensive, i don't know what kind of career you have, but if you make a good living you may want to consider moving to LA.

i'm sorry but the DFW Metroplex (which NRH is essentially in) is so boring and uncultured, there's a reason these cities rank so high on boring lists. no disrespect just my 2 cents, anyone can take it or leave it.