moving to dallas ft.worth have questions (Phoenix, Scottsdale: real estate, crime rate)

[cesparza1]

My family and I are considering a move to the metroplex. I cant seem to find anyone there that has moved from Arizona to answer my questions, I have decided to look here for some people from that area that have moved here that might be able to tell me what I can Expect out there. So if you lived In the Dallas? Ft. Worth area in the recent past maybe you can tell me what its like.
I understand that real estate i quite a bit more affordable, but prop. taxes are also quite a bit higher as well.
What I would like to is, What can I expect in the way of weather,(tornadoes)
are the people out there generaly friendly, what ares I should look at purchasing a home. We woukd be looking in the 190-265,000 range.
Im a contractor for home depot and lowes, how the economy (housing)
is out in that area?
what part of town i should stay away from, and what to do for fun out there.
whether your happy with your move from texas to arizona or if you wish you were back there.
Im looking for any info I can get
PLEASE HELP!

[foma]

I lived in Dallas as a child and through college so you can get a feel for my perspective. Yes, housing is affordable and property taxes are more expensive. However, Texas does not have state taxes. I think in the end, it all evens out though.

Weather is decent. Summers are humid, winters are nice. Humidity is something you'll have to get used to but you won't get 120 degree weather. Maybe 105 range but that is rare and usually not consecutive. It may snow in Dallas but nothing too scary. I lived in Texas all my life and never once saw a Tornadoe.

I would say people are generally friendly. I think with any large metropolitan city you will get a variety of folks but I dont' think I ever had any major problems anywhere.

Things to do ... I think there is plenty. The Texas State Fair also takes place in Dallas every year so be sure and check it out! Lots of shopping ... The Galleria and Grapevine Mills mall. Several others, too. Good bars in the Greenville area. There's also a light rail that takes you directly into downtown.

Areas to live ... that depends on what you're looking for? Generally speaking, Richardson, Plano, Irving are pretty good areas for families. There are goods and bads so do your research. If you are single, uptown is pretty sweet and the Mockingbird Station area is nice. It's all really close to SMU (my alma matter!) so you get a lot of the college crowd there. Highland Park is also around there, too, though I think it may be out of your price range. That's "old money". There's a German restaurant/grocery store in Highland Park called "Kuby's". Good stuff, premium meats. Definitely check it out!

Oak Cliff is bad bad bad. Stay away from there. I hear it's getting better and I haven't been back in 6 years so I could be wrong. Generally speaking, find real estate in north Dallas. Ft. Worth isn't too bad but the commute will be far if you drive to Dallas everyday. Arlington is also a decent area.

I am of course partial to Texas. Eventually hubby and I will move back to Texas but we like Arizona, too. Good luck and feel free to ask me any more questions.

[lukeache]

Dallas is just a tad bit better than Phoenix. Both cities are extremely cultureless and sterile. The only advantages that I see in moving is escaping this oppressive Arizona heat and going to something a bit milder(although the Dallas humid heat sucks too). As far as jobs, Dallas has a much better job market than Phoenix, but the problems are similar, both cities have a relatively high crime rate and problems with illegal immigration. Both cities are very similar in the sense that they are boring places with little culture or things to do. Plano, Texas(a suburb of Dallas) is like a carbon copy of Scottsdale, same kind of people, same kind of BS..if you are miserable in Phoenix, you will probably be miserable in Dallas..these two cities are very similar in many aspects.

[CheyDee]

I am a native New Yorker, from Queens/Long Island. I moved to North Dallas in 1999 and then to AZ in 2005.

NY is a fabulous place to live. From there, I traveled here and there through many parts of the US and was always happy to return home. Many places I considered to be a "nice place to visit, but wouldn't want to live there". When I got to Dallas though, I thought: OMG, this place is GREAT and I do want to live here! Thus the relocation

IMHO, Dallas is full of culture and fun things to do. I was never bored; something was always going on. The only things I missed were the proximity of the beach being 10 minutes away, fresh, catch-of-the-day seafood, and the ability to hop on a train and see a true Broadway show. (No place compares to Broadway.) I found, for the most part, people were exceptionally friendly and southern-style hospitality abounded.

As another poster referenced, the State Fair of TX is there every year, which is the best state fair I've ever gone to. It was an annual "must go to". There are parks such as Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor in Arlington/Grand Prairie, which are close by. There are tons of museums, a couple of excellent opera houses, a great symphony hall, the Dallas Zoo and the Ft. Worth Zoo - the latter of which is even better than the former, and aquariums, and plenty of night life. There is a House of Blues, Billy-Bobs, the Summer Musicals (with productions featuring national touring companies), film centers and assorted theatres. A couple of unique, local places to visit are the Book Depository Museum and assorted Conspiracy Museums, as well as the Ft. Worth Stockyards. There are botanical gardens and arboretums, galleries, great shopping districts with boutiques, numerous malls, and excellent fine restaurants. There are also well renowned hospitals, such as Baylor University Medical Center and Parkland Memorial Hospital, and well respected colleges and universities. There are also the Dallas Cowboys and Stars, the Texas Rangers, and the Mavericks, right there.

For weekend getaways there are places such as San Antonio (and the Riverwalk), Houston (and the Space Center), Galveston (not my favorite beach, but many do like it), and Corpus Christi (which has a much nicer beach, IMHO). Each are much closer to the DFW metroplex than San Diego is to the Valley. There are many quaint towns and villages just a couple of hours away. For a day away there are places to go such as Canton, which has a huge outdoor flea market.

The DFW metroplex gets four seasons and there is plenty of beautiful greenery to admire. Winters are not harsh, although you may get see occasional snow or ice. (The snow does not last more than a day though.) Many people I knew did not even own a true winter coat and I seldom saw anyone wearing gloves or a hat. Summers are humid, but are truly only a couple of months long. I do remember it occasionally hitting over 110 degrees, but it did not happen every summer and did not last more than a few days. (One summer, a year or two before I moved there, however, they did have 47 consecutive days of 110+ degree weather. It was so odd that it had made national news.) Spring and fall are glorious. The DFW metroplex is, however, in tornado alley. While I never actually saw a tornado, I do remember the center of Ft. Worth seeing some activity. Conditions could become ripe during any season at any hour, but spring is the most common, particularly during the very late afternoon/early evening hours in spring.

Like most other cities, there are good areas. (many of which are pristine in appearance), and crime-ridden areas which resemble slums. Dallas and Ft. Worth have many areas which are lovely, as is much of the surrounding areas. As I mentioned, I lived in North Dallas (which is a great area), near the Addison border (another great area). I would have also enjoyed living in parts of Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Rockwall, Rowlett, Wylie, Ft. Worth, Keller, Mansfield, Kennedale, and Colleyville just to name a few. Personally, I would describe Dallas proper as urban, although North Dallas and the surrounding areas are more suburban and Ft. Worth is more "cowboy".

Unique to Texas, there is am extreme sense of pride that I did not observe in other places. Some Texans actually decorate part of their homes in "Texas" (where they may mount Texas Stars on walls, for example). It is not uncommon to see someone wearing a shirt emblazoned with the State Flag, nor is it unusual to see someone wearing, for example, earrings shaped like the state itself. Most Texans I've met consider themselves Texans first and Americans second. In other states, Americans considered themselves Americans first. I also found Texans, for the most part, to be quite well versed in the history of their state, which is something I did not observe in abundance in other areas I have been.

I found salaries in DFW to be lower than NY, but much higher than in AZ for comparable employment. As mentioned by another poster, there is no State Income Tax, which made the take home pay comparable to NY's. Property taxes in TX are considerably higher than AZ, but the difference in take home pay and cost of living (other than property tax), seemed to more than compensate for it. Additionally, you get far more house for the money (in very good areas) there than here.

I live in the Valley because older family lives here and I wanted to be closer than a plane ride away. I am not going to spend paragraphs bashing it, but I will say I do not like it here. When I no longer have a need to live here, I definitely plan to return to Dallas!

[foma]

Wow, what a great post there Chey. I laughed when you mentioned "Some Texans decorate part of their homes in 'Texas'" because my MIL has a "Texas Room". It's the guest bedroom and absolutely delightful. She has her son's (who is my husband) old cowboy boots and hats as decor now. It's really cute!

Yes, there is a LOT of Texas pride. I enjoyed reading your post!

[CheyDee]

Originally Posted by foma

Wow, what a great post there Chey. I laughed when you mentioned "Some Texans decorate part of their homes in 'Texas'" because my MIL has a "Texas Room". It's the guest bedroom and absolutely delightful. She has her son's (who is my husband) old cowboy boots and hats as decor now. It's really cute!

Yes, there is a LOT of Texas pride. I enjoyed reading your post!

Thank you so much! Can you tell I love Texas?

[foma]

lol ... yeah, Texas is a strange state. You either love it or you hate it. I'm not friends with anybody that "hates it" though!

[oppster]

If you move to the Metroplex you will become acquainted with something that you do not generally have in Arizona, namely humidity. The summers are worse here because of it. I am a native Texan and have not been affected by a tornado so it is not that big of a deal. The Metroplex is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and has a better diverse economy. There is no state income tax in Texas and the cost of living is very reasonable. Texas is very much in the bible belt and is every bit as conservative as Arizona. You're better off staying in Arizona...I'm leaving Texas for good.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by foma

Wow, what a great post there Chey. I laughed when you mentioned "Some Texans decorate part of their homes in 'Texas'" because my MIL has a "Texas Room". It's the guest bedroom and absolutely delightful. She has her son's (who is my husband) old cowboy boots and hats as decor now. It's really cute!

What's cute to some is cheesy/tacky to others.

[twiggy]

I always heard from people that Texas was worse than Phoenix. But after this thread I won't be so quick to judge.