Relocation from NYC to Texas: Houston, Dallas, or Austin? (Plano: live, restaurants)

[Lakewooder]

For Dallas cool areas add East Dallas/Lakewood (between White Rock Lake and downtown). You can find some really cool laid-back neighborhoods like Junius Heights, Vickery Place, Cochran Heights, Hollywood Heights. It's also home to mansions on Swiss Avenue, Lakewood Blvd and surrounding streets, and the west shore of White Rock Lake. Deep Ellum/Expo Park/Fair Park is at the southern/eastern part of East Dallas -- very eclectic. Little Forest Hills at the southeast corner of the lake (across from the Dallas Arboretum) also has this vibe, as well as a few other sections of Far East Dallas.

[artsyguy]

I lived in Austin, Texas for one year in 2008 and it resembled Denton, Texas but less friendly and a lot more corrupted.

Originally Posted by cmacemm

Basically he's saying that both cities are denser than Austin. Austin isn't very big, and outside of the core, it looks like Denton, TX.



Because he is coming from the largest city in US. Moving to Austin was a huge shock to me, from Dallas. From NYC to Austin is a HUGE jump.

[artsyguy]

I was surprised to find out that even ultra-conservative Plano has interesting clubs. Even the shopping in Plano is better than anything in Austin. I am not kidding about this.

Try a European style pub - the Holy Grail Pub in Plano, Texas:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...www.google.com

Escape Coffee House is more of a whimsical art escape:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/uTGcJ...M78HmqszDD2nNg

Originally Posted by eepstein

?

Nightlife in Dallas is the best in the state without a doubt. I usually head to McKinney street to hang out with my friends, but over the past few months, we've actually been spending more time at some awesome clubs in west Plano. Yeah, Addison is pretty fun too!!

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by cmacemm

Basically he's saying that both cities are denser than Austin. Austin isn't very big, and outside of the core, it looks like Denton, TX.

he knows exactly what I am talking about he just wants to be difficult.

Because he is coming from the largest city in US. Moving to Austin was a huge shock to me, from Dallas. From NYC to Austin is a HUGE jump.

exactly. Going from NY to anywhere in Texas is gonna take some getting used to, but going from Houston to Austin was a shock to my senses so I can imagine the bigger shock to move from NY.

I guess it depends on the person I guess. If the OP is interested in the things that Austin offers then she won't have a problem, for me Austin lacked a lot of what I wanted so it was a shock to me.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

To clear up some MAJOR mis-informtion by Feconi, the in-town neighborhoods of Dallas are VERY densely populated for a non-Manhattan neighborhood.

Uptown Dallas (75204) - population density is 12,713 per square mile. Diversity is 40% white, 35% Hispanic, 15% black, 5% Asian, 3% Mixed/other. Not excactly lily white, as you claim!

Oak Lawn/ Turtle Creek (75219) - 12,734 density per square mile. 44% white, 30% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 6% black, 15% other/mixed.

M Streets/ Henderson Ave (75206) - 9,729 density per square mile. 53% White, 27% Hispanic, 4% black, 3% Asian, 13% other/mixed

For comparison, Brooklyn Heights is 32,000 per square mile. Forest Hills (Queens) is 28,300 per square mile. Riverdale (Bronx) is 40,000 per square mile. So for the in-town Dallas neighborhoods to be only 1/2 or 1/3 as dense as BK/QN/BX neighborhoods is really pretty dense. They aren't 1/100th as dense as Feconi would like to make you think. And not all NYC neighborhoods are 100,000 people per square mile like the Upper East Side or West Village are.

It is not NY but to me it certainly is an easier transition than Austin. Dallas and Austin pack in heaps more amenities than Austin does.

The secondary airports in either metro being busier than the Primary airport in Austin speaks volumes about the levels of life styles. lets not get into sports and other areas of entertainment other than Music and drinking.

[eepstein]

Well lately, I haven't been to our normal places in north dallas. It seems my buddies in Denton always get "lazy" and don't want to drive that far. So, we have been hanging out up at Legacy in Plano. Lately at Cru (this AWESOME wine bar), and a new place called Ringo's Pub that just opened 2-3 months ago. Love that area, but it's different than down in North Dallas. Although both area are extremely upscale, the population seems a tad snootier than Dallas. It works well for me though!

Originally Posted by artsyguy

I was surprised to find out that even ultra-conservative Plano has interesting clubs. Even the shopping in Plano is better than anything in Austin. I am not kidding about this.

Try a European style pub - the Holy Grail Pub in Plano, Texas:

Welcome to the Holy Grail Pub

Escape Coffee House is more of a whimsical art escape:
Photos for Escape | Yelp

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

The top 2 urban places in Texas is Central Austin and Inner Loop Houston (west of DT). The world view is much different in Austin vs. Houston. Austin is the provincial isolationist in its focus (due to being the government center of the state) and Houston is the cosmopolitan globalist in its focus (due to being the commercial center and the major seaport for the state). It's up to you to choose the attitude that suits your personality!

I am of the opinion that Dallas metro is more urban than Austin. Even in some of the burbs

Have you considered San Antonio? That's a much bigger city with a better commercial base only 80 miles away from Austin and more laid back without the over-the-top deviance in Austin. The terrain is more interesting, from flat in the inner city to gradually becoming hiller approaching the northern rim of suburbs.

actually if you look at what the OP is looking for Austin seems to be the better fit.

I don't think SA offers much by way of what the OP is looking for. I lived their for 4 years and its just not as happening as the other big cities.

[Lakewooder]

If he's looking for big city amenities plus the vibe of Austin then he would do well to go to the cooler neighborhoods of Dallas or Houston. I don't know if you can really say this about Montrose or the Heights in Houston, but when you are in North Oak Cliff or East Dallas/Lakewood, you get very localized and tend to forget that you are in one of the largest metros in the nation.

[homeinatx]

This thread would be hilarious if the boosterism weren't so tedious. The OP did not ask which city has the densest neighborhoods or the best big city amenities. He asked which city has a lively downtown - where he will be working, proximity to Nature, an alternative vibe and said that his favorite NYC neighborhoods were the East Village, the lower East Side and Greenpoint, Bklyn. These are not the neighborhoods in New York that have the world class art museums, the huge sports stadiums, the fanciest shopping or restaurants, but are the prime scruffy, hipster, late night, go see a band you have never heard of places. The answer is obviously Austin, which does not mean that Austin is more like NYC, or that Austin is better than Dallas or Houston. I would say for 80% of people Houston or Dallas would be better than Austin- and the relative size of the respective populations bears this out. If the O.P. had said he wanted high-end shopping, professional sports, and yuppie restaurants, and that his favorite NYC neighborhoods were Larchmont and La Rochelle in Westchester, or even Riverdale in the Bronx, the equally obvious answer would be Highland Park or Lakewood in Dallas. If he said his favorite neighborhoods in NYC were beachish communities like Far Rockaway: Kemah or Texas City in Houston would be obvious choices, or business and financial districts that are relatively quiet at night like Wall Street or Midtown in Manhattan, downtown Dallas or Houston would be better recommendations. ALL Texas cities feel very suburban compared to NYC, and if the O.P. is expecting to find something like the lower East Side here, he is in for a very nasty shock. He has been to Uptown Dallas and did not particularly care for it, and then half-witted boosters are suggesting McKinney Avenue, the heart of Uptown. And then just when you think it cannot get more retarded, Addison and Plano!!! Perfectly fine places, but NOTHING like what the O.P. is describing. The very reasons that the resident Austin bashers on this board, who seem to know google better than any of the cities they discuss, hate Austin, because its grungy, not high end enough, drunken bacchanalia etc, are the defining features of the NYC neighborhoods the O.P. likes best!! And eepstein - Cru - really??!!! the Starbucks of winebars - there is one much closer to you in Northwest Austin - from what the O.P. described this is exactly the kind of place he would have zero interest in. For what the O.P. is asking, downtown Austin and adjacent are the closest to what the O.P. has said he wants. He is not you or me. If we are going to helpful, we need to read a little more carefully and not drag a bunch of baggage into the discussion. Texas is interesting enough to have 6 fairly nice cities - unfortunately no fantastic ones for what I like in a city - no one is better than any other one across the board - they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Dallas does Dallas way better than Austin does Dallas. Austin does Austin better than Dallas does Austin. Houston does Houston better than Austin or Dallas and does Austin slightly better than Dallas but not as well as Austin does Austin. Why people have to have narcissistic injuries because one city may have more to offer in terms of the criteria of one potential relocatee is beyond me.

[artsyguy]

The Plano crowd is definitely snootier and more uptight than the Dallas crowd. Plano is an ultra-conservative city. Someone I know just recommended The Ginger Man Pub in Plano.

Originally Posted by eepstein

Well lately, I haven't been to our normal places in north dallas. It seems my buddies in Denton always get "lazy" and don't want to drive that far. So, we have been hanging out up at Legacy in Plano. Lately at Cru (this AWESOME wine bar), and a new place called Ringo's Pub that just opened 2-3 months ago. Love that area, but it's different than down in North Dallas. Although both area are extremely upscale, the population seems a tad snootier than Dallas. It works well for me though!