Smaller city vs the suburbs (Dallas, Abilene: schools, income, living)

[cm729]

I know most people would prefer to live close to where they work but are willing to commute for higher pay. I'm wondering if its worth it when there wouldn't be a sizeable difference in salary. For instance some suburban areas are almost as large as Abilene, Waco, Tyler - and offer lower rents, less traffic, etc. When I checked the Texas job bank (and I know this is ony one place) jobs I found had similar pay rates for Ft.W/Dallas and Abilene or Denton - big difference in rents though.

Maybe its better to just go to one of them if salary is only a bit lower and schools are good. I realize it might mean a distance for museums, airports, other city amenities. If you can get a cheaper cost of living though then I'd think you'd have more disposable income to do those things.

Out of those of you who've chosen either suburban or smaller city, maybe even tried both..what are your thoughts?

[C24L]

Ive tried both and i would choose smaller city.

[Arkay66]

Have lived in both. I prefer rural, where I grew up. It's quieter here. A fair number of folks around here commute to the city, but prefer living out here.

If you don't need much of what big cities offer, then smaller is probably better.

[Soonhun]

Small cities are better if you don't need big city amenities like airports, large minority populations, or variety of stores, local owned and chains. The only real downside I see is that a similar job is, between a random small city and a random suburb of a major city, easier to find in the suburb if a person is laid off or leaves a job for any other reason.

[ChristieP]

Many small towns only have a few major employers, so there are fewer jobs available. Many of the "good" jobs in smaller towns are occupied by the same person for literally decades until they retire. So, it may be very difficult for a newcomer to find a good job in a small town. If you get lucky and are able to find one, then I would much rather live in a small town.

I will say from my own personal experience, jobs in small towns do not pay as well as jobs in major cities. Yes, the notable exception to that is any position involving working in the west Texas oilfields.

[Mark Senior]

Original post of 2007 brought back from the dead to give C.D. ers, something to post about. But as poster who brought this thread back from the "dead, said c.d. encourages this, I bet he is right. Oh well. I too don't have anything to post about, see what I posted, useless, lol.

Think we will have weather tomorrow?