Dallas, Austin, or Tampa? (neighborhoods, university, live)

[burlshoe114]

Tampa is fun to visit, but unless you are part of the grey-haired senior set, you will eventually feel out of place. But it has great Greek food!

[jkozlow3]

I agree with the Tampa comments. I lived there between 2003-2005. It's a dead city with no soul/vibe or downtown for that matter. Downtown has a handful of office buildings (nothing more) and is a ghost town after 5pm. Pretty poor job market and the people are not friendly. I've never been to a place where people do EVERYTHING in their power to keep you from changing lanes or merging onto the highway during rush hour. For example, I've never lived in LA or Seattle, but I've spent time on their busy highways during rush hour and the people were not nearly as rude as Tampa drivers from what I saw.

I'm in the IT field also considering relocating to Dallas or Austin (which is why I'm here) and am leaning toward Dallas right now. However, I have never been to either - just doing tons of reading right now. Austin's IT market seems pretty weak right now from what I've read and I think I'd prefer a bigger city with big city amenities anyway. Fortunately, I'll be working from "home" with my current employer so I'll be able to spend a few months looking for something better after relocating.

[eepstein]

Uptown Dallas is a great area! Tons of great places to eat and lots of museums and cool things to see. I would agree with Artsguy about the mini hillbilly country. Just south of Dallas, there is a large area of rolling hills and lakes which is lots of fun for hiking and exploring. Towns like Duncanville and Desoto and rapidly expanding and offer affordable housing.

Yeah man, avoid Austin at all costs. Don't know much about Tampa so i can't really comment on that area.


[

[ozzyblue]

Thanks everyone for your responses!! We will put Lakewood back on our list. Lakewood is beautiful, I love it down that way. We prefer to stay south of 635 but no further south past downtown or N. OC. We checked out N. OC last year and although we loved the historic homes and abundance of trees, we were not impressed with the outskirts of the area. It seemed a little run down and not well taken care of. Maybe we were in the wrong area of N. Oak Cliff? I'm not sure, but we crossed it off our list. As for Tampa, I've done some research and besides the beautiful beaches and great weather, I'm not sure if it would be a good fit for our family. My heart tells me to stay here and move to Dallas, but my husband still wants to check out Tampa.

I tell him to read about what is going on with Dallas right now vs. Tampa or even Austin. Downtown Dallas is going through major renovations and we would certainly be in the right place at the right time once it's all complete. I've looked at pics of the future of Dallas, and it is absolutely amazing, the city won't even be recognizable. I'm excited about that!!

[sxrckr]

If it were me I would avoid Tampa for now. Florida's economy is not doing well, and doesn't Tampa have a higher crime rate than anything in Texas?

After that, I'd go where you get a job first. Austin or Dallas. You might also check into Houston, they have lots of IT jobs in the medical and energy industries over there and a growing urban center. All of the major Texas cities have good economies and projected high growth.

[jkozlow3]

Originally Posted by eepstein

Uptown Dallas is a great area! Tons of great places to eat and lots of museums and cool things to see. I would agree with Artsguy about the mini hillbilly country. Just south of Dallas, there is a large area of rolling hills and lakes which is lots of fun for hiking and exploring. Towns like Duncanville and Desoto and rapidly expanding and offer affordable housing.

Yeah man, avoid Austin at all costs. Don't know much about Tampa so i can't really comment on that area.

Just curious why you say avoid Austin at all costs? I'm in the same boat as the OP and am leaning toward Dallas myself, but I'm curious as to why you feel so strongly against Austin? Thanks!

[jread]

Anything but Tampa. As the others have said, it's pretty soulless for the most part... it's just a town by the water. If nothing else, the oppressive humidity there was enough to make me never want to go back.

[nomore07]

There is no real IT market in Austin to speak of, certainly nothing like DFW. Keep your jobs.

[jkozlow3]

Originally Posted by nomore07

There is no real IT market in Austin to speak of, certainly nothing like DFW. Keep your jobs.

Good to know.

[texasdiver]

Tampa is one of the most vulnerable cities in the US to catastrophic hurricane damage. The shallowness of the Gulf and the funnel-shape of Tampa Bay mean that Tampa is perfectly situated for a Katrina-level disaster.

And yes, it is a soulless as the other posters have said. My wife and I explored the area last spring with an eye to relocation and quickly came to our senses. Basically there's no "there" there. Think Arlington and the mid-cities area without Dallas and Fort Worth.

I really couldn't think of any place in Florida worth relocating to if your objective is to establish a career and raise a family.

I second the other comments. Dallas is a big place. Look closer to home and you'll find your niche.