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My wife and I are originally from the Boston area, and we recently moved to Phoenix (specifically Chandler) because of a job opportunity; we also wanted to get out of the New England winters. However, my wife misses the landscape and scenery from the northeast and doesn't like the scenery here in the Phoenix area. She also says she'll miss the seasons, although we've only been here for a few months for the summer.
Nevertheless, we are looking to move. We're looking at both Dallas/Nashville and the surrounding areas. We're basically looking for somewhere where there's seasons, but not a lot of snow (I hate the stuff), good job prospects and low cost of living compared to the northeast (another reason we moved to AZ).
Just looking for some insight from people who have moved to these two cities, especially if you moved there from the Phoenix area, but any insight is helpful. Any specific insight on the scenery, job market, weather, cost of living, etc. would be great.
All have their ups and downs. Since your from Phoenix, Ill leave that out of the comparison. COL is similar in all three.
Dallas - It is the most diverse and international of the three. With that comes a wider variety of food and cultural activities. The job market there is one of the best in the US right now. Dallas and Austin don't feel oil downfalls the way the rest of the state does. Dallas has seasons though the winter is somewhat abbreviated. The downside to Dallas is that its not really located in a pretty setting and the outdoor activities are somewhat limited.
Nashville - I has the slowest pace of the three cities involved. It has more of a small town feel. The job market is going pretty strong up there as well. It is the coldest of the three cities and will receive the most frozen precipitation. It is in the hills/mountains, and they are very lush and green. The downside (for me) would be that it doesn't have the diversity that Phoenix much less Dallas does.
OP, how about you stick around through the winter. I guarantee your wife will be singing a different tune. lol Once she experiences our glorious winters, she might want to stick around after all. You can also take her on a few short drives into the mountains nearby. Four Peaks is a short driver away, and offers some nice woods up at higher elevations. The Toms Thumb hiking area in the McDowells in Scottsdale is also a beautiful hike.
Sounds like everywhere you move your wife will find a problem with it until utimately shes finds a problem with YOU.
My suggestion to you is go purchase you a nice pair of gore-tex boots with a fully insulated Eskimo coat with the fur in the hood .
I have a question for you......do you have a big thick beard and wear wire framed glasses and skinny jeans ?
I agree with BIG CATS - your wife really needs to spend November to April in Phoenix to understand its appeal. Once she does, I'm pretty sure she'll be singing different tune, too.
FWIW, winters in Dallas and Nashville are cold, icy and dead-looking compared to winters in Phoenix. Both of those cities are an upgrade from Boston in terms of winter weather, but not significantly so, IMO.
Also, the scenery in Dallas is pretty nondescript relative to many other parts of the country, in particular Phoenix, so that would be a huge downgrade, IMO. Dallas may be a little greener than Phoenix, but there's hardly any variation in the terrain, very few trees and the grass is brown for most of the summer and winter (i.e., half the year).
If you're Catholic, Jewish or non-religious like most urban New Englanders, the pervasive Evangelical Protestant culture of Nashville and especially Dallas may be a hard pill to swallow, too. Phoenix is just about the least religious major city in the country, so not much to worry about there on that front.
I agree with BIG CATS - your wife really needs to spend November to April in Phoenix to understand its appeal. Once she does, I'm pretty sure she'll be singing different tune, too.
FWIW, winters in Dallas and Nashville are cold, icy and dead-looking compared to winters in Phoenix. Both of those cities are an upgrade from Boston in terms of winter weather, but not significantly so, IMO.
Also, the scenery in Dallas is pretty nondescript relative to many other parts of the country, in particular Phoenix, so that would be a huge downgrade, IMO. Dallas may be a little greener than Phoenix, but there's hardly any variation in the terrain, very few trees and the grass is brown for most of the summer and winter (i.e., half the year).
If you're Catholic, Jewish or non-religious like most urban New Englanders, the pervasive Evangelical Protestant culture of Nashville and especially Dallas may be a hard pill to swallow, too. Phoenix is just about the least religious major city in the country, so not much to worry about there on that front.
I don't think you know anything about Dallas.
Not much of an upgrade from Boston in terms of winter? REALLY????
The pervasive Evangelical protestant culture? In a city thats mostly catholic and more religiously diverse than the other two cities? REALLY???
Not much of an upgrade from Boston in terms of winter? REALLY????
The pervasive Evangelical protestant culture? In a city thats mostly catholic and more religiously diverse than the other two cities? REALLY???
Too many uninformed people on this board.
I have to agree with you on the whole Boston/Dallas winter argument. That's pretty absurd, the winter in Dallas, while cold, is not on par with Boston. But I really wouldn't call Dallas a religiously diverse city. All three cities are not religiously diverse. Also Dallas is only 19 percent Catholic. 61 percent of Dallas is religious (which is higher than the national average of 48). It is also way higher than Phoenix which is 39 percent religious and Nashville which is 58 percent religious.
I used to live in Scottsdale, not sure if you've been to that part of phx but sounds like ur wife likes the finer things in life, so im guessing she's gonna enjoy scottsdale. Take her around the kierland mall, old town scottsdale and the scottsdale fashion center, she'll probably enjoy it. Tons of restaurants and shopping, far drive for ya'll but maybe moving to the other side of town saves you moving half way across the country. The winters are amazing and this is coming from someone who lives in Tampa now, nothing beats phx from october to april.
As far as Dallas, I lived there as well, it is a major metro area, lots to do, tons of employment opportunities, all 4 major sports, great food, pretty diverse, traffic is crazy if you live in the burbs and work uptown or downtown. If you make good money, no state income tax is great but rents are rising rapidly and so are home prices, which I know someone who owns a 300k home and pays 10k a yr in property taxes. Think about where you want to live and housing prices before you make the jump to Dallas, might not make sense financially.
Nashville is basically a smaller version of Austin, TX without as many high paying jobs. Much of the city revolves around music, not just country music. No state income tax but sales tax is crazy. As far as COL, might be slightly cheaper than phx and Dallas. Rents are rising there as well but nowhere near as bad as Dallas. Also, nowhere near the job opportunities as Dallas.
Your wife wants a scenery upgrade and you're considering Dallas?
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Be careful OP
