Houston vs. Vegas vs. Atlanta vs. Dallas Please HELP!!! (Austin: foreclosure, high crime) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

KylaY12345 · 06-27-2010, 01:49 PM

Hello Dallas. I currently live in Cleveland, OH and am looking to get out ASAP. I am sick and tired of Cleveland and worst of all there is no place to find work. My husband was a cable technician and I worked as an administrative assistant most of my life. I am currently exploring three cities for different reasons. Oh by the way I am married with two girls ages 9 and 5.

I think Vegas is beautiful but I hear the schools are very awful. Plus locals complain there is no work. However I went to Vegas and found a job temporary very fast.

Atlanta is atlanta. My family is there and although I am not a fan of the traffic my family is there. I also here that it is very hard to find a job here also and that in most places not all the schools are horrible.

Then there is Houston. I don't have any family here but I have heard good things about Houston especially job wise.

Then there is Dallas. i don't know much about Dallas but must admit when I saw it on tv doing the NBA all-star game I believe, it looked like a great city.

Please HELP Dallas with non-bias opinions. I would really appreciate as I am looking to move within the next month.

MxL · 06-27-2010, 03:50 PM

I have no bias towards any of those cities being from Michigan -- I'll just tell you what I know from researching myself and from visiting a couple of them (I've been to Vegas and Houston). Others here can help you more, but here goes...

ATLANTA: I don't recommend Atlanta -- From what I've read, there are a number of high crime areas and traffic is worse than most places. I don't know too much about it, but I've never come away with a positive impression while reading/researching about possible places to move.

HOUSTON: I visited there a few times and like it. My wife and I were very close to moving there two years ago, but we changed our minds at the last minute (not to move elsewhere, but to stay in our home town). It's a nice city and we would be happy to live there. CONS - weather is very humid for a large part of the year and the humidity is very very heavy; highway traffic can be a problem if your commute is long; not as polished visually as other cities, yet there are some really nice areas. PROS - very good shopping; fantastic restaurants; some very nice suburbs if you don't want to live in the city; nice people; intuitive road systems (found it easy to pick up on the routes). Cost of living is fantastic for such a large city with a lot of things to do.

DALLAS: I'll defer to the experts as I'm still trying to learn more myself, but so far I LOVE the sound of it. Seems to have most (if not all) of the positives of Houston, but goes beyond.

LAS VEGAS: The schools are terrible, the edu. system there is pathetic (terrible funding). Crime is bad too. It's a tourist city. The economy depends on people coming there with disposable income, so it is easily affected by economic struggles. Housing is expensive. Henderson is probably the best option if you really want to be close to Vegas. I say visit often, but don't stay.

LV702 · 06-27-2010, 04:15 PM

I recently moved from Las Vegas to Dallas.

The state, county, school district, and city are all broke.

Harry Reid is from there too.

That should be enough reasons to want to avoid it.

VegasMan_72 · 06-27-2010, 04:29 PM

I'm from Vegas too and recently moved here. I agree with you on everything else but will proudly be mailing my vote for Harry Reid. Harry has done a lot for our state.

KylaY12345 · 06-27-2010, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MxL

I have no bias towards any of those cities being from Michigan -- I'll just tell you what I know from researching myself and from visiting a couple of them (I've been to Vegas and Houston). Others here can help you more, but here goes...

ATLANTA: I don't recommend Atlanta -- From what I've read, there are a number of high crime areas and traffic is worse than most places. I don't know too much about it, but I've never come away with a positive impression while reading/researching about possible places to move.

HOUSTON: I visited there a few times and like it. My wife and I were very close to moving there two years ago, but we changed our minds at the last minute (not to move elsewhere, but to stay in our home town). It's a nice city and we would be happy to live there. CONS - weather is very humid for a large part of the year and the humidity is very very heavy; highway traffic can be a problem if your commute is long; not as polished visually as other cities, yet there are some really nice areas. PROS - very good shopping; fantastic restaurants; some very nice suburbs if you don't want to live in the city; nice people; intuitive road systems (found it easy to pick up on the routes). Cost of living is fantastic for such a large city with a lot of things to do.

DALLAS: I'll defer to the experts as I'm still trying to learn more myself, but so far I LOVE the sound of it. Seems to have most (if not all) of the positives of Houston, but goes beyond.

LAS VEGAS: The schools are terrible, the edu. system there is pathetic (terrible funding). Crime is bad too. It's a tourist city. The economy depends on people coming there with disposable income, so it is easily affected by economic struggles. Housing is expensive. Henderson is probably the best option if you really want to be close to Vegas. I say visit often, but don't stay.

Thanks for the feedback. I am hearing alot about Dallas also being better then Houston so I also am trying to get some better feedback as to teh better area. I also have heard bad things about Atlanta. I have a friend who lives in Henderson who says the schools aren't great but she tries to make the best of it. I was slightly detoured from Vegas because of the fact that it is a tourist city and basically if the economy goes under so does people's recreation. Atl has a place in my heart because family is there but I also agree that it isn't the best. So I guestt it's HOuston or Dallas. Thanks for the help.

KylaY12345 · 06-27-2010, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LV702

I recently moved from Las Vegas to Dallas.

The state, county, school district, and city are all broke.

Harry Reid is from there too.

That should be enough reasons to want to avoid it.

LOL on the Harry Reid thing. All i know is I was working at Medco in Vegas and he came to visit. Everyone went crazy. But I do hear the school are a serious joke.

tigervegas · 06-27-2010, 06:20 PM

Id like to chime in regarding Las Vegas with personal experience. Housing is now actually very affordable. The home I bought for 382K in 2005 is now worth about 210K. I still own it because I cant sell it. Vegas has been the poster child for foreclosure. Housing will be cheap there for several years to come.

The economy there has been closely linked to the gaming and construction industries. Construction came to a grinding halt about 3 years ago and gaming has suffered as well with the recession. Tons of unemployment. This helped fuel the foreclosure crisis there. Funny thing is that Vegas has always been recession proof until this go round. In the past, Vegas has done BETTER during recessions.

Crime is bad.

Schools are worse.

On a positive note, Its the entertainment capital of the universe. I loved the weather. Its close to lots of cool cities like San Diego.

Willsson · 06-27-2010, 09:10 PM

I would just say that if you're considering a move to Texas versus a choice that isn't Texas then pre-empt the option to make a bad choice by choosing the non-Texas winner.

That is, there's been tooooo many people decide to move to Texas and then decide it's a hell hole, but they're stuck. You know, like moved without a job, spent all their savings and momma and daddy ain't coming to bail their butts outta town.

So, if you don't KNOW you WANT to move to Texas then you better consider pretty heavily your opportunity to make the mistake of your life.

Good luck!

LV702 · 06-27-2010, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VegasMan_72

I'm from Vegas too and recently moved here. I agree with you on everything else but will proudly be mailing my vote for Harry Reid. Harry has done a lot for our state.

So you just admitted to committing voter fraud?

Lwatson09 · 06-28-2010, 05:46 AM

Coming from Cleveland, I think you will thoroughly enjoy either Houston OR Dallas...They are both world class cities with impressive downtown districts and urban uptown areas. They both offer very affordable suburbs with $150-600k "McMansions", and very expensive ($1M+) inner-city housing depending on your income. Also, just like any other city of such magnitude, slums/ghettos do exist in both cities. The Dallas metroplex is larger with short drives to Arlington/Fort Worth, however Houston is much closer to beaches if that is your thing (and if you can handle the humidity). A lot of people will try to pursuade you to move to 'liberal' Austin, and I agree, it is a great/vibrant city, but housing is a lot less affordable there for what the city has to offer.

Whatever your choice, I believe you will be quite impressed.

(PS: I live in Arlington and have quite a bit of family in Houston area)