Living downtown Dallas? Is it safe? or does downtown have a crime problem? (Austin: apartment, rent)

[RockhetHD]

I may move to dallas soon, thinking of a place downtown, is downtown Dallas as safe as downtown Austin?

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by RockhetHD

I may move to dallas soon, thinking of a place downtown, is downtown Dallas as safe as downtown Austin?

It's safe, it's just not very populated and still lacking in basic amenities (grocery store, choice of dry cleaners, etc). Around 6,000 people live in actual downtown Dallas (bounded by Woodall Rogers, 45, 30, & 35). Many thousands more live in the neighborhoods circling downtown - Uptown, Deep Ellum, M Streets, Knox-Henderson, The Cedars/ Southside, Design District, Oak Lawn, North Oak Cliff/ Bishop Arts/ Kessler Park. If you want to live "in the city" and near the action, all of those neighborhood are great choices and no more than 2 miles from downtown.

[GreyDay]

just don't get stuck in a dance-off between the Jets and the Sharks...

[dallas90210]

I used to work in downtown for years, and I was there during the week most of the time and once in a while on the weekends. It is a superb place to work, but an AWFUL place to live.

- Too many homeless people. Most adult homeless people are made up of ex-cons and folks with psychiatric problems, and they wonder the streets of downtown all the time. Sounds like fun, eh? And they seem to stand out even more on the weekends as there are virtually no business people there.
- Almost all restaurants close on the weekends
- No gas station
- No grocery store
- There is little night life or "places to go" in the immediate area if you are single (most of it is on the outer edges of downtown, or elsewhere in Dallas - the west end, uptown, deep ellum, lower greenville, etc)
- Plus the rent is usually outrageous for what you get

If I were single or had no kids (aka schools did not matter), I would live in Uptown or Deep Ellum in a second - or even better some place like the Village Apts a few miles up Highway 75. But not downtown.

Originally Posted by RockhetHD

I may move to dallas soon, thinking of a place downtown, is downtown Dallas as safe as downtown Austin?

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by dallas90210

I used to work in downtown for years, and I was there during the week most of the time and once in a while on the weekends. It is a superb place to work, but an AWFUL place to live.

- Too many homeless people. Most adult homeless people are made up of ex-cons and folks with psychiatric problems, and they wonder the streets of downtown all the time. Sounds like fun, eh? And they seem to stand out even more on the weekends as there are virtually no business people there.
- Almost all restaurants close on the weekends
- No gas station
- No grocery store
- There is little night life or "places to go" in the immediate area if you are single (most of it is on the outer edges of downtown, or elsewhere in Dallas - the west end, uptown, deep ellum, lower greenville, etc)
- Plus the rent is usually outrageous for what you get

If I were single or had no kids (aka schools did not matter), I would live in Uptown or Deep Ellum in a second - or even better some place like the Village Apts a few miles up Highway 75. But not downtown.

Downtown has changed since you worked there. I "wonder" where you are getting any facts beyond your own anecdotal opinion...

[dallas90210]

No it hasn't. We have a storage facility there and my lawyer's office is there, and I have a zillion friends downtown, so I go there regularly still. Your lack of education and experience in life is showing itself greatly

[hamiltonpl]

Originally Posted by dallas90210

No it hasn't. We have a storage facility there and my lawyer's office is there, and I have a zillion friends downtown, so I go there regularly still. Your lack of education and experience in life is showing itself greatly

You go to your church and I'll go to mine. You haven't said a positive thing about Dallas and clearly lean towards the pretentious side with the "90210" thing. Your type probably wouldn't like it downtown. Not enough glitter.

[DtX4415]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Downtown has changed since you worked there. I "wonder" where you are getting any facts beyond your own anecdotal opinion...

I think most people with common sense can tell that you can't take most of what they post seriously.

[Nylund]

Downtown may be "better" than what it is in the past, but it is not like downtown Austin at all in terms of social life and ammenities, so don't expect anything comparable. It still feels pretty deserted and lacking. Sure, it may no longer feel like you're living in "I am Legend" but outside of a select few, it probably won't be your first choice for a neighborhood. I'm not knocking the people who do live there (to each their own).

That being said, an alternative neighborhood depends on who you are and what you like. It may be uptown, Oaklawn, Knox-Henderson, M Streets, Oak Cliff, Deep Ellum, or wherever. Point being, the group of people who would list downtown as their number 1 choice for where to get an apartment is probably pretty small.

[GreyDay]

Wow, when did Uptown become 'alternative'?