Dallas or Denver? (Arlington, Richardson, Denton: rent, crime, new home)

[BSL63087]

I have been thinking about where I'd like to relocate to, and it would be most likely in the Fall of 2008. I just turned 20 last month and I'm from Southern Indiana just across the Ohio River from Louisville, KY. I am ready for a change and ready to move on to a bigger and better place.

My plan is to pick out where I'd like to move and get set up to go to college in that area and get going on working towards a career in a new city. I want to move more west/southwest of here so I have been considering Dallas, Phoenix, and now Denver. I have scratched Phoenix for various reasons so I'm left with Dallas and Denver. I have thought about other places but these are the only two left that fit all of my wants and needs.

Here are some of the factors in choosing my new home town:

-Weather. The weather here is usually not that great. I think I want somewhere that is warm for the most part of the year (Dallas) but I don't think I would mind a place that got cold sometimes if it wasn't for 4 or 5 months of straight cold with hardly any breaks like it is here. If it's cold for a few days and then it warms up for a few days, etc. then I can deal with that. Dallas seems like it is like that. Sometimes a little cold for the daytime high then other days in the middle of winter it can get up into the 70s for the daytime high. I am not completely sure about Denver but I know it's obviously gonig to be a lot colder than Dallas. I am not worried about the heat of Dallas in the summer. It gets pretty hot here in the summer and I don't mind it and summer is probably my favorite season. I like wearing shorts and a t-shirt rather than pants and a sweatshirt/long sleeves or jacket, so I think Dallas has the edge here.

-Sports, particularly pro sports. I have always been and always will be a huge pro sports fan. This is one of my biggest reasons outside of the weather and a couple of other small things for wanting to move. My main hobby is following sports and going to as many games as I can. We do have MLB, NFL, and NBA within about a 2 hour drive from here, but I want to live in an area that has teams in that area rather than it have to be almost like planning a small trip to go to a game, you can just go whenever since it isn't a 4 hour drive (round trip). I like MLB, NFL, NBA, and I like the NHL but not nearly as much as the other 3 but I do like and follow it. I like college sports too but I'm mainly a pro sports person. Louisville is a good college sports area but I rarely go to their games because I'm really not that interested.

Denver has the Rockies, Broncos, Nuggets, and Avalanche while Dallas has the Rangers, Cowboys, Mavericks, and Stars. This is about as close as it gets for sports so it's pretty much a push with Dallas getting the edge since I like their teams a little more than the Denver teams.

-Scenery/culture/things to do. I loved the culture in Dallas with the lone stars and longhorns and all incorporated into almost everything. The Wal-Mart we went to even had longhorns on the outside of it... Very nice. There is no real natural scenery in Dallas such as mountains or ocean but there are a lot of great things like the Dallas skyline, all of the nice stadiums and arenas, and a lot of newer more modern buildings and such. I want a more modern feel rather than an older industrial? feel like it is around here. The DFW area had a lot of new looking modern areas. I'm not sure about Denver but I've always pictured it as being more older looking. As far as things to do, as I said I love going to sporting events and I also like to play golf and men's softball. I'm not much of a party type so the nightlife scene is not really a big factor at all. I'm not really an "outdoors" type that likes to hike, fish, or hunt but I like doing my excercise by playing sports. I would however be interested in snowboarding but I really don't know that I'd see myself doing it very often so I guess it's not that big of a factor. Denver has the Rocky Mountains which are a HUGE plus but I'm still debating if they are even that big of a deal. On an everyday basis, how often does one really get the chance to really enjoy them? How often would I really take trips into the mountains to ski or snowboard? After you got used to them being there, would they really even be that big of a deal anymore?... I'm thinking they would be better to visit on vacations rather than have them there every day and I think the "novelty" of them would probably wear off after awhile... Maybe I'm wrong.

-Lastly, the cost of living. I would defintily be renting for a good while until I got going in my career and from what I can see from rent prices on various sites, it's pretty much about the same. Texas has no state income tax which is a plus. Is one significantly more expensive to live in than the other?

I'm almost dead set on the Dallas area. I'd be interested in living somewhere inbetween Ft. Worth and Dallas and Arlington is where I'm most interested in. I've had a lot of people tell me it's no good but when we visited back in April we saw many nice areas and didn't find the traffic as bad as advertised and we drove all through the city in the evening rush hour. We thought the roads were set up to handle a big crowd unlike the roads around here which are old and outdated and need a lot of work. My dad has also said he would be interested in moving to the Arlington area. We both loved it.

Denver seems like a great place to live but the cold is probably the biggest thing going against it. My dad and I are both fed up with the winters here and having to scrape off windshields every single morning for 4 straight months and tired of dealing with the cold in general. As far as what I'm looking for in a city, Denver and Dallas both have what I'm looking for outside of Denver probably being a little too cold for my liking. I think I'd be happier with the weather in Dallas. Maybe I'm wrong? The mountains seem nice but as I said before, do you think they would still be amazing after you see them in everyday life?

Any input is welcomed and appreciated. I think the Dallas area has the edge but I want to see what people think about Denver and how I would like it based on the info given.

Thanks.

[UNT_Eagle]

Hello,

You can't go wrong with Dallas! There are so many areas to choose from that you will definately find your place there. I was born/raised in a North Dallas suburb but frequented downtown regularly.. Sure, there is crime there in some parts, but the city and surrounding areas are booming, and there is new stuff going up all the time.
I don't know much about Denver but I recently moved to the Nashville area and It's a great place too! It's smaller than Dallas, so it doesn't have NBA or MLB, but the Titans and Predators are here so that helps.
Let me know if you want more information on either city.
I'll post additional info. soon

[Ankhharu]

Denver. Granted it has harsher winters, the summers in Dallas are brutal. Been here 12 years and haven't gotten use to it yet. More to do in Denver as well.

[DFWMike]

If you love mountains and scenery choose Denver, for all else I would have to say Dallas. Denver, honestly is pretty new too, much of it's growth has been recent as has Dallas'. I think Dallas has a much more urban feel to it though, and if you're a sports team junkie, what Denver team doesn't bite honestly. So the Broncos lucked into a couple of super bowls, here you have America's team, they'll be back I promise, if nothing else than to support Jerry World(Jerry Jones new $1B stadium). All of our pro sports teams made the playoffs last year, except for the rangers who have been downgraded to triple a I believe.

In any case for your set of requirements looks like to me you'll like Dallas. Arlington's not all bad, there are good areas, but being a college student as you are, check out Denton and Richardson as well. One more thing though, your summers in southern Indiana may compare for a couple of weeks, what you have to get used to is during a normal Dallas summer you're going to have 3-4 months of very hot temperatures.

The only way I would think there would be more to do in Denver would be if you were heavily involved in skiing, hiking etc., which you said you weren't so no edge there I don't believe.

[smuboy86]

Denver seems alot more congested and crowded to me since it's shoehorned against the mountains. I also call Colorado land of the Dirt people because noone there wears any colors, everyone looks earth-toned, the women don't wear make-up and noone dresses up to go out in public, even in a nice mall there like Cherry Creek! Also the hospitality of dallas is much better that denver. People hold open doors for you, say thank you and please and over all are better mannered than I have encountered in Denver.

[BSL63087]

Thanks guys. I think I am now ready to scratch off Denver and make Dallas my choice. I have heard a lot of great things about Denver but I just don't think it's really for me. The only thing it has that I'd want that Dallas doesn't have is the rocky mountains which are beautiful but I think they would be more significant if I were to see them sometimes on a vacation rather than have them there every day. I like the weather more in Dallas. I know it gets very hot in the summer and as DFWMike pointed out I know it will be even worse than here but I believe I will be able to adjust and get used to it. I also like the fact that the winters are very mild with little snow or ice. I've also seen that it can warm up into the 70s for the daytime high in the winter time . The storms in the spring will not bother me. We are considered in tornado alley here too and I have seen a couple of tornados/funnel clouds and had to take shelter many times from tornado warnings. I'm used to it and it won't be a big deal unless of course there is a tornado heading right for me . The sports is great, I've always thought of Dallas as the best sports town west of the Mississippi River. Some may disagree, but it seems like a lot of people there follow their teams especially football religiously. I am becoming a fan of all of the teams and when we took a trip there in April and saw 3 Rangers games and a Mavs playoff game, I kinda fell in love with the Rangers so to speak. We loved Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, by far the best we've seen. Just by looking at pictures of other ballparks, I'd say it's top 5 or top 10 at worst in the MLB. The location and setting is the best there is IMO. I loved the suburban setting and the park outside the stadium. American Airlines Center was great too. We have been to Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis a few times and it is reguarded as one of the best arenas in the NBA and AAC blew it away. We only saw the outside of Texas Stadium and it wasn't great, but by the time I make my move the new one will be open so the Dallas area will have 3 top notch stadiums/arena.

[Lakewooder]

When I went to SMU, we had a lot of students from the Midwest, including Indiana -- most of them stayed here in Dallas.

Anyhow, don't you know that Texas basically owns Colorado and we use it for vacations?

[DFWMike]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

When I went to SMU, we had a lot of students from the Midwest, including Indiana -- most of them stayed here in Dallas.

Anyhow, don't you know that Texas basically owns Colorado and we use it for vacations?

Heck, we're pretty much just reclaiming it right Lakewooder? A good sliver of Colorado used to be in the Republic of Texas before "The Man" stepped in and took it from us back in the 1840's as leverage for Texas getting into the union.

[Lakewooder]

Yes - as I always remind them on the ski-lifts..

[BSL63087]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

When I went to SMU, we had a lot of students from the Midwest, including Indiana -- most of them stayed here in Dallas.

Anyhow, don't you know that Texas basically owns Colorado and we use it for vacations?

That's good to hear that people from this area like Dallas. It has some similarities to here but a lot of differences too, most of them being positive. I think I'll love it there.

I'd like to vacation sometimes to Colorado if I lived in Texas so I guess that's a good thing