Traffic in DFW (Houston, Dallas, Austin: home, quality of life, live)

[pinipig523]

You know, since I've been prepping for a move to DFW for some time now - the one constant that I've read over and over on city-data is "traffic".

Yes, traffic there can be bad, but it is by no means that bad. I think Chicago traffic is MUCH worse than Dallas traffic. Dallas traffic is moderate, in my opinion.

Anyone else agree or disagree?

[txgolfer130]

Heck, even Austin traffic is worse than Dallas traffic. Dallasites complain about traffic, but they really have no idea. Is traffic bad? Sure, but no where near as bad as it could be or is compared w/ other cities, some smaller and some larger.

[highcotton]

I think the traffic in DFW is much better than other large populated areas like LA, NYC, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and D.C.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by txgolfer130

Heck, even Austin traffic is worse than Dallas traffic. Dallasites complain about traffic, but they really have no idea. Is traffic bad? Sure, but no where near as bad as it could be or is compared w/ other cities, some smaller and some larger.

Originally Posted by highcotton

I think the traffic in DFW is much better than other large populated areas like LA, NYC, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and D.C.

I agree on both counts. Most cities I've been in have much worse traffic problems than Dallas does. I think most of the people that complain about Dallas traffic just have never experienced commuting in another big city. Some "big cities" I've lived in call a two lane street a "major highway," and expect it to be able to handle all the traffic.

[TX75007]

Dallas is much better than most MSAs because there are many ways to get to a location and most main surfaces streets are three or more lanes.

[kazyn]

Originally Posted by txgolfer130

Heck, even Austin traffic is worse than Dallas traffic. Dallasites complain about traffic, but they really have no idea.

I'm sure practically everyone knows this. That doesn't mean we can't complain, it is an inconvenience after all.

Originally Posted by txgolfer130

Is traffic bad? Sure, but no where near as bad as it could be or is compared w/ other cities, some smaller and some larger.

I know there are people without shoes, but I'm still going to complain that mine are starting to fall apart on me.

The whole "stop complaining, it's worse somewhere else" argument never pans out because we all do it about everything.

[buzzpost]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

I agree on both counts. Most cities I've been in have much worse traffic problems than Dallas does. I think most of the people that complain about Dallas traffic just have never experienced commuting in another big city. Some "big cities" I've lived in call a two lane street a "major highway," and expect it to be able to handle all the traffic.

I second this opinion.

[TurtleCreek80]

I usually point out "traffic" because a home 20 miles north of downtown ISN'T a 20-30 minute commute into downtown. People tend to totally dismiss traffic's affect on quality of life when they see a brand new 4000sf McMansion within their budget for the first time in their life. Yup, you can get a brand new huge home for $175k in DFW, but don't complain when you hate your 2 hours a day commute to downtown from Little Elm or Melissa or wherever.

It's not bad like LA but give it 10 years and it will be if DFW continues it's growth spurt.

[skids929]

Originally Posted by pinipig523

You know, since I've been prepping for a move to DFW for some time now - the one constant that I've read over and over on city-data is "traffic".

Yes, traffic there can be bad, but it is by no means that bad. I think Chicago traffic is MUCH worse than Dallas traffic. Dallas traffic is moderate, in my opinion.

Anyone else agree or disagree?

I haven't experienced anything in all my visits that blew my mind like some of the people here claim..But I just assumed I was missing the traffic for one reason or another. I don't know what to believe at times..A friend of my brother, who lives in Southlake works from home constantly because the commute to Plano is allegedly horrid.

I tend to lean more towards what people say here when I get that kind of validation from people outside this board. When I move down I will be doing my best to play it safe in terms of commute due to the traffic. But a 40 minute commute to me isn't the end of the world to be quite honest. I do it now and it's not a major detrimental factor to our lifestyle. Anything more than that would be pushing it.

[synchronicity]

FWIW, I find Metroplex DRIVERS to be the worst I've encountered (and I've lived in Chicago, Boston, New York City and Portland Oregon), but as far as the actual traffic, I think those first three cities are far worse. For example, when I take 635 from the DNT to the airport, the 4 miles or so to I-35E are really bad, but beyond that it's wide open until just before the airport. In Chicago, going from downtown to the airport is 14 miles or so of really bad all the way out.

Everybody warned me about how terrible 635 was, and I'm sure east of DNT it's really awful during rush hour, but again, overall not as bad as other cities. The Metroplex is all car culture (something like LA), but because it's so spread out you don't have the traffic density of other major metro areas.

Just my opinion, which is worth what you're paying for it.