I need to hear something positive about Dallas. (Houston, Fort Worth: to buy, theater)

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

Well sheesh, if you're comparing the landscape and weather in Dallas to Hawaii, then yeah, it's bad. Heck, if you're comparing almost anywhere to Hawaii in terms of weather and landscape they'll look bad in the comparison.

But in other areas...well, the obvious one is the cost of housing. Hawaii is NOTORIOUSLY expensive for housing, while Dallas is very cheap for a city of its size (4th to7th largest metro area by population in the US, trailing Chicago, LA and New York and possibly San Fran, Boston and DC, depending on how one calculates the "metro area" of the latter 3. Point is, the Metroplex is BIG). I would take cost of living calculators with a grain of salt, but this one:Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedreflects housing in Honolulu as being ALMOST FIVE TIMES MORE than Dallas. Other items are more expensive in Hawaii as well, reflecting the difficulties of shipping many things to a small island chain in the middle of the Pacific as opposed to a large city in the southern middle of the country.

Education is a little trickier, sadly. Average ACT scores in Hawaii are slightly higher than in Texas overall, although in both states relatively few students take the test (24% in Hawaii and 36% in Texas, see 2011 ACT National and State Scores | Average Scores by State | ACT ). SAT scores are almost identical between the two states, with slightly higher participation on that exam (479/500/469 for HI vs 479/502/465 for TX, with 64% in HI and 58% in TX taking the test, see: Commonwealth Foundation - 2010 SAT Scores by State) Obviously there is a lot more to education than high school standardized test scores, but this is one of the few criteria one can obtain quickly that can be easily compared between different states. So IN GENERAL, don't expect TX schools to be dramatically better than HI. Obviously individual districts can be better/worse than average and Rockwall appears to be "better".

Another advantage, IMHO, is that you won't get "cabin fever" in DFW. A college roommate of mine from Oahu talked about how "you can drive ANYWHERE in under an hour!" Granted, during rush hour in Dallas (or on the many toll roads) that might sound like a problem you'd like to have, but again, Dallas is a major city with all the many attractions that one would expect a major city to have (and again, at much more reasonable prices). You won't run out of things to do or places to see here for awhile, and when you do it's a lot easier and cheaper to travel to somewhere else.

The economy of Dallas is not dependent on one industry (it's not tied predominantly to tourism, obviously), and has weathered the recent downturn relatively well.

The weather in Dallas is not Hawaii, but it stays relatively warm for most of the winter. Yes, the summer is hot and dry (well, hopefully this last summer was an aberration on the "hot and dry" end), but the rest of the year is fairly pleasant most of the time.

Don't assume I'm viewing Dallas with a positive bias - I'm a recent "reluctant transplant"; this was far from my preferred choice for where to live. I could list many things about Dallas that are negatives to me. These include limited seafood choices, (in fact restaurants that are lacking compared to my prior residence in Chicago), less stellar architecture (a bit unfair, as Chicago is an amazing city architecturally), somewhat less cultural diversity (the Hispanic population in Dallas is larger, but other groups are generally less well-represented) and likely some other items that I'm forgetting.

And if you're coming from Hawaii, no, it's not the most "scenic" city in the world, there are no breathtaking mountain vistas or jaw-droppingly beautiful beaches. The lakes are nice but they're no match for the Pacific Ocean. But Dallas does have a lot of positive things to offer even compared to other major cities (and MANY things that smaller cities [such as, say, Honolulu] just don't have at all), and it offers them at a price that is tough to beat. I love San Francisco, for example, but I'd need an offer to double my salary to make it worthwhile to move there.

Come down here and check it out. There's things to do and places to see and people to meet, and you can do it all and not go broke in the process. And when you just want to sit back and stay at home - well, they have some pretty nice ones of those here, too.

In the summer Dallas isn't always extremely hot and dry. I've never seen it this dry in Dallas in my whole life. Usually we have a couple of Dallas of 100 degree weather but this year was normal at all.

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by kealia

Thanks for the nice video

You're welcome.

[nsumner]

I think Synchronicity covered a lot of info

I think you will enjoy Rockwall. It is a beautiful place to live in and very self sufficient. The schools are very good, the lake of course is the main attraction, right now it's pretty low because of the drought from this year. Being by the lake should help you with the melancolie if you ever get homesick. It certainly helps me.

There is a ton of shopping and dining choices here. There are also all sorts of medical facilities including a major hospital.

There is an array of choices for housing. You can get a brand new home on a half acre lot from a top builder for under 400K. There are cheaper homes as well as much higher range as well. The tax rate is 2.35

Naima

[kealia]

Originally Posted by nonexpat

Great shopping and many good restaurants--a couple of things I miss from Dallas. I like the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center as well. The landscape isn't gorgeous, but the neighborhoods are pretty. I miss the Plano schools as well since they were excellent. I also miss the prices of housing. We paid a lot more for less house here in Albuquerque. I miss Central Market, and although I'm not a huge sports fan, I'm sure many people appreciate having professional baseball, football and hockey. Oh, and Theater Three--a very nice, small theater in the round and the new Dallas Theater Center.

It does sound nice! I've checked a few websites with Dallas attractions. There is even a children's theater.

[kealia]

I'll miss the ocean, nice weather, great friends. I hope that people are friendly to newcomers. Here in Hawaii we hardly ever close windows and doors, only if we need to go somewhere. The speed limit on the island where I live is 45 mph, what about TX highways? Must be 75mph?

[Dallaz]

Originally Posted by kealia

I'll miss the ocean, nice weather, great friends. I hope that people are friendly to newcomers. Here in Hawaii we hardly ever close windows and doors, only if we need to go somewhere. The speed limit on the island where I live is 45 mph, what about TX highways? Must be 75mph?

The speed limit on the Freeways in Dallas is like 60 or 65 mph.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by kealia

I'll miss the ocean, nice weather, great friends. I hope that people are friendly to newcomers. Here in Hawaii we hardly ever close windows and doors, only if we need to go somewhere. The speed limit on the island where I live is 45 mph, what about TX highways? Must be 75mph?

Friendly to newcomers - heck yes. Strangers will talk to you pretty readily down here, moreso than in most other cities I've lived in.

Speed limits range from 60 to 70 on the freeways and tollways around DFW. Tollways generally have higher speed limits, which makes me chuckle.

Can't help you on the ocean, tho'. No mountains either.

[nsumner]

One thing you will find is that people are very friendly here. I know that you will miss the ocean and that is the reason we moved to Rockwall. Air conditioning will become your best friend.

The speed limit on regular highways is 60 and on the tollways 70 and yes, most people go over but you'll get used to it hopefully. Drivers are a bit aggressive but you can take side roads unless you cross the bridge until you learn your way around and be more comfortable.

Naima

[mSooner]

The weather in summer in Texas sucks, but having visited Hawaii, I actually liked the variety we have here better! All about what you prefer. You'll definitely enjoy the cheaper housing, more shopping, etc.

[kealia]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

Education is a little trickier, sadly. Average ACT scores in Hawaii are slightly higher than in Texas overall, although in both states relatively few students take the test (24% in Hawaii and 36% in Texas, see 2011 ACT National and State Scores | Average Scores by State | ACT ). SAT scores are almost identical between the two states, with slightly higher participation on that exam (479/500/469 for HI vs 479/502/465 for TX, with 64% in HI and 58% in TX taking the test, see: Commonwealth Foundation - 2010 SAT Scores by State) Obviously there is a lot more to education than high school standardized test scores, but this is one of the few criteria one can obtain quickly that can be easily compared between different states. So IN GENERAL, don't expect TX schools to be dramatically better than HI. Obviously individual districts can be better/worse than average and Rockwall appears to be "better".

Thanks! A great post. I just want to mention that Hawaii is famous for very bad schools. This is the reason most of the families move off the islands.