Moving To Dallas frm Miami, Need Advice On A Few Things... (lease, time)

[Willsson]

To get to the Med Center you would take the Green Line. It goes to Parkland which leave you walking (or other) to you actual work place. On the good side, you could get a loft in Deep Ellum. You might check out Mockingbird Station and take the Red or Blue Line to downtown and change to the Green Line to the med.

A monthly pass is $65us.

[Diggity Dave]

Originally Posted by tofurkey

To get to the Med Center you would take the Green Line. It goes to Parkland which leave you walking (or other) to you actual work place. On the good side, you could get a loft in Deep Ellum. You might check out Mockingbird Station and take the Red or Blue Line to downtown and change to the Green Line to the med.

A monthly pass is $65us.

How safe is the Deep Ellum area? Taking a look at the area via Google Maps, it reminds of what Midtown Miami should have become.

[TrueDat]

Deep Ellum has a lot of history, especially in terms of music (the blues especially, and there are those who argue that, along with Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans, etc., it was an important location for the development of the form FolkStreams » Deep Ellum Blues)

It has lots of old industrial buildings, many of which have been converted to loft spaces. It's a cool area that hasn't totally paved over its history.
Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Deep Ellum, Texas

Deep Ellum has gone through ups and downs over the years. It boomed in the '90s with clubs, bars, galleries, etc. But an upsurge in crime -- or, at least, a perceived upsurge in crime -- drove people away. The simultaneous development of Uptown and Knox-Henderson as entertainment areas contributed to the decline.

But things appear to be on the upswing again. The city got a lot of the seedier clubs to close, DART's Green Line opened its line through the area, the Baylor Medical Center has been expanding like crazy, and a new crop of restaurants and bars has opened.

It's still not back to where it was. On weekends at least there are people around again -- a few years ago you could have rolled a bowling ball down the sidewalk and not hit anyone. But perhaps it's best that it not become as packed as it was. Maybe this time the growth will be more orderly and controllable. As downtown, the Arts District, and Uptown continue to grow, it only seems logical that this energy will spill over into Deep Ellum.

But if you're going to live there, it's not exactly family friendly in terms of parks, schools, etc. And there are homeless people around. But if you want more a urban feel, maybe you should consider it.

ETA: To the OP, I thought Midtown Miami was considered a success? When I lived there, that area was totally undeveloped and now, from what I see online at least, it certainly looks like an improvement over what was there before.

[Diggity Dave]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

ETA: To the OP, I thought Midtown Miami was considered a success? When I lived there, that area was totally undeveloped and now, from what I see online at least, it certainly looks like an improvement over what was there before.

It's definitely improved over what it was like when I was a kid, but it's still pretty sketchy overall. Development has stalled with the real estate bubble bursting down here, so it's kinda stuck in limbo. My last job was in Miami Beach, which is on the side of the bridge from Midtown, and I had done some research into renting a condo there. You're still two blocks off an extremely poor and rough neighborhood, so I took a pass.

The Wynwood art district is nifty when they have events going on, otherwise it's something along the lines of 'I Am Legend".

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by Diggity Dave

The Wynwood art district is nifty when they have events going on, otherwise it's something along the lines of 'I Am Legend".

Ha, that's pretty funny. Wynwood was just starting to pop when I left.

There are some people here who probably feel the same way about Deep Ellum but the people I know who live there seem to really like it. Every time I go down there (on weekend nights anyway) there are tons more people around than there were even a year ago. And there are new eateries opening all the time, some of them quite acclaimed like Cane Rosso, which claims to be the only place to get authentic Neopolitan pizza in Dallas, and is in the process of expanding.
Cane Rosso

And Deep Ellum recently started doing a pretty cool outdoor market thing once a month:
Deep Ellum Outdoor Market

It's things like this, appealing to a slightly more adult crowd but without losing too much of a sense of eclecticism, that make me think that this incarnation of Deep Ellum might stick.

Are you going to be able to come out and look around before you move?

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about making the transition from South Florida to North Texas.

[Diggity Dave]

Update: My wife and I were in Dallas from 12/27 to 12/30, spending most of our time with a real estate agents, looking at rental properties, and taking in the sights.

First and foremost, I'd just like to say that Dallas is absolutely beautiful! I had never been to Texas at all, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We really fell in love with the city rather quickly, and we're very much looking forward to moving there in mid-January.

I wanted to thank everyone on this thread for their input. We looked at properties in all of the area that you folks mentioned, and we finally decided on The Renaissance at Turtle Creek! We liked the building, liked the commute to work, and liked the surrounding areas.

Thanks again for the help, greatly appreciated!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Thanks for coming back to say so!

[Willsson]

Dave, that's just awesome. A couple of blocks up Hall St from Turtle Creek is Oak Lawn Ave. There's a Starbuck's there, but across that street is a deli, EatZi's, without outstanding take out. Most important though, is the breakfast. Just get up your first Sunday morning, walk over there and get some migas, sausage and frites.. And coffee. Walk home and chow down.

Come Easter, there'll be the Pooch Parade, right there in your front yard. Get ready.

You're gonna love it here.

[TrueDat]

Congratulations, Dave. I've been in the Renaissance at Turtle Creek and it's very nice.

You picked a great week for your visit. The weather's been really nice the last few days. Welcome to Dallas!

[Diggity Dave]

Just wanted to give you folks an update on how things are going...

First and foremost, if you're looking for an apartment in Dallas, DO NOT USE Moderator cut: see comment Locators.

Our belongings were picked up by North American Van Lines on 1/16 (DO use them, great company), and while we were driving to Dallas, our real estate agent calls us. She tells us that while the landlord at the Renaissance knew we had two small dogs, the HOA at the Renaissance doesn't allow renters to have pets. We didn't find this out until that moment because Moderator cut: see comment locators, who represented the landlord, didn't turn the lease in to the Renaissance until 1/17, the day AFTER we had already left.

So basically, we were homeless while on the way to Dallas.

We didn't stop that first night, and we drove straight from Miami to Dallas. We spent the next two days looking at apartments with our real estate agent, and we settled in at The Mosaic in downtown. Moderator cut: see comment Locators refused to help us out in any way, and our real estate agent Moderator cut: no specific RE agent/company name permitted paid for our hotel and is giving us her commission to help make up for the inconvenience.

On top of that Moderator cut: see comment our locator said that we should have just left our dogs in Miami and moved into the apartment. Needless to say, we were shell-shocked by all of this.

Other than that, people in Dallas have been absolutely wonderful, the job at Children's Medical Center has been great, and we're really happy that we made the move here. Hopefully that bad experience will be the worst thing that happens to us here.