Neighborhoods for a young couple moving from DC (Dallas, Fort Worth: 2014, apartment complex)

[johnyd38]

My wife and I (young 20's) are thinking of moving to Dallas this summer for a couple years. A little about us and factors to consider:

- I work in consulting and my office will be downtown, and I would love to use the subway if it is considered reliable
- I will probably be traveling quite a bit so I need easy access to the airport (hoping I can fly out of Love Field, but might need to use DFW)
- My wife will be working and studying on the southwest side of Dallas in the Duncanville area so I'd prefer not to be in the northern suburbs as she will be driving there
- We have no kids
- We are not into the club scene but love to go out at night, and appreciate culture, coffee shops, good food, and being near to an urban environment
- We are moving from the DC/Northern Virginia area where we are used to paying a lot for rent and would love to keep our costs a little lower for the next couple years to save some money
- Thinking of a 2 BR apartment and would like to keep it under $1100 / mo

I would love recommendations on which neighborhoods would fit these criteria. Thank you!

[GreyDay]

Uptown is the best bet or Knox-Henderson. The most walkable parts of the city. Mckinney ave reminds you a bit of Adams-Morgan with the bars and restaurants. You might be able to find a 1 bedroom in your price-range in that area, but it's worth not having to go far once you're home.

[ChristieP]

FYI: Love Field is only serviced by Southwest Airlines. Long story! If your wife can fly SWA for her travels, Love will work great. Otherwise, she will need to use DFW.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by johnyd38

My wife and I (young 20's) are thinking of moving to Dallas this summer for a couple years. A little about us and factors to consider:

- I work in consulting and my office will be downtown, and I would love to use the subway if it is considered reliable
- I will probably be traveling quite a bit so I need easy access to the airport (hoping I can fly out of Love Field, but might need to use DFW)
- My wife will be working and studying on the southwest side of Dallas in the Duncanville area so I'd prefer not to be in the northern suburbs as she will be driving there
- We have no kids
- We are not into the club scene but love to go out at night, and appreciate culture, coffee shops, good food, and being near to an urban environment
- We are moving from the DC/Northern Virginia area where we are used to paying a lot for rent and would love to keep our costs a little lower for the next couple years to save some money
- Thinking of a 2 BR apartment and would like to keep it under $1100 / mo

I would love recommendations on which neighborhoods would fit these criteria. Thank you!

Uptown sounds like a good fit though you might struggle with your budget.

P.S. Subway? We don't have a subway here.

[Lakewooder]

In 2014 the Wright Amendment at Love Field goes away, opening up many new travel possiblities.

The only subway we have his the DART rail line from Mockingbird Station to City Place Station to Downtown. You could live around either (West Village is right next to City Place -- yeah it's not the NYC W. Village, so laugh if you want, I did when they named it that)...you also might check out the Henderson side of Knox-Henderson, including Lower Greenville (the site Trader Joe's picked for its first Dallas store) over to Lakewood. Area code 75206.

[CGGirl]

I moved here from DC about 5 years ago. Lived in Montogmery County (MD). It will be hard finding a 2BR for 1100 in Uptown. I just recently moved from a 1BR to a 2BR and looked everywhere. I was living in Oak Lawn, near Uptown, and was paying 1200/month for a 1BR. The 2BRs I looked at in Knox-Henderson were in the 1300 and up range. If you can find something in your budget in the West Village area, that would be perfect I would think since you could take the DART right there. However, the DART isn't very convenient at all. I've found that it takes longer to get places if you take DART than it does driving. DART is nothing like the Metro in DC.

McKinney Ave isn't really anything like Adams-Morgan. The great thing about McKinney Ave is that it is walkable. I'm in my 30's and was quite annoyed by all the partiers along there and the traffic on weekends. Even though I like to drink and go out, drunk people get on my nerves and there seemed to be a lot of drunk people in that area. I lived in Uptown for about 2 years when I first moved here in a Post Properties apartment. We rented a 1BR and it was about 1100 or so and this was about 5 years ago.

[Lakewooder]

On the east side of Central Expressway (75) by CityPlace station there is a new development with a five-story apartment complex going in:

Kroger starts building new store on North Haskell | Dallas-Fort Worth Business News - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News

East Dallas Blog | dallasnews.com

[johnyd38]

Thank you all for your advice. We would probably go for a 1br in a good location. We're looking into some of your recommendations.
@CGGirl my wife and I both grew up in MoCo. Your comments about the dart are helpful. Do others agree? Are some of the lines better than others? What is parking like downtown? I dont like driving if I dont have to.
I like the idea of a walkable neighborhood (I'm moving from Arlington VA) and Knox henderson sounds nice.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

What kind of travel will you be doing? If its all domestic, you may be able to use Love Field. If you are doing any kind of international travel, its worth the trip to DFW.

Either way, DFW is a much nicer airport and has many more flights to many more destinations. Even when Wright goes away, DFW will offer far superior options.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by CGGirl

I moved here from DC about 5 years ago. Lived in Montogmery County (MD). It will be hard finding a 2BR for 1100 in Uptown. I just recently moved from a 1BR to a 2BR and looked everywhere. I was living in Oak Lawn, near Uptown, and was paying 1200/month for a 1BR. The 2BRs I looked at in Knox-Henderson were in the 1300 and up range. If you can find something in your budget in the West Village area, that would be perfect I would think since you could take the DART right there. However, the DART isn't very convenient at all. I've found that it takes longer to get places if you take DART than it does driving. DART is nothing like the Metro in DC.

McKinney Ave isn't really anything like Adams-Morgan. The great thing about McKinney Ave is that it is walkable. I'm in my 30's and was quite annoyed by all the partiers along there and the traffic on weekends. Even though I like to drink and go out, drunk people get on my nerves and there seemed to be a lot of drunk people in that area. I lived in Uptown for about 2 years when I first moved here in a Post Properties apartment. We rented a 1BR and it was about 1100 or so and this was about 5 years ago.

When was the last time you were in Adams-Morgan or down Mckinney? Using broad strokes, the two are similar, obviously Mckinney Ave doesn't have the ethnic restaurants that AM does.