Thinking of moving to DFW area from Calgary Canada (Houston: apartments, rental)

[lizzleigh]

sorry to jump in but we are thinking of moving too. we live in calgary right now and thinking about moving to texas for my husbands work. I have heard some people to say not to do it and others say its a great move. Can anybody who has lived in both please give me some pros and cons about the cities? So far I love that texas has low mortgages, we could be pretty much mortgage free if we sold here and bought there and I will NOT miss the snow. How are the communities? I have two children and my husband works on the rigs. I will be alone for months at a time and am a little worried about safety? Are there a lot of spiders there ? haha. Any advice would be amazing!

[CREW747]

The dfw metroplex in my opinion is the best spot to relocate right now ....you will love Plano & Collin county.

One of the nicest rental options in the Collin county area is Heritage at

Welcome to Heritage Lakeside Apartments

[dmorrell]

Hey there neighbor I live in British Columbia right now, and me and my husband are also relocating to Dallas next spring. I haven't been to Dallas yet, but we've been researching it tirelessly for a year now, so I think I've got about as good of a picture of the area as you can without actually visiting. I'll share what I've learned, but bear in mind this is all second hand!

What I've gathered:

Pros:

1) Houses are way cheaper. .. we got one without a mortgage. Thats a big reason we're moving too.

2) Cost of living is much lower (seriously, it's staggering, at least compared to B.C.)

3) There is no state income tax. This makes me giddy with delight.

4) Warm weather. I think any Canadian, regardless of location, can appreciate this.

5) Dallas is very diverse and multicultural, despite popular belief in Canada.

6) It's huge. While I'm more of a small-town kinda gal, I can appreciate how much Dallas has to offer because of its size.

7) The economy isn't too bad. While everyone (including Canada) is getting hit by the downturn, Texas isn't doing as badly as others. It's no mecca of prosperity, but it's a good horse to bet on. I've heard Texas compared to Alberta many of times in this nature.


Cons:

1) It gets really damn hot (my husband visited Dallas in the 2011 heatwave). You're in the interior, so you've got some experience with hot summers, but Texas heat can be a special kind of hell. Brace yourself

2) Healthcare (I'm sure non-supporters of your move have beaten this one to death for you. I know they have for me). Prepare to find a job with coverage, or purchase coverage. I have family that are Canadian and American duel citizens.. and many of them prefer the American healthcare system. Others prefer the Canadian system. It's apples and oranges.

2) American politics are a whole different animal than Canadian politics. There's more political unrest in the USA than in Canada. Civil rights are threatened a bit more than in Canada and so on. Be aware, but don't let the fear mongering news stations scare you.

3) Minimum wage is lower (7/hr). This may or may not effect you.

4) The school system is very different than the Canadian one. I don't have kids, and I have no experience with the American education system, but I have a friend in Houston who warned that some schools are.. old school. I'm talking about the strap (corporal punishment). Here's a quick article I dug up. You'll need to research the schools you enroll your kids in carefully.





Lastly, take the naysayers with a grain of salt. Of all the people I've told that I'm moving to Texas, only a couple have responded positively. The amount of ignorance towards the southern USA that I've experience at home is disheartening. Honestly, I don't even really tell people that I'm moving anymore, because I'm tired of hearing that..

"They'll leave you dead in the street if you have no healthcare"
"Everyone has guns. There's a lot of violence and crime"
"There's a lot of religious extremists down there.."
"That's dangerously close to the Mexican border"
"You'll have a hard time finding a job, the economy is in the toilet"
"There's a lot of political unrest. They're at war you know"

Not to say all Canadian's feel this way, but some do. Kernels of truth are too often expanded into stereotypes. Don't let the stereotypes mislead you, find out for yourself Personally, I think Dallas is a fantastic option, and I'm really looking forward to starting the next chapter of our lives down there.





Edit: If you buy a house, watch out for polybutylene piping! (A common brand is "Quest") Both my father-in-law and my husband bought houses with this notorious plumbing. It's made of polybutylene, and was used between 1978 and 1995. This pipe was the "pipe of the future" that would "last forever". It actually lasts about 10 years, and will always need replacing. Most class-action suits are closed by now, so make sure you don't get stuck with a house with these pipes.. they will need to be replaced.

[xen0blue]

I have to give you props for that last part of the forums...people can be so ignorant and narrow minded sometimes. Even within our own country, it's a lot more common than you would think...most people outside texas probably think we ride around on horses and wear boots and big hats. It's very sad, and the media often perpetuates those stereotypes.

[skids929]

And there is hockey in Dallas!!! Wooohooo! Just think you can see Jamie Benn (B.C. native) light the lamp until your heart is content!

[Keepforgettingpw]

If you want to buy on cash and have no commute concerns than sky is the limit and DFW can be your personal paradise. I think Murphy and Parker may suit you.

[lothartheterrible]

Originally Posted by dmorrell

"They'll leave you dead in the street if you have no healthcare"
"Everyone has guns. There's a lot of violence and crime"
"There's a lot of religious extremists down there.."
"That's dangerously close to the Mexican border"
"You'll have a hard time finding a job, the economy is in the toilet"
"There's a lot of political unrest. They're at war you know"

As a Texas native and lifelong resident, I'd like to address these, in order:

1. Only if you're Canadian Seriously, that does not happen. Parkland Hospital in Dallas accepts patients of all kinds, regardless of their forms of payment. It is a bit of a meathouse, but it also is home to one of the finest trauma and burn units in the country, and its childrens' unit is world renowned.

2. There are many Texans with concealed handgun licenses, yes, but people picturing a scene out of "Gunsmoke" with Texans wandering around with Colts in our shoulder holsters are grossly mistaken. According to a CQ Press 2010 list of the top 200 cities in the US, Dallas does not even have the highest crime index in Texas; that distinction belongs to Houston (and even it is not in the top 40). Yes, there is violent crime here. But no more than any other large city in the world.

3. Yes, the "Bible Belt" is still nice and tight in rural parts of the state, Dallas prides itself on its cultural and religious diversity. One of the largest mosques in Texas recently opened in the Dallas suburb of Irving, which also boasts a large Hindu population. There is a home for every faith in this area.

4. Dallas is closer to Kansas City than it is to Brownsville, TX (on the Mexican border). The violence on the border has not quite spilled over on to this side of the Rio Grande just yet.

5. The economy in the Metroplex (Greater Dallas/Fort Worth) and Texas in general has remained relatively strong throughout the recession; the area has added jobs in places where the rest of the nation has struggled. The effects have been felt, don't get me wrong, but on a lesser scale than most places. I wouldn't suggest coming in cold and trying to start from scratch, but the OP indicated that the move here would be predicated by a job transfer, making this a moot argument.

6. This isn't the 1960s. The "political unrest" is generally confined to coffee shops and cable television talk shows. The war with Iraq was a fairly unpopular conflict and a great number of Americans are not proud of it, but we're not marching on Washington by the millions in protest.

I know that was a bit wordy, but I was intrigued by the outsiders' perspective. You're right; it's easy to assume that everything that TV and movies has taught us is accurate when it is usually anything but.

Should you make the move, then I'd like to pre-emptively welcome you to my state.

PS- Unfortunately yes, the summers here are brutal. 2011 was an unfortunate year to visit; it was the hottest it had been in 31 years (and that was the year it reached 113º in Dallas three days in a row).

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by lothartheterrible

6. This isn't the 1960s. The "political unrest" is generally confined to coffee shops and cable television talk shows. The war with Iraq was a fairly unpopular conflict and a great number of Americans are not proud of it, but we're not marching on Washington by the millions in protest.

You know the amazing thing about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is through phases of high popularity - to phases of low popularity, we as a nation seem to have learned something from Vietnam. When people protest they target politicians and policy, not soldiers. Soldiers aren't returning to regularly be spat upon and have garbage thrown at them.

With the exception of certain demagogues on both sides. We seem to have recognized that differing vies on this don't make one a warmonger, or Un-American, we don't hear "terrorist sympathizer," like we did "communist sympathizer" in the past.

Living in Canada, I suspect the OP, and the Op's Countrymen hear more of the extremist demagogues, but the relative civility of even those who are marching - on both sides - is surprising compared to similar conflicts in the past. Something to think about if considering the move.

[dmorrell]

1. Only if you're Canadian Seriously, that does not happen. Parkland Hospital in Dallas accepts patients of all kinds, regardless of their forms of payment. It is a bit of a meathouse, but it also is home to one of the finest trauma and burn units in the country, and its childrens' unit is world renowned.

2. There are many Texans with concealed handgun licenses, yes, but people picturing a scene out of "Gunsmoke" with Texans wandering around with Colts in our shoulder holsters are grossly mistaken. According to a CQ Press 2010 list of the top 200 cities in the US, Dallas does not even have the highest crime index in Texas; that distinction belongs to Houston (and even it is not in the top 40). Yes, there is violent crime here. But no more than any other large city in the world.

3. Yes, the "Bible Belt" is still nice and tight in rural parts of the state, Dallas prides itself on its cultural and religious diversity. One of the largest mosques in Texas recently opened in the Dallas suburb of Irving, which also boasts a large Hindu population. There is a home for every faith in this area.

4. Dallas is closer to Kansas City than it is to Brownsville, TX (on the Mexican border). The violence on the border has not quite spilled over on to this side of the Rio Grande just yet.

5. The economy in the Metroplex (Greater Dallas/Fort Worth) and Texas in general has remained relatively strong throughout the recession; the area has added jobs in places where the rest of the nation has struggled. The effects have been felt, don't get me wrong, but on a lesser scale than most places. I wouldn't suggest coming in cold and trying to start from scratch, but the OP indicated that the move here would be predicated by a job transfer, making this a moot argument.

6. This isn't the 1960s. The "political unrest" is generally confined to coffee shops and cable television talk shows. The war with Iraq was a fairly unpopular conflict and a great number of Americans are not proud of it, but we're not marching on Washington by the millions in protest.

This is very reasonable and exactly what I expected I hope that you guys didn't think that these were MY opinions, they're examples of things I have heard that are misguided and I'm tired of hearing

Canada is a beautiful place, with many wonderful people.

True!

But many Canadians are frighteningly ignorant of Texas, and have a preconceived notion that they are infinitely superior.

Sadly true



Thanks for the responses, and for reinforcing my conviction that Texas is a perfectly nice place to live!