Moving To Dallas frm Miami, Need Advice On A Few Things... (Spring: apartment complexes, rentals)

[Diggity Dave]

I just accepted an offer from Children's Medical Center of Dallas, and I'm hoping to get some advice on where to move to. I'm coming from Miami, FL, a place with heavy commuter traffic, but I had situated myself in an area near a major expressway where the route went against rush hour traffic, so it was an easy 15 minute commute to work.

I'm looking for the same thing in the Dallas area, so I was hoping you local experts could give me some tips on where to look. I'm open to renting both apartments or homes, so either will do.

Feel free to offer up any kind of advice regarding living in the Dallas area. This will be my first time in Texas, so it's all new to me.

Thanks in advance.

[TrueDat]

Hey, I moved here from South Florida as well. Welcome to Dallas!

I assume you want to rent an apartment and not buy? I'll give you the same recommendation I gave someone a few days ago who's coming here to work at UT Southwestern: look in the North Oak Lawn area, near the Highland Park border. On streets like Bowser, Hawthorne, Prescott, Holland, Herschel, and Gilbert, there are lots of well-maintained older apartments and duplexes as well as some newer condos that owners are renting out. It's tree-lined and quiet because it's next to Highland Park but not that pricey.

And it's relatively close to your workplace -- just take Inwood south -- and close to bar/restaurant/shopping areas like Uptown, the Cedar Springs strip in Oak Lawn, and Highland Park Village. It's also near the Tollway and not too far from Central Expressway. The only downside is that it's near Love Field so you may get some plane noise.

Are you coming here to scout places? You should drive around those streets as there always seem to be at least some for rent/lease sounds around.

If you want something less sedate and more of the young, party-people experience, then try one of the many apartment complexes in Uptown.

[ChristieP]

Budget?
Are schools important now or in the future?

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Hey, I moved here from South Florida as well. Welcome to Dallas!

I assume you want to rent an apartment and not buy? I'll give you the same recommendation I gave someone a few days ago who's coming here to work at UT Southwestern: look in the North Oak Lawn area, near the Highland Park border. On streets like Bowser, Hawthorne, Prescott, Holland, Herschel, and Gilbert, there are lots of well-maintained older apartments and duplexes as well as some newer condos that owners are renting out. It's tree-lined and quiet because it's next to Highland Park but not that pricey.

And it's relatively close to your workplace -- just take Inwood south -- and close to bar/restaurant/shopping areas like Uptown, the Cedar Springs strip in Oak Lawn, and Highland Park Village. It's also near the Tollway and not too far from Central Expressway. The only downside is that it's near Love Field so you may get some plane noise.

Are you coming here to scout places? You should drive around those streets as there always seem to be at least some for rent/lease sounds around.

If you want something less sedate and more of the young, party-people experience, then try one of the many apartment complexes in Uptown.

I'll second TrueDat on the streets listed above. If you're single or attached with no kids, this will be a great neighborhood for you. Even a Whole Foods Market between work and home.

Most rentals here won't be advertised. You'll find them by word of mouth or rental signs in the yards. Take pen/paper and cell phone w/camera.

Also, just across Turtle Creek is Uptown with young urban professionals. The jet noise isn't so bad in North Oak Lawn but is to the west side of Lemmon Avenue. I've lived on both sides of Lemmon. The jetway trails over either Lemmon or Cedar Springs. The jets are wheels down over this area when landing.

You can locate the area on a google map by searching the zip code: 75219

And yeah, Budget? High end, low end? Modern and shiny or aged and mellow?

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/apa/2742802411.html (broken link)
I've walked my dog past this place dozens of times. Parking in back, backs up to alley at Highland Park.

[Diggity Dave]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Budget?
Are schools important now or in the future?

TrueDat, thanks for the advice, I'll definitely look into those areas.

ChristieP, we currently pay $1500 for an approximately 1100 sq ft apartment in Miami, FL. We'd like to stay in that range or less. Both of my stepchildren are away at college, and we have no plans to have any more.

[Diggity Dave]

Originally Posted by tofurkey

I'll second TrueDat on the streets listed above. If you're single or attached with no kids, this will be a great neighborhood for you. Even a Whole Foods Market between work and home.

Most rentals here won't be advertised. You'll find them by word of mouth or rental signs in the yards. Take pen/paper and cell phone w/camera.

Also, just across Turtle Creek is Uptown with young urban professionals. The jet noise isn't so bad in North Oak Lawn but is to the west side of Lemmon Avenue. I've lived on both sides of Lemmon. The jetway trails over either Lemmon or Cedar Springs. The jets are wheels down over this area when landing.

You can locate the area on a google map by searching the zip code: 75219

And yeah, Budget? High end, low end? Modern and shiny or aged and mellow?

December Special!!! Best Price!!! (http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/apa/2742802411.html - broken link)
I've walked my dog past this place dozens of times. Parking in back, backs up to alley at Highland Park.

We could do both modern and shiny or aged and mellow. Like I said, our preferred budget is around $1500 max. This is the first time we're having to move somewhere without being there to look at areas, so it's proving to be difficult. We're going to try and get out there soon, but I'm not sure it'll happen due to moving budget constraints.

I like the sound of that neighborhood, and my wife loves Whole Foods. We definitely need a 2/2, though.

[Diggity Dave]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

On streets like Bowser, Hawthorne, Prescott, Holland, Herschel, and Gilbert, there are lots of well-maintained older apartments and duplexes as well as some newer condos that owners are renting out. It's tree-lined and quiet because it's next to Highland Park but not that pricey.

Just spent the morning using Google Maps to tour those areas. Exactly the type of area we would love to live in! Our only dilemma now is figuring out how to scout the areas for rentals. Looks like we're going to have to figure out a way to afford a quick trip over there.

[Willsson]

Dave, the link I put in a post is directly from Craigslists... < I know. Filter for Oak Lawn and Include Pics. There's a few other listings in there but most are just going to have signs in the yards.

Check direct messages.

[TrueDat]

Originally Posted by SamiJ

Best area to live is n Dallas - Addison...close to everything.

Good luck!

From Addison to Children's Medical Center is a nice little commute down the Tollway for about 12-13 miles. Not impossible but the OP would need to factor in more expenses for fuel and toll tag.

[Diggity Dave]

On another site, someone brought up Transportation Oriented Development. I've tried doing a search to identify apartments that are TOD-friendly, but I haven't been able to find anything.

Are there existing developments that are close to DART? I wouldn't mind taking the train to work at all.