Thinking of moving from NY (Long Island) to Plano/Dallas, TX

[soda7o]

Originally Posted by billydoc

Wow, I thought I was reading my autobiography LOL. Same deal here. We originally immigrated from Russia, lived in NY for 20 and then for another 5 years in Northern NJ and moved to Plano about 1.5 year ago. I can confirm and not much to add to what soda7o already said.

natural Russian progression in NY
Brighton or in the surrounding area (late 80's to ealry 90's)
than you have /sheepshead bay/Millbasin/bay ridge/bensonhurts (mid to late 90's to early 2000s)
otherwise its Staten island or North jersey...
i broke the mold

now if we can bring all those things i miss about Brooklyn and the russian community here it woudl be awesome!
- Russian supermarkets ( net cost comes to mind)
- sushi (1/2 price sushi as i see you did too
- Uzbek/Georgian restaurants ( nargis.... yummie)

[billydoc]

Originally Posted by soda7o

natural Russian progression in NY
Brighton or in the surrounding area (late 80's to ealry 90's)
than you have /sheepshead bay/Millbasin/bay ridge/bensonhurts (mid to late 90's to early 2000s)
otherwise its Staten island or North jersey...
i broke the mold

now if we can bring all those things i miss about Brooklyn and the russian community here it woudl be awesome!
- Russian supermarkets ( net cost comes to mind)
- sushi (1/2 price sushi as i see you did too
- Uzbek/Georgian restaurants ( nargis.... yummie)

Hey, it's like I gotta a brother from another mother on here lol. Perfectly described. So we have "evolved" and hello Plano!!! I'll send you PM with facebook link. There are plenty of Russian businesses, stores and even restaurants here. They are just more spread out, not like South Brooklyn or Queens.

To the folks who are finding conservatives here "in their face "I have yet to see it here". If anything that's I how I felt in NYC with Commies and progressives telling me how good the stuff I left behind in the old Country was LOL. They really should try it, only not as American citizens, but as subjects of the States with those regimes. Then come back and tell me all about it. My advice is don't move here because of politics or if you perceive this place to be ultra-conservative or ultra-liberal or whatever. Most people I've met couldn't give rat's rear end about what you believe, as long as you are not imposing it on them. But it sure would be nice if Texas will not turn in the 6th borough of NYC, like Miami did, or SanFran and LA lol. "Keep Plano beautiful" I read on my outdoor garbage cans . Couldn't agree with my beloved City more

[bpollen]

I've lived in Dallas since 1985. I lived in Plano a few months years ago, and of course, I've gone to Plano numerous times for various things.

I can tell you what someone I knew from NY who moved here years ago thought. He never did get used to the sparse population, compared to NY. He would walk downtown during the daytime just to have a feeling of brushing shoulders with people. He also found it boring here, compared to what he was used to. He didn't stay.

Dallas is not a super large city. It's very spread out, but the city itself has maybe half the population of Houston.

It's surprisingly easy to get around Dallas. Unlike Houston and some other large cities, Dallas' highways were PLANNED. You have to travel long distances on a straight highway sometimes, but it's easy going. As long as you know waht highway to avoid at what times.

We don't have a subway system. The city of Dallas itself has an above ground rail system for PART of the city. Its main purpose is to move workers from outlying areas to downtown. There's even one going to and from Fort Worth. But you will need a car to drive everywhere.

Be prepared for the heat. It's sizzling hot here. The sun is glaringly bright (I've not gotten used to that), so much so that it'll brown the edges of roses in the summer afternoons. One or two people seem to die here every summer from the heat - usually an older person w/o a/c. It WILL be triple digits here in the summer for some # of days. And there usually WILL be a drought. It usually snows here every winter once or twice. Not deep snow, but it IS snow, so it counts. Otherwise, mild winters.

Plano is more for families, I think, rather than fun stuff that young people like to do. And older people. But most suburbs are like that, no matter where you go. It's either burb or city.

There are things to do...a lot of them at what we call Fair Park. This is a large park area just east of downtown. There is where there is the famous Texas State Fair with the tall talking statue, Big Tex. That is also where other events are held, like a big Irish Festival for St. Patrick's Day. Also in Fair Park is a music hall. Dallas has a pretty good series of musicals there every summer, called Dallas Summer Musicals. It's easy to get there, and easy to park. Also, the RAIL system goes to Fair Park and drops off at the entrance. Of course, you wouldn't want to take the rail there at night, IMO. It's a bad area of town.

Every burb has its own mini-events for holidays, I think. Nothing big, but entertaining, I guess. Tons of places to eat everywhere, in every burb and in the city. Plano has excellent shopping, with malls and newish grocery stores.

There are cost of living comparisons on the internet, so you can use those. I've tried, but I have found in some instances that they aren't correct. My guess is that NY is more expensive that any place in TX.

For a house, be aware that Texas has property tax rates among the highest in the country. Seriously. You get a 20% homestead exemption, except there's a cap, so your exemption won't go over a certain amount. Let's say $45,000. Then you can expect to pay about 2.5% or more on the remaining amount. (A $300,000 home - $45,000 = $6,375 property tax bill.) And it will go up. Count on it.

ONE IMPORTANT THING REGARDING HOUSING: Plano is soon to have a shortage of housing, and the prices will go up sharply, I expect. Toyota is moving a big business there, opening in 2017. Another company is, too. Then it was announced this week that Liberty Mutual is moving business there (about 5,000 jobs), to be open for business in 2017. There is not enough housing for all those new people who will be moving in, counting both existing and new homes. In such a situation, the cost of housing usually rises a lot. So if you move here, you don't want to wait too long. Toyota will be moving in several hundred people in January for a call center, which means they'll be looking for housing near the end of this year, I expect.

Look at the homes online. Go to har.com, look in the "region" dropdown box at upper left, click on Dallas, and then do a search for "Plano" and put in your criteria, and see what's available in Plano. Or use realtor.com or trulia.com or zillow.com.

As for politics, the city of Dallas, like most cities, votes Democratic. The burbs vote Republican. The Republicans here are often tea partiers, not establishment Republicans. Remember that Ted Cruz is a senator for Texas. Still, you're a Republican, so you should fit in with the burbs people. There a pockets of Republican areas in the Dallas city limits, though. And I'm sure there are moderates in the burbs.

This is the Bible Belt.

The economy here cannot be beat! The Texas Triangle (draw a line from Dallas down to Houston, across and up through Austin, San Antonio, and back to Dallas - the Texas Triangle) is predicted to be one of the hottest economic areas in the country for the coming decade.

It doesn't rain here enough for me. Just in case you're used to rain. I'm from a rainy area, so I've not gotten used to the dryness here. People here, though, seem to think it's humid. So I guess it's relative. Gardening is a challenge. And you must water your lawn just to keep it alive.

Utilities here can be pricey. Even the water. We usually ration water in the summer (can only water lawns on certain days at certain times).

Knowing some Spanish is helpful.

In sum, you can make some money here and enjoy a reasonable cost of living, while living in a diverse economy that's reasonably stable, even in hard times, compared to many other areas of the country. Texas works hard to lure business here, and is successful at it.

You should be able to find a nice house for $300k in north Dallas/Plano/Frisco or whatever. Tell us what you decide!

[RonaldusMagnus]

Originally Posted by bpollen

For a house, be aware that Texas has property tax rates among the highest in the country. Seriously. You get a 20% homestead exemption, except there's a cap, so your exemption won't go over a certain amount. Let's say $45,000. Then you can expect to pay about 2.5% or more on the remaining amount. (A $300,000 home - $45,000 = $6,375 property tax bill.) And it will go up. Count on it.

Utilities here can be pricey. Even the water. We usually ration water in the summer (can only water lawns on certain days at certain times).

Its funny bc everything sure is RELATIVE. I live in the NYC and the natural progression is to move to the burbs when having kids (Westchester county or better burbs of NJ) and I laugh when I see these "high property tax" gripes about the Dallas area--you do realize you pay ZERO state income tax right? lol. I also laugh when i see people complaining about $100 quarterly water bills. For comparison, here in NYC a typical family of four is paying about $1,200 yr in water on top of property tax, on top of insane winter utility AND summer utility bills and 8.875% sales tax and over 10% combined state/city income tax......AND you can't use the public schools bc most of them suck so sending 2 kids to decent private schools is another $15k+ for elementary and close to $30k/yr for HS. If you do end up in the suburbs here, your housing $ goes nowhere if you want to be within 1 hr of NYC until you hit about the $1mil mark at which point you will have the pleasure of paying $25k+ in prop taxes all in addition to paying all the other taxes mentioned above.

[hell_storm2004]

How much is a gallon of gas ? $2.54 i guess it is now.
How much is a gallon of milk? $3-$7 depends on the choice.
How much do you pay for cable/internet/phone? If you bundle, Plano would give you the option of uVerse, so TV+home phone+internet would be 150+tax. About the same if you location has FIOS.

[sgd08]

Originally Posted by shaden1984

To answer a few questions...
Conservative to me, just meant that I side more with Republicans than Democrats when it comes to major issues. I am not a 'bible thumping, backwards thinking, hard core conservative", but I am not a "free spirited, free loving Liberal either".
- A major issue about moving for me is the culture shock. I had always thought that I would live in NYC forever. I didn't see myself anywhere else. However, growing up and seeing that I would never be able to afford the house I want, raising kids here is difficult (especially if you want to bring them into the city), the cost of commuting would basically make me go broke, and the fact that I can't enjoy all the attractions in the city, have forced me to see reality.
-I live with my 8 year old nephew and a lot of this has to do with him. My whole family helps my sister to raise him, so I feel like a second mother. And I want him to grow up somewhere safe, with great schools. We are also starting to get into travelling and I feel that with a lower cost of living we would be able to further this.

One concern, Dallas would be the major city that we would be closest to. Does it have museums or annual activities/festivities? I definitely want to have some kind of culture and attractions in the place I live. I know it won't be like NY but I do want to "have things to do".

Try Lake Highlands part of Dallas in Richardson ISD. It has a GREAT community feel and close to everything. Dallas has a lot to offer. I love it here and the arts district is really picking up! I love Klyde Warren and DMA. Klyde Warren always has some activity going on. Restaurants are awesome here. Many people are moving here for a reason. I would not want to live in Plano, especially if coming from NYC. Dallas is where you want to be for culture and community activities.