Urban living in Dallas? (Houston, San Antonio: apartments, low crime, neighborhoods)

[radiolibre99]

Hi y'all, I'm thinking of making the move back to Texas sometime in the future and while my main goal was to move to a small town in the hill country the city life still calls to me. Ive heard things here and there but I want to make sure that much of it is true.

1.) there are hills in Dallas. I've heard shock jock radio pundit Glenn Beck say that Austin is overrated because the Dallas area has hills too. Is this true? Is the topography as nice as Austin?

2.) a poster on here said that public transport is safe, accessible and pretty clean. That's a plus! I would love to work in the city and commute around via rail or bus. I really dislike driving which I know is very un-Texan of me.

3.) how far is Ft worth and what's it like? Is it like Houston and Sugar Land? What makes it so unique that people wax on about it so misty eyed sometimes? I hear nothing but good things.


4.) what's city life like in downtown? Is it really pricy? Is it lively? Most of what I hear has to do with Dallas burbs not the actual city itself.

[chenven]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Austin is overrated because the Dallas area has hills too

What ????

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by chenven

What ????

Yes that's what he said and his co-hosts disputed it.

I figured it was a bit of a stretch but I just wanted to make sure.

[TheOverdog]

South and East Dallas and then far north like McKinney & Lewisville and points north have hills. South Dallas is pretty empty, but east Dallas is nice. The areas would be around the borders of White Rock Lake & Flagpole Hill.

They are nothing like Austin though, because Austin has hill country-like plateaus and these are more like midwestern rolling plains.

Dallas itself and its popular suburbs are actually not flat but rather wavey as you move towards a creek. It's not really something you notice while driving but it is pretty noticeable walking or biking.

The urban part of Dallas is downtown to uptown. Uptown is lively, but expensive. The downtown area is growing, but is still less lively than most other major city/downtowns in the US/world. Overall, the uptown/downtown core is pretty small, and doesn't encompass nearly as many areas nor available activities as Austin does. Lots of cranes are up and it is growing.

The light rail runs in a few lines from downtown towards suburbs. It is clean, but doesn't run past 11:00 or so at night. It is not particularly all that accessible, as the growth around the lines is still pretty light. For example, the uptown neighborhood mentioned doesn't really connect well to the light rail system.

Ft Worth is 30 miles away from Dallas. You can take a train from downtown Dallas (except on Sunday) to downtown Ft Worth. It was a trading post where ranchers brought their cattle to put on trains, and it celebrates that heritage well - probably 2nd to San Antonio in celebrating the past. Beyond the historical areas, Ft Worth is mostly a sprawly midwestern city just like Dallas.

[dch526]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Hi y'all, I'm thinking of making the move back to Texas sometime in the future and while my main goal was to move to a small town in the hill country the city life still calls to me. Ive heard things here and there but I want to make sure that much of it is true.

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

South and East Dallas and then far north like McKinney & Lewisville and points north have hills. South Dallas is pretty empty, but east Dallas is nice. The areas would be around the borders of White Rock Lake & Flagpole Hill.

They are nothing like Austin though, because Austin has hill country-like plateaus and these are more like midwestern rolling plains.

Dallas itself and its popular suburbs are actually not flat but rather wavey as you move towards a creek. It's not really something you notice while driving but it is pretty noticeable walking or biking.

The urban part of Dallas is downtown to uptown. Uptown is lively, but expensive. The downtown area is growing, but is still less lively than most other major city/downtowns in the US/world. Overall, the uptown/downtown core is pretty small, and doesn't encompass nearly as many areas nor available activities as Austin does. Lots of cranes are up and it is growing.

The light rail runs in a few lines from downtown towards suburbs. It is clean, but doesn't run past 11:00 or so at night. It is not particularly all that accessible, as the growth around the lines is still pretty light. For example, the uptown neighborhood mentioned doesn't really connect well to the light rail system.

Ft Worth is 30 miles away from Dallas. You can take a train from downtown Dallas (except on Sunday) to downtown Ft Worth. It was a trading post where ranchers brought their cattle to put on trains, and it celebrates that heritage well - probably 2nd to San Antonio in celebrating the past. Beyond the historical areas, Ft Worth is mostly a sprawly midwestern city just like Dallas.

I agree with TheOverdog on the "hills" in Dallas.

For Downtown Dallas (including, Uptown, the CBD inside the loop, Victory Park, Deep Ellum, Design District, Knox-Henderson, Oak Lawn) It is much larger than what Austin has to offer but the drawback is that there are still small gaps that keep the districts from being completely connected (nothing a hop on the DART or $5 Uber can't cover quickly)

#1...See TheOverdog post above

#2...Overall DART is safe & clean. (Do avoid the South Dallas Stations at Night though)
DART System Maps

DART Rail System Map

Downtown Dallas Bus Routing Map

DART Schedules

Each line runs from 4:30am to 1:00am (+/-)

#3... FW is a 30-40 minute drive without traffic.
The Main Attraction that gives you the Western Feel would be The Fort Worth Stockyards
Sundance Square is also a good place to visit in Downtown Fort Worth

#4... Uptown and Victory Park will be the priciest neighborhoods in Downtown ($1500-$2k for a 1 bedroom)
You can find some pretty decent deals in Downtown Dallas...If you're looking to purchase you can find a couple of options uner $300k and several apartments within a reasonable price range (more expensive than market value but less than Uptown)
Uptown will be the most lively then Downtown on Main followed by Deep Ellum

Hope this helps, goodluck in your search

[radiolibre99]

I don't even know why I'm looking now because I probably won't move for another three to four years but I get excited about finding new better spots in Texas.

Really I had favored small towns like marble falls or San Marcos, but Dallas looks cool too.

What's Dallas like as a city that distinguishes it from the other cities? Austin is eclectic, Houston is all oil and really urbane, San Antonio is very Mexican American influenced, etc.

All I've heard is that its a bit posh. But how? It certainly can't be as Cosmo as Houston, right?

[TheOverdog]

It certainly can't be as Cosmo as Houston, right?

Go ask those nuts in that thread in the Texas section to answer that. No one here cares. I would say Dallas is a business city, not historical, touristy, blue collar, laid-back, party, glamorous, political, sportsy, or anything else.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

I don't even know why I'm looking now because I probably won't move for another three to four years but I get excited about finding new better spots in Texas.

Really I had favored small towns like marble falls or San Marcos, but Dallas looks cool too.

What's Dallas like as a city that distinguishes it from the other cities? Austin is eclectic, Houston is all oil and really urbane, San Antonio is very Mexican American influenced, etc.

All I've heard is that its a bit posh. But how? It certainly can't be as Cosmo as Houston, right?

Dallas' "thing" is that it's a 21st century city. It's new & clean and has several key attractions:

- Very diverse economy. While Houston has more Fortune 500 companies HQ there, all but 2 are in the oil/gas/energy field. Dallas's F500 companies are very diverse: American Airlines & Southwest Airlines, JCPenney, Dean Foods & Dr Pepper, Texas Instruments, AT&T, DRHorton, plus the energy companies you'd expect to see in a Texas city.

-Better airport for international travel than Houston. Great prices due to lots of competitors. SA and Austin are regional airports where you have to stop in Dallas or Houston on non-regional flights.

-Extremely diverse. Outside the 635 loop, over half the metroplex's residents weren't born in Texas with about 1/4 of them being foreign-born. Large Mexican, Indian, African, Korean, etc populations. Many religions and many great restaurants with food from around the world.

-Dallas is one of the safer large cities. Last year was something like a 40+ year low in total murders....even as Dallas' population has grown exponentially in that time. Yes, there are some bad neighborboods and property crime can be an issue in urban areas, but overall I have always felt very safe here & violent crime rates are down 50%+ when compared to the 1990's.

-Entrepreneurism is alive & well in Dallas! Lots of locally owned companies and little companies doing big things!

-The city + private developers are invested in growing our urban core. From our NYT-recognized Arts District (the largest contiguous arts district in the country) to our vibrant in-town neighborboods (Uptown, Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville, Bishops Arts District, the Design District), there is always something new to check out.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Go ask those nuts in that thread in the Texas section to answer that. No one here cares. I would say Dallas is a business city, not historical, touristy, blue collar, laid-back, party, glamorous, political, sportsy, or anything else.

Texas cities are very much defined by being mostly practical and very corporate. Houston is very much like this. I was just wondering if the city was less so than Houston? Is it a city that tries to create a quality of life by investing in its public spaces and making it more aesthetically pleasing like Boston or DC?

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Dallas' "thing" is that it's a 21st century city. It's new & clean and has several key attractions:

- Very diverse economy. While Houston has more Fortune 500 companies HQ there, all but 2 are in the oil/gas/energy field. Dallas's F500 companies are very diverse: American Airlines & Southwest Airlines, JCPenney, Dean Foods & Dr Pepper, Texas Instruments, AT&T, DRHorton, plus the energy companies you'd expect to see in a Texas city.

-Better airport for international travel than Houston. Great prices due to lots of competitors. SA and Austin are regional airports where you have to stop in Dallas or Houston on non-regional flights.

-Extremely diverse. Outside the 635 loop, over half the metroplex's residents weren't born in Texas with about 1/4 of them being foreign-born. Large Mexican, Indian, African, Korean, etc populations. Many religions and many great restaurants with food from around the world.

-Dallas is one of the safer large cities. Last year was something like a 40+ year low in total murders....even as Dallas' population has grown exponentially in that time. Yes, there are some bad neighborboods and property crime can be an issue in urban areas, but overall I have always felt very safe here & violent crime rates are down 50%+ when compared to the 1990's.

-Entrepreneurism is alive & well in Dallas! Lots of locally owned companies and little companies doing big things!

-The city + private developers are invested in growing our urban core. From our NYT-recognized Arts District (the largest contiguous arts district in the country) to our vibrant in-town neighborboods (Uptown, Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville, Bishops Arts District, the Design District), there is always something new to check out.

It actually sounds like a better version of Houston! Big city and low crime? Wow.