Questions About Suburban Job Prospects for a Transplant (Dallas, Fort Worth: rent, crime)

[s1nsp4wn]

So my family is seriously contemplating a move from the Chicago suburbs to the DFW metroplex burbs within the next year or two. Doing a basic no frills job search for work in my industry (IT networking and system administration), it's clear that the bulk of jobs are in Dallas with areas like Plano, Richardson, and Frisco in next place. I'm pretty sure i'm most comfortable affording stuff far north (McKinney, maybe Anna) and far east (think Rowlett and Fate) My questions are....

1. Are most jobs truly in Dallas proper? Or are many under the Dallas umbrella, but still in the burbs?
2. Would I be missing out on a ton of work in Dallas if I were to live far north like McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, or Frisco for work in Plano?
3. Most of the Fortune 500 companies are in Dallas or Fort Worth. Are there any burbs in Fort Worth that should get my attention? Is commuting to Dallas a no-go if I went to Fort Worth? Is that more of a Fort Worth forum question?

I took a trip out to DFW a few months ago and we loved it, but noticed the long stretches of road would make for a rush hour nightmare. I realize living in one of those far north burbs would lead to a sould-crushing commute to Dallas, that's why I'm most curious if I can survive working in places like Plano without fear of having to crawl to Dallas due to layoff or etc.

Thank you for any and all input!

[ChristieP]

1. Most jobs are in suburban parts of town, such as Las Colinas/Irving and Plano. There are quite a few jobs in Dallas, but not necessarily in downtown.
2. In my opinion, yes.
3. If you want to live in Fort Worth, you’ll need a job in Fort Worth. Commuting between the two cities would be a huge waste of time. Most of the suburbs around Fort Worth are primarily residential.

[s1nsp4wn]

Thanks! I guess it's a sacrifice either way. Tons of jobs and ok schools/home value or amazing schools and high taxes and long commute.

[DBL60]

You do not need to be around Dallas . You can live in Anna like you mentioned abd have a reasonable commute to Plano/Richardson. Frisco/Plano is an abundance of jobs but very expensive homes. Fort Worth is also just fine, and generally has cheaper housing than the Dallas side . You cannot commute from ft worth to dallas every day or vice versa, in my opinion. Also, fate would be my last choice , stay up in the north suburbs if you can . You will stay away from horrible traffic on I-30, and higher crime and just overall better worse quality of life.

[jennifw]

You may already know this, but keep in mind that the public transportation in DFW is nothing like the systems in Chicago.
It is important to know your job location/have a job before you decide on where to live. I agree with the others that you can pretty easily commute between the northern suburbs (Frisco, Plano, Richardson) but it can really throw a wrench in things when you throw in the eastern burbs.

Ft Worth and Dallas are not close enough to commute between the two.
Good luck!

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by s1nsp4wn

So my family is seriously contemplating a move from the Chicago suburbs to the DFW metroplex burbs within the next year or two. Doing a basic no frills job search for work in my industry (IT networking and system administration), it's clear that the bulk of jobs are in Dallas with areas like Plano, Richardson, and Frisco in next place. I'm pretty sure i'm most comfortable affording stuff far north (McKinney, maybe Anna) and far east (think Rowlett and Fate) My questions are....

1. Are most jobs truly in Dallas proper? Or are many under the Dallas umbrella, but still in the burbs?
2. Would I be missing out on a ton of work in Dallas if I were to live far north like McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, or Frisco for work in Plano?
3. Most of the Fortune 500 companies are in Dallas or Fort Worth. Are there any burbs in Fort Worth that should get my attention? Is commuting to Dallas a no-go if I went to Fort Worth? Is that more of a Fort Worth forum question?

I took a trip out to DFW a few months ago and we loved it, but noticed the long stretches of road would make for a rush hour nightmare. I realize living in one of those far north burbs would lead to a sould-crushing commute to Dallas, that's why I'm most curious if I can survive working in places like Plano without fear of having to crawl to Dallas due to layoff or etc.

Thank you for any and all input!

1.) Depends on your industry. IT/networking jobs are anywhere and everywhere but you will find most of them concentrated along "corridors" in various areas. North Dallas, Richardson, Plano (primarily on the west side of town), Irving, etc. are all good bets. Frisco is growing fast and downtown Dallas is also a dark horse in terms of job potential for techies like us. If you have any interest whatsoever in ever using public transportation, avoid going north of Plano.


2.) Depends on how much you hate rush hour traffic. If you want to keep your commute to 30 minutes or less, then the answer is yes.


3.) Depends on how much you like to drive. Some people commute downtown from Denton every day. I couldn't do it. I like to keep my drive to 30 minutes or less so I usually don't consider anything more than 14 miles from home. I live in Richardson so that doesn't restrict me too much, though it leaves all of Irving & Las Colinas outside of that circle.

[s1nsp4wn]

Thanks. I think Fate is off the table alone due to little development and having to use 30. How about Rowlett and Garland? Typical in the sense they have some good and some bad areas?

[s1nsp4wn]

Originally Posted by jennifw

You may already know this, but keep in mind that the public transportation in DFW is nothing like the systems in Chicago.
It is important to know your job location/have a job before you decide on where to live.

Agreed. The plan is for me to land a gig first, then rent for awhile before planting roots. I know I'm giving up awesome transportation, but when factoring in COL and no state income, I can deal with it as long as my commute isn't over an hour.

[s1nsp4wn]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

1.) IT/networking jobs are anywhere and everywhere but you will find most of them concentrated along "corridors" in various areas. North Dallas, Richardson, Plano (primarily on the west side of town), Irving, etc. are all good bets. Frisco is growing fast and downtown Dallas is also a dark horse in terms of job potential for techies like us. If you have any interest whatsoever in ever using public transportation, avoid going north of Plano.

Yeah without giving too much away, I'm a Cisco/Palo Alto/F5/Linux/Python kind of guy, and HATE driving more than 45 minutes. That's about my cutoff where no amount of money is worth the frustration and not seeing my kids.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by s1nsp4wn

Yeah without giving too much away, I'm a Cisco/Palo Alto/F5/Linux/Python kind of guy, and HATE driving more than 45 minutes. That's about my cutoff where no amount of money is worth the frustration and not seeing my kids.

Hmm...what do you think your budget is going to be?