Moving to Dallas in 3-4 Years

[Sunbather]

I like both. If you ignore COL it's almost a wash for me. I like Chicago better culturally (personally I love Chicago) but would take Dallas for weather.

[lepoisson]

I made the opposite move. I moved from DFW (Arlington precisely) to Chicago. I previously lived in Missouri, Iowa, and North Carolina (my home state).

For some reason, I never really adjusted to DFW and ended up moving to Chicago (the city, not the suburbs) less than a year after settling in DFW. It was nice not having to scrape snow and ice off your car, but the lack of seasons was depressing to me. Also, both locations have absolutely terrible weather. Chicago has brutal winters that last 4-6mo, but DFW has 90+ summers that last 4-6 months. Just me personally, but I'd much rather deal with bad winter and have seasons than no seasons at all.

Don't forget about salary. I make 50% more in Chicago than I did in DFW. I probably save even more because I was able to sell my car and save on all costs related to that. Funny enough, rent prices are fairly similar as long as you don't live downtown or in River North. The only difference is that apartments in DFW are newer and bigger, and of course have parking.

DFW is very spread out, so driving 10mi to get anywhere is pretty much the norm. Also, there really isn't much within a 4-5hr drive from DFW for a long weekend. Chicago, however, has many cool places within a 4-5hr drive.

Another letdown of DFW was the scenery. DFW barely has any trees and was so depressing with scenery. It's all urban sprawl with cement after cement and highway after highway. Some parts of Chicago are run down looking, but at least there is beautiful historic architecture here.

OP - if you are living in the city of Chicago, I would advise you to check out DFW and make sure it will work for you. If you are used to living in the suburbs, you'll probably be okay in DFW.

[crazyforger]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

I made the opposite move. I moved from DFW (Arlington precisely) to Chicago. I previously lived in Missouri, Iowa, and North Carolina (my home state).

For some reason, I never really adjusted to DFW and ended up moving to Chicago (the city, not the suburbs) less than a year after settling in DFW. It was nice not having to scrape snow and ice off your car, but the lack of seasons was depressing to me. Also, both locations have absolutely terrible weather. Chicago has brutal winters that last 4-6mo, but DFW has 90+ summers that last 4-6 months. Just me personally, but I'd much rather deal with bad winter and have seasons than no seasons at all.

Don't forget about salary. I make 50% more in Chicago than I did in DFW. I probably save even more because I was able to sell my car and save on all costs related to that. Funny enough, rent prices are fairly similar as long as you don't live downtown or in River North. The only difference is that apartments in DFW are newer and bigger, and of course have parking.

DFW is very spread out, so driving 10mi to get anywhere is pretty much the norm. Also, there really isn't much within a 4-5hr drive from DFW for a long weekend. Chicago, however, has many cool places within a 4-5hr drive.

Another letdown of DFW was the scenery. DFW barely has any trees and was so depressing with scenery. It's all urban sprawl with cement after cement and highway after highway. Some parts of Chicago are run down looking, but at least there is beautiful historic architecture here.

OP - if you are living in the city of Chicago, I would advise you to check out DFW and make sure it will work for you. If you are used to living in the suburbs, you'll probably be okay in DFW.

How about NC?

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by crazyforger

How about NC?

NC is my favorite state and it will always be home. You get 4 distinct seasons that aren't too harsh and the scenery is beautiful. Raleigh and Charlotte aren't Colorado/Vermont beauty, but they have plenty of trees and greenery.

[FreeVilley]

Originally Posted by adnanhashmi

Hey Guys,
Let me start with saying, I love Dallas! I love the weather, I love the houses and I love the food and the diversity!!

I've been living in Chicago for the past few years and I am seriously considering moving down to Dallas. I've been to Dallas a few times in 2017 on company trips and that's when I fell in love with the city. On couple of those trips, I also had my wife with me and we window shopped many houses.

I am 28 and working as a PM at a good engineering company. My wife is 26, she is in dental school with expected graduation in 2022. We have a 10 month old daughter.

The reason why I am looking to move to Dallas is because of the low taxes, better housing and the weather. It is also feels much more welcoming and just like my home country. I am of an Indian origin but born and raised in Dubai.

I know this may be very far out, I wanted to get a feel from you guys about what you think about our prospects in Dallas in the next few years. Should I wait until my wife's graduation and then move with the family or should I come here first before moving my family? I am asking because I am not sure what or how the job and housing market is/will be. Some of my guys think I should have moved a long time ago when the housing prices were still low and the job market was booming. I am being told Dallas is very close to being saturated.

To me honestly, even if the housing and property taxes are same as Chicago, I would still be willing to move for the weather. My only concern will be the job situation.

Any inputs will be appreciated.

Come first without the wife. Learn the area, decide which town you want to live in, then bring the wife to house shop. Let her focus on the school and baby while you do the heavy lifting. However, youll probably want to live closer to her job. As a dentist, being a part of the community is helpful.

[KoNgFooCj]

Houston is almost as big as Chicago and has great suburbs.

[dcb175]

Originally Posted by Sunbather

From a weather standpoint, Dallas is actually classified in the 'Warm - Humid' category by ASHRAE (climate zone 3A). But of course it is not as humid as anything in climate zone 1 or 2. It is not extra humid, but it is certainly not a dry climate either. Since I deal with weather for my job, I actually put this chart together for a discussion in another thread:



At a very basic level, the higher you are on the chart matters. And then left to right has an impact as well for things at relatively the same 'Y' coordinate on that chart. NM, AZ, NV - those are dry climates as seen with examples toward the bottom. Places like Houston, NOLA, and Charleston are very humid climates. But Dallas is very similar to places like Atlanta or Charlotte and more humid than foothills of SC. The higher dry bulb temperature in the summer pushes the relative humidity down slightly compared to those cities (as evidenced by DAL being slightly further to the right) while absolute humidity is very similar.

In short: statistically it is hard to say that Dallas is a dry city. Not to say that some people may be more or less susceptible to how they perceive humidity levels and comfort.

I lived in Dallas for 10 years and generally liked it. I always describe it to people who have never been there as somewhat of an average of Atlanta and Phoenix. This holds geographically (right in the middle), climate-wise (hotter than Atlanta, Cooler than Phoenix; More humid than Phoenix, less humid than Atlanta), and even somewhat culturally (a little bit southern, a little bit western). Of course, as flat as a pancake, so there's that.

[chesterv]

Originally Posted by adnanhashmi

Hey Guys,
Let me start with saying, I love Dallas! I love the weather, I love the houses and I love the food and the diversity!!

I've been living in Chicago for the past few years and I am seriously considering moving down to Dallas. I've been to Dallas a few times in 2017 on company trips and that's when I fell in love with the city. On couple of those trips, I also had my wife with me and we window shopped many houses.

I am 28 and working as a PM at a good engineering company. My wife is 26, she is in dental school with expected graduation in 2022. We have a 10 month old daughter.

The reason why I am looking to move to Dallas is because of the low taxes, better housing and the weather. It is also feels much more welcoming and just like my home country. I am of an Indian origin but born and raised in Dubai.

I know this may be very far out, I wanted to get a feel from you guys about what you think about our prospects in Dallas in the next few years. Should I wait until my wife's graduation and then move with the family or should I come here first before moving my family? I am asking because I am not sure what or how the job and housing market is/will be. Some of my guys think I should have moved a long time ago when the housing prices were still low and the job market was booming. I am being told Dallas is very close to being saturated.

To me honestly, even if the housing and property taxes are same as Chicago, I would still be willing to move for the weather. My only concern will be the job situation.

Any inputs will be appreciated.

Based on what you have said and the weather you want........

You might look at Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, or even Shreveport.

The DFW area is actually over-saturated, simply because the governments/cities here have refused to grow with the amount of people that are crammed in here. Law enforcement is a joke, simply because they don't have the "man power" to deal with the engorged number of people here.

And like all politicians in any level of office, they are more focused on how to stuff more of our tax dollars in their pockets, rather than putting it into better schools, SAFER schools, better healthcare, or a law enforcement force that is large enough, capable, and willing to take care of the strenuous influx of never ending people here.

You are better off looking for a place half the size or smaller, especially if you are expecting to raise kids.

[ATLForr]

Originally Posted by chesterv

Based on what you have said and the weather you want........

You might look at Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, or even Shreveport.

The DFW area is actually over-saturated, simply because the governments/cities here have refused to grow with the amount of people that are crammed in here. Law enforcement is a joke, simply because they don't have the "man power" to deal with the engorged number of people here.

And like all politicians in any level of office, they are more focused on how to stuff more of our tax dollars in their pockets, rather than putting it into better schools, SAFER schools, better healthcare, or a law enforcement force that is large enough, capable, and willing to take care of the strenuous influx of never ending people here.

You are better off looking for a place half the size or smaller, especially if you are expecting to raise kids.

This must be a joke. Who in their right minds would move to OKC, Albuquerque, Shreveport for better schools and healthcare. Oklahoma has a huge issue with funding for education, it has gotten to the point where districts are only doing 4 school days per week to cut down on costs. New Mexico frequently ranks last in K12 education and same with Louisiana. Don’t get me started on how bad the healthcare is in these states.

Over the years, I felt that Dallas has grown quite nicely and the govt has done a great job keeping up with the growth. If the OP wants a city half the size of Dallas, he should check out Austin or even San Antonio.

[Bp25]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

Also, there really isn't much within a 4-5hr drive from DFW for a long weekend. Chicago, however, has many cool places within a 4-5hr drive.

The entire Texas hill country is within 4-5 hours drive from Arlington, in case you didn't know. In 6-7 hours, you can get to Corpus, Port-A and north Padre islands. Arkansas Ozarks are also about 6 hours drive from Dallas. Just saying.