Moving from Phoenix to Dallas (San Antonio, McKinney: apartments, rent, low crime)

[BlakeAZ85]

I will be relocating to Dallas from Phoenix in the next few months. I am just trying to get a feel of where good areas in the Metroplex are to live. I will be working remotely from home, and will have to occasionally return to Phoenix for work meetings, so commuting and traffic aren't an issue for me. It will just be myself. I'm 26 and live alone so an apartment is likely my option. Also, is the weather ok on average? I know it's not as hot as Phoenix, but I have heard Dallas can be humid and gets quite a few tornadoes every so often.

I am just wondering what the most decent areas are, and not too far from Downtown Dallas. I will be flying to Dallas in a few weeks to look around myself and rent a car to do this. I've been to Dallas a few times in the past, but never for relocating. Just for quick work trips. Just wanted to get a heads up from locals as to where you would recommend to live and what areas of the city / area are decent, as well as low crime levels if possible. Thanks.

[Leonard123]

The first thing other people are going to ask is what your price range is. My first question is why are you moving? I ask because everyone else is moving here for the exact same thing, and you are probably going to struggle to find anything. You will need a lot of money, and you will need to be ready for future increases. If you have work meetings there, it seems like it would make more sense to stay there. Is there something you are looking for in Dallas that you can't get there?

I've always thought Phoenix, or at least some of its suburbs, sounded like a nice place to live, but I'd have to visit first and wouldn't get on any form of public transportation for anything.

[BlakeAZ85]

My price range is no more than $1600 a month. I am leaving because Phoenix is becoming too expensive to live in now and the crime has skyrocketed. There are other personal reasons relationship wise why I am leaving. But the main reason is that my company is headquartered in Phoenix but is opening an office in Dallas, and i volunteered to help start things up.

Phoenix is and always will be home and it is a nice place to live, but it is getting beyond affordable to live in now and I also need a change from one year round single season of summer and living in an oven.

[texstout]

Originally Posted by BlakeAZ85

My price range is no more than $1600 a month. I am leaving because Phoenix is becoming too expensive to live in now and the crime has skyrocketed. There are other personal reasons relationship wise why I am leaving. But the main reason is that my company is headquartered in Phoenix but is opening an office in Dallas, and i volunteered to help start things up.

Phoenix is and always will be home and it is a nice place to live, but it is getting beyond affordable to live in now and I also need a change from one year round single season of summer and living in an oven.

I am afraid that you will find Dallas more expensive than you foresee - especially areas near downtown or areas that 20 somethings generally want to stay in. You can find small 1 bedrooms or studios for under $1600 a month in places like the Village, East Dallas (lower Greenville/M Streets), Katy Trail, and possibly Uptown/Bishop Arts. These are all popular, safe, young person friendly areas. But you will probably be looking at older buildings.


Dallas is HOT in the summer with some humidity - so it may feel real hot to you Spring and Fall can be lovely. Winter vacillates between Fall/Spring feeling days and then a few days of bitter cold and occasional snow/ice. There are tornadoes occasionally.





https://www.thevillagedallas.com/

[Leonard123]

My cousin lived in The Village apartments, and I remember our driving around there. That place was absolutely horrifying. I can't believe anyone would consider it safe or nice. I would be terrified just to drive around that area. I wouldn't consider it close to downtown either. Close to downtown requires going south of Mockingbird in my view, and I don't believe anything close to downtown except the Park Cities is going to be safe.

For the most part, it looked to me like Phoenix and its suburbs had similar pricing for similar-sounding areas, but that was only a high level glance and some guesswork at to what those areas were like. It looked as though both markets were equally crazy. I would be surprised if you were able to get what you are looking for more affordably.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by BlakeAZ85

My price range is no more than $1600 a month. I am leaving because Phoenix is becoming too expensive to live in now and the crime has skyrocketed. There are other personal reasons relationship wise why I am leaving. But the main reason is that my company is headquartered in Phoenix but is opening an office in Dallas, and i volunteered to help start things up.

Phoenix is and always will be home and it is a nice place to live, but it is getting beyond affordable to live in now and I also need a change from one year round single season of summer and living in an oven.

Yeah if you are leaving Phoenix because it's too expensive, then Dallas is the wrong place for you as it is even more expensive than Phoenix. If you want a cheaper cost of living and you can go anywhere then I would be looking in cities like Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Tulsa. Maybe San Antonio. All 4 are reasonably decent sized cities and with OKC/Tulsa/San Antonio you still have sports franchises and stuff to do.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

My cousin lived in The Village apartments, and I remember our driving around there. That place was absolutely horrifying. I can't believe anyone would consider it safe or nice. I would be terrified just to drive around that area. I wouldn't consider it close to downtown either. Close to downtown requires going south of Mockingbird in my view, and I don't believe anything close to downtown except the Park Cities is going to be safe.

For the most part, it looked to me like Phoenix and its suburbs had similar pricing for similar-sounding areas, but that was only a high level glance and some guesswork at to what those areas were like. It looked as though both markets were equally crazy. I would be surprised if you were able to get what you are looking for more affordably.

What??? I lived in the Village for years as a single guy, now granted this was 15 years ago. It was a good place to live. I havent heard of it going down hill since then. You absolutely could live there and commute downtown easily. Perhaps we are talking about different Villages? I'm talking about the one off Lovers Lane.

[Leonard123]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

What??? I lived in the Village for years as a single guy, now granted this was 15 years ago. It was a good place to live. I havent heard of it going down hill since then. You absolutely could live there and commute downtown easily. Perhaps we are talking about different Villages? I'm talking about the one off Lovers Lane.

It was about 9 years ago. It was on the east side of Central from Northpark Mall (Northwest Highway), so I believe it's the same thing. Yes, it was absolutely dreadful. For all I hate about it, it made me so incredibly grateful to be living in McKinney and not there.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

My cousin lived in The Village apartments, and I remember our driving around there. That place was absolutely horrifying. I can't believe anyone would consider it safe or nice. I would be terrified just to drive around that area. I wouldn't consider it close to downtown either. Close to downtown requires going south of Mockingbird in my view, and I don't believe anything close to downtown except the Park Cities is going to be safe.

For the most part, it looked to me like Phoenix and its suburbs had similar pricing for similar-sounding areas, but that was only a high level glance and some guesswork at to what those areas were like. It looked as though both markets were equally crazy. I would be surprised if you were able to get what you are looking for more affordably.

Please stop commenting on any threads that involve locations south of George Bush. The Village IS safe. The fact that you were terrified to drive around there says everything.

Just read your second post…where you were driving was not the village. It was probably the 5 Points area off Greenville & Park. That’s not a good neighborhood. I know it’s weird because it across Northwest Hwy from the Village but it’s two totally different neighborhoods that don’t mix and don’t cross over. I lived near the Village for years and literally never had a problem, even as a single woman with a dog who walking morning & night.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

My cousin lived in The Village apartments, and I remember our driving around there. That place was absolutely horrifying. I can't believe anyone would consider it safe or nice. I would be terrified just to drive around that area. I wouldn't consider it close to downtown either. Close to downtown requires going south of Mockingbird in my view, and I don't believe anything close to downtown except the Park Cities is going to be safe.

OP please disregard this flurry of words as disinformation.

ETA - I see others beat me to the punch.