Those of you from New York (Dallas: sale, apartment, houses)

[med786]

Those of you who moved from NY or Long Island, how would you compare Dallas financially? What about the highways and driving etc? Thanks!

[tmtex]

Crazy drivers, always wrecks, heavy traffic

[Pinkett]

It’s better in all aspects. I don’t think Dallas is cheap anymore but you just get more of everything for that same amount of money.Driving is definitely crazy only because the speed limit is much higher than what we were used to in NY. You do however, get to your destination faster provided there is no closures or delays. I feel the infrastructure is much more advanced in Dallas overall. I have lived in many places across NY including NYC.

[med786]

Originally Posted by Pinkett

It’s better in all aspects. I don’t think Dallas is cheap anymore but you just get more of everything for that same amount of money.Driving is definitely crazy only because the speed limit is much higher than what we were used to in NY. You do however, get to your destination faster provided there is no closures or delays. I feel the infrastructure is much more advanced in Dallas overall. I have lived in many places across NY including NYC.

Would you say the traffic is worse in NY?

[Sunbather]

Originally Posted by med786

Those of you who moved from NY or Long Island, how would you compare Dallas financially? What about the highways and driving etc? Thanks!

In what way do you mean compare it 'financially'? Do you mean cost of living? That's going to vary a lot by how you want to live. NYC is obviously more expensive for MOST people who would be living in Dallas compared to living in NYC, largely because of a typical lower overall tax burden in TX and cost of comparable housing. Yes, But there are lots of situations to consider.

Driving is also hard to compare. Driving kind of sucks in NYC, but you just about NEVER have to do it. Between living there and also visiting 3-4x a year since, I have only ever driven when I needed to take a care to drive somewhere in upstate NY to visit relatives. Outside of that, 80% of the time just subway and buses and 20% taxi/ride-share. Driving in Dallas sucks as well, but for the majority of DFW, people HAVE to drive. So I'd actually give NYC a significant edge in terms of overall transportation. I spent my first 3 years here relying almost entirely on biking/train/uber; but in order to do that I had to live in a very specific radius to specific train lines and work within a specific radius of train lines too. Very limited.

Outside of that, comparisons are going to be very personal. I like NYC better in nearly every way than Dallas for my own lifestyle - but before people take that the wrong way, I also have found enough to enjoy in Dallas as well that I am OK living here and appreciate the tax breaks and being near my wife's family.


I would suggest that you bring some more specific questions here and I, and other posters, will likely be able to provide you much higher quality answers based around what you really want to know.

[apple44]

We moved to Dallas from Manhattan. I like both places for difference reasons.
Financial - I lived and worked in NYC, so moving to Dallas saved me 7% state tax + 3% city tax. I sold my 650 sqft apartment in Midtown East Manhattan and bought a 2,500 sqft house in Lakewood (it has one of the best elementary schools close to downtown Dallas). The house in Dallas cost less than the selling price of my apartment.

Also the fact that I could buy a house close to downtown that also has a good public school is something almost impossible to get in New York. Almost all my friends living in Manhattan had to kill to get their kids into private schools. So yeah, if you have a family, Dallas is cheaper and easier all around.

In terms of driving, I think Manhattan is very hard to navigage in car. Not only that, but parking cost a lot of money!!! I had to buy a parking spot in my apartment building. If you live outisde of Manhattan, it's easier. And I think driving is just about the same as Dallas. Also, if you live in Manhattan with small children and don't have a car, if you go anywhere with your kids, you'd better use the subway stations that have an elevator/escalator, otherwise good luck carrying those strollers up/down the stairs.... So again, for a family with young children, Dallas is sooooooo much easier.

[Sunbather]

Originally Posted by apple44

We moved to Dallas from Manhattan. I like both places for difference reasons.
Financial - I lived and worked in NYC, so moving to Dallas saved me 7% state tax + 3% city tax. I sold my 650 sqft apartment in Midtown East Manhattan and bought a 2,500 sqft house in Lakewood (it has one of the best elementary schools close to downtown Dallas). The house in Dallas cost less than the selling price of my apartment.

Also the fact that I could buy a house close to downtown that also has a good public school is something almost impossible to get in New York. Almost all my friends living in Manhattan had to kill to get their kids into private schools. So yeah, if you have a family, Dallas is cheaper and easier all around.

In terms of driving, I think Manhattan is very hard to navigage in car. Not only that, but parking cost a lot of money!!! I had to buy a parking spot in my apartment building. If you live outisde of Manhattan, it's easier. And I think driving is just about the same as Dallas. Also, if you live in Manhattan with small children and don't have a car, if you go anywhere with your kids, you'd better use the subway stations that have an elevator/escalator, otherwise good luck carrying those strollers up/down the stairs.... So again, for a family with young children, Dallas is sooooooo much easier.

This is a good, balanced response. I would agree that kids make a huge difference. We don't have kids so that certainly skews our feedback. But we have a handful of friends with kids in NYC and I'm always amazed at how they pull it off. It's a lot more work as you say.

[rabbit33]

... I sold my 650 sqft apartment in Midtown East Manhattan and bought a 2,500 sqft house in Lakewood...

This is not helping housing prices in Dallas. A very large number of Dallasites can't afford to buy houses that they could have, just five years ago; property taxes are an ever-increasing burden that will force a lot more out; people who would upgrade are stuck in houses that don't meet their needs any more.

[Pinkett]

Originally Posted by med786

Would you say the traffic is worse in NY?

When I had my kids, I knew that subway would not work. Strollers, stairs, snow is just not something I wanted to deal with. So driving was the only option. As someone who has lived in many different parts of NY, driving is 100% better in Dallas. If you are stuck on Brooklyn Bridge, you are stuck for hours with no detour, no exit. In that I would say the modern infrastructure in Dallas helps. There are long delays often but you can easily take can exit to go around. Lately, I have seen even more lanes, highways, bridges being built. Sure sometimes that causes delays but once built, I believe traffic will be thousand times better than NY

[ilovepizza1975]

Originally Posted by rabbit33

... I sold my 650 sqft apartment in Midtown East Manhattan and bought a 2,500 sqft house in Lakewood...

This is not helping housing prices in Dallas. A very large number of Dallasites can't afford to buy houses that they could have, just five years ago; property taxes are an ever-increasing burden that will force a lot more out; people who would upgrade are stuck in houses that don't meet their needs any more.

My house sale closed this week. Right now I have very few expenses and I make six figures so I'm going to save aggressively (80% of post-tax income is my goal) for retirement instead.

I don't have to buy a house so I'm not going to buy one. Not at these prices and rates; Dallas isn't a good value for money anymore IMHO.