Relocation within the Metroplex? (Dallas, Fort Worth: apartments, rent, lofts)

[Hadroff]

Hey folks! Most of the threads on this topic appear to be several years old thus a bit out of date.



I'm currently a 36 single male living in the Urban Center of Las Colinas (by Lake Carolyn) and I work in the Grapevine/Southlake area. While there's nothing inherently wrong with the Las Colinas area (aside from Campion Trail being constantly flooded due to all the rain), I just feel like it's time for a change. Rent is negotiable (prefer around/under $1,600).



As I see it right now, the Uptown commute doesn't seem at all appealing nor does the commute from Plano (i did that for a while with my last girlfriend).



Anyone have any tips on where else I might consider looking? I would much prefer that there be at least some entertainment/livelihood nearby. Perhaps even enough singles to make it worthwhile (which might be challenging outside of certain areas).



Stay in Las Colinas? Addison? Look at Grapevine? Consider moving out to Fort Worth? I've been considering Grapevine lately as that would mean a shorter drive and I could go home for lunch (plus Main Street isn't all that bad and Southlake is right across the freeway).



Any tips would be appreciated.

[WorldKlas]

Grapevine makes sense

[Jazzlover18]

Hi, I use to live at IMT Lakeshore Lofts by the Urban Center, but, ended up buying a condo in Irving.
I would stay in your current area, as it's close to your work area and it's centrally located to Uptown and Addison. Additionally, the Irving Music Factory has a plethora of restaurants and quasi single scene.

[Jazzlover18]

Main Street isn't bad, nor is Southlake, but, not sure of single scene in those areas.

[RJ312]

The best option is to stay in your current area if you don't feel like taking on a job search right now. I could understand the sentiment of not wanting to take on a job search. Things are volatile with the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500. The 4th quarter was bad for all 3 market indices. There are signs that economic growth will be slowing. The slowing might not lead to outright recession.

Your circumstances are precisely the scenario that leads to a bad experience in a metro area. You're a single male, and your job is far away from the singles scene of the area. I had that problem with I lived in Phoenix, and my first choice was to be close to my job rather than right on top of the singles area. I changed my approach when I moved to Dallas. I moved to Dallas without a job and chose to be close to the main singles area of the city and selected job options based around being proximal to my lifestyle needs.

Neither Las Colinas nor Addison, the two closest options for a 25-35 year old singles scene, are all that spectacular. Addison might be slightly better, but I wouldn't uproot from Las Colinas to go to Addison, for the amount of improvement you'd get. It's marginal at best. Las Colinas' reputation as far as single life goes is uninspiring.

How are you attempting to find dates at this point? The worst choice is using Tinder/Bumble. You need to have your first interaction with your potential dates face to face. The second worst choice is Meetup.com groups. The 25-35 year old women who use Meetup are lackluster. I'm assuming that your social circle isn't capable of producing results. By about age 30, most social circles are incapable of producing results, because most social circles are centered around couples life at that point and singles are essentially left to fend for themselves. Based on what I've eliminated so far, that leaves the bar scene, and non-bar venues. Over time, I've skewed more towards non-bar venues because I do not like late nights and constantly drinking alcohol, and I think non-bar venues produce relationships of longer duration, which I prefer. But even with that, I would perceive you as being challenged. I can't imagine it'd be easy to find singles in the grocery stores nearest to Las Colinas. Grocery stores are rather inconsistent as venues, even in central city, singles conducive neighborhoods. You could do mall approaching at Northpark or Dallas Galleria for 2-3 hours on Saturday/Sunday afternoons in the new year, but mall approaching can be rather ungratifying, but still better than the dating apps.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by Jazzlover18

Main Street isn't bad, nor is Southlake, but, not sure of single scene in those areas.

There's not really any singles "scene" here unless you're into a much older crowd, or you're a Harley rider (Wilhoites bar attracts a Harley crowd on weekends). If you're looking for a nice place to live with low crime and a very short commute to work, Grapevine would definitely work. Southlake has no singles "scene" that I'm aware of; it is a very family-oriented town. You might be able to find other singles at a singles group at one of the churches. I'm sure that huge Gateway church has something going on...

The commute from most of the other places you mention (Addison and Fort Worth) would be soul-sucking. I've driven from Grapevine to Fort Worth for work, and the traffic heading into Grapevine on northbound 121 in the mornings is very heavy.

[Hadroff]

Originally Posted by RJ312

The best option is to stay in your current area if you don't feel like taking on a job search right now. I could understand the sentiment of not wanting to take on a job search. Things are volatile with the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500. The 4th quarter was bad for all 3 market indices. There are signs that economic growth will be slowing. The slowing might not lead to outright recession.

Your circumstances are precisely the scenario that leads to a bad experience in a metro area. You're a single male, and your job is far away from the singles scene of the area. I had that problem with I lived in Phoenix, and my first choice was to be close to my job rather than right on top of the singles area. I changed my approach when I moved to Dallas. I moved to Dallas without a job and chose to be close to the main singles area of the city and selected job options based around being proximal to my lifestyle needs.

Neither Las Colinas nor Addison, the two closest options for a 25-35 year old singles scene, are all that spectacular. Addison might be slightly better, but I wouldn't uproot from Las Colinas to go to Addison, for the amount of improvement you'd get. It's marginal at best. Las Colinas' reputation as far as single life goes is uninspiring.

How are you attempting to find dates at this point? The worst choice is using Tinder/Bumble. You need to have your first interaction with your potential dates face to face. The second worst choice is Meetup.com groups. The 25-35 year old women who use Meetup are lackluster. I'm assuming that your social circle isn't capable of producing results. By about age 30, most social circles are incapable of producing results, because most social circles are centered around couples life at that point and singles are essentially left to fend for themselves. Based on what I've eliminated so far, that leaves the bar scene, and non-bar venues. Over time, I've skewed more towards non-bar venues because I do not like late nights and constantly drinking alcohol, and I think non-bar venues produce relationships of longer duration, which I prefer. But even with that, I would perceive you as being challenged. I can't imagine it'd be easy to find singles in the grocery stores nearest to Las Colinas. Grocery stores are rather inconsistent as venues, even in central city, singles conducive neighborhoods. You could do mall approaching at Northpark or Dallas Galleria for 2-3 hours on Saturday/Sunday afternoons in the new year, but mall approaching can be rather ungratifying, but still better than the dating apps.

You would be correct about not wanting to switch jobs right now. I recently received a substantial pay increase at work/promotion so leaving now wouldn't be in my best interest (even before you tack on the fact that the market is a bit of a mess right now). Working in the legal field, I have a pretty good (and stable) position that allows me to have a personal life (namely, I'm not forced to track billable hours or chase after the partnership track). When I was offered the job in the "Dallas" office, I was expecting to be in "Dallas" and not Southlake. Needless to say, I wasn't all too thrilled when I found out where Southlake actually was on the map. From a professional standpoint, it was a great move. From a personal one? Hit or miss.



My forays into Addison the past week or so kinda confirmed your point: it's not much better than Las Colinas. I've seen more older folks as well as a ton of couples in most of the places I've looked. With Las Colinas, you also have an older/attached crowd as well as the normal inclusive groups that inhabit LasCo/Valley Ranch.



Dating wise - I've spent the better part of the last year in a relationship (8 months) and then casual dating the rest of the time mostly from Bumble. As with any venue, Bumble can be hit or miss. I've pretty much given up on a Tinder as it is nothing more than a dumpster fire at this point (ditto for Meetup). Most of the apartments around here offer some form of a yoga class/work out class so I might start sticking my nose back in that pool. Last I remembered, there were some singles in the desirable age range. Other than that, it sounds like I might have to find some sort of way to spend more time in Dallas proper. My social circle is pretty barren as well as most everyone is either married/attached and what's left of their friends isn't all that appealing.



A lot of what you wrote is exactly how I feel at this point!

[WorldKlas]

Have you considered the Fort Worth side?

[Hadroff]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

There's not really any singles "scene" here unless you're into a much older crowd, or you're a Harley rider (Wilhoites bar attracts a Harley crowd on weekends). If you're looking for a nice place to live with low crime and a very short commute to work, Grapevine would definitely work. Southlake has no singles "scene" that I'm aware of; it is a very family-oriented town. You might be able to find other singles at a singles group at one of the churches. I'm sure that huge Gateway church has something going on...

The commute from most of the other places you mention (Addison and Fort Worth) would be soul-sucking. I've driven from Grapevine to Fort Worth for work, and the traffic heading into Grapevine on northbound 121 in the mornings is very heavy.

I've done Plano to Southlake and it's minimum of 45 mins if I do Preston --> 635. I'm not sure that the toll road would be much better. Other times, it's taken me 90 minutes (since there always seems to be a slowdown or accident around Farmer's Branch). I imagine the Addison route would yield similar headaches without much payoff.



I definitely know that Southlake is a family community but your insight into Grapevine does help! I imagine the "pull" from some of the other surrounding areas isn't all that great either (probably mostly family suburbs). Some of the people I work with attend Gateway (as do some folks in my current apartment).



As for that Ft. Worth commute, I do see the traffic backup from the airport all the way to Southlake (and beyond). I'm guessing there isn't much of a viable back route? Then again, my co-worker (from Keller) is always complaining about the traffic.



Truth be told, I'd love Grapevine if it had a more diverse age group.

[Hadroff]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

Have you considered the Fort Worth side?

I've given it some thought. I just wouldn't know where to begin (outside of Grapevine).