Looking for a nice, safe and dog friendly place (Dallas: salons, apartment complexes)

[BDB]

I am a young professional moving to Fort Worth in the near future. I am European, living in Washington DC for a couple of years and I was wondering what to think about all the high crime numbers I see on the internet for the Fort Worth area. One website even listed breaking into cars higher in Fort Worth than DC.
When looking on websites that give reviews for apartments there are always a couple that mention burglaries. I thought I was moving to a safer place? I admit it, I am a bit scared. I know you should not believe everything written on the web, but still.
An extra problem is that we (my girlfriend and I) have not a lot of time to find a nice, safe and dog friendly one or two bedroom apartment downtown or suburbs.
Hopefully somebody has some good tips. I have been reading this blog and it really amazed me how many good responses people get.

Thanks in advance!

[subslug]

Have a look at this Google map and search for apartments in this area. I lived there for a couple of years and it's right on the Trinity river, excellent dog area and very safe.

BTW: Fort Worth isn't really that bad of an area.....the internet can scare anyone if you let it.

[NOTAM]

i felt very safe in the Ft Worth area, and i aint a city girl. i am a BIG dog person...had NO problem finding rentals before i purchased a trailer and land.
the first place i lived in was on the Tarrant/Parker County line....west of White Settlement. i never lived in apartments, because i always like my dogs to have a yard...so why not just rent a duplex or a house??? then you can live on the outskirts of Ft Worth and have some wide open spaces for your dog!!! my dogs loved looking at all the cows!!

[Toto2]

Safety is all dependent on your area here. There really are many beautiful, safe, dog-friendly places in DFW. My suggestion would be to pick the area of the metroplex you really like, then post for info about that area.

[BDB]

We were thinking about the area around Trinity River (River Park?) (as Subslug suggested) and I also like this one apartment it is at [SIZE=1]150 BOLAND STREET near the cultural district, but rather expensive.

[/SIZE]I was hoping to get some responses that would point me in a certain direction (for example the North part of town). This because we have not that much time to look around the entire city. An additional question we are trying to decide on is whether we should go for a house or an apartment in a complex.

Hoping to get more tips.

[fortworth1]

My husband and I have lived in "the Fort" for 17 years. We have a dog, as do a lot of folks here. One of the best things about the city, for dog lovers, is Fort Woof, which has been rated the #1 dog park in the country. It is wonderful. We also have a nice nature center where you can take your dog for long walks in the beautiful woods. Fort Worth also has a wonderful biking/walking/dog-walking path that runs near the Trinity river. The bad thing about Texas is that it gets hot here in the summer. No, I mean really, really, soul-scorchingly hot. But then it goes away and in the fall everyone is friendly again. The other bad thing about Texas is that everyone drives, and you pretty much have to drive everywhere because everything is spread out. Oh, and another thing, which may be good or bad in your view: you will find some liberal folks here, but the mainstream is definitely conservative. Something to consider. Here are my two cents on apts. versus houses and the different neighborhoods:

Apartment complexes: The very nice ones tend to be filled with college kids or young professionals. The cost of housing here is pretty low, so you can rent a small home or duplex for a pretty good price, perhaps even cheaper than a nice apartment.

The cultural district: located on the west side, near three world-class museums and the stockyards, this is a great part of town but can be pricey. You might be able to rent a duplex or small house there, though. The upside is that the neighborhood is beautiful and walkable. Camp Bowie Boulevard runs through the West side and has a lot of shops, restaurants, salons, etc.

Also research the northeast part of Fort Worth, which has the neighborhoods Oakhurst, Sylvan Heights, and Riverside. This area is surprisingly affordable and is on the way up, with developments in the near future.

Historic Fairmount, near the hospital district in the south part of town, is another interesting place to check out.

Yes, there is crime in Fort Worth (and Dallas, our sister city with which we have a healthy dose of sibling rivalry). However, I think you can also keep yourself pretty safe here. Personally I am always surprised when I see the statistics, because unless you watch the local news, you don't hear about a lot of crime on the day to day. That being said, our car has been broken into a few times when it was parked on the street.

I hope that helps! Downtown is beautiful, and verrrry clean for the most part. There is a big project being launched to make the area around the Trinity River more usable. There are many areas of town that are being revitalized.

I hope that helps! It would be good if you could visit the city and go to a few neighborhoods to see the different flavors. We are known as The Gateway to the West, and the city really does have a lot of interesting history. We are also known as Cowtown, because of the cattle trade that made us what we are. MOOOOO!