26 yr old, thinking about relocating to DFW area...cool things? (Dallas: 2015, apartments)

[Freespirited1990]

Hi!

I have been offered a great job in the area and have the opportunity to come visit in the next two weeks to see what it is all about before I accept. I currently live in Seattle, but was born and raised in Southern Missouri.

I am looking for tips on things like cool areas for restaurants, breweries or wine shops and shopping districts and other random unique/historical things.

For example Pike Place Market in Seattle, The Riverwalk in SA, Jester King Brewing in Austin, Country Club Plazs in KC, etc. Basically the attractions and places that make Ft. Worth what it is. What's it known for?

I would also love any suggestions for the outside burbs within 30 miles or so, for instance, Southlake town center looks very attractive to me.

[tcualum]

I saw your post about biking on the Dallas forum. Fort Worth has some great biking. In Fort Worth there's the Trinity Trails which has more more than 40 miles of hike, bike and horseback riding trails. A large portion of it follows the banks of the Trinity River. There's parks, restaurants, a small weekend farmers market and a bike shop along the trail. The mayor of Fort Worth, Betsy Price, is very into biking and has regular ride alongs.

In Arlington there's the nature park River Legacy that has miles of paved bike trails and mountain bike trails along the Trinity. Be aware that at that park there's the slim possibility of encountering wildlife such as poisonous snakes and bobcats. My sons used to go to preschool there and never saw any but there are videos of bikers seeing them. The bobcats and coyotes generally ignore humans though.

Fort Worth has a very laid back vibe and the people are very friendly. Dallas has better nightlife but the nightlife in Fort Worth is improving. The popular places for tourists are: the Stockyards where you can see a glimpse of Fort Worth's heritage and Sundance Square downtown. The West 7th area is popular with local younger people and has bars, restaurants, trendy condos and apartments, shopping and a movie theater. Not all of the stuff down there is listed on the West 7th website. It's also near the Cultural District where most of Fort Worth's museums are and down the street from the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens which has a very peaceful Japanese Garden. If you're looking for a more laid back eclectic vibe I recommend the near Southside neighborhood. There's art galleries, bars, restaurants, live music and theater, etc.

As for breweries, the big ones are Rahr & Sons and Firestone & Robertson Distillery which is best known for it's TX Blended Whiskey. Both offer tours. Grapevine (city between Fort Worth and Dallas) has a huge grape fest every fall and Fort Worth has all sorts of festivals and other events. For example, Fort Worth is having a huge festival at Panther Island Pavilion for July 4th. There will be will be activities, food, live music on the stage, fireworks and free tubing on the Trinity River. Panther Island is an event venue that has a stage facing the river. You can tube, kayak or paddleboard during concerts. There's also drive in movie theater nearby. As for a River Walk, there's plans to build one.

As for where to live, it depends on where your job will be. The traffic in the DFW area is horrendous and the metroplex is very spread out. Unlike Seattle, there's no natural barriers to sprawl. Just DFW airport is larger than the island of Manhattan. River Legacy Park is larger than Central Park. Your first consideration should be your commute and second your budget. I've lived all over the DFW area but I can't really present suggestions if I don't know what area of town you'd work in. Everyone else on these boards would say the same thing. As for Southlake, it's nice but really geared more towards families since the main draw is the school district.

[ChristieP]

Southlake Town Square is mostly national chain stores and restaurants. It's the closest thing there is to nightlife in Southlake so it's usually packed with families on weekends. (Southlake has no apartments, and houses there start at $500k.)

Grapevine and McKinney both have cute downtowns with boutiques, wineries and restaurants.

Where would your job be? You would want to live close to your work so you wouldn't have a long commute.

[Freespirited1990]

Hi Christie,

My girlfriend would be working in Southlake and I would be working at JCP HQ in Plano. We are really big on nearby conveniences and aren't big walkers. Southlake/Grapevine area seems to have things like a Grocery store, fast food, a gym, movie theater, Total Wine and More (yes, this is important! haha). Typically during the week we are very boring people as it is, I get off of work at 5, get home around 6 or so now, eat dinner and then go to the gym 7-9pm or so. On the weekends, to be quite frank, we tend to drive dozens of miles in Seattle because everything we like to do is spread out all of the area and not really in one place.

[mschrief]

After living in the Seattle 12 years and finally returning to TX in 2015, I hope you enjoy it here.

No more grueling commutes, lower prices, etc.

Just about everything I had in Seattle I have here. I do not miss the PNW weather and traffic. Not to say there isn't any traffic, but after all those years having a daily 3 HOUR commute, I am so happy to be here.

Good luck to you!

[Austinite76]

Dude. Living in Ft Worth and driving to Plano every day would just be dumb.

Stick to west Plano or something around there.