Potential Move-Some questions (Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth: sales, apartments, rentals)

[slowdawg]

I live in Michigan. After being in the same county for all of my 38 years, I'm bored. I also have been suffering from depression due to long, cold winters. The cold weather starts around Thanksgiving. Currently, its mid-March and still in the 30s. I can handle heat as long as I have AC and water. But cold weather really brings me down.
Our roads are horrible. The worst potholes in the nation, and I can't afford to keep fixing my car because of wheel and suspension damage.
I do not have a college degree and do not have much skill (Im ADHD). I have worked in security but would rather not pursue it further because of bad pay and hours. I also deliver food on the side. My wife is also not a college grad. Shes a native of the Philippines and would like to live near a filipino community. She worked in a hotel bar back home and works as a sales associate here.Her mother recently moved to the states and is a live-in caregiver at a senior citizens group home. I was informed that Texas would be easier for us to live comfortably in than Arizona. Plus, Texas has more things I would enjoy, like live music everywhere.
I dont want to live in Dallas County unless its way far south, like Seagoville. Dallas has too much crime and housing looks too expensive for what you get.
I want a city similar to where I live: lower middle class, houses $60-110k, crime around or slightly lower than the national average. Im definitely preferring Denton, Tarrant or Johnson Counties.
Im planning on visiting to check out some cities. But there are so many. Hopefully, you can help me narrow it down.
1) 2 bedroom rentals in a safe area for under $800/mo (im currently paying a mortgage around $590/m0 and I know I cant duplicate that)
2)What kind of industries/jobs could we find possible work at?
3) is there a Filipino community?
4)As a type-1 diabetic, i need to be near good specialty doctors

Right now, I want to look into Denton, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Mansfield, and Burleson. I want to avoid Arlington because it seems like crime is problematic there.

[ChristieP]

For that price range, you're not going to be anywhere close to the DFW metro unless you were willing to live in a high crime area. You are going to have to look in rural areas, but that will likely limit your income potential, too.

Have you considered Tyler?

[slowdawg]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

For that price range, you're not going to be anywhere close to the DFW metro unless you were willing to live in a high crime area. You are going to have to look in rural areas, but that will likely limit your income potential, too.

Have you considered Tyler?

What about Crowley? I found a few places online that are cheap.

[ChristieP]

Parts of Crowley can be pretty rough, and the schools there are not very good. Have you considered renting or increasing your budget for housing?

The job market in DFW is really good, but more of the jobs will be on the north side of town. That's just where the growth is here. Living far away from your job means a lengthy, expensive commute, so you really don't save much money in the long run.

[WorldKlas]

San Antonio may work better

[bmlx]

If you’re still looking down here you might look into the River Oaks area. Crime seems pretty low and there is a good selection of affordable housing. Some of the surrounding area is also redeveloping so if you can buy a house in River Oaks (especially south of River Oaks Boulevard) it could possibly be a good investment.

[TheProtege]

You might try the Venus / Alvarado area just south of Mansfield and Burleson.
1. Not a lot of rentals, but houses are reasonably priced. Even in If you included Burleson, Midlothian and the surrounding areas there's still not a lot of 2 bedroom rentals for under a $1,000.
2. The job market in the area is small. Mostly warehouses, smaller manufacturing facilities, government (schools) and of course customer service. You would most likely have to drive toward Fort Worth / Arlington for jobs.
3. The Asian Presence in the southern areas is small. There's Supposedly a small community of either Vietnamese or Filipinos in the Venus area. From what I remember it's three or four very large families that all live right next to each other. Mansfield as a noticeable presence of Filipinos spread about. There's also a large amount of Vietnamese and other East Asians near the Arlington / Mansfield Border.
4. Mansfield Has a Large Amount of health clients and medical facilities around the main Hospital on the southern section of the city. I believe Burleson and Midlothian also have specialty doctors and facilities.

[loves2read]

Your money is not really going to work for this area
Texas has seen huge influx of people from out of state
Our larger towns have very competitive rentals--higher prices
San Antonio because of its military and college situations also has high rentals and there can be good bit of crime in certain areas--but there are lot of medical facilities there which might be helpful...smaller towns around SA itself like Schertz or Seguin might be options
Check a crime map

Tyler last time I looked didn't have many apartments--and house prices were high