Moving from Nashville to DFW (Austin, Fort Worth: car insurance, house, neighborhood)

[desjourdan]

Hey everyone!!

So I am moving about 40 minutes outside of Fort Worth from Nashville Tn. I have horses, so no downtown city life for me BUT I really would like to know what DFW is really like(I have not spent a lot of time, totally taking a leap here)because I will be working/hanging out there.

It gets very hot here in Tn in the summers, so I don't think it will be too different. (I of course didn't visit during the hottest months ) Does it rain throughout the year? I've looked up average rainfall and it seems to get about 38 inches a year, only 10 less than Nashville. Why I am asking, is because if it does, then I don't HAVE to look for a house with a pond, to irrigate my horses pastures. I've gotten spoiled from all the grass here in Tn Lol

How bad is traffic? It didn't seem terrible when I went but maybe I'm just used to it. Nashville usually only has 2 lane interstates so just a stalled vehicle means my 45 minute drive becomes 1:20++.

I've seen people complaining about the property taxes and car insurance, but will it really be that bad if I don' t live downtown but actually further out??

There are a ton more things I want to ask but I'll start there LOL.

Anything else you all could truthfully share would be great!! I'm really excited because there are so many horse events(Tn has very very few), music shows, great food, culture, AND still Western Culture(what I grew up with) but city life just a little ways away. Just would like to know the pros and cons if possible.

Thanks so much

[tcualum]

Depending on your budget you might consider looking in Dalworthington Gardens. It's a small town located within the city of Arlington which is a decent commute to downtown Fort Worth. Lots of people in the town have horses on their property and they'll often when the weather's nice ride the horses in a neighborhood Park (Veteran's Park) or on the town's streets. I live there and one of my neighbors has horses and cattle. It might be challenging to find a place in the town since places don't come on the market often but if you do you'll definitely have a commute that's shorter than 40 minutes (depending on where your job is in Fort Worth). You feel like you're in the country but there are restaurants, a Tom Thumb and a Super Target only 10 minutes away.

[cckhek]

Texas property taxes are high, around the 4th highest in the country. Average is 1.94% of home's value. We live about 30 min outside Austin and ours are 2.79%. It depends on the county/city you live in. Some are worse than others. I would think living in the country would definitely be much lower than living near downtown.

[tonka214]

When I visited Nashville, I was struck by how similar it is to Fort Worth. I think you'll feel right at home. Traffic can definitely get bad, but I don't think it'll be worse than you're used to.

It's hard to predict how rain will be in any given year. It's hard to predict weather here in general. There's a saying down here "if you don't like the weather, wait til tomorrow" because it is so unpredictable. It might be 30 degrees one day in February and 90 the next. Literally. Summers are predictably HOT though.

Property taxes are high, but no state income tax here so it might be a wash?