"Getting out of Dodge" and moving to New Home State! (Dallas: spring break, apartment)

[9mm Mike]

Hi Y'all,

My family and I have been looking to escape New Jersey. We had the misfortune of being born to a state that has become a liberal h*ll hole.

Our core values make us believe that we are Texan's at heart for these reasons:

1. We believe in Freedom of Choice
2. We believe in the right to bear arms
3. We believe in personal responsibility
4. We do not subscibe to the belief that goverment knows what is best.
5. We believe in being friendly to our neighbors and community members
6. We believe that "illegal aliens" do not belong in this country and it is not our job to support them. The thing people don't get is in the name itself. They are breaking the law, hence "illegal" alien. We have no problem with those coming to our great country legally, going through the proper channels and screenings, being Documented and taking an oath to be an American Citizen.
7. The right to bear arms. I know I stated that alredy, but this is very important to us as Gov. Coraslime has stated that he would like to be the 1st state to ban guns altogether.

With that said, we have decided that Fort Worth maybe the right place for us. I lived there for a short time 13 years ago and LOVED it and the people. I am a in-home Personal Trainer and am looking to continue my 13 years as such in the Ft. Worth area.

We are thinking about visiting the city of Grapevine in March/April. We have seen some good things posted about this city on CD. We feel Grapevine would be good because I could travel to Southlake, Ft Worth etc for clients.

So do you feel we would be welcome, and how is the personal fitness industry in your area?

We own a home in NJ and would sell it and get an apartment temporaily to see where the majority of my clients would be for my business. Then we would look to buy a home. Any comments or advice is welcome.

PS. My wife is a little afraid of the poss. tornados - but is willing to trade the rude unfriendly elitist people and high taxes of NJ for them!

[tusmc]

O Course you would be welcome here. As long as you are good people, texans will take you in as if you have lived here forever. I recently lived in Grapevine then went to Denton which isn't far. Grapevine is great, even if you have kids. Almost all the stores are outlets of big brand names, so its cheaper, and the rainforest cafe is awesome,bass pro shop and great restraunts. Physical Fitness in this area is a pretty big deal, we like our red meat and have to work it off to stay healthy, what can I say.
If you like city life its a great place, very fast paced. Not far though and your in the country as most places are in Tx. If you are wanting country life and commute to Ft. Worth Decatur, Rhome and Roanoke are good choices as well. I would recommend Roanoke out of the three.
I recently decided that I wanted to move out of tx. Believe me it isn't for anything bad I love this state. I thought of maybe Colorado, and the only reason is because I love to snow ski and I can't do that here. But everything about tx is awesome you'll love it. And now that I think about it, I bet I can't bring myself to leave here.

[mgt04]

Congrats and good luck! I envy you:P

[tusmc]

Oh forgot to mention those outlet stores are in the Grapevine Mills Mall which is great. Look it up, check out the vineyards in grapevine as well if u like that sort of thing.

[9mm Mike]

Originally Posted by tusmc

Oh forgot to mention those outlet stores are in the Grapevine Mills Mall which is great. Look it up, check out the vineyards in grapevine as well if u like that sort of thing.

Thanks for the welcome and the information. Checked it out and it looks great. My 15 yr old loves skateboarding so it was nice to see the indoor skatepark.


Mgto4: I hear ya!! Thanks

[tusmc]

I just keep forgetting to mention things you hit on sorry. Tornadoes are not that big of deal, trust me. More of the worry should be the hail which has been known in this area to get to grapefruit size. Just make sure you get an apartment with carports and you'll be good as gold.

[Guingirl]

We were the same, but moved from Northern California two years ago. We LOVE it here and truly feel at home. We actually live out "in the country" on a little bit of land in North Fort Worth. We find that people are nicer here than say closer to the airport because its just not quite so busy. We have the country feel without being but 10 minutes from the market and 20 minutes from any type of shopping you may want.

Our biggest problem when we moved here was prioritizing what we REALLY wanted in our move because there is so much we could do with our money. It took us a bit of living here to truly figure that out. It was easier for us since our kids weren't in school at the time.

Good luck in your move, I am sure you will love it here. Just remember that you are moving here to be a Texan. Some people move here thinking that they will bring what they want and then complain about not having it here. It isn't what you are leaving and won't be and there will be things you miss. For me, we really miss the mexican food that we are used to. I know it sounds silly, but its just one of those things. So I have learned how to cook that particular way and it works out . Just something we have observed over the last two years!

Take care!

[9mm Mike]

Originally Posted by Guingirl

We were the same, but moved from Northern California two years ago. We LOVE it here and truly feel at home. We actually live out "in the country" on a little bit of land in North Fort Worth. We find that people are nicer here than say closer to the airport because its just not quite so busy. We have the country feel without being but 10 minutes from the market and 20 minutes from any type of shopping you may want.

Our biggest problem when we moved here was prioritizing what we REALLY wanted in our move because there is so much we could do with our money. It took us a bit of living here to truly figure that out. It was easier for us since our kids weren't in school at the time.

Good luck in your move, I am sure you will love it here. Just remember that you are moving here to be a Texan. Some people move here thinking that they will bring what they want and then complain about not having it here. It isn't what you are leaving and won't be and there will be things you miss. For me, we really miss the mexican food that we are used to. I know it sounds silly, but its just one of those things. So I have learned how to cook that particular way and it works out . Just something we have observed over the last two years!

Take care!

Thanks for the welcome. The only thing we will miss about NJ is being familiar with our surroundings. Once we figure out where everything is in the Ft. Worth area and how to get there, I'm sure it will be home. The one thing that might take some getting used to is all the Friendly people. When you come from a state where people rarely make eye contact let alone speak to each other, it may take some getting used to. But that's just the kind of people we are looking for in our new home state.

If you don't mind my asking, what area is your little slice of Heaven? As stated previously we are coming out over spring break to look at a few areas around Grapevine. If there are a few places you think we should also consider, please let us know. Thanks in advance.

[Guingirl]

Well when we were researching, our biggest requirement was to be close to the airport (along with all the other requirements - good schools, family friendly, safe etc).

One thing I did was I actually ordered a visitor's guide from the Dallas Chamber of Commerce that talked about the different communities in the area and then we decided that we wanted to be Northwest. All of it was from taking two week long trips of driving around. We strongly considered Southlake and Keller. We ended up on an acre community of custom homes north of Saginaw in unincorporated Fort Worth. We found it by just driving around and see what was available.

We did a lot of research looking at homes, but we found that we would look at a home, love it and the neighborhood would be the problem. We were going to build and then the house we have now came up and it just all kinda fit together.

In California most everyone keeps their head and eyes down. It took a bit to get adjusted to all the friendly people and now when I go back to California, I really notice the difference.

[9mm Mike]

Guingirl,
Getting a visitor guide is a good idea and we'll do some more research on CD before we come down in the spring. Thanks again for the info.