Couple Planning to move from California to Texas - Dallas/Houston? (Fort Worth: home, look for a job)

[sb1981]

We are a young Indian couple (both IT professionals) currently living in Los Angeles. We have been in California since past 5 years, went to a University in CA and got married about a year ago. Both of us travel a lot (almost every week throughout US).... We are looking to settle in a city that is centrally located which would be convenient to travel to both east and west coast of the country... So we have decided to move to Texas.

We are still confused on which city we should plan to move to... We are planning to settle in the place we move and possible buy a home soon as we are want to expand our family in a year or two. So we need to decide on our move from a long term perspective. Also my wife plans to loosen up on the job and eventually look for a job that does not need traveling. So we are thinking if Dallas would be a better choice for us as compared to Houston. Any help/advice would be highly helpful...

Also we are not much familiar with either of the cities. Can anyone please recommend good neighborhoods in Dallas and Houston so we can start putting out thoughts together?

[jdcrawford]

The biggest difference I've seen between the two cities is really just he culture. Both cities sprawl in every direction further than they should. Traffic from the suburbs is terrible in both cases. Property taxes are going to kill you (though you don't have to pay state income tax). The summers are slightly better in Dallas, but Houston is close to a beach for your future kids.

I lived in Dallas for a few years from 2007 - 2009 and honestly wasn't a fan. I felt like it was a very superficial city. The two big hobbies that everyone shared were shopping and eating. If you really enjoy the culture of LA, you'll probably love Dallas, because I thought the two were very similar. If you get out of the city (to Arlington or Ft. Worth) its much better, but then you don't live in Dallas.

I'm still new to Houston, but have loved it so far. I like it much more than Dallas or Phoenix (the other two big cities i've lived in) -- to me, it just feels like home. I hope you'll say the same thing.

Oh, one more thing. Wait until you get here to buy your cowboy boots. No sense getting some LA fashion boots when you can wait a bit and get the real things!

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

If you are looking for a job in the IT field, Dallas (inlcuding Richardson and Irving) will offer more opprotunities than Houston.

Dallas is part of what is known as the Sillicon Prarie. Here is a link explaning that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Prairie

The Indian population in the Dallas (DFW) metro area is also larger than it is in Metro Houston if thats a big deal at all. The difference is the Indian community clumps together more in the Houston area than it does in DFW. However the difference isnt huge. Both cities offer nice ammenities for their Indian residents.

All in all, I would think Dallas would be a better choice for you.

[hsw]

Both great urban regions

Houston's economy is heavily energy industry-dependent; it's effectively the SiliconValley for the world's energy industry

Dallas, though also a powerful O&G center, is more diversified as it continually attracts various corporate HQs to its suburbs and has a very well-respected and growing hedge fund industry (which is IT-intensive) in both Dallas and FtWorth

For a frequent business traveler, Dallas wins easily as both DFW and Love are convenient to the suburbs where most professionals reside and have offices

Dallas suburbs are better organized than Houston's; HighlandPark has arguably best public schools in TX; own police force/city svcs to insulate from City of Dallas hassles; and is convenient to nearly any key office or airport in region

Houston has risk of periodic evacuations and flooding from hurricanes; Dallas' weather can be as annoying as Chicago's (but in a different way) but doesn't require evacuations

My knowledge of Indian culture in US is that deep social divides exist based upon education and socio-economic differences; Hou has more Indians who are professionals in energy industry and physicians than does Dallas...but neither has as many highly educated Indians in senior executive/co. founder roles as does SiliconValley....either Dall/Hou is prob similar to LA in having not many highly educated Indians who are professionals and legal immigrants...

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by sb1981

We are a young Indian couple (both IT professionals) currently living in Los Angeles. We have been in California since past 5 years, went to a University in CA and got married about a year ago. Both of us travel a lot (almost every week throughout US).... We are looking to settle in a city that is centrally located which would be convenient to travel to both east and west coast of the country... So we have decided to move to Texas.

We are still confused on which city we should plan to move to... We are planning to settle in the place we move and possible buy a home soon as we are want to expand our family in a year or two. So we need to decide on our move from a long term perspective. Also my wife plans to loosen up on the job and eventually look for a job that does not need traveling. So we are thinking if Dallas would be a better choice for us as compared to Houston. Any help/advice would be highly helpful...

Also we are not much familiar with either of the cities. Can anyone please recommend good neighborhoods in Dallas and Houston so we can start putting out thoughts together?

You may like Houston, though Dallas offers more for IT, Houston's IT industry is growing fast right now (we can partly thank the energy industry here for that). Also, Houston's Indian population is larger than Dallas', too (over 100,000 Indians in the Houston area). There is an Indian district off of Harwin Drive in Houston (called the Mahatma Gandhi District). It's a really interesting area actually. Really, you can't go wrong with either city. It might actually be easier to find an IT job in Houston, than Dallas, since there is more competition up there, but you can't go wrong with either city.

As far as the airports go, Houston has more destinations than does DFW. IAH (Houston's main airport) was actually named one of the best airport in America (for on-time performance) and Continental won "World's Most Admired" airline for the sixth year in a row by Fortune.

There was some misinformation in the post above about weather. Depending on where you live in Houston, you don't have to worry about evacuating. Meaning, if you don't live in Bay Area Houston or areas near there, don't worry about it.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Also, Houston's Indian population is larger than Dallas', too (over 100,000 Indians in the Houston area).

Im afraid this statement in incorrect.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

As I mentioned, Indians in Houston tend to clump more than they do in DFW. There is no little India per se in DFW like there is in Metro Houston, but there are more areas with significant Indian populations in DFW than Metro Houston.

I dont know why every time a particular group is brought up, people just assume there are more in the Houston area than DFW.

DFW's Indian population is only smaller than NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, DC, and LA.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

Im afraid this statement in incorrect.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008

As I mentioned, Indians in Houston tend to clump more than they do in DFW. There is no little India per se in DFW like there is in Metro Houston, but there are more areas with significant Indian populations in DFW than Metro Houston.

I dont know why every time a particular group is brought up, people just assume there are more in the Houston area than DFW.

DFW's Indian population is only smaller than NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, DC, and LA.

I got that from here: The Hindu : News / International : Now Houston has a Mahatma Gandhi district

Going by your link (which is right), there is only a 4K difference. Not much, especially considering that Houston is about 500K smaller than DFW's metro. Can't go wrong with either one of these cities.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

I got that from here: The Hindu : News / International : Now Houston has a Mahatma Gandhi district

Going by your link (which is right), there is only a 4K difference. Not much, especially considering that Houston is about 500K smaller than DFW's metro. Can't go wrong with either one of these cities.

No there isnt much of a difference and yes I agree that if they are looking for a place with a significant Indian community, they cant go wrong in either DFW or Houston.

What tips the scale in favor of Dallas (in my opinion) is the IT opprotunities, not the size Indian community. As I mentioned the big difference in their Indian communities is that they clump more in Houston (Hillcroft and Sugar Land for example) while they are more spread out in Dallas (Irving, Plano, Richardson, Coppell, etc.).

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

No there isnt much of a difference and yes I agree that if they are looking for a place with a significant Indian community, they cant go wrong in either DFW or Houston.

What tips the scale in favor of Dallas (in my opinion) is the IT opprotunities, not the size Indian community. As I mentioned the big difference in their Indian communities is that they clump more in Houston (Hillcroft and Sugar Land for example) while they are more spread out in Dallas (Irving, Plano, Richardson, Coppell, etc.).

But, when talking about just 4K people, it's not that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Especially when one metro area is 500K larger than the other.

As for the topic starter, Dallas has more IT jobs, but there is more competition up there than in Houston, where it may be easier to find an IT job. The IT industry is growing fast in both cities, too. Ultimately, it'll come down to preference.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

But, when talking about just 4K people, it's not that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Especially when one metro area is 500K larger than the other.

And I agree. The only point I was making was that they clump more in Houston than DFW.