So my girlfriend was offered a position with a company in Dallas. They'll pay all the moving expenses if she's hired...we are really considering it...
Now, anybody that knows me knows that I would never think of moving to Texas, but for some reason it sounds attractive.
I need some feedback if you have any. How's the job market and economy there? How about the housing market and cost of living?
Now, I can get a job anywhere with my skills, so I am not to worried about that, I am just curious what people have to say about Dallas in general.
BDV

 

All I can tell you is this: a cousin of mine moved with her husband and kids to Houston from Providence, RI about 10 years ago. She absolutely HATED it. They then moved to Dallas about 3 years ago, and it's a whole different world. She loves the Dallas area, says she doesn't want to live anywhere else. From the few conversations we've had, I take it that Houston was a little too redneck for her, whereas Dallas is more cosmopolitan, more refined. Hope that helps, I'm sure you'll get a few more replies.

 

If you plan to move out "to the country" do a little research on it. Thats what we thought we were getting and it turned out to be Ritzyville. Now everyone is wanting to move out here on one acre lots. The attitude of the people is not what we expected.
In general it's a nice area. The weather still gets hot in the summer and we do go along time with out raid so be fore warned. There are lots of different types of people here, from red necks to yuppies. I'm assuming you won't be living in actual down town, as if that is the case Fort Worth is actually much nicer (cleaner, safer, etc) in my opinion. I can't really speak much of the job situation as I'm a bit young to be making that comment. The economy still seems to be doing fine. Plano is a nice area but very ritzy. I am not sure if you have kids or not but if you do don't pay attention to these "exemplarary" schools. Ours is rated exemplarary and trust me, it's no where near it. Schools are rated by size in terms of A (1A being the smallest 5A being the largest). If I were you I'd try and go for a 3A or so. I am at a 2A high school (about 90 kids per grade) and my brother whent to a 3A(200-300 kids per grade) before we got a high school actually here in Argyle, he got a much better education. Part of that is we are new and no one knows what they are doing but the other part is they are larger so there is much more classes to choose from etc.Of course these are just my experiances and all
But in general it's a nice area.
Nick

 

BDV,
RUNAWAY! RUNAWAY!!!
Just kidding. Nick has given you some good input. I live just west of Fort Worth. It is a much slower pace on this side of town. Several of the local radio stations here give traffic reports for Dallas and Tarrant (Fort Worth) counties. The Dallas report is always 3-5 times longer than the Tarrant county report.

I see that you currently live in Colorado. The weather here is quite different. Winter, as it is defined here, lasts for about 2 months. There is usually one winter storm per year and when it does snow or ice, stay home. Spring usually is very pleasant, but too short. Summer hits full stride about May and lasts through September. Temperatures are usually in or close to triple digits. During the spring and early summer we get a lot of hail, so make sure you have a garage for your vehicles that you don't want dimpled like golf *****. Fall is a few degrees cooler than summer and the remaining leaves that didn't fall from the trees during the late summer drought will now begin to turn a lovely crisp brown color. It's not as bad as all that, but the summers sure are hot and long!

One of the best features of the area (IMO) is the bountiful swap meet schedule. The start in February and there is usually a good sized one somewhere every month through November.

Job market seems pretty good, but is dependent on the field. Housing is plentiful, but some areas are very expensive. Also, very few basements in this area. Another good thing about Texas is no state income tax. You might try visiting some chamber of commerce websites for more info.

Good Luck with your decision

 

BDV - Big D has a lot to offer - you might enjoy it. I've been to Golden and I can say that Colorado is prettier than Texas though.
We have lost a lot of jobs due to the economy, especially in the communications sector, but there's a big employment base. I'm told that the cost of living is favorable compared to other large cities. If you will email me your mailing adress I will send you the classified section of next Sundays paper - that will give some feel of housing and employment. If you're a sports fan, you'll find hockey, basketball, baseball. socker, football and auto racing here.
I have lived in 8 states and have had good times in all of them. You can always go back if you don't like it.
Dono

 

if you can handle Denver... then you could probably like Ft Worth. Dallas is a HUGE sprawling, building, suburb that is on its way to the Red River. It is like nothing else. Traffic is awful everywhere. Jobs are good and the payscale is average or slightly above Nat'l avs. COL is about the same as the payscale. You will get less snow... more traffic and hotter summers. Lots of lakes around to fish in... lots of people and things to do everywhere. If you can stand the hustle and bustle of a constantly growing area...Ft Worth included.... heck, even Argyle... in the " Golden Triangle" is growing exponentially....then move. If you want to ease on down the road go elsewhere or stay at home. himmelberg... in the middle of somewhere.

 

Is anyone going to tell him about that being Texas' Tornado alley???

 

There are Pros and Cons to every place...
So I'll tell him about Tornado alley... I've been in the DFW area for 17 years and never SEEN a tornado or had any damage from one.... but there are about 4 million? people in the metroplex, so I guess it's just a matter of where you are at when it hits!!!
*****************
And other things do depend on the part of town you're in and the amount of 'expendable' cash you have )
But the best things about DFW is the differences from ALL corners of it...

There is a cosmopolitan Plano, etc in the northeast quadrant with TONS of traffic, but all the upscale places, comfortable Red Oak/Waxahachie (where the super collider went belly up) on the Southeast quadrant, and of course, where the West begins - Fort Worth or as some say Fut Wurth ! And ANYTHIGB and everythin in between....
In general the DFW area is flat, (woudln't it be with towns called Grand Prairie) but there are sections that have beautiful vistas on some of the bumps in the dirt like Lakeridge in the southern section and Castle Ridge in the northern reaches...
Check out some web pages like www.lakeridge.net or some of the builder sites that give glowing testimonials...

Having visited the Denver area for the Pikes Peak Invitational soccer tourney when my daughter was playing select soccer, it was STUNNING to wake up to those mountains overlooking the Air Force Academy and playing golf on the Academy called for going down AT LEAST two clubs !!! I DROVE a 380 yard par four green !!! But along with that, I could not go up a flight of stairs for the first 3 days we were there without panting !!! I really felt for the girls having to play soccer at that altitude!

my best suggestion is grab a cheap flight, call a realtor or builder, come down for a visit and been shocked by the diversity of DFW...

 

I would encourge your girlfriend to keep her job in colorado. Texas is OK as a place to live and raise a family...but....the landscape in the dfw area is like a "carpenter's Daughter"...flat as a Board. The BIGGEST disadvantage in Texas is that ...there is almost NO Federal Land ....I.E. no large area's to ride your ATV...no large designated area's to camp and get away...although there are of plenty of state parks , but they are very,very busy during the summer months . We have a varied topological landscape and southwest texas does have several peaks greater than 5k feet. But, all , with the exception of Guadalupe federal park are held by private landowners on big ranches. Mostly inaccessiable to the average Wal-Mart worker wanting to take a vacation with their "Toys R' Us kids. Stay in colorado. It's too damn hot down here for the most part!...fd