Pros and cons of living in Dallas, TX

txusa03 · 02-21-2008, 08:57 AM

Yup, Austin would be a place I would love to settle down when I retire. I love the austin country hill landscape.

DFW_M · 02-21-2008, 09:48 AM

Dallas is definitely love it or hate it place...
I did not care for the 4000 SF homes -- that was a pure waste IMO. We had 3000+ SF home and power bills were north of $600. I never understood the need for a 4000 SF home by any family, but yes, you get that in Dallas...

Someone mentioned that his parents bought a home for "only" $1M in Dallas... That translates into ~$30k in taxes per year = $2500/month. Another waste IMO. Especially if you're "forced" to send your kids to private schools...

As txus03 has mentioned -- if you have a chance to move to Austin, that is a different story...

KL2DC · 02-21-2008, 09:51 AM

My sister lives in Dallas, she moved there over a year ago for work and hates it. She's raring to move back up to the northeast.

I do agree, its a love it or hate it place. I've been there a handful of times and though I honestly did not have a bad time there, I thought my stay there wasn't memorable either (in terms of day to day stuff like shopping, eating out etc.). From my exposure to Dallas, I can surmise, its a place where it will start to get boring/dull/old pretty fast.

Couch · 02-21-2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txusa03

Yup, Austin would be a place I would love to settle down when I retire. I love the austin country hill landscape.

Plan on building a house over looking the lake.

The biggest con I've been told by people who have lived in Dallas, is that Houston has A LOT better looking women.

ATG · 02-21-2008, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gum5h03

Whaaa? Do you really think people in Dallas make more on average than the Seattle area? I can assure you the salaries here are on the average higher than Dallas. The cost of living is just more expensive so your earnings don't go as far. I couldn't find a true apples to apples comparison, but here are a couple of examples. I know for a fact my peers in Dallas make about 20 grand a year less than I do. Part of the reason why cost of living here is so damn expensive is because of all these highly paid people. If people didn't make a lot of money, housing and other goods would be less expensive.

Dallas does look to be promising in the next few years for employment however.

"The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment among the metropoli-
tan divisions were reported in Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (+2.8 percent), Dallas-
Plano-Irving, Texas (+2.4 percent), Tacoma, Wash. (+2.0 percent), and Fort Worth-
Arlington, Texas (+1.9 percent). Percentage declines in employment were reported in
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-2.0 percent), Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.
(-1.7 percent), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (-0.4 percent)."

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm

Seattle:

Dallas:

My research shows that lawyers make more $$$ in Texas. Software engineers could be a different story. Legal job market in Seattle sux big time.

BMW_TT · 02-21-2008, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr325i

Dallas is definitely love it or hate it place...
I did not care for the 4000 SF homes -- that was a pure waste IMO. We had 3000+ SF home and power bills were north of $600. I never understood the need for a 4000 SF home by any family, but yes, you get that in Dallas...

Someone mentioned that his parents bought a home for "only" $1M in Dallas... That translates into ~$30k in taxes per year = $2500/month. Another waste IMO. Especially if you're "forced" to send your kids to private schools...

As txus03 has mentioned -- if you have a chance to move to Austin, that is a different story...

600 for an electric bill? mine was only in the 300s during summer with 100 degree heat outside.

pseto · 02-21-2008, 01:20 PM

pros: lots of good looking women (not sure what others are talking about),
just like any other big city, lots of the same retail, restaurants, etc. less rain than Seattle (although some may differ since it rained most of last yr), great TX beef, warm year round

cons: Dallas cowgirls, Mark Cuban, baseball-size hail storms, tornados, confusing airport, Jerry Jones

SoYank · 02-21-2008, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taittinger

Dallas Cowboys

OK, but what are the pros?

Couch · 02-21-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoYank

OK, but what are the pros?

LOL. Yea, the Cowboys are definitely a con.

toofasttooslow · 02-21-2008, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATG

My research shows that lawyers make more $$$ in Texas. Software engineers could be a different story. Legal job market in Seattle sux big time.

Which is weird. You'd think with all the money grubbing yuppies up here that legal pro's would be rolling in cash but I guess not. Anything IT related is definitely higher than Dallas. We have M$FT to thank (or blame) for that. I've been down to Dallas a couple of times and I liked it. It was always decent weather and the people were very cordial.I couldn't find anything that I found bad about it. Compared to other places I travel to like Atlanta or Detroit it's a paradise. No offense to those of you from Atlanta or Detroit

grumpybear · 02-21-2008, 07:11 PM

everything is bigger in Texas...

FrankoQ · 02-21-2008, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpybear

everything is bigger in Texas...

True. speeding tickets are bigger. lol

Couch · 02-22-2008, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpybear

everything is bigger in Texas...

So is construction.

02-21-2008, 08:57 AM	#23
txusa03 Major General 592 Rep 6,563 Posts Drives: TS330iPPSP6MT Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Planet Earth iTrader: (3)	Yup, Austin would be a place I would love to settle down when I retire. I love the austin country hill landscape. __________________ under construction!
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02-21-2008, 09:48 AM	#24
DFW_M Major General 1795 Rep 6,672 Posts Drives: 991.1 C2Sc Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Dallas, TX iTrader: (4)	Dallas is definitely love it or hate it place... I did not care for the 4000 SF homes -- that was a pure waste IMO. We had 3000+ SF home and power bills were north of $600. I never understood the need for a 4000 SF home by any family, but yes, you get that in Dallas... Someone mentioned that his parents bought a home for "only" $1M in Dallas... That translates into ~$30k in taxes per year = $2500/month. Another waste IMO. Especially if you're "forced" to send your kids to private schools... As txus03 has mentioned -- if you have a chance to move to Austin, that is a different story...
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02-21-2008, 09:51 AM	#25
KL2DC Moderator 329 Rep 17,767 Posts Drives: F36 428i,E90 328i, E85 Z4 3.0i Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: DC Metro iTrader: (23) Garage List 2015 F36 428i [0.00] 2011 E90 328i [0.00] 2006 E85 Z4 3.0i [0.00]	My sister lives in Dallas, she moved there over a year ago for work and hates it. She's raring to move back up to the northeast. I do agree, its a love it or hate it place. I've been there a handful of times and though I honestly did not have a bad time there, I thought my stay there wasn't memorable either (in terms of day to day stuff like shopping, eating out etc.). From my exposure to Dallas, I can surmise, its a place where it will start to get boring/dull/old pretty fast. __________________ Official DC Metro Registry - Current, New & Prospective Area Members Roll Call!
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02-21-2008, 01:20 PM	#29
pseto Major General 863 Rep 7,752 Posts Drives: E92 M3 ZCP, F80 M3 ZCP- beater Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Rockville, MD iTrader: (4)	pros: lots of good looking women (not sure what others are talking about), just like any other big city, lots of the same retail, restaurants, etc. less rain than Seattle (although some may differ since it rained most of last yr), great TX beef, warm year round cons: Dallas cowgirls, Mark Cuban, baseball-size hail storms, tornados, confusing airport, Jerry Jones __________________ Paul Seto - BMW Car Club of America President, National Capital Chapter (MD/DC/NoVA) Director, National Events ///M Chapter Become a BMW CCA member; Click HERE to join and use my member #339225 for a referral Join our NCC Facebook Page
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02-21-2008, 07:11 PM	#33
grumpybear not afraid to call it like I see it 32 Rep 316 Posts Drives: 2006 325i Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: right outside the gates of hell iTrader: (0)	everything is bigger in Texas...
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