Sell Me On Texas

[NYCowboy22]

I am 21 years old and have lived in NY all my life and not sure if it's the place for me. My company has its main HQ in Texas and I'm a diehard Cowboy fan to boot. Please sell me on Texas.

The main things I hate about NY are:

Insane traffic (I spend 3 hours a day commuting)
Population density
Insane gun laws
Insanely high prices (decent house in a nice neighborhood is running you a minimum of 800K)
Car insurance
Giants fans
Crime

What I Like:

Everything is at your finger tips


Tell me everything good or bad about Texas.

How much are season tickets? It costs me 500+ for 2 decent seats just to watch the boys play at Giants Stadium.


LETS HEAR IT!

 

[ZeroClub]

There isn't one Texas, but several.

Your experience in downtown Houston would be much different from a north Dallas suburb, which would differ from life in North Zulch, Lubbock, or Corpus Christi.

You might want to ask specifically about your likely relocation area.

 

[NYCowboy22]

I guess I should add that I'm looking for info in the Dallas area. My company's office is located in Dallas and that's where the Boys play

I saw Roy Williams house on MTV Cribs so I know you guys have some nice neighborhoods like in NY :

 

[Yeagermeister]

Dallas has insane traffic also and I won't even mention Houston traffic.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Zero is right that the kind of entertainment you're likely to get in on metropolitan area of Texas is different from hub to hub. Like most states, Texas has its pros and cons.

Texas overall
ALOT slower than New York.
No state income tax
Real estate prices are ridiculously great in comparison to NY.
Conservative state which can be culture shock to those coming from elsewhere. Most clubs close at 2am...and those that are open after 2a, stop serving alcohol at 2a.
Everything is spread out
You need a car for the most part; public transportation is better, but not as good as NY.

I'll let someone else breakdown the DFW area...

 

[WoodysGirl]

Dallas has insane traffic also and I won't even mention Houston traffic.

You just don't know the highways... lol


Seriously, I remember when my Mom brought me down to Houston for the first time, it was wild. People still drove fast through construction areas, even the buses. It still makes my Mom nervous, so I drive whenever she comes down here. She grips the doors whenever we go somewhere. :

 

[Yeagermeister]

You just don't know the highways... lol


Seriously, I remember when my Mom brought me down to Houston for the first time, it was wild. People still drove fast through construction areas, even the buses. It still makes my Mom nervous, so I drive whenever she comes down here. She grips the doors whenever we go somewhere. :

I know the highways well enough to know I hate driving there :laugh1:

 

[trickblue]

You're still going to have traffic issues, but nothing like NYC... NOTHING...

Also, they don't sell liquor on Sundays in a store and many areas, even in Dallas are "dry"... in other words don't sell it at all...

A few things, Dallas has more restaurants per capita than NYC and thye have some excellent restaurants.

The DFW area only has three trees and they are in a rougher section known as Oak Cliff.

Be prepared for heat like you've never experienced although winters are pretty mild by NY standards.

The women... well... you'll see within 10 minutes of visiting...

There is plenty to do in the area so don't worry about that.

The people are also very friendly. It's a great place to live...

 

[Crown Royal]

Dallas is closer to being LA than NY.

Traffic is rough, but nothing like NY. More a matter of things are spread out. Public transportation is a problem because of this, although the DART rail is trying to make it better, hopefully by 2050.

Very minimal urban atmosphere unless you are right on top of downtown Dallas, which is nice, but limited in area. The downtown area is a business district, nothing to do at night.

Price of living is dirt cheap compared to what you are used to.

The conservative thing is bigger if you go to the rural areas, sometimes suburbia, but generally, unless you are big into politics, I don't find much difference in it.

Something you will notice is the 'suburban culture' that Texas is moving into. Over the last decade, families from the midwest & NE have been flocking to Texas, specifically, Dallas, to the point where almost all of North Texas is now covered in tract housing. The first time I was in the midwest, I was shocked that every home wasn't built by either D.R. Horton or Fox & Jacobs.

Some people love that, I find. Mostly people from out of state. I grew up here, and I detest the suburban culture, but that's just me. I am somewhat at a disadvantage - I am trying to find a way to get into the Midwest or NE, while everyone else is getting out. But I am used to living dirt cheap, and dunno if I am prepared for a culture shock in having to pay 1100 in rent for 1 bedroom hole in the wall.

 

[peplaw06]

The main things I hate about NY are:

Insane traffic (I spend 3 hours a day commuting)

You should never have a 1 1/2 hour commute one way unless you just want to... There are reasonable places to live just about everywhere in the Metroplex

Population density

DFW is very much spread out for it's population. I lived in LA and I could get from the Valley to the OC in the time it takes to get from West Ft Worth to East Dallas... That's like 4 million people less, give or take, in roughly the same amount of drive time.

Insane gun laws

I assume TX is more conservative there than NY. I had friends in LA who asked if I took guns to football games... joking of course.

Insanely high prices (decent house in a nice neighborhood is running you a minimum of 800K)

That's been addressed. 800 K buys you a lot of house here.

Car insurance

I'll let you know in August when I have to get my policy here.

Giants fans

They don't exist here... we ran em all out

Crime

Nah, we kill all the criminals Ok, not ALL of em... just most of em

What I Like:

Everything is at your finger tips

You may run into problems there. Since everything is more spread out, you may have to travel a ways to get to a specific place. Depending on where you live, you can keep most things nearby. But if you're a sports fan for example, the Cowboys are moving to Arlington, which is 30 min or so outside of Dallas proper.

 

[Crown Royal]

I'm a little bit confused by what you mean 'everything is at your fingertips.'

Do you mean food/restaurants, nightclubs/entertainment, sports events, what?

 

[Crown Royal]

I lived in LA and I could get from the Valley to the OC in the time it takes to get from West Ft Worth to East Dallas...

Did you have a helicopter?

 

[trickblue]

Car insurance

If you live in Dallas County it will be a bit on the high side...

 

[Yeagermeister]

Did you have a helicopter?

I'm guessing a sugar rush

 

[WoodysGirl]

If you live in Dallas County it will be a bit on the high side...

Ha! Try living in Harris County (Houston). Highest in the state. I pay about 100/mo. It seems the newer the car, the less the insurance.

 

[joseephuss]

There isn't one Texas, but several.

Your experience in downtown Houston would be much different from a north Dallas suburb, which would differ from life in North Zulch, Lubbock, or Corpus Christi.

You might want to ask specifically about your likely relocation area.

The best parties are in North Zulch.

We have great Spring weather which falls during Christmas. Of the other 3 seasons, Early Summer is survivable, Summer is a killer and Late Summer can go either way.

Where is your companies main headquarters? That can narrow down which part of the state to sell you on although we can probably assume Dallas.

Plenty of fishing and hunting pretty much anywhear you live. Really any type of outdoor activities. Water skiing, boating, golfing and the like. Gambling in Oklahoma and Louisiana, which are not too far of a drive from Dallas. Lots of nightlife and clubs in the major cities. Lots of live music of all kinds. Lots of open roads if you like to ride motorcycles. No state income tax. A state sales tax. Gas is around $2.80/gallon right now.

 

[Mavs Man]

Coming from someone who has lived on Long Island for over a year and is now living in the heart of Dallas, traffic is bad here but nowhere close to how it is on the Island. Salaries are lower (though I'm making a higher salary here), but housing prices and prices in general are half of what they are there. Population density is noticeably less. My wife and I are paying half the insurance rates, and we're both under 25 (one more year).

No state income taxes is a big plus for me. We spent an extra five percent of our income to NY even though we weren't official residents and didn't get any benefits from it.

Chinese food sucks here, though, but from where I'm at there are a lot more choices as far as restaurants and food choices. Super markets have a much better selection of food with lower prices.

NYC is much better than Dallas in regards to entertainment, but tickets to sporting events are cheaper and easier to gain access, and of course there's Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor in Arlington.

Traffic is better here, but more spread out so drive time could be the same - but for me feels better. If I'm going to be on the road for an hour, I'd rather drive farther at 70 mph than go a short distance in bumper to bumper parking lots.

Speed limits are not ridiculous here. I got sick of always driving under 60 on the Island.

 

[Crown Royal]

If you can't find good chinese food, either I don't know what you are comparing to, or you aren't looking in the right place.

In my experience traveling the country, like TB said, you should have no problem finding excellent cuisine of all kinds in Dallas. They have every kind of restaurant you could hope for.

 

[Kangaroo]

Texas is while Texas we are unique in may ways you can drive 13 hours at 60+ mph and never leave the state

Gun Laws while you can drive with a loaded rifle hanging in a gun rack in full site (we are consider a frontier state)

You can get a permit to carry a concealed handgun

Texas is a right to work state you will see very few unions outside of Police and teacher ones

We have are own truck editions yep Chevy and Ford make special Truck editions for Texas

Texas is a patriotic state we put more people in the arm services than any other state

Texas kind of gets into your skin and Texans are proud of being a Texan

 

[theebs]

If you are moving from ny to Dallas, prepare for culture shock.

I had it, and I wasnt even from the city. In general though people are people and it is about the same.

You need to look at a map of dfw and figure out where the office is you will work at. If it is in north Dallas, richardson plano area you wont want to live in south arlington, mansfield, burleson etc.

It all depends on what you want. You can live in the city of Dallas or in the suburbs to which it seems 95% of this area is.

To me it doesnt matter where I drive around here, mansfield looks the same as farmers branch, southlake, fort worth, plano, frisco etc.

A ton of fast food in suburbs, and the same shopping centers over and over and over.

Here is the first thing I noticed when I got here, Church, gas station, bank, pharmacy every other block. Thats it, Concrete, church, gas station, bank, pharmacy....

Oh and you can buy a single cowboys season ticket for 500 bucks, so compare that to one game.

This area has everything you could want and nice weather. But be prepared culturaly people are different, its like night and day. I guess that all depends on the kind of person you are though, if you go to church every sunday and then bible study during the week you will fit like a glove, if like me and do neither well its different.

My wife loves the weather, I love the football. So that is why I am here!!

Really though, you need to find the location of the office, saying Dallas really doesnt pinpoint anything. It could be anywhere. Find the office location and then figure out a place to live to shorten your commute!