Good for careers but not much else
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6/29/2016
I grew up here, moved away for about 10 years and came back due to a career move. I have now been back for over 2 years and cannot say I have ever warmed up to this place. It’s not bad but it is as dull as stale tofu!
Dallas is first and foremost a business city. I find this city to be great if one wants to further their career. Lots of entrepreneurial spirit, several F500 HQs with more relocating here everyday. Most people are here because of their jobs, which is fine.
But due to the business nature of this place, it can feel mind-numbingly bland at times. Like living in a giant office park. Lots of cookie cutter ho-hum suburban sprawl. Chains everywhere. There are things to do here, but it is really lacking for an area of over 7.5 million people. Activities in Dallas center around eating, drinking, shopping, more eating, getting into debt, etc.
The weather here is dreadful. Summers are HOT with a lot of humidity. Springtime is often gloomy and raining all the time, with several bouts of hail, wind, and tornadoes. FWIW this area has seen a dramatic uptick in severe weather the past few years. Winter is drab and you can expect one or two good snow/ice storms. And this area is woefully unprepared for them (Snow plows? What are those?). Autumn is decent, but they last 3 weeks at most. Between that, the dull landscape—very little natural beauty—and lack of activities besides stuffing your face you will notice that people with the means usually try and get out of here on vacation very frequently. DFW and Love Field do offer lots of flights, which is a plus for this area.
Do not come here expecting it to be cheap. Perhaps years ago it was. And if you are coming from the Bay Area or East Coast it will probably seem like a dream here. If you are coming from anywhere in the middle of the country, however, it will be a significant step up. Real estate here is soaring….while most places are just now getting back to their pre-bust housing prices, DFW is up about 40% from 2008. Rents are increasing just as much if not more. In general Texas has extremely high property taxes and car and homeowners insurance. And the climate here ensures you will be a slave to your utilities. There are a lot of “equity refugees” from the coasts moving here and driving up the prices of everything so don’t expect this to moderate anytime soon. And be careful buying that dream home out in some cornfield, because you will likely be using toll roads to get around anywhere….those add up QUICK.
I will say the people here are very nice. Be warned, however, that there is a very strong materialistic and conservative undercurrent. Lots of mindless consumption, maxed out credit cards, and leased luxury cars here. TBH I think a lot of people shop/blow money because there is so little to do. Partly because of this, it is VERY segregated by class here. Also, DFW is the de facto epicenter of US conservative politics…."Dubya" lives here after all. As long as you don’t bring up politics in normal conversation you should be okay but disagree with any of the Fox News talking points of the day in public and you can get the cold shoulder very quickly.
This area is extremely family oriented. Great if you have kids and there are many good school districts to choose from. If you don’t have a family and are past a certain age, prepare to get judged. I remember my first day at work all everyone wanted to ask me was if I was married (I was not even though I was only 27 at the time, so I am probably dead to these people LOL).
In conclusion, Dallas is the giant vanilla scoop of US cities. This city is good for getting a job and raising a family, but beyond that don’t expect too much besides the basics. If you have to move here, get a few notches on your resume, save some cash, and try and make the most out of what the city does have. And then move to an actual living, breathing city.
Bryan | Dallas, TX