Do not move here.
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12/31/2017
My husband and I moved here three years ago from NYC. I am originally from New York, he's from Boston. If you're from NY, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco or LA you're in for a world of disappointment. We moved to the hippest, most-walkable neighborhood (Uptown) and it's a joke. Let's talk about the amenities. Uptown is full of restaurants and bars and that's pretty much it. There is one grocery store, Whole Foods but that only recently opened. If you want to go to a regular grocery prepare to get in your car. If you need to go to the post office, get in your car. If you want to go to the library, get in your car. If you're planning on living without a car or only one car it will be very hard, even in Uptown, Dallas's most walkable neighborhood. You wouldn't want to walk around Uptown anyway; the sidewalks are small and in bad need of repair. The sidewalks are so small you need to walk single file and some places don't even have a sidewalk at all! Ladies if you are used to parading around NYC in your high heels forget about it here unless you want to twist your ankle. Girls wearing heels here drive everywhere then valet the car. If it's summer you won't want to walk as it gets super hot and there are very little trees to give shade. The city has only recently planted trees so you'll see a lot of trees around that are like 6-7 feet tall; hardly big enough to provide shade.
If you're into ethnic food you'll be very disappointed. Ask some Dallasite where to get good Indian food and they will point you to some place in Irving. Irving, really? Irving is not Dallas. If you are in NY and you want some good Indian Food you are only a short subway ride away. Want good Chinese? Prepare to go all the way to Richardson. You pretty much have to drive 20-30 minuted to some suburb to get to an ethnic restaurant. Want some more "obscure" ethnic food like Peruvian, Puerto Rican, or even Cuban? You'll have maybe one option in the whole metroplex and it will be 30 minutes away and mediocre at best. The best Korean food is in some desolate strip mall in the suburbs and it closes at 9 pm. Meanwhile at 9pm in Koreatown in LA things are still jumping. And you can take the metro there!
If you like the arts you'll be disappointed here as well. I went to see a show at the Winspear. When the show ended everyone went down to the lower level to get in their cars and drive home. As we were waiting out front for our Uber to come we literally heard crickets, that's how quiet and desolate it was. Go to a show at the Pantages theater in LA and there will be a large amount of street life outside. After a Broadway show the streets are filled with people going to grab a drink or a later dinner. The museums in the Arts District are mediocre as well. The DMA doesn't have one standout piece in their collection, the Nasher is much better but only if you're into sculpture. If your'e used to going to the Met, The Art Institute, or the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, you'll get tired of this Arts District real quick.
The city's architecture is really bad. City Hall is stark and oppressive, the library across the way was built to complement it so it too is quite ugly. It's also filled with lots of homeless people and out front there are lots of people on drugs. Such a shame that the main library looks like this. Their is no real reason to go downtown; there is very little shopping and lots of people begging for money. There was a man overdosing on synthetic marijuana in front of Neiman Marcus one day.
Most people spend their free time shopping or eating here. There are a lot of overweight people here b/c of the lack of things to do and the lack of good sidewalks and public transportation.
If you are coming from a bigger city you will be bored out of your mind in a year. You'll also cry when you see your property tax bill- one of the highest in the nation. I know, I know you see the brand new houses for a steal, you see the prospect of having all this extra money in your pocket. But just don't do it. Do not move here.
Chris | Dallas, TX