Not bad, overall
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4/10/2007
I have lived in Dallas (well, a suburb just north, but I am in Dallas every day) for about 7 years. Overall, I would say, it is a decent place to live. The positives: sun, low taxes (no state income tax), nice weather from September to June, friendly people, good service at businesses, and relatively low cost of living. I would like to mention some negatives as well: the actual city is run by a group of people who seem more caught up in old-time political rivalries and turf wars, than in doing what is best for the city. The result is that large sections of the city are run down and look like they have not been renovated since 1974. I am talking about downtown. The Cottonbowl is decrepit. Crime rates are THREE times those of Los Angeles, per person, and the overall opinion among almost everyone is that petty and violent crime are mostly not under control, especially within Dallas itself. I read for instance recently of a man who owns a warehouse near Fair Park (southeast of downtown Dallas). He has been broken into multiple times, despite good fences and security. He calls the police, but the local politicians and judges don't prosecute the repeat offenders. In general, this is an all-too-often repeated story in Dallas itself. Petty crime is high, and there is a certain amount of gang violence too. Despite that, there are sections of Dallas really worth visiting: the uptown area is nice and somewhat "yuppie" now. There are islands of very upscale development (West Village, Mockingbird Station), where you can walk around and enjoy a pretty upscale (if somewhat pretentious lifestyle). Mixed in are nice neighborhoods (Knox-Henderson) where there are nice restaurants and galleries and outdoor cafes. SMU - Southern Methodist University brings a youthful flair to the city. Unlike in most big U.S. cities, where you have to drive 40 miles north to hit the first really good neighborhood, in Dallas, it is about 2 miles north of downtown, i.e. Highland Park. One of America's nicest, oldest "money" neighborhoods, and you can walk around and drive it and there are parks, without the "gates" of modern "gated communities". These neighborhoods (Highland Park, University Park, West Village, Mockingbird, etc.) make Dallas liveable for me. Overall, despite the high crime rate, unlike say Chicago, I never have the feeling here that I am personally threatened. The crime seems concentrated "away" somewhere (a lot of it is gang related so doesn't affect most people). Most days he
John | Addison, TX