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| Fort Worth - Dallas (DFW) Texas Region Google Map |
So you've decided to move to Fort Worth, or you are considering it?
Congratulations on the decision to move to this large and diverse state. Fort Worth, in my humble opinion, is the best region in the state of Texas. It's not as cold and snowy during the winters as it is north, and it's not as hot and humid during the summers as it is south.
It's just right.
And housing is CHEAP compared to Southern California. When I moved to Roanoke, TX (a quaint little town north of Fort Worth, and the Unique Dining Capitol) I was able to replace my So Cal Santa Ana, CA $1,100/month, roach infested, one bedroom apartment… with a Roanoke Texas brand new 2 Bedroom Apartment for $950. I've heard of apartment prices for much, much less. $600 or less even.
So how do I know where to move within the DFW area?
Rather than going to some random spam site by searching "house hunting dfw", I would suggest to start narrowing down where you want to live before you start your search. Also, get an apartment or rent a house first, and start house hunting after you move here. You'll get a better perspective on the vast differences and distances this area holds before you hunker down in one spot for 5 plus years.
Know Your Distance and Transportation Needs
Plan on and around your transportation needs. You WILL need a car/motorcycle/horse to live here. Anywhere worth going in DFW will take time and distance.
If you want to use public transportation you'll need to live on the Dallas side of the DFW Airport. The Fort Worth side of the DFW Airport has nothing, zero, public transportation. Downtown Fort Worth has something, but it doesn't really count as public transportation, it's more of a tourist system than a transportation system.
There are only so many roads and freeways between points. I chose to buy a house way out in the boondocks (Haslet). It was cheaper, but it's FAR from my work. It takes me 10 minutes (15-30 if there is school-time morning traffic) just to get from my house, through several curvy back roads, to the freeway. Then another 30-40 minutes to get to work.
My next house will be in a more mainline city… like Keller, Texas. That would be within walking distance of shopping, and a shorter drive to work (be about half).
Knowing this may alter your ultimate plans (and costs of living).
Choose a Point of Interest (POI)
Are you moving here for a job, church, school, some other reason? Let's set the search radius around that as your POI. This will allow you to narrow down your search to a reasonable number of spots.
Once you have something to use as a POI, you can check out Google Maps or Bing Maps and search by that address to see what cities are within driving distance. Drives here can be hard, lots of bad traffic, worse than Los Angeles CA. Add 20 minutes (at least) to any drive the map gives you.
Now, search by your Point of Interest (POI) and look first for freeways and streets in the 10-20 miles around that. Then write down each city you think would be within a reasonable distance.
Research The Cities
Get your pen and paper (OneNote or Evernote), and write down anything that comes up during your research. Check out the city website, Facebook Page, and Twitter feed. Check the Wikipedia entry for that city. Use Google and Bing Maps "Street View" to check out neighborhoods.
Do not plan to drive around the lakes. If you see a lake in your search, only pick the cities on the same side of the lake as your POI.
What Is your style?
Are you married with young kids? Are you single young adult, and want to hang out at late night coffee shops? Do you prefer the organic Whole Foods/Trader Joes world, or the cheap and easy Walmart and relaxed country world? Do you prefer being out in the country with no neighbors, small town, medium city, or downtown in the Big City? All of these things could affect which area you'd be happiest in.
Sometimes... you just need to be there. Get out of the car and walk through the neighborhood. I found this block of Country Living right in the middle of a new "up and coming" neighborhood.
— Darrell Wolfe (@DarrellWolfe) May 8, 2015
The Big Cities
- Dallas has more night life, events, large Dallas Zoo and Ross Perot Museum of Nature and Science, etc. Dallas reminds me a lot of the city of Los Angeles, CA.It's full of tight streets and tall buildings, run down areas next to upscale areas. It's the Big City.
- Arlington has the attractions (Cowboys Football, Rangers Baseball, Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, etc).
- Fort Worth is heavy on Cowboy culture with the Stockyards Cattle Drives, and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
The Northern Suburbs
All of the suburbs north of these three will have variations on a more "suburban" lifestyle.
- Frisco and Plano are northern Suburbs of Dallas. They are fresh, new, large homes, great prices. Plenty of shopping and dining. These are very nice areas to live, work, and play.
- Los Colinas is an area of Irving, Texas. This particular subsection of Irving reminds me a lot of Orange County California.
- Denton is the College Town Straight north and in between Dallas and Fort Worth, with lots of young people and one of the FEW Carl's Jr's in the area.
- Keller and Southlake are great Texas towns with lots of shopping, including upper scale shopping like Central Market, Trader Joes, Apple Store, etc.
- Roanoke, is one of my favorite small towns. It's right on the edge of 35W and 114, so you have quick access to Fort Worth, Denton, Arlington, AND Dallas. It also boasts to be the unique Dining Captiol with lots of restaurants along the main road. It's also on the most southern end of Denton County (cheaper property taxes and registration costs), while still having all of the access to the rest of the Metroplex. It's right next door to Trophy Club, which is an upscale Golf Club community.
These kinds of differences are going to affect your moving decision.
All of my experience (five plus years) living here, has been NORTH of the I-30. My impression (having driven down a few times) is that areas south of the I-30 are either more run down, or more rural.
However... I'm not experienced with that area. If you ARE experienced with that Area, please email me a well written article breaking down each of those major cities, and we'll consider featuring that here on LIFE in Fort Worth.
Example Research
So if I were moving now, and using Las Colinas as my POI (home of many, many, many businesses and jobs), I would use highways 114, 160, 635, and 120.
There are GREAT apartments, homes, shopping, etc... right in the Irving/Las Colinas area, so you could live, work, and play in the same spot.
Just north east are Coppell and Carrollton. Straight east are Farmers Branch, Addison, and even into Dallas.
If I wanted to try to incorporate Public Transportation I would check the DART bus and rail lines for cities along those paths. If that was the case, you could stay in several places within the Dallas side of the Metroplex.
If you don't need public transportation, you could look to cities WEST of the DFW Airport. Such as Grapevine, Southlake, Keller, Bedford, etc.
If you wanted a new build, up and coming area, but a longer drive you could aim toward Frisco and Plano.
You never really know until you get here which is the right feel for you. So do you research, pick the best option in a six month lease. Then drive around and spend a day off in the areas you like the best. Learn the ins and outs of theses areas. You'll get that "home" feeling and then you'll know where to buy.
May this help give you a push in the right direction.
Life In Fort Worth By Darrell Wolfe
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