Moving to dallas

[Zerotact]

HI all,

   I have an offer to move to dallas, and Part of my decision wil be based on me finding a place to live, I don't want to get shot at, and I have to have a garage for my bike, that's about my only requirements. I will be working downtown by the convention center 6-8 blocks from the west end.

What about places to ride? Any help, or suggestions would be appriciated.

 

[80dad]

finding a place to ride wont be a problem there are many tracks and cross country places to ride around dallas area
badlands mx, burleson ,village creek, mosier,weatherford,holeshot the list goes on

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

I bet you could find a place around Oaklawn & Lemmon ave. :eek: There are some nice places over in that area and I bet the "fella's" would would be impressed by your "maucho" toys.

 

[taraker]

Yeah, some really great tracks (skid marks?) down on Cedar Springs, just ask Thump for directions and get some white boots.

My favorite place to ride or live is the "Grove." Has that futuristic Mad Max theme going for it....

 

[evenslower]

Riding spots won't be a problem at all. I'm not much help on living/commuting to the west end. I live and work in the suburbs of Dallas and very rarely acutally make it downtown. Give a shout when you get settled and are ready for a ride or if you need anything.

 

[Tony Eeds]

I live on the east side near White Rock Lake. The neighborhood just south of mine is Little Forest Hills. There are a bunch of rental houses in the area and most (if not all) have garages. It is a nice quiet area and only about 15 minutes by local streets to downtown (8~9 miles). It is only a couple of miles off of I30 so it is easy to get around town. If you want to buy, the house across the street from me is on the market ...

 

[justql]

LIVE ACROSS THE STREET FROM TONY!!!! :scream:

j/k

 

[Green Horn]

Originally posted by Tony Eeds
I live on the east side near White Rock Lake.

Are you the Mysterious Lady of White Rock Lake? :laugh:

 

[Tony Eeds]

Originally posted by Green Horn


Are you the Mysterious Lady of White Rock Lake? :laugh:

She wears a longer skirt than I look good in. :p

 

[Zerotact]

What is rent like for a place with a garage?

 

[evenslower]

Not sure about downtown but a buddy of mine has an 1100sf apartment with attached garage in Valley Ranch for 750. Less than I thought it would go for. Its pretty nice as far as apts go.

 

[Zerotact]

I was hoping for something in the $500 range..... I drive 30 minutes to work here now so I am not afraid of a little drive

 

[Tony Eeds]

ZT - Most of the houses around Dallas go for about $1.00 per SF per month and I would guess that the sizes run from 800 to 1100 sf. I'll drive around and get you some phone numbers if you would like.

Type in 8631 Groveland in mapquest and you will get the area I am talking about. It runs from Lakeland north to Oldgate and from Eustis back to Garland Road.

Re: $500, there are not many places around Dallas that you could get a house for that money. At least not in a place you would be able to leave you stuff while you are gone. Maybe North Garland, but the commute will be 45 minutes to an hour, depending on lights and traffic.

 

[Enduro_Nut]

Hey Tony - is Lakewood still reasonable? I lived over their in early 90's and it was OK rent wise($$).

I don't think you can rent anywhere any more with storage for $500, certainly that would be safe - as Tony mentioned.

You might want to get the Dallas Morning News and check out the northern corridor(they have a map, I believe in the Saturady paper) outside 635.

 

[Green Horn]

I lived in a cheap azz 2 bdrm apt in N. Dallas a few years ago and it cost me around $630/ mo which was VERY cheap for the size and location. That's w/o a garage. Like others have mentioned, you'll be hard pressed to find something in the 500 range. Not to mention, you won't want to live in the areas where $500 gets you a phat pad w/ a garage anyways. :thumb:

 

[Zerotact]

I think about $600 is what I have found for an apt with a garage....
I must be spoiled with my sharing a house with a garage for $350 a month and half the utilities....
So specifically, were should I not live?

 

[Tony Eeds]

ZT

Check out the following links

Dallas Morning News Classified
Dallas Apartment Locators (Sublets and Roomates)
DFW Apartment Guide

There are likely hundreds more. If you really want to stay in the $600 range, I would suggest the southern or eastern suburbs (assuming Dallas) or the eastern edge of Tarrant County is also a possibility.

They are:
Eastern
Garland
Mesquite
Southern
De Soto
Duncanville
South Grand Prairie
Eastern Tarrant County
Arlington
Hurst Euless Bedford
Grapevine

Please know that the commute from the NW suburbs of Dallas can be more than an hour on a normal day for a 20 mile commute at rush hour. I am refering to the 183 / 114 corridor primarily. I 30 is under construction so it can also be slow coming in from Arlington. The I 35 corridor out of the southern suburbs can be bad, but a great deal of it has been fixed up (assuming you are inside of I 635). Most people in Dallas plan NOT to use the freeways in rush hour if they can help it. You will soon find alternate routes, no matter where you live.

The really bad part of living in the Metromess is that it can be 30+ miles from the core before you find any real breathing room. Thump commutes down the I 35 corridor from up towards Lewisville and I suspect it isn't any better. Most of the people that work in the central city try to live in or around the Loop 12 area. My house is just inside the loop which is about 9 miles outside of downtown. I 635 averages 18 miles from the core, while the 190 loop is about 30 miles from the core.

Not that I am trying to dissuade you ... but I do want you to know some of the hurdles.

Post any areas that you find interesting and we can tell you the pros and cons. As Jeff said, stay away from the Cedar Springs bun market area. :p I knew two guys that moved to Dallas from Texas A&M and moved into the Cedar Springs area. It was a hoot to listen to their stories.

Aslo get a map of the metromess if you don't already have one so all of the above makes some sense.

 

[Danman]

Speaking as someone who has lived there the "metromess" is a good name for it. I will be thanking myself for living in a smaller two on my less than 10 minute ride home from work :)

 

[Zerotact]

I found a shack on 6 acres out in kemp.... rent sure is cheap

 

[Tony Eeds]

Kemp is a really nice area. There is a track just off 175 just south of Maybank. It is at least an hour ++ commute though.

If you don't mind driving, try the Crandall, Forney or Seagoville area. They are nice quiet towns on the SE side of the area. Try to stay away from the towns along the I30 corridor east of Dallas. I30 is very crowded during rush hour.

 

[Zerotact]

Honestly I don't care were I live, so long as it's cheap, and I have a safe place to store my mullet mobile and my bike.

 

[Zero]

What time do you have to be at work? That is a HUGE factor for the commute.

From 7:30 - 8:30 traffic is at its worse everywhere in the morning.

From 4:45 - 6:00 traffic is even worse than the morning traffic for some odd reason.

I travel from Carrollton (NW Dallas) to Northern Dallas. There are places to live in South Carrollton that might be in your range.

But since you don't care how far you have to drive. (you do care, you just don't know it yet) The mid cities (Euless, Arlington, Irving, etc) would probably the most affordable for you.

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

I left Arlington around 1984 and it has probably more than doubled in population since then. I remember even back then it would take me over 45 minutes to get where I was going in the morning due to traffic. Put it this way, if I left the house at 7:30am I got where I was going at 8:15. If I left my house at 8:00, I would get there at 8:15, go figer :think:

 

[billtx]

Traffic can be tough here, but OK if you stay away from a few areas.

I think apt with garage or storage is best in your price range, it will be tough to find a house for that kind of rent and expect your bike to be there when you get back or live through the first nite.

You may be able to find a place in white rock/lakewood/lake highlands area that is an OK commute. I had a friend commute downtown to Baylor hospital from eastern edge of lake highlands (NW Highway/Jupiter), was OK for her. Also, the tollway heading in (from the north) and out of Dallas is not bad. I commute from Lake Highlands to Ft Worth - take the tollway in am rush hour. Moves fast until you hit downtown, right where you work. I commute 46 miles, takes about 55 minutes. Maybe look for some apts just south of 635 near tollway.

Don't move west (Arlington/Grand Prairie) of downtown and commute in on I-30, I see those folks stuck in traffic every day and night.

 

[TwinSpar]

Zero,

Commute times/locations should only be dictated by your hours.  I'm (mostly) fortunate that I can pick my hours.  I go in early and leave early (typically 5-6am through 4pm).  I live in Plano (20 miles North of downtown on the Tollway) and my commute takes 25 minutes in the early morning and 40 minutes when I leave at 4pm.  If you have flexibility on hours.... pick a location close to a track or riding location of your choice!!! :)