Dallas vs. Los Angeles (cons, moving, downtown, market)

[100%Michigan]

If I had to choose one city for you it would be
San Diego... it has the diversity, and its a mixture of Texas and California
Well I think so

[RobertsGirl]

....and I am DYING to get out. The only things keeping us here are our parents. If you ever want to have a family, this is NOT the place to do it. It's easy to say "the weather is great," "the nightlife is great," "the diversity is great," coming here from another place and not seeing how this place has degraded over the years. Nothing is as great as it used to be (except maybe the weather). I live in a nice, "safe" neighborhood, but don't allow my kids to play in the front yard.

I'm claustrophobic here. I'm sick of traffic. I'm sick of too many people in too small an area. I'm sick of the mega-condo complexes going in down the street where one house used to be...and then reading in the paper we may have mandatory water rationing and our power bills will be going up because of the demand! Ack!

And as someone said on another forum, diversity is overrated.

[zayzay]

i am a teen, born and raised in LA, my momo just moved me and my brother to Dallas.
It has nothing on LA. The houses arent as nice. no beaches. no good food joints. full of people who think Dallas is the greatest place on earth. Thet also think they can beat anyone up. I grew up in south central La, and now live by the Pleasent Grove ghetto of dallas.( aka wig split texas). for people who say dallas has more crime than LA is blind. All people from dallas do is talk mess. They only fight people from Dallas too. there scared to fight people from Los Angeles, Atlanta, St. Louis, New Orleans, New York, and any other people who stand up too them.
2007-Dallas has had 100-200 murders
LA-about 700 hundred.
Dallas looks bad but if you come to a dallas ghetto dont worry about getting hurt. Just try not to blow your brains out after seeing all the gangsta wannabees

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by zayzay

i am a teen, born and raised in LA, my momo just moved me and my brother to Dallas.
It has nothing on LA. The houses arent as nice. no beaches. no good food joints. full of people who think Dallas is the greatest place on earth. Thet also think they can beat anyone up. I grew up in south central La, and now live by the Pleasent Grove ghetto of dallas.( aka wig split texas). for people who say dallas has more crime than LA is blind. All people from dallas do is talk mess. They only fight people from Dallas too. there scared to fight people from Los Angeles, Atlanta, St. Louis, New Orleans, New York, and any other people who stand up too them.
2007-Dallas has had 100-200 murders
LA-about 700 hundred.
Dallas looks bad but if you come to a dallas ghetto dont worry about getting hurt. Just try not to blow your brains out after seeing all the gangsta wannabees

And that's something to brag about?

[zayzay]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

And that's something to brag about?

nope. i'm just saying La beats dallas in each and every way except for schools.(not including college)

[CMDallas]

Originally Posted by zayzay

i am a teen, born and raised in LA, my momo just moved me and my brother to Dallas.
It has nothing on LA. The houses arent as nice. no beaches. no good food joints. full of people who think Dallas is the greatest place on earth. Thet also think they can beat anyone up. I grew up in south central La, and now live by the Pleasent Grove ghetto of dallas.( aka wig split texas). for people who say dallas has more crime than LA is blind. All people from dallas do is talk mess. They only fight people from Dallas too. there scared to fight people from Los Angeles, Atlanta, St. Louis, New Orleans, New York, and any other people who stand up too them.
2007-Dallas has had 100-200 murders
LA-about 700 hundred.
Dallas looks bad but if you come to a dallas ghetto dont worry about getting hurt. Just try not to blow your brains out after seeing all the gangsta wannabees

Much of the Dallas gangs are extensions of the LA gangs. Pleasant Grove isn't the Ghetto. Oakcliff, east and south Dallas are... several other areas too. The wannabes are in the suburbs...
Actually most of the people from LA like it better here, but that cause I don't live in 'the ghetto', people who would want to live there do are nuts.
actually, Dallas has a higher crime rate then LA, LA used to be the worst but now its gotten milder.
You are being pessimistic sir, you sound like half the kids at my school who think 'the ghetto' is where its at. I don't think Dallas is the greatest place on earth, and I'm sorry if you think food over there is better. But people are different, but not THAT different, you think Dallas is way worse then LA when in fact its not as bad or even a little better for all you know.

[laCLTnycPHILLY4Life]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

Austin sucks try Houston or San Antonio

True. But I think all of Texas is sucky. L.A. is cool unless you dont like traffic. I think of it like this, stop on the highway, get a buger then get back in your car.

[wesside]

Originally Posted by CMDallas

Thats not true... [we have BETTER SCHOOLS, as you see we own not only the number 1 school in the nation but the number 2 as well....]

And which schools would these be? Rice? Oh wait, that university is in Houston, not Dallas. Or were you talking about the University of Texas? Oh wait, that school is in Austin, and it flails in comparison to USC and UCLA.

[happ]

LA is a Democratic city. Dallas is a Republican city. Enough said!

[prim2007]

I'm moved to L.A. from Dallas. In response to the original post, Dallas is NOTHING like L.A. Here are just some quick Pros/Cons for each as well as tips.

Pros for Dallas
1) Inexpensive living (no state tax, cheap housing) and as a HR professional and I can vouch the average salaries in L.A aren't much higher than Dallas in many jobs like retail, clerical/office. The difference is really on the highly skilled side or jobs in the "industry"
2) Lots of shopping and restaurants, more per capita than most cities. I like shopping and I haven't found any noticeable difference in what I can get in L.A. vs. Dallas. In fact, I found more designer outlets and deals in Dallas.
3) More selection of utility companies, cable, internet companies. I didn't think about things like this but was shocked to see the limited selection in L.A. Also, you have to be home all day for the cable company. In TX, they can't make you wait more than 4 hours.
4) If finding a church is really important, you'll have no problem.
5) The metro is much cleaner and access more major hubs in the city. In L.A., you may need to take a train & bus to get to your destination and given how congested the city is, I'm shocked by the limited options. You need to live where you work or close enough or you'll be miserable.

Pros for Los Angeles
1) Lots of variety when it comes to things to do in this city with the beaches, mountains, etc. You just can't be bored. Dallas still closes up early and there aren't beaches for miles.
2) Great place for singles with no kids which I am. In Dallas, you feel a bit isolated if you're single with no kids.
3) I find the people friendlier (not the Police Officers! but that's a whole other story from a minority that's moved here, first time I experienced racisim first hand...)
4) Jobs may not pay much more unless you're in the "industry" or in a higher level skilled job, but if you lose a job, it's much easier to find another one here.
5) Weather is fabulous and the constant allergic attacks I experienced in Dallas have disappeared.

Cons for Dallas:
1) Still pretty segregated for a large city
2) Crime is high per capita, I believe the city ranked #1 in crime for metro cities mulitple years.
3) School/Education system (although, L.A. proper is not much better)
4) Weather- the flooding rain, sqelching heat, etc. You can never predict the weather...
5) Pretty limited points of view (large Republican population, homogenous, Baptist by far the most popular denomination, etc.). Nothing wrong with any of these things, but you may feel a bit more like an "outsider" if you have contrary views in some of these areas.

Cons for Los Angeles:
1) Very High cost of living. It's crazy. I'm single, no kids, and make a nice six figure salary and I still feel nervous about living in this expensive city. It's not just housing, it's everything.
2) Traffic/Parking. I can't describe how bad it can get. I work downtown and live in Pasadena so I have it better than many but I like to go out which means driving to Hollywood, West L.A. etc. and you can't even figure out why there is congestion at 11:00am on the weekends. The parking is also challenging when you go out and narrow spots. There are even parking time limits for some shopping venues. In Dallas, you can shop all day without worrying about paying for parking or having a time limit. The parking spaces are also much bigger so 3-way turns etc. are rare in Dallas.
3) Winding roads and steep inclines. Some people like this or are used to it if they have lived here for a while. But this whole putting on your parking brakes and turning your wheels and experiencing an unexpected sharp curve is an adjustment for many outsiders so definitely be an "active" driver and stay in the middle or right hand lane on the highway until you adjust to things.
4) Vehicle Registration/Driver's License Process. I've lived in 4 other states (FL, GA, NC, TX) and by far this is the most tedious and expensive process. OMG, it's a two day process even when you make an online appt.
5) LAPD (see above comments)