Do people actually like living here? (San Antonio, Plano: suburbia, office, commuting)

[ilovepizza1975]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

"I like living in Dallas, but I actually live in Dallas. Most of the people who complain about the "sterility" of Dallas are not even talking about Dallas, they're talking about Plano McKinney Allen and on out to the Red River."

I find this to be very true. This conversation typically breaks down to Dallas and all burbs not north vs the northern burbs. I briefly lived in Plano in the early 90's and I just could not take it anymore. The traffic was insane even on the major roads and it always seemed to be a race to move to the newest communities. I seldom meet folks who were actually from Dallas and meeting someone who was raised in the northern burbs was very rare. I grew up in southern Dallas and the vast majority of classmates ended up in southern burbs when they became adults. Whenever I visit that part of town I almost always run across old classmates. In the northern burbs it seemed like that most of the residents were from someplace else.

Strange, my experience hasn't been anything like this. I was born and raised in Dallas and attended public schools. Most of my classmates that stayed in the DFW area now live in the suburbs. I have lived in Plano and I found the traffic much lighter and easier to deal with than traffic in Dallas itself, especially south of Mockingbird.

I rarely run into old classmates because we're scattered all over from one end of DFW to the other. Very few of us still live in Dallas itself.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

LOL. Stop. Go visit Denver sometime.

LOL. No. I've been to Denver countless times. We owned a home near DU for a couple of decades and own a place in Beaver Creek today, wrong side of the tunnel but still.


I don't have a problem with Aurora.....I just think it's odd the the other guy bashes Texas endlessly and has for about a decade as being a soulless crap-hole lacking arts and culture etc. etc. instead picking Aurora. Again nothing wrong with Aurora but it's not Florence or Vienna.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by ilovepizza1975

Strange, my experience hasn't been anything like this. I was born and raised in Dallas and attended public schools. Most of my classmates that stayed in the DFW area now live in the suburbs. I have lived in Plano and I found the traffic much lighter and easier to deal with than traffic in Dallas itself, especially south of Mockingbird.

I rarely run into old classmates because we're scattered all over from one end of DFW to the other. Very few of us still live in Dallas itself.

I was born in Dallas, lived in Plano for years and then moved back to Dallas again. With some brutal exceptions noted, it's way easier to get around say North Dallas than Plano. Although getting around North Dallas well requires some local knowledge. Streets like Welch, Strait, Northaven, Rosser, Snow White, Harvest Hill and others are game changers.

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I was born in Dallas, lived in Plano for years and then moved back to Dallas again. With some brutal exceptions noted, it's way easier to get around say North Dallas than Plano. Although getting around North Dallas well requires some local knowledge. Streets like Welch, Strait, Northaven, Rosser, Snow White, Harvest Hill and others are game changers.

Jeez! Don't tell them! Let 'em sit on LBJ while we few actual Dallasites get where we're going faster on surface streets!

It's like back in the late 70s when my buddies and I would find a new bar to drink at, we'd have about six weeks and then the SMU frat-daddies would discover it and ruin it and we'd have to move on. Never tell the outsiders your local secrets!

[ilovepizza1975]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I was born in Dallas, lived in Plano for years and then moved back to Dallas again. With some brutal exceptions noted, it's way easier to get around say North Dallas than Plano. Although getting around North Dallas well requires some local knowledge. Streets like Welch, Strait, Northaven, Rosser, Snow White, Harvest Hill and others are game changers.

Originally Posted by rabbit33

Jeez! Don't tell them! Let 'em sit on LBJ while we few actual Dallasites get where we're going faster on surface streets!

It's like back in the late 70s when my buddies and I would find a new bar to drink at, we'd have about six weeks and then the SMU frat-daddies would discover it and ruin it and we'd have to move on. Never tell the outsiders your local secrets!

I'm not an outsider; I'm very aware of those streets.

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by ilovepizza1975

I'm not an outsider; I'm very aware of those streets.

Yeah, but there are other people reading this. If the side streets we real Dallasites use to cut through get as clogged with Californians as the freeways, the whole thing'll just grind to a halt.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

What does this mean? Austin is not the business capital of Texas, that's Dallas by like 3X. Austin doesn't have the pro teams, that's Dallas. (or even any good teams - sorry UT). Austin's a fun town, it's got the government, it's got a big university downtown, it's got more natural beauty, but it trails Dallas in every meaningful way. Maybe it's more happening, maybe slightly more concentrated on the primary city, but even the growth rates aren't that different.

Austin prides itself on being "real" and "funky" and "weird". Dallas was always considered soulless, corporate, fake, image-obsessed. Pick your adjectives on either side but you get the point. But Austin is all those things it once accused Dallas of being, and I would argue moreso than Dallas. It's hopelessly obsessed with trends, and the influx of corporate money to Austin puts Dallas to shame. I don't know that there's anything wrong with that - cities and cultures change. But that's the point - the places have changed, and especially relative to one another.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

That's exactly why my husband and I left Grapevine and fled to Kaufman County. Unfortunately, it seems that the entire world is following us, and now Kaufman County is the fastest-growing county in the USA.

I apologize for sounding smug, but anyone who moves to a now-rural within 50 miles of existing metro area development in the Texas Triangle can't legitimately get sympathy for their frustration that suburbia has caught up to them.

You'll have to go somewhere well beyond what most folks consider "reasonable" commuting distance.

[ThomasCrown]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I apologize for sounding smug, but anyone who moves to a now-rural within 50 miles of existing metro area development in the Texas Triangle can't legitimately get sympathy for their frustration that suburbia has caught up to them.

You'll have to go somewhere well beyond what most folks consider "reasonable" commuting distance.

Indeed. Remember when Plano was thought of as too far from Dallas? LOL

[CMC_TX]

Originally Posted by ThomasCrown

Indeed. Remember when Plano was thought of as too far from Dallas? LOL

I do! Was much easier to get places when Plano was the “outer ring” suburb, and Allen was effectively exurban. Now it’s pretty much continuous development straight to Sherman.