Advice on possible move to DFW (Houston, Dallas: apartment, rent, insurance)

[str8]

My wife and I currently comtemplating a move to the South, more precisely, Texas. We recently just got married are currently living apart because of a recent job offer I received; me in Bowie, MD and my wife in Pittsburgh, Pa. We are kinda young, my wife, 25, me, 30. We met and had been living in Pittsburgh for the past 5 years but we really wanted to move away from Pittsburgh to a place where we can start a family (somewhere with low cost of living, no or moderate winters, cheap housing, things to do, racial diversity) preferrably the south. I recently got a job in Maryland making about 60k in Parks and Recreation and have a Masters Degree in Sports Management, but my wife is hesitant to make the move to Maryland because it doesn't have much in common the place we want to settle down, she complains about the high cost of living, the traffic, high crime, bad school system, still been stuck in terrible winters. Fact is, I am not really happy either, I just took the job because it was a good opportunity but I do not really like MD because its not conducive to what we want, which is settling down to start a family and buy a house. She is a nurse who is going to back to school within the next two years to get a Masters in Anaesthesiology (spelling). My career background is sports related and I would have to find a job in the sports industry or something similar.

I have been to Houston, DFW and Dallas many times, although very brief visits, and liked it a lot because of the weather, things to do, low cost of living, etc. So we have now focused our efforts on moving to one of the 3 places.

My questions are to anyone who has possibly lived in Houston, DFW/Dallas and Maryland and/or Pittsburgh for comparison issues.

If you were a young couple with 1 child, where would you settle down to start a family, Houston, DFW or Dallas?

What are the pros and cons of living in DFW?

I have tried some search engines and it seems that the cost of living in DFW is slightly cheaper than Houston and certainly cheaper than Maryland, do you feel that the cost of living is cheaper in DFW in comparison?

We would like to live in the DFW surburbs and rent our first year before buying, what should we expect to spend in rent on a 3 bdrm, 2 bath, single family home with a garage?

While the wife goes back to school, she can't work so we will have to get by for two years on savings and primarily my salary, is 60k sufficient to get by on a family of 3?

How is the traffic getting in and around DFW? Is it anything like Maryland/DC?

As a inter-racial couple, racial diversity is somewhat important to us, is DFW racially diverse?

Please feel free to chime in here and there on the areas you feel that you can help advice.

I will post this in the Dallas and Houston boards.

Thanks for the help.

[loves2read]

I don't think you will have problem with racial diversity--from what other people post on these boards

you could have lot of trouble finding a job--
our state budget is being cut for the next two years--
cities are in hiring freeze--
if your work means you would be looking for work within city parks/recs type job you could find lot of headwinds and especially with a 60K salary

use the Texas Workforce Commission job site to search for your job category and see what is out there
these are real jobs posted by companies looking to hire--not just trolling notices like lot of stuff on Monster/Career Builder and they post city/govt jobs as well as private companies there

DFW is not as cheap as some people tend to think--apt rents are high and so are house rents
better school districts/school areas are priced to show that too
utilities and insurance are usually higher than people face in other states from what they post

while our winters are milder (this past one was horrible) our summers are brutal--and if your job would require you to be outside during the day the heat can be very stressful

even some nurses might have trouble getting work--and she would have to be licensed by the state board as well

[ChristieP]

Texas Workforce is good for hourly jobs, but most companies do not post management/salaried positions there. (I never have...I use Career Builder.)

Out of state nurses can work on another state's license as long as it is a multi-state license issued by a compact state. Most hospitals and nursing homes want the nurse to eventually get their Texas license. Texas Board of Nursing will grant ONE temporary license so the nurse has time to get fingerprinted, etc. and still work while they get their full license.

[Squirl]

60K would be very tough for a family of 3.. If that was the income, how much could you afford in rent and utilities (plan on about $300/mo. for an apartment) after your other financial obligations?

[PrincessKick]

We relocated here from MD a few years ago. My husband was not able to work in his field at the time and unable to find a decent job (but was not drawing any kind of unemployment or disability) so we survived on just my salary (a few thousand more per year than yours). There are four of us. My husband watched the youngest rather than have him in daycare. We settled for a smaller apt than was ideal (rent was 1200/mo) to be in a good school district. We also had a mortgage in MD the first 7 months we were here. It was NOT comfy at all but we were never hungry or homeless. DFW is cheaper than MD/DC but not super cheap. Good luck with your decision.

[str8]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Texas Workforce is good for hourly jobs, but most companies do not post management/salaried positions there. (I never have...I use Career Builder.)

Out of state nurses can work on another state's license as long as it is a multi-state license issued by a compact state. Most hospitals and nursing homes want the nurse to eventually get their Texas license. Texas Board of Nursing will grant ONE temporary license so the nurse has time to get fingerprinted, etc. and still work while they get their full license.

Luckily, my wife works for the VA (Veterans Hospital) where she can transfer to any hospital in the country and work without having to worry about a license.

Thanks for the input so far.

[ChristieP]

I find it unlikely that any nurse, even at the VA, works without a state license. I know the therapists (PT/OT) at the VA must have valid state licenses to practice, and I am sure that the nurses are the same way.

So you know, the VA in Dallas is in SW Dallas, which is a sketchy part of town. Many of the people who relocate to work there end up with fairly lengthy commutes so they can live in a nicer/safer area. The VA in Fort Worth is only an outpatient clinic. The VA in Bonham is a very rural area, and it's actually quite far from Dallas.

[str8]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

I find it unlikely that any nurse, even at the VA, works without a state license. I know the therapists (PT/OT) at the VA must have valid state licenses to practice, and I am sure that the nurses are the same way.

So you know, the VA in Dallas is in SW Dallas, which is a sketchy part of town. Many of the people who relocate to work there end up with fairly lengthy commutes so they can live in a nicer/safer area. The VA in Fort Worth is only an outpatient clinic. The VA in Bonham is a very rural area, and it's actually quite far from Dallas.

I didn't mean that she doesn't have a license, I meant that she doesn't need to renew her license or get a new one to work at the VA hospital anywhere else.

Since you know about the locations of the VA hospitals in Dallas, do you also know about the VA hospital location/locations in Houston?

[Squirl]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

I find it unlikely that any nurse, even at the VA, works without a state license. I know the therapists (PT/OT) at the VA must have valid state licenses to practice, and I am sure that the nurses are the same way.

So you know, the VA in Dallas is in SW Dallas, which is a sketchy part of town. Many of the people who relocate to work there end up with fairly lengthy commutes so they can live in a nicer/safer area. The VA in Fort Worth is only an outpatient clinic. The VA in Bonham is a very rural area, and it's actually quite far from Dallas.

If she works at VA in Dallas, I recommend you look at living in the Lakewood area of Dallas, or the towns of Midlothian or Mansfield because they all have school districts with good ratings and potentially would be a place you'd look to buy. If you are not concerned about school districts, then consider renting in Cedar Hill for proximity to the VA. Cedar Hill has many nice and safe areas.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by str8

I didn't mean that she doesn't have a license, I meant that she doesn't need to renew her license or get a new one to work at the VA hospital anywhere else.

As I said, as long as her license was issued in a compact state, and is still valid, she can work on an OOS nursing license in Texas.

Originally Posted by str8

Since you know about the locations of the VA hospitals in Dallas, do you also know about the VA hospital location/locations in Houston?

Unfortunately, I don't know much about Houston. I can count the number of times I have been to Houston in my entire lifetime on one hand.