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My wife and I lived in Dallas for 5 years, then spent 18 months in the Seattle area before deciding to move back to Dallas. Cost of living was _the_ deciding fa

My wife and I lived in Dallas for 5 years, then spent 18 months in the Seattle area before deciding to move back to Dallas. Cost of living was _the_ deciding factor. Tech jobs are very easy to come by and the tech scene in Dallas has been steadily growing over the last 7+ years.

Cshelton 11y ago
+1 for Dallas. I would consider Dallas over Austin, just from the sheer growth and potential Dallas has. The tech/startup scene has exploded over the last 3 years. No state income tax, low cost of living. Dallas also has the highest growth percentage in the nation, it was 2nd behind Houston but the oil market killed that real quick, so Dallas is on top. Literally all of my friends are from Seattle, Denver, California, D.C., NYC...etc. You would not be alone moving here...everyone else it too. Also the central location is super nice, I'm a ~3 hours or less flight from almost anywhere in the Continental US.
- edwhitesell 11y ago
  I completely agree with your thoughts on Austin. To me, Austin has more of a "Portland" vibe. But the growth (and potential growth) just isn't there. It is in Dallas. I guess I also should have noted in my first comment, prior to Dallas, we lived in Boston. There was a fair amount of tech jobs there, but nothing really "new". The tech scene never really seemed very strong either. Unless, maybe, you were part of the student tech scene with MIT/Cambridge.
  - swozey 11y ago
    "But the growth (and potential growth) just isn't there." I could pull up hundreds of articles on how Austin is in the top 1-5 in growth in the USA so I'm not sure where you're getting this statement from. Not to mention the growth is blatantly obvious if you live here and deal with traffic, house shopping, or getting brunch on a Sunday. I've been here 6 years and it feels like a completely different city now. But I do live and work downtown. http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/moneybox/2015/05/21/population_growth_in_u_s_cities_austin_is_blowing_away_the_competition/cites_50.png.CROP.promovar-mediumlarge.png http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/moneybox/2015/0... http://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/248757580/even-an-85-mph-highway-cant-fix-austins-traffic-tangle http://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/248757580/even-an-85-mph-highw...
    - edwhitesell 11y ago
      I agree Austin has had great growth. However, compared to Dallas, I don't believe it will sustain. That's just my perspective of what I see/read in the Dallas area and what I read about the Austin area.
      - swozey 11y ago
        If Austin stumbles and our market isn't based on Oil/Banking like Houston/Dallas then I'm not sure that bodes very well for either of those cities, unfortunately. I think our failure if any will be due to poor public transportation and traffic.
        edwhitesell 11y ago
        > If Austin stumbles and our market isn't based on Oil/Banking like Houston/Dallas then I'm not sure that bodes very well for either of those cities, unfortunately. Dallas is not based on Oil/Banking. Tech is leading (depending on where you look) [0]. Then there are the lists of companies with headquarters in Dallas [1]. And the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex [2]. Those lists also don't include State Farm (8,000 employees) [3] or Toyota [4]. I don't see much of the same very-large "diversification" happening in the Austin area. But, again, that's just based on what I read. I don't actually "see" anything in Austin, as I don't live there. I have watched the new State Farm towers in Dallas (Richardson) being built from my house 3 miles away. [0] http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Dallas-Economy.html http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Dallas-Economy.... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas/Ft.Worth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas/Ft... [3] http://www.telecomcorridor.com/latest-news/state-farm-coo-new-richardson-hub-move-in-ahead-of-schedule http://www.telecomcorridor.com/latest-news/state-farm-coo-ne... [4] http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/28/autos/toyota-moves-headquarters/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/28/autos/toyota-moves-headquart... Edit: formatting
        swozey 11y ago
vonmoltke 11y ago
The market is indeed heating up here. Unfortunately it is all web/mobile/enterprise work, which I hate. :( I will probably end up leaving soon as a result.
- push7joshi 11y ago
  +1 for enterprise. Startup culture is picking up, but most of the existing companies are big enterprises here

Cshelton 11y ago

+1 for Dallas. I would consider Dallas over Austin, just from the sheer growth and potential Dallas has. The tech/startup scene has exploded over the last 3 years. No state income tax, low cost of living. Dallas also has the highest growth percentage in the nation, it was 2nd behind Houston but the oil market killed that real quick, so Dallas is on top. Literally all of my friends are from Seattle, Denver, California, D.C., NYC...etc. You would not be alone moving here...everyone else it too. Also the central location is super nice, I'm a ~3 hours or less flight from almost anywhere in the Continental US.

edwhitesell 11y ago
I completely agree with your thoughts on Austin. To me, Austin has more of a "Portland" vibe. But the growth (and potential growth) just isn't there. It is in Dallas. I guess I also should have noted in my first comment, prior to Dallas, we lived in Boston. There was a fair amount of tech jobs there, but nothing really "new". The tech scene never really seemed very strong either. Unless, maybe, you were part of the student tech scene with MIT/Cambridge.
- swozey 11y ago
  "But the growth (and potential growth) just isn't there." I could pull up hundreds of articles on how Austin is in the top 1-5 in growth in the USA so I'm not sure where you're getting this statement from. Not to mention the growth is blatantly obvious if you live here and deal with traffic, house shopping, or getting brunch on a Sunday. I've been here 6 years and it feels like a completely different city now. But I do live and work downtown. http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/moneybox/2015/05/21/population_growth_in_u_s_cities_austin_is_blowing_away_the_competition/cites_50.png.CROP.promovar-mediumlarge.png http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/moneybox/2015/0... http://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/248757580/even-an-85-mph-highway-cant-fix-austins-traffic-tangle http://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/248757580/even-an-85-mph-highw...
  - edwhitesell 11y ago
    I agree Austin has had great growth. However, compared to Dallas, I don't believe it will sustain. That's just my perspective of what I see/read in the Dallas area and what I read about the Austin area.
    - swozey 11y ago
      If Austin stumbles and our market isn't based on Oil/Banking like Houston/Dallas then I'm not sure that bodes very well for either of those cities, unfortunately. I think our failure if any will be due to poor public transportation and traffic.
      - edwhitesell 11y ago
        > If Austin stumbles and our market isn't based on Oil/Banking like Houston/Dallas then I'm not sure that bodes very well for either of those cities, unfortunately. Dallas is not based on Oil/Banking. Tech is leading (depending on where you look) [0]. Then there are the lists of companies with headquarters in Dallas [1]. And the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex [2]. Those lists also don't include State Farm (8,000 employees) [3] or Toyota [4]. I don't see much of the same very-large "diversification" happening in the Austin area. But, again, that's just based on what I read. I don't actually "see" anything in Austin, as I don't live there. I have watched the new State Farm towers in Dallas (Richardson) being built from my house 3 miles away. [0] http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Dallas-Economy.html http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Dallas-Economy.... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas/Ft.Worth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_in_Dallas/Ft... [3] http://www.telecomcorridor.com/latest-news/state-farm-coo-new-richardson-hub-move-in-ahead-of-schedule http://www.telecomcorridor.com/latest-news/state-farm-coo-ne... [4] http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/28/autos/toyota-moves-headquarters/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/28/autos/toyota-moves-headquart... Edit: formatting
        swozey 11y ago

vonmoltke 11y ago

The market is indeed heating up here. Unfortunately it is all web/mobile/enterprise work, which I hate. :( I will probably end up leaving soon as a result.

push7joshi 11y ago
+1 for enterprise. Startup culture is picking up, but most of the existing companies are big enterprises here