Dallas, TX

[Ghaladh]

On December I am going to move to Dallas, Texas. I remember that some of you are from there and I guess that others have at least visited the city, so I would like to receive some hints about the neighborhood I should choose, what I can do to have fun, how is to live there and so on...

I would like to choose a neighborhood with a low/average crime rate (it will suffice that no one is going to shoot me down to have my wallet on the way back home :-D), suitable for a family with a potential monthly income of 4,000$, perhaps where foreigners are more welcome and possibly near pubs, parks, shops and restaurants (I don't want to drive one hour to reach a mall or a steakhouse).

Thank you .

[Al B. Sure!]

it will suffice that no one is going to shoot me down to have my wallet on the way back home

perhaps where foreigners are more welcome

In Dallas?

By the way, you're going to encounter a poster named Slowwhand. Ignore everything he says and if he suggests any meeting between the two of you, say yes (otherwise, he'd probably hunt you down and kill you), but don't show up. Keep your distance from this Slowwhand as much as possible. He's a violent, crazed Texan... although I hear that's the norm around those parts.

[SlowwHand]

Richardson and Plano. Frisco is growing. These are all north side.
Where are you going to be working or schooling or whatever?

[Riesstiu IV]

Plano
Frisco
Richardson

Seriously though if you are able to move wherever you want around Dallas, North Dallas is pretty nice and there are a lot of nice nature reserves that are about a days drive away. You should visit Caddo Lake sometime.

Be careful around Sloww, though. He will kick your ass like Hank Hill does with his annoying neighbors.

[Ghaladh]

Poor Slowwhand. :-D It's not that bad, by reading his comments on this forum. Obviously he can pretend, I will never know. :-P

Anyway, thank you for the suggestions. I am going there with my partner (no, I am not gay :-D) and hopefully I will find a job. She will be a postdoctorate researcher, I will be, with some luck, a senior help desk. I fear that I will have to take whaterver comes, though.
What's the situation in Dallas? Crisis or improving?

[Riesstiu IV]

The job market is pretty terrible but not as bad as other parts of the nation.

[Riesstiu IV]

I think you'll be in for a culture shock though if you are coming from Switzerland/Italy to the urban sprawl of DFW.

Be warned, there really aren't that many interesting things to do around the city itself. The museums are disappointing compared to other big cities and downtown Dallas is a ghost town after business hours.

Summers are awful. It gets very humid and very hot. The winter, fall, and early spring are pleasant enough though.

[KrazyHorse]

How the hell are you going to get the right to work in the US?

Postdoc monthly salary by itself should be 2.5k (non-science), 3k (bio), or 4k (real sciences)

Her J1 will not give you the right to work as a J2, and while there are still H1Bs available (as I've heard) these are generally reserved for people making 4k a month or so themselves.

EDIT: just remembered that you're not even married. Are you a US permanent resident/citizen? Do you have a solid job offer for a professional type job? If neither, what the hell are you talking about?

[SlowwHand]

I do refer the museums in Ft. Worth. I like Ft. Worth in general though.
Partying in Dallas is along Greenville Avenue, Deep Ellum and the West End.
As far as employment, it depends on you career. What you do may be fine. Manufacturing has been bad, but it's showing a little life recently.

[Ghaladh]

I think you'll be in for a culture shock though if you are coming from Switzerland/Italy to the urban sprawl of DFW.

Be warned, there really aren't that many interesting things to do around the city itself. The museums are disappointing compared to other big cities and downtown Dallas is a ghost town after business hours.

Summers are awful. It gets very humid and very hot. The winter, fall, and early spring are pleasant enough though.

I was quite sure of that, although I must say that, in my experience, I noticed that American people are really welcoming and that would help a lot to live in a less "shocking" way the transition.

[Ghaladh]

How the hell are you going to get the right to work in the US?

Postdoc monthly salary by itself should be 2.5k (non-science), 3k (bio), or 4k (real sciences)

Her J1 will not give you the right to work as a J2, and while there are still H1Bs available (as I've heard) these are generally reserved for people making 4k a month or so themselves.

EDIT: just remembered that you're not even married. Are you a US permanent resident/citizen? Do you have a solid job offer for a professional type job? If neither, what the hell are you talking about?

How rude. Anyway, we are going to be married before she leaves for the USA and hopefully, if my project to publish my book in Italy goes for the better, I will not even need to find a job in the USA. More than that, I will not be the first nor the last foreigner to be successfull in such "enterprise".
Of course, I do not expect it to be easy.

[Ghaladh]

I do refer the museums in Ft. Worth. I like Ft. Worth in general though.
Partying in Dallas is along Greenville Avenue, Deep Ellum and the West End.
As far as employment, it depends on you career. What you do may be fine. Manufacturing has been bad, but it's showing a little life recently.

I saw that there are many IT openings in Dallas. We also saw that living in Irving could not be that bad as well :-). What do you think? (Thank you for your kind answers).

[DanS]

How rude.

Realize that KH has been negotiating this situation himself for the last few years.

[SlowwHand]

Irving has good parts. The reason I specifically bring up Richardson and Plano, besides the fact that I'm in Richardson and therefore partial to the area, is that the light rail track runs through both. You can buy a pass for all day for all trains and city buses in Dallas for 4 dollars.
For 7 dollars you can get that, and the Trinity River Express train to Ft. Worth and all of Ft. Worth buses. You're not going to beat that by driving and buying gas and parking.
Irving's Las Colinas area is nice. Arlington puts you more right in the middle of Dallas/Ft. Worth.

[KrazyHorse]

How rude. Anyway, we are going to be married before she leaves for the USA and hopefully, if my project to publish my book in Italy goes for the better, I will not even need to find a job in the USA. More than that, I will not be the first nor the last foreigner to be successfull in such "enterprise".
Of course, I do not expect it to be easy.

Rude? If I told you you were a ****wit, that would be rude. My previous post was informative.

You need to do a hell of a lot more planning before you start deciding what ****ing area of Dallas to ****ing live in. Otherwise you're going to be a bum living off your girlfriend's salary.