Choosing between Dallas and Houston
 

In the near future we are planning to move in Texas. We do not know too much about Dallas and Houston.
Professionally: I'm a Structural Engineer.
Married with two kids.
We would like to make a choice between Dallas and Houston taking into consideration: jobs opportunities, good schools, affordable house prices, safe living area.

What would be your suggestions?

Thanks!

Austin.

Traveler2007, no offense, but this question always seems to set people off.
Search "Dallas" and you will see similar questions posted over and over.
People are pretty passionate about the response, too.
I live in Collin Co and would never consider living in Houston.
But that is just my opinion.

Housing prices are not too different, both have areas with good schools and safe areas. So, what you list is your main consideration, then look into job first. I mean specific jobs, as most jobs are not in the central business district. Then look at where you can live with good schools, easy commute etc...

Dallas and Houston have many differences.

. Metro Dallas is about 10% more populous than Houston, and seems to have the edge in terms of growth and development.

. Dallas is less humid, but slightly hotter in summer and cooler in winter.

. Dallas is more like a northeastern city, with urban and upscale inner city neighborhoods, mass transit, and organized zoning and planning. It is also building many "New Urbanism" villages in its suburbs. Houston is more like a Florida/Gulf Coast city with a laissez-faire attitude toward development, a late start towards mass transit, more suburban in its central city areas, although with clumps of high rise buildings here and there.

. Dallas is in partially forested, partially grassland type country, with rolling hills in places... it is surrounded by many lakes. Houston is on a flat coastal plain, with extensive pine forests north of the city, and is close to the Gulf of Mexico beaches, although not directly on the coast.

. Dallas' metro area has many large suburban cities that can compete with Dallas in building stadiums, arts facilities, shopping and job centers... thus decentralized. Houston is the huge municipality surrounded by small ones, and thus is more centralized.

. As has been noted before, the fact that the two metro areas are in Texas does not make them similar.

To you all!

Thanks for your prompt response!
I do not want to get me wrong. I do not want to get involved into a pro and contra discussions. I just want to get a wider view from people living in the area. To have a better idea why: I'm originary from Europe living in Michigan area. So, I'm trying to become more familiar before to make a major decision.

Thanks again for your input!

Have you been to either city?

No. I only traveled in Indiana and Ohio and nowhere else in the US.

As I think saps is suggesting, you should really try to visit both cities before moving there.

Since you haven't been to Texas and you don't have the job yet, is there a reason it has to be one of those 2 cities out of many growing US cities that need structural engineers?

Correct question speedbuggy.
The reason that we are trying to choose between is that we have friends that they already moved in Houston area and they are trying to persuade us to move there.
We want to move in Texas but in a place where first I'll find a stable job and secondly I'm concerned by climate and the other stuff.

To make a step further. I'm in the automotive, here in Michigan. So, from a first view it looks that Dallas would have more opportunities for jobs in my field, which is CAD/FEA, than Houston.
Am I right?

How in the world would we know the job opportunities in your field of work?

We've had around 35 days of temperatures over 100 degrees this summer in Dallas. We've had almost no measurable rain the entire summer. Would that bother you?

traveler,

I cannot speak for Dallas, but I lived in Houston for 3 1/2 years. The best thing to do is go spend time in both places before making a decision. I would suggest going in summer to first see if you can stand the hot humid climate in Houston. I lived north of Houston in Spring. Here are some pros and cons:
Pros: Low cost of living, housing is very affordable compared to most comparable sized cities in the US, world class art, museums and theater, cultural diversity( many different people live in Houston from foreign countries and states), fairly laid back people. I never found anyone I met to be snobby in any way.
Now for the cons: Traffic- because Houston is such a spread out metropolis people are dependent on their cars and there is always alot of traffic on the roads but it is bad during rush hour and in construction areas. Toll roads exist but may not be helpful if you live north or south and you are headed to the center of the city. The second thing is that if you live in a suburban area like The Woodlands, Humble or Katy and you have to commute into the city it can be a long drive. Many popular places like the Galleria, Rice Village and the Museum District are in the heart of the city so if you live in a suburb don't expect to get there in less than 45 minutes. The last thing is of course the weather. Houston is on the Gulf Coast so it is subject to flaSh floods and rain at any given time. Also from about April- October it will get very hot and the humidity is high so be prepared to break a sweat walking to your car at 7 am.
That being said, I enjoyed living in the Houston area but you need to spend time there to see if it meets your needs. Good luck.

The OP needs to look at jobs jobs and jobs, way before asking this question in the first place.

There have been plenty of threads about Dallas vs Houston, or dallas vs Austin vs Houston, etc... We don't need another one, and I don't see why the OP is asking this one either.

Personally, I think it is silly for you to be asking questions to a bunch of strangers about where you should live when you haven't even been to either city for yourself...that being said...everybody here can offer you advice and pros/cons but it means nothing because we are not going to be living with you after you uproot your family to move and you hate the area (not implying you will hate either city).

You have already chosen Houston or Dallas and you have never been to Texas or better yet south of Indiana? Get on a plane and go see each city for yourself.

Is this for real?

After being in Michigan for the past 10 days...the 20-40 degree difference was a killer getting back to the heat. When I left MI, it was 65; Dallas was around 102.

I'm with Starrsville, I was answering Austin myself when I saw this post. :-)
Good points about the heat in TX. Make sure you can all take the heat.

I was born in Houston and now live south of Dallas. Dallas would be my choice. Houston is hot and sticky. Dallas has a great selection of top notch restaurants and cultural destinations. Shopping is great in both places, but Dallas is still better.

I live in Michigan myself, but visit both Dallas & Houston frequently for business.

I don't want to be "flamed" for my remarks, so just let me say that these are my observations only and are based on nothing but my own personal opinion.

Dallas to me appears to be growing more and has more areas that are newer than Houston.

HOUSTON IS HOT!! OMG - it is the hottest/most humid place that I have ever visited outside of LA (which makes sense due to it's location). I personally would not be happy living in such a climate - you really have to visit to understand what I am saying.

Dallas is hot also, but as mentioned by a previous poster - but Houston is sooooo much more Humid.

Regading jobs - have you gone to monster.com, or hotjobs.com and typed in your profession and both areas to see what comes back? I would assume that regardless how much you like one area better than another, your ability to afford where you want to be is going to be a huge factor in deciding between the two areas.

I understand getting feedback from posters on this board - but you definately need to schedule a visit to both places.

Ft. Worth!!!
That's where I would live IF I ever came back to the US.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

I can't believe I'm going to agree with Aceplace on something, but Dallas would be a far better place to live than Houston. The reasons why have all been thoroughly covered, so I won't repeat them.