Notsure

I need some help out there. My husband and 2 kids (4 yrs.and 2 yrs.) are deciding if we should move from San Francisco to Dallas. The crazy housing market has got our hands behind our backs but my family and friends are here in San Fran. I've lived in S.F. for most of my 37 years and I'm full Chinese (American born). My husband, who's from Dallas and still has family there, is Caucasian. Can anyone out there give me any hints whether we should move or stay?

MrTraveler

Relocating is always a tough decision. So many things to consider. Being in CA, I know what it's like in this outrageous housing market, especially in the Bay Area. One of the biggest factors for me would be your careers and the job market. How easily can you find another job in Dallas?? If Dallas is too far for you, have you considered somewhere in between?? I know Phoenix is nice.

Michael

Weather wise, and probably from a cultural point of view, I would stay in SF. I am prejudiced, having spent 3 hot years in Houston 25 years ago. However, geographically speaking, Dallas is far from the mountains and far from the sea.

Notsure

Thanks MrTraveler for the response. The reason we're deciding on Dallas is because my husband's family lives there. Also, his job can be transfered out there so I guess my questions is for anyone who has experienced this move and was it worth it for them?

Notsure

Michael, I've heard about the 3 months of pretty hot weather. I've lived in Hawaii for 7 years and I actually like hot weather although Hawaii has the trade winds. Speaking of mountains and oceans....does Dallas have any pretty areas to live in with mountains or is it pretty flat?

bbqboy

I say move to Texas. $$ go further than Ca. My bet is you'll love it.
Life is short. Enjoy it.

rjw_lgb_ca

I personally would do whatever it took to stay in California rather than move to Dallas-- but that's me. My money might go farther outside of CA, but I'd miss the innovative spirit and mellow live-and-let-live attitudes out here. I'm from the South originally, but I have only felt at home since I moved to the Golden State.

However, you can make any place work for you. Have you ever visited Dallas? You might like it a lot-- even the McMansions being thrown up for consumption by the local nouveaux riches....

StuDudley

I would try real hard to visit some Asians in Dalles & see what it's like for them. As you know, people in SF are the most tolerant people in the US (IMO). The Asian community is very "strong" here - politically, economically, and socially.

The company I worked for in Redwood City, moved most of it's manufacturing and support functions to our Colorado facility about 6 years ago. Many Redwood City Asians were offered lucrative relocaton packages - but very few (perhaps zero) moved there. They were well aware of the environment in Colorado, because they often traveled to our Colorado office for technical training, support, etc.

Texas may be different than Colorado - but I would sure get to know the environment before I make a committment. You only live once. Some of my friends who moved elsewhere to get a better/bigger house, were unable to move back (and many wanted to) because the housing market in the Bay Area kept inflating, whereas it didn't in the place they moved to.

Stu Dudley

wtm003

Good grief. I'm tired of sweeping generalizations such as the environment in Colorado is hostile to Asians, Southerners aren't tolerant, yada yada yada.

Notsure the only way you are going to know if Dallas is the place for you is to visit. Check out the schools & the communities. Visit during the hottest part of summer and also during the most pleasant time of year. Be honest and ask yourself if living in Dallas is the best option for your family. Good luck and go visit.

FainaAgain

With 2 small children you can always count on your family's support here. Just for that alone I wouldn't move.

aggiemom

Hi Notsure -

I grew up in Connecticut and then spent 20 years in Orange County, CA. Four years ago we moved to the Dallas area.

Yes, the housing is a fantasic value. We left our 2,000 sq ft $800,000 home in OC and bought a 4,000 sq ft (and much fancier home) in the Dallas area for $350,000.

However, that being said, I do miss California a lot. The weather is a big factor. The summers here are at least five months long - with high 90's and 100's consistently and very humid. You can't count on the marine layer to start cooling you off at 3:00 PM. You can't open windows to get the evening breeze because it doesn't exist. We live with air conditioning 24 hours a day. I am going absolutely crazy with the summers here and have seriously been investigating a second home to escape the summers.

Winters, now, are relatively mild compared to Connecticut. But this past week the kids had a "snow day" and it got as cold as 10 F. I don't mind the cold as much because you can always pile on the clothes - and it is not as prolonged as where I grew up.

However, the temperature tends to change here very rapidly. A couple of weeks ago it got up to about 85 degrees and then the next day we had a low of 27 degrees!

My husband was offered a new job here which was the reason we left. Financially, it has been an excellent opportunity for us. The people here are some of the friendliest I have ever met. I do find overall the "natives" are not as sophisticated as native Californians. This can be a good thing or sometimes not. I have never found any overt racism, however, and find that most people are tolerant as long as you are nice.

Okay, all that being said - my biggest problem is not being near family. We were two hours away from my husband's family when we lived in OC, so we saw them several times a year (which was sometimes several times too many, but that's a whole other story, lol!) My family lives in CT and Florida so actually I'm closer to them by living here.

But if I could choose anyplace to live it would be near my family because that's what has turned out to be most important to me. We are very grateful for the financial opportunities we found in Texas and also for those that we left behind in CA. But for me, I want to be near family.

Just my perspective. Hope I haven't bored you to tears.

mom

bill_boy

Cowboys easily over the 49ers - by, at least, 2 touchdowns.

starrsville

Stay in California.

Yes, you can get a huge house for nothing in Dallas - but then you are in Dallas.

I grew up in the hot, humid South, but only lasted a year in the flat, treeless Dallas environment. It's a hard move in the first place, but from SF? Away from family? Away from your culture (and 1/2 of your children's culture)? Visit the Caucasian relatives - or have them visit you, but stay in SF.

StuDudley

>>I'm tired of sweeping generalizations such as the environment in Colorado is hostile to Asians, Southerners aren't tolerant, yada yada yada.<<

Gee wtm - I've re-read every single post on this thread, and nobody said that Colorado is hostile to Asians, and Southerners aren't tolerant....

If you are referring to my post about Colorado, I think you are "reading too much" into what I posted. I couldn't find the word "hostile" used anywhere on this thread, prior to you using it.

I think people who have spent time in different large cities in the US would generally agree that San Francisco is more tolerant than most other cities in the US. That does not infer that other cities are "hostile" or in-tolerant.

Stu Dudley

ChristieP

Areas of Dallas have large Asian populations. Thanks to the high-tech companies here, there are many Chinese, especially in Richardson and Plano.

$150,000 buys a good house in Dallas, but it only buys a toolshed in SF.

Only some newer parts of Dallas are "flat and treeless." Many older neighborhoods have large trees, and certain parts of the area have rolling hills. No, they're not like in SF, but they are not flat.

Yeah, the weather gets hot in the summer and you have to use the A/C all the time. But it only occasionally gets really cold in the winter, and if it snows, we usually get the day off. ;-)

ilovetulips

I think these two cities are literally apples and oranges. If have lived in San Francisco for most of your 37 years, Dallas will be very different in every sense. You need to decide what you are looking to gain in a move to Dallas- do you want more house for your money, is this job going to help your husband climb the ladder, does he just want to be closer to his family? I think that any move would be a major adjustment and there will be things that you like and things that you don't. If you go to the suburbs of Dallas you would probably get into a good public school system for your children. Expect long commutes and hot weather in the summer roughly May-October, not a typical 3 month summer. People are generally friendly and helpful, but scenery in the area leaves something to be desired. One plus is you can easily get non-stop flights back home to CA from DFW airport. Good luck.

dorkforcemom

On the other hand, check out the Highland Park, University Park, Park Cities area - which is full of mature oak trees, beautifully stunning homes, no commute, great shopping nearby, good schools - and a culturally rich environment. Yes, if you live in the 'burbs it's going to be flat and treeless with a long commute. In the heart of Dallas, it's a different story. With your husband being from Dallas, I would think he would provide great insight. Good luck!

xbt2316

The Eastern Tarrant county suburbs of Dallas are located in the Cross Timbers belt, a dense natural forest about 200 miles long and 15 miles wide. It got its name by being too thick for the early pioneers to cross. It helped protect that part of Texas from Comance raids from the west.

The Cedar Hills area of Dallas is pretty spectacular, with 200-300 foot hills descending to the shoreline of Joe Pool Lake. Southern Dallas County in general is very heavily wooded and dramatically hilly. Try Kessler Park and Stevens Park.

Speaking of Lakes, there are about a dozen big ones in the Dallas area, maybe 20,000 - 30,000 acres, normally surrounded by dense forests, and somewhat hilly terrain. My favorite, Lake Texoma, has a coastline somewhat resembling a california beach.

The SF Bay Area is cold in the summer, but that's essentially a geographic oddity from the icy Pacific Coast. You go inland a few miles to places like Walnut Creek, or out to Sacramento and Stockton, and the summers are hot, hot, hot. So if you think SF temperatures are "normal", much of the rest of America, including North Texas, will be a culture shock.

People in the Dallas-Ft Worth area consider themselves sophisticated compared to Texas in General, as befits their big city status, and their consumtion pattern of international luxury goods. They have mass transit, urban pedestrian residential neighborhoods, a sizable international population (for example, about 60,000 people from Iran)... the population is about 6 million people, the largest metro area in the US after NY, LA and Chicago.

Political ideology? Dallas city voted for Kerry, and Dallas County almost voted for Kerry, but just as in the Bay Area, the farther out you go, the more Republican it gets. Mostly, people in DFW are not so in-your-face ideological as they are in the Bay Area. In fact, SF has the most radical politics in the nation. You won't find it in the rest of Amrica.

xbt2316

My coworker, CC, was a lady who grew up in Taipei, and married a fellow from Maine... quite Caucasian. She spent some time attending Stanford University, and eventually settled in Plano, an upscale North Dallas suburb.

She said that Stanford was an adjustment from Taipei, and Dallas was some more adjustment, but now she likes her new home... has no desire to leave...

mah1980

I definitely disagree about the political nature of Texans.

Most Texans, with the exception of those in Austin, are very Republican.

Also, Dallas is known for being extremely snobby and pretensious. Materialism and McMansions are the way of life in Dallas.

I think you should stay put in San Francisco if you love it there. It is a completely different way of life.