Relocation help please - Fort Worth

spartychic2010 · May 2010

Hi! I am new to this board and am hoping that someone might be able to give me some neighborhood recommendations.

My FI and I currently live in Michigan and just found out that FI may be transferred to Fort Worth. I don't know anything about Texas and want to start researching places for us to live, but am not sure where to start!

We are in our late 20's, getting married later this year, and aren't planning on having kids for awhile. We're looking for good areas for working professionals our age to live with things to do in the area, restaurants/entertainment/shopping/museums.

We're hoping to meet other young couples like ourselves and aren't ready for the kid-oriented family neighborhoods in the suburbs just yet. Any recommendations as to where to look would be greatly appreciated!

bsn1752 · May 2010

Downtown Fort Worth is a great place to start... it's a really fun area with tons to do and tons of young couples/professionals, and typically without children. I know that Montgomery Plaza has condos now... pretty much everywhere in Downtown Ft Worth is a condo or cool apartment!

http://www.montgomeryplaza.com/

I would suggest going onto http://dallas.craigslist.org/ and looking up "Downtown Fort Worth" under Apts/Housing... there's TONS on there. Or you could always use an apartment locator.

I am not sure if you're looking to rent or buy though...

spartychic2010 · May 2010

Thanks!

We're open to both renting and buying, but would probably buy a house over a condo right now. In Michigan there are a few neighborhoods like Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, and Birmingham that have houses within walking distance or a short drive to a cute downtown area. We'd love to find a few areas like that in Texas.

Where we live right now it;s suburban, and mostly older couples/empty nesters (because everyone is leaving Michigan!). We want to make sure that we put ourselves in a position to actually meet other young people and make friends when we get out to Fort Worth. It looks like a lot of people recommend the Northern Suburbs because they have good schools. But, since we don't have kids yet, we figured it wouldn't be as easy to meet people there, since they probably just want to spend time with their kids as opposed to being out and about after work and on the weekends.

bsn1752 · May 2010

Then I would recommend renting in Downtown... There's not a lot of places down here that are walking distance to downtown area where alot of couples and young people would be hanging around often. Plus, Downtown has alot of festivals and parties going on all year round! (Texans, we drive everywhere...)

ewinkler1977 · May 2010

I think Uptown in Dallas is what you are looking for. It's got all the bars, restuarents etc right there.

spartychic2010 · May 2010

Thanks ewinkler!

We found that part of Dallas online last night and it looks fantastic. Then I mapquested it to FI's office and it said 1 hour 20 minutes in traffic. Is the traffic situation bad out there because it didn't seem that far?

stephl3055 · May 2010

I personally wouldn't want to make the commute from Uptown to Fort Worth. I can easily see the commute being longer than that on bad traffic days. It might be best to rent for 6 months or so in Fort Worth and get a feel for the city and then narrow down the areas you want to live in.

Will you be visiting here before you move?

Jeff and Deepthi · May 2010

Don't live in Downtown Dallas if he works in FW!!! I work in Downtown Dallas and boyfriend is in FW/ Benbrook Area and it's horrible with traffic and everything to get to his place!! We have friends that live in Condos right outside of the city on Main and Houston st. I can't remember the name, but we will walk to downtown from there and it's not far at all! When are you moving down?

serlace · May 2010

The traffic here is horrific! Do not move to Uptown and commute to Fort Worth - it would make you miserable! (my opinion, of course - but I'm well informed!!). I don't know much about Ft. Worth because I live in Dallas, so I'm not of any help. I just wanted to tell you not to live in Dallas if his job is in Ft. Worth, because the traffic is as terrible (or worse) as Mapquest makes it seem. (At least Dallas traffic is). HTH.

bsn1752 · May 2010

No no no to a commute from Dallas to Fort Worth... it's HORRIBLE! My boss lives in Ft Worth and commutes to Plano and it takes him 3 hours to get home at 5:00 pm.

ewinkler1977 · May 2010

Sorry I had a brainfart. Yeah if he is working in Fort Worth I wouldn't live in Dallas. I don't know Fort Worth very well so I can't be a whole lot of help. But yeah traffic is really bad is DFW

lacy1603 · May 2010

It sounds like right smack in downtown is where you're going to find what your looking for. Unfortunately there are not a lot of houses in downtown. (Mostly condos and apts.) I would suggest the Hulen/Overton/ Univeristy area near TCU.

spartychic2010 · May 2010

@steph13055 - We do know that they fly us down to either house/apartment hunt, but we're not sure when that will be.

I agree that renting for awhile is the smart way to go. His work just recently made an announcement about it, so it could even be a year or more, but we're pretty sure that we will move because the economy is bad up here and it looks like there are tons of jobs in the Dallas Fort Worth area, so hopefully it would be too difficult for me to find a new job down there.

I'll definitely check out downtown Fort Worth. Are there any areas to stay away from?

Thanks for all the recs ladies. You have a really friendly knot board.

solr111 · May 2010

Oh my gosh, this sounds so familiar! My fiance and I just moved to Dallas three weeks ago from California, for exactly the same reason. And we had pretty much the same requirements in neighborhoods! Good to know we're not the only ones!

His company did fly us out here for a weekend to check out some neighborhoods, although to be honest I didn't really feel that one weekend here gave us an accurate idea of what the neighborhoods were like.

What we're doing is renting an apartment in Uptown Dallas for 6 months. The idea there is to take the next months to get to know the area, and then make a decision as to whether we want to continue renting or buy something, and where. I highly recommend that. In just a few weeks we've already learned a lot about the different areas and how long it takes to get to each one with and without traffic.

Good luck on the move and let me know if you need a buddy when you get here!

lesalyric · May 2010

There is a great area right outside of downtown Fort Worth called near Southside. It is an area of homes built in the 1920s-1950s that is undergoing restoration right now and is becoming a really great area to live. Depending upon your price range, buying there might be a reach, but I know some couples who rent in the area and pay reasonable prices. This area is literally a five minute drive from downtown FW and has many of the areas best non-chain restaurants (Paris Coffee Shop, Ellerbe Fine Foods, Sprial Diner, etc.) There are families with children in the area, but they are outnumbered by young professionals 4 to 1.

Like PP, I would also recommend the TCU/Hulen&30 area. This is going to be about a ten minute drive to both downtown. Again a lot of restaurants and things to do.

I would also HIGHLY recommend the area immediately outside of downtown on 7th street. This is quickly becoming a place my FI, friends and I spend a lot of our time. It recently underwent a transformation from underused industrial type area to a place full of bars, restaurants, shops and lounges. A PP reccommended Montgomery Plaza which is in this area.

Directly adjacent to the 7th street area is the arts district which blends in with the TCU/Hulen area when you hit 30. Also, a good area for what you are looking for.

I moved here 6 years ago and LOVE it. Fort Worth is really a great mix of cowboys and culture, which although cheesy sounding gives it a very welcoming unpretentious air. There is always something to do somewhere, which we love.

I would be more than happy to recommend bars, restaurants, etc. if you do end up moving here...just get in touch

HTH!

danac2010 · May 2010

I recommend Downtown Ft Worth also. It is a great area and a lot of young couples always in the area. The northern part like Summerfields, Saginaw, Keller, or something in that area is nice for later when you want kids. There are lots of condos and apartments near downtown just don't just north of downtown.

Traffic is horrible in the area and Uptown is not a good idea if he is working in Ft Worth.

RMR7779 · May 2010

I have lived in Ft. Worth my whole life and still love it! My fiance and I have been renting an apt downtown for a little over a year, and we'll probably stay one more year. It's a great location, and its pretty easy to get anywhere you need to go. We are right on the edge of downtown near all of the 7th street developments that one of the above posters mentioned, its great! I also rented in south FW on Hulen street, and I prefer downtown MUCH more. If you have any questions on apartment complexes downtown let me know!

Relocation help please - Fort Worth

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