Texas - Possible Relo to Dallas

I may have a job opportunity that would require me to relocate from Atlanta to Dallas in the very near future. I was wondering if I could get any advise on where to look for a place. I am single so family fun time suburbia is out. I'd like to find an area that is close in, has easy access to what is going on in the city and has some cool places to rent. I have no clue about Dallas and really appreciate the help.

Jake

I may have a job opportunity that would require me to relocate from Atlanta to Dallas in the very near future. I was wondering if I could get any advise on where to look for a place. I am single so family fun time suburbia is out. I'd like to find an area that is close in, has easy access to what is going on in the city and has some cool places to rent. I have no clue about Dallas and really appreciate the help.

Jake

I'm a family guy living in suburbia, so my advice might not be too valid. That said, if I were suddenly single, I would either look for a smaller house in near east Dallas or a flat/condo/apartment in uptown. Cycling is better in the Near-East Dallas location, but it's a little farther from other activities.

I will now sit back and let someone else inform me how out of touch I am...

Thanks Panther, I will check out both locations when I get to do a recon.

In what part of Dallas is your job located? That will probably affect where you want to be. Are you looking for a house, condo, or apartment?
More info needed.
If you like the nightlife...clubs, music, arts and such you may want to be close to downtown, or in the Greenville area.
Casa linda / Whiterock Lake area has good riding. Lakewood is close to Whiterock lake and a good trail system.
Lots of good riding from and around Richardson, and right on a light rail line into town.

If I were single and work was somewhat near Dallas proper I'd look towards uptown area.
Dallas is pretty spread out, living in Uptown but working in say Irving could be a pain (commute wise).
Let us know where you're (possibly) going to be working and we can narrow the choices down for you.

Marty

I guess I should have clarifed my possible job. It will be a traveling position based in Dallas, so the daily commute won't matter too much. I usually try to fly on off-peak hours so traffic will be light. I am looking to rent a condo, or townhouse if possible.

The hub of road cycling in this area seems to be Plano, although people are scattered all over.
The hub of randonneuring seems to be Arlington and south.
The hub of urban cycling is downtown Dallas. There's lots of development going on down there with lofts and stuff where nobody used to live. Lots of hobos, too.

If you'll be flying a lot, look at the airlines, and see whether you're more likely to be going out of DFW Airport or Love Field (mainly Southwest Airlines), and try to work that into the mix. If you're flying out of DFW, it's just as handy to live west of there as it is east, and FW and its suburbs are good prospects as well. North Richland Hills actually has some decent bike trails.

The DART rail lines can be pretty handy, look where those routes are, too. The Trinity Rail Express is slower and not as handy.

for a racer-type single / young urban lifestyle - downtown (lots of lofts and apartments / condos) or near east side / Lakewood (basically any where in the rough triangle between downtown Dallas, White Rock lake, and Love Field).

for "just a rider" who wants a social network to ride with, Plano / Allen / McKinney (sprawling suburbia, everyone drives to the ride starts)

if neither of those is quite right, and "great places to ride" is most important, then south of Dallas (Duncanville / Cedar Hill / Joe Pool lake area) or West - Fort Worth or even out to Weatherford (far west) which has awesome roads all around it. About 90 minutes from DFW without traffic.

Thanks for the info so far. Creeky, I don't race but usually A rides or fast B rides. I like the downtown idea or maybe a cool neighborhood with good restaurants and bars.

Thanks for the info so far. Creeky, I don't race but usually A rides or fast B rides. I like the downtown idea or maybe a cool neighborhood with good restaurants and bars.

ok so that's the area between downtown, NE to White Rock Lake, (Lakewood), plus the area immediately North of downtown, South of SMU - McKinney Ave or Uptown.

You'll find some killer-fast A rides leaving from White Rock Lake on weekends, and on summer weeknights.

Thanks, I think I will focus my search on the areas you mentioned. How fast is killer fast?

Thanks for the info so far. Creeky, I don't race but usually A rides or fast B rides. I like the downtown idea or maybe a cool neighborhood with good restaurants and bars.

Check out the Plano Bicycle Association (PBA) - probably the largest road cycling club in the area, and while I may be biased, in my opinion the best. It would be a bit of a drive from the uptown area, but for single and looking to avoid suburbia, probably the closest choice to the PBA rides.

Suburbia rocks man. :)

Thanks Cuda, I will check out PBA.

let me throw in North Oak Cliff-- 3 minutes from downtown, lots of rolling hills in the neighborhood, a 15 minute drive to WhiteRock, or 30 minute ride across town to same, low rents/housing prices; interesting architecture, some of the best bars restaurants in town-Bishop Arts district, Belmont Hotel and Bar, cool bike shop - Oak Cliff Bicycle Company- plus Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, plus an awesome local culture of arts, poets, musicians, Jack's Backyard w/continuous live music...etc etc etc

I have lived in the DFW area and work in Dallas for many years now. I find that South Arlington Kennedale area is best for me to do long treks of 30 to 50 miles or more with less traffic.

Shrink, North Oak Cliff sounds like what I am looking for, thanks for the heads up.