I fly to DFW a lot for work. I love how there is so many things to do, plenty of opportunities, reasonable winters, solid highway infrastructure, and a very good airport. The food is very solid and you can find almost anything there except interesting typography.

I prefer Chicago having spent time there, but it’s far from perfect. And having grown up near Baton Rouge… Houston always feels more like home than Dallas. But I don’t dislike DFW at all.

My beef with the area is how it fits with my lifestyle and goals.

1. Housing costs in DFW are higher than I like, and most of the neighborhoods don’t feel like real communities to me. This is not unique to DFW either. But it’s a problem in a lot of it’s neighborhoods. DFW is actually not too crazy for a metro it’s size, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a real problem.

2. Property taxes are higher than I’d like. These can’t be easily controlled or circumvented either. They can be really steep in parts of Texas. If you have a lot of kids and use public schools, it’s not really too big of a deal…but if you have 1-2 kids, the value those taxes provide isn’t as easy to exploit.

3. I prefer areas where I can more easily save and cut personal spending while building wealth under the radar. We are all human, and we influence each other. There is less “keeping up with Joneses” in places like Memphis, Baton Rouge, Tulsa, OKC, or even Houston or some upper midwest cities. I can easily find good neighborhoods where my driving a Toyota or wearing Wal Mart clothes won't stand out. Ft Worth isn’t too bad, but Dallas feels very deep in the consumption lifestyle that I like to avoid as my kids get into school and I reach middle age/peak earnings. Sounds crazy, but it’s easier for me to be a cheap bastard in other places.

This post was edited on 5/13/24 at 4:04 pm