Dallas or Houston

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Feb 19, 2014

You might want to discover exactly which Texas Health hospital you are interested in and which city/suburb it is in as the quality of schools is highly variable and one would want to know if you need to budget for private school.

Dallas city proper (as in Dallas Independent School District) has pretty sad school quality. Many of the suburbs such as Plano or Richardson have better quality. Most of Texas Health Hospitals are not in Dallas or even Dallas county but in Tarrant (and other surrounding) county. Fort Worth schools are not much better but there are isolated excellent schools within FWISD. The Tarrant suburbs also have extremely varied school quality. I'm on my phone or I would try to find the website with Texas school report cards, good place to start.

I know nothing of the Houston area but I would find out the same information about schools.

ETA: Texas Health is a hospital organization with probably a couple dozen locations throughout the DFW area.

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smartypant · Feb 19, 2014

Thanks i meant to say tarrant county to be exact.I am looking at HEB location

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Feb 19, 2014

HEB is an interesting acronym. It is the name of a popular Texas chain of grocery stores (of which there are none in the HEB area) or also to refer to the area located centrally between Dallas and Fort Worth in the cities of Hurst, Euless, & Bedford. It's a pretty decent place to live and work, schools are decent. You will have great access to big city life if you want to (within easy driving of Dallas and Fort Worth) and yet with suburban advantages. Very close to DFW airport but generally not so close as to be disturbed by noise.

More details on the schools. School districts (called ISDs) do not always follow city limits. HEB ISD is generally ok, check the schools in your proposed neighborhood for more specifics. In general, I have heard better things about Grapevine/Colleyville schools (some homes in Euless fall in this district) and also Keller schools (slightly NW of HEB area). But to clarify, most of the schools in these areas are generally fine, nothing like Dallas or Fort Worth schools.

Once more, I have to say I know little about the Houston area except when I've visited it always sets off my allergies. Also though all of Texas gets horribly hot all summer (which starts in a couple of weeks I think and lasts until Halloween) Houston adds in some tremendous humidity to boot.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Feb 20, 2014

Welcome to Texas!!!

If you are intending to take advantage of your experience & seek a job in psych, there will be limited options in either location. In the Houston area, a BSN is a definite advantage. I would advise you to look at suburban locations - Methodist has facilities in most areas. Woodlands, Katy, Sugarland, Pearland, Friendswood, -- all have excellent school districts and a variety of housing options.

My advice? Find an experienced Realtor to work with, no matter which area you choose. They can help you find just the right area for your income & family needs.

Best of luck to you.

Nalon1 RN/EMT-P, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2014

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Once more, I have to say I know little about the Houston area except when I've visited it always sets off my allergies. Also though all of Texas gets horribly hot all summer (which starts in a couple of weeks I think and lasts until Halloween) Houston adds in some tremendous humidity to boot.

Funny thing, Dallas has on average hotter summers and colder (and icier) winters than Houston and yes, the humidity is higher in Houston (and some can have more allergy issues).

As for which area, both DFW and Houston areas have their advantages and disadvantages. Texas has overall had a good economy in the past 10 years. Mental Health in Texas does leave a lot to be desired.

I would do as HouTx said though, find a realtor and get some ideas from them. I really don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Feb 20, 2014

Dallas has on average hotter summers and colder (and icier) winters than Houston

Yes to the icier. As to the heat. . . It's a dry heat !! Been waiting to say that! It's not as dry as say West Texas but compared to Houston, it's noticeable.