Moving to Texas- New RN Grad DFW or Austin???

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Hello,

I am looking for any advice, help suggestions from anyone that is familiar with DFW and/or Austin. My family and I (hubby and two children) will be moving to Texas from Maryland w/in the year. I am a new RN grad and we are torn btwn the DFW area and the Austin area. I am wanting to get into NICU/ labor and delivery. What area is the best for living, cost of living and raising a family? We will be planning a trip to Texas and renting a car and checking out the areas but anything from anyone would be great! How long of a drive is it btwn DFW and Austin? Thanks...

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Try Bryan/College Station.

Great Schools.

Great Hospitals (and competition means competitive salaries)

Convenient to Everywhere (Austin 1.5 hrs/Dallas 3 hrs/San Antonio 3 hrs/Houston 1.5 hrs)

Big enough for 24 hrs stores, small town feel.

PM me if you'd like to chat more.

BTW, I grad from Howard CC in Columbia and lived in Glen Burnie for about 3 yrs while in the military/going to school.

~faith,

Timothy.

I

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I live somewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and landed a job after only 1 day of job-seeking. The salaries in this area are great and the cost of living is reasonable.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Ortho, & Tele all on one ward!.

I am partial to DFW because I went to school up there. You have so many options available to you as far as working and places to live. New grads up there earn 19-25$ an hour (at least that is what they were paying my classmates when we all graduated in December).

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I am certainly partial to Austin and moved back here from Dallas. Dallas is OK if you are 24 but if you are raising a family there is no comparison. The traffic is nowhere near as bad, the schools are better and there are a lot of things to do outside in Austin. The Hill Country is very nice too. There are a lot of good hospitals too.

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I do beg to differ with you on the child rearing, Greg. But respectfully, of course. Some of the suburban areas of DFW are wonderful places to rear children. We own houses in "suburban" areas of both. I love Austin to visit. But for nursing and other professional employment opportunities, DFW is the place for variety and quantity. It's 3.5 hours driving till you hit the dreaded AUSTIN TRAFFIC!!! If they don't hurry and get that toll road east of Austin built.........I HATE AUSTIN TRAFFIC!!!!

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Housing is a lot more expensive in Austin. My brother lives there and I've seen the differences. There are LOTS of pocket areas throughout the DFW area that offer affordable neighborhoods, great schools and easy commutes to multiple hospitals. I live in the DFW area and even *I* find traffic in Austin to be horrific. I drive to Ft.Worth multiple times throughout the week and have absolutely no issues.

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Okay I have to respond to this lol because I need the advice as well!!! I will graduate in May from a school in Kansas. I am planning to move to the DFW area because my fiance's daughter is 3 and I am compromising with future hubby. He doesnt want to live here and I dont want to live in small small town texas. I had the opportunity to vist Fort Worth 2 weeks ago(didnt get over to the Dallas area) The traffic scares me(more like the interchanges..lol but thats another story!) I did however find that Southwest Fort Worth was nice. I really like the area south of I-20 along Bryant irving and Hulen Roads. Found that it was Near Harris Methodist SW and housing was i am told is reasonable. I dont think 800 is reasonable compared to where I am from, but in Wichita housing is pretty cheap but the starting pay for nurses is not anything compared to what I have been told about DFW. My question..can anyone tell me more about the areas of DFW NOT to live in and what areas are comparable to SW FW as far as being nice area's and feeling safe? Does that make since?

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It was ironic that while I was posting the above, an e-mail arrived. I receive bulletins on breaking news from KXAN and this was "Mopac closed down. Traffic being diverted." I had to laugh but also commiserate with all those trying to get around Austin. I know that was a real traffic tie-up!

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Wish I could help with the Ft. Worth area, but I can't. I have heard good things about South Lake, though. I do know that whole area up to Texas Motor Speedway won't be small town for long. The highway system is in place and it's growing very quickly but it's upscale growth. We should have invested in land a few years ago.

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Okay I have to respond to this lol because I need the advice as well!!! I will graduate in May from a school in Kansas. I am planning to move to the DFW area because my fiance's daughter is 3 and I am compromising with future hubby. He doesnt want to live here and I dont want to live in small small town texas. I had the opportunity to vist Fort Worth 2 weeks ago(didnt get over to the Dallas area) The traffic scares me(more like the interchanges..lol but thats another story!) I did however find that Southwest Fort Worth was nice. I really like the area south of I-20 along Bryant irving and Hulen Roads. Found that it was Near Harris Methodist SW and housing was i am told is reasonable. I dont think 800 is reasonable compared to where I am from, but in Wichita housing is pretty cheap but the starting pay for nurses is not anything compared to what I have been told about DFW. My question..can anyone tell me more about the areas of DFW NOT to live in and what areas are comparable to SW FW as far as being nice area's and feeling safe? Does that make since?

Ft.Worth has a more laid back feel to it and the area you described is a really big boom area in Ft.Worth. I don't know much about the school reputations, but I do know that Burleson (more south of Ft.Worth along I 35) is supposed to have good schools as well. You can go more towards Mansfield (east of Ft.Worth, but still only about 20 minutes away) and find great housing (ranges from 150K-400K) and pretty much brand spanking new schools.

Older more established areas (and a little bit spendier) are towards Lake Arlington and Pantego (where houses range from 100K-400K within a few blocks of each other + very good schools).

If you want to go west, Weatherford is supposed to also be an up and coming area. It used to be mostly a big oil/ranch type of area (and there still is lots of $$$$$ in the area), but it is now also a boom area with lots of range on the housing area.

I would avoid any housing that requires you to access Hulen on a regular basis. Traffic on Hulen is a *nightmare." The hospitals in SW Ft.Worth are slowly catching up to par.

As I said above, Harris and Baylor All Saints both have great childcare programs.

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I've also heard good things about Burleson's schools. But I'm directionally challenged around Ft. Worth. I just know Burleson is fairly close.

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