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

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2006

I live in south Fort Worth near Crowley. The Crowley school district is highly acclaimed, and all of the homes around here are brand-new and affordable. My new 1900 square foot home cost $104,000. I live 4 miles west of interstate 35W and 6 miles south of interstate 20, where South Hulen Street and McCart Drive both make a dead-end into a bunch of new-home communities. I am a new LVN grad who earns $18 per hour with benefits.

And traffic on Hulen Street, in my honest opinion, is not as bad as many people make it out to be. I am a native Southern Californian, so I have seen some real traffic nightmares. I have not noted any true traffic congestion or gridlock in southwest Fort Worth.

There are also other nice Fort Worth neighborhoods, such as Fossil Creek, Cityview, and Saginaw.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Mar 10, 2006

Try Saginaw - it is 13 miles north of Fort Worth. New homes range from 120k to 400k. It is the Eagle mountain school district which is considered one of the best.

vamedic4, EMT-P · Mar 20, 2006

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?

Stay away from Arlington. Generally, the farther north of the metroplex you are (Lewisville, Frisco, Plano, Flower Mound,) the less the crime. Grand Prarie is another city with it's share of problems.

The area of FW you speak of is nice, and anywhere in the mid cities (Hurst/ Euless/Bedford)...they're nice too.

And generally, the school systems are better in the 'burbs. Dallas schools are ...well, let's just say they're on the news...almost every night.

Hope this helps.

vamedic4

waving from Dallas

vamedic4

ArmyKitten · Mar 20, 2006

South Arlington (south of 20) is actually a great area- no reason to stay away. North Arlington on the other hand...well...let's just say I am glad we moved from there.

South Arlington has a lot of new housing. Mansfield is another great place to look- I have heard good things about the schools there.

carachel2 · Mar 21, 2006

South Arlington (south of 20) is actually a great area- no reason to stay away. North Arlington on the other hand...well...let's just say I am glad we moved from there.
South Arlington has a lot of new housing. Mansfield is another great place to look- I have heard good things about the schools there.

That is sooo funny. We moved AWAY from S.Arlington becaused the neighborhoods were declining (this was the area between 20 and Sublett on Matlock), the schools were way overcrowded and not so good and just getting out to I20 on either Cooper St. or Matlock took about 15-20 minutes.

We are currently in N.Arlington in a *very* nice area, wonderful schools, no crime worries,etc.

Where were you in N. Arlington that was so bad ? The Pantego area and then north of I30 are pretty exclusive areas but with a good housing and economic mix. We like the diversity, but still balanced part.

I would say central Arlington is more the area you are referring to ?

ArmyKitten · Mar 21, 2006

That is sooo funny. We moved AWAY from S.Arlington becaused the neighborhoods were declining (this was the area between 20 and Sublett on Matlock), the schools were way overcrowded and not so good and just getting out to I20 on either Cooper St. or Matlock took about 15-20 minutes.
We are currently in N.Arlington in a *very* nice area, wonderful schools, no crime worries,etc.
Where were you in N. Arlington that was so bad ? The Pantego area and then north of I30 are pretty exclusive areas but with a good housing and economic mix. We like the diversity, but still balanced part.
I would say central Arlington is more the area you are referring to ?

LOL. Just goes to show that Arlington really is huge- and obviously has drastically different areas.

We lived in an absolutely crappy apartment by 30 and Collins. The 350$ a month rent was simply all my boyfriend and I could afford when we were both in college. There are other areas farther north that seemed to have good areas off of 360. I never lived in that area though.

Is S Arlington now not the "great new" place it was considered a few years ago? I do know that friends of ours moved from there, but that was to move into larger homes in McKinney closer to their work.

What about Mansfield? Is it still considered a good area with great schools? I fear I am loosing touch with the metroplex even though I moved away only a year ago. I do miss it.

foxyhill21 · Mar 21, 2006

I would move to the DFW area (cheap & affordable homes, good school distants, a great place for nurses) I hate austin traffic is a mess.. especially 35..( i get a headache just thinking about it) when ever i go there for the high school state basketball games traffic is back up, the city is to crowed and close 2gather. I like space and land

carachel2 · Mar 21, 2006

LOL. Just goes to show that Arlington really is huge- and obviously has drastically different areas.
We lived in an absolutely crappy apartment by 30 and Collins. The 350$ a month rent was simply all my boyfriend and I could afford when we were both in college. There are other areas farther north that seemed to have good areas off of 360. I never lived in that area though.
Is S Arlington now not the "great new" place it was considered a few years ago? I do know that friends of ours moved from there, but that was to move into larger homes in McKinney closer to their work.
What about Mansfield? Is it still considered a good area with great schools? I fear I am loosing touch with the metroplex even though I moved away only a year ago. I do miss it.

The area you are describing is still pretty bad. The thing I am slowly learning about Arlington (didn't grow up here) is there are lots of pocket areas that are almost towns within a town. Pantego is still nice and has a good mix of homes from 130-400K. At my daughters school, we have doctors and lawyers (and nurses !) kids mixing right in with kids on the free lunch program.

North of I 30, but a tad more East of Cooper and Collins is nice. The Lake Arlington area is also nice as are the homes west of Cooper and south of 20. Mansfield is still good and still going all out on growth. The schools are starting to fill up and they are going to have to keep up with the growth by raising property taxes or passing more bonds elections.

If I had it to do all over again, I would rent and look, look, look !

Did you go to UTA ?

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Mar 21, 2006

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).

I've seen $18 to $19 for new grads, unless you are talking about differentials for working second or third shift and/or weekends.

I just graduated about 2 years ago--my classmates and I all started at the lower rate.

However, if somebody out there really is paying $25 for base pay, please email me. I'd probably be willing to drive a little further for that! :wink2:

ArmyKitten · Mar 23, 2006

I've seen $18 to $19 for new grads, unless you are talking about differentials for working second or third shift and/or weekends.
I just graduated about 2 years ago--my classmates and I all started at the lower rate.
However, if somebody out there really is paying $25 for base pay, please email me. I'd probably be willing to drive a little further for that! :wink2:

I graduated in December and was offered $21 and $22 at the hospitals I looked at, this was not including shift differentials. The people I know that hired on for more $ went into ICU and NICU, and I believe most (if not all) worked previously at that hospital as students.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2006

I've seen $18 to $19 for new grads, unless you are talking about differentials for working second or third shift and/or weekends.
I just graduated about 2 years ago--my classmates and I all started at the lower rate.
However, if somebody out there really is paying $25 for base pay, please email me. I'd probably be willing to drive a little further for that! :wink2:

I am a new LVN in Fort Worth who started at $18 hourly, so I can only imagine that new RNs would earn higher wages than $18 to $19 hourly.

Mr. Beef · Mar 23, 2006

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...

I've ony been to Austin twice in my whole life and outside of a good music scene there's not a lot to write home about.

Dallas is where I hang my hat and I like living here. I don't let things like traffic get me down because there's multiple routes to get around the city without having to use the expressways, highways and any other way you can think of. Plus traffic clears up by about 6:30 pm during the evening rush hour. Austin, as numerious people has mentioned, has atrocious traffic and homes are overpriced. If you like living on a hill than by all means live in Austin.

Dallas has a good cost of living. The price of gas is going to be a real shocker compared to the East Coast. Most houses are are about $120K and up it just depends on what part of town you want to live in to see how much you have to pay. Dallas also has some good parts of living. The Dallas Zoo is okay and we have Fair park with the Science Place and all the state museums in it. There's also the Dallas Museum of Art which is by far one of the premiere Art Museums in the country. Dallas' downtown is nothing to write home about either, but they are slowly working on making it into something to behold.

Raising a family is something I know vary little about, but being the product of the Dallas Independant School District since the third grade you probably want to choose a part of town to live with some of the better schools.

We have some of the better colleges in the state within commuting distance and have a medical school, several nursing schools and at least 2 Level 1 Trauma Centers all within the county. The major Hospitals are all top notch and with the nursing shortage you'll probably find a job within 4 weeks. It may not be L&D though since that is where everyone wants to work.

T answer your last question: Austin is about 3 hours away by car. Just head south on I-35 and it'll take you to the heart of Austin.

Hope this Helps

Mr. Beef