Hey guys,

I think I'm finally moving back to Texas after awhile on the East Coast and the most logical choice is DFW to be close to family.

I currently live in downtown Raleigh, NC and previously in DC, so I'm very used to walking around to do most things. I work from home, so my housing location can be anywhere that works. I plan on renting for about a year before I make any decisions on buying a place.

Where should I live if I want to be able to walk a lot? To restaurants, groceries, bars and potentially bike trails. Like I mentioned, I'm currently single and wouldn't mind finding a wife in the next couple of years.

I'm obviously considering downtown and uptown. I've also heard good things about Oak Lawn. I'm open to Ft. Worth, but that would put me farther from airports which is sort of an important factor.

I'm trying to learn and get a feel of the city. I've never lived there and only know what I know from when a friend lived in uptown around 2008. I'm sure things have changed a lot.

I need to move around the beginning of April so I'm headed to Dallas in a couple of weeks. I'm currently doing research and lining up showings.

Thanks so much in advance for any advice.

Legacy West

Cross downtown Dallas off your list. Lived in the West End and I wouldn't suggest anyone live downtown. There's a whole lot of riff raff and not a whole lot else.


https://www.outtraveler.com/out-traveler-awards/2014/12/08/out-traveler-awards-2014-best-gayborhoods#slide-9

Oak Lawn is as or more likely to help you find a husband than a wife. It's a nice neighborhood, just if you're not aware, and move in, it might be a shock.

YouBet said:

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I would ignore hph. I would look in this order:

1. Uptown - simply because of the population density that is already there and the walkability.
2. Downtown - significant growth in residential and retail in the last 5-10 years.
3. Knox Henderson - tons of apartments and condos in this corridor with young, single people and there are bars and restaurants all along this.
4. East Dallas / White Rock Lake - I lived in east dallas as a single and had a blast. Very close to downtown and has it's own set of bars and vibe. If you like to run or bike you can find an apartment that feeds right into White Rock and get your exercise in.

Distantly.....
5. Victory Park - has been rebooted and is definitely nicer now, but still feels empty when there is not a Mavs or Stars game going.
6. Oak Lawn - close to uptown and downtown but is our local gay enclave not that there is anything wrong with that. Your DNA pool is largely limited if you are heterosexual, obviously. And the only real walkable part of it is where all the gay bars are.
7. Legacy West - this was mentioned at top. New, really cool area but I can't imagine it's worthwhile for young singles yet. Lot's of folks drive into hang out on the weekends but it's still suburbia.

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I would flip 2 and 3, but otherwise a great synopsis of your choices.

I live in Tarrant County and downtown Fort Worth is the closest thing to what you're looking for in Cowtown - but not as desirable as all 7 listed above.

We lived in Turtle Creek for the last two years of our time in Dallas and really liked it.

Oak Lawn is also pretty big that not all of it is in the gayborhood.

If we moved back, we'd probably go back to Turtle Creek.

Lower Greenville would also be good spot which kind of blends to Henderson

32 is a little old for Uptown but that could be good if you are looking for a lady. If you are looking for a dude Oak Lawn is your place.

Just my experience, I never spend any time down there so it may have changed, but Main/Akard is like 4 blocks from where I lived and I can't imagine where I lived has changed much. All my friends that have worked/work down there have run the spectrum of disliking it to outright hating it. Buddy worked in the Victory Park area and complained constantly about how dead it was.

West End was the worst place I've ever lived and my friend that I had as a roommate regularly apologizes to me for suggesting that as an area. Maybe there are better spots, but the West End definitely sucks, people getting arrested for dealing, getting asked for money all the time, stairwell smelled like urine, car got broken into in a gated garage.

I'd much rather live near Lower Greenville than downtown.

Downtown definitely has more "riff raff" than the other areas being discussed, and it has less stuff open after business hours than places like Uptown, Oak Lawn, Knox Henderson, etc. General rule of thumb is downtown is for working, Uptown is for living.

I stopped working in downtown a couple years ago, but I was always astounded at how quickly most of it became a ghost a ghost town after 6pm. There are pockets, sure, the restaurants along Main, Klyde Warren Park, and the area near the Myerson that stay somewhat alive at night, but in general if it's after 6pm, you're much better off heading across the park to Uptown.

Also, no reason to cross Oak Lawn off the list just for being the Gayborhood. I loved living there as a straight guy, lower key than Uptown, tons of great restaurants, and there seemed to be plenty of singles of all sexual orientations although I admit I wasn't dating when I lived there, so no direct experience with that. It's a mad house on Pride weekend, but other than that, you'd never really know it was the Gayborhood besides an elevated number of same sex couples holding hands while walking on sidealks. And I doubt that sort of thing bothers anyone that's looking for city living. Still not nearly as nice or as walkable as Uptown though.

North oak cliff. Best decision I ever made

Keeper of The Spirits said:

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Lower Greenville would also be good spot which kind of blends to Henderson

32 is a little old for Uptown but that could be good if you are looking for a lady. If you are looking for a dude Oak Lawn is your place.

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I was not aware that Oak Lawn is the gay neighborhood. I'm looking for a woman, so it's basically off the list.

hph6203 said:

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Cross downtown Dallas off your list. Lived in the West End and I wouldn't suggest anyone live downtown. There's a whole lot of riff raff and not a whole lot else.


https://www.outtraveler.com/out-traveler-awards/2014/12/08/out-traveler-awards-2014-best-gayborhoods#slide-9

Oak Lawn is as or more likely to help you find a husband than a wife. It's a nice neighborhood, just if you're not aware, and move in, it might be a shock.

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Definitely didn't know Oak Lawn is a gay area. Thanks for the heads up.

But as far as riff raff goes, I've lived in SE DC and Raleigh has its fair share of homeless.

I've found as long as you are a few blocks away from the central transit hub you're solid.

As some other posters have noted, it seems that DT is thriving with bars and restaurants.

Lived in uptown for 2.5 years in state Thomas neighborhood. Would highly recommend you look there or uptown at minimum. It's expensive, so be prepared for that, but I think it'll be the perfect spot for you. If you can find a roommate you could save some money. State Thomas is perfect place of not too crazy but a couple blocks from McKinney avenue and less than .75 mile from Katy trail. Would love to live there again if I could

I definitely don't have a problem with being around gay people, it's just that I'd prefer that not be the predominant clientele of every place I go because it limits the chances of meeting a woman. It's just math.

YouBet said:

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I would ignore hph. I would look in this order:

1. Uptown - simply because of the population density that is already there and the walkability.
2. Downtown - significant growth in residential and retail in the last 5-10 years.
3. Knox Henderson - tons of apartments and condos in this corridor with young, single people and there are bars and restaurants all along this.
4. East Dallas / White Rock Lake - I lived in east dallas as a single and had a blast. Very close to downtown and has it's own set of bars and vibe. If you like to run or bike you can find an apartment that feeds right into White Rock and get your exercise in.

Distantly.....
5. Victory Park - has been rebooted and is definitely nicer now, but still feels empty when there is not a Mavs or Stars game going.
6. Oak Lawn - close to uptown and downtown but is our local gay enclave not that there is anything wrong with that. Your DNA pool is largely limited if you are heterosexual, obviously. And the only real walkable part of it is where all the gay bars are.
7. Legacy West - this was mentioned at top. New, really cool area but I can't imagine it's worthwhile for young singles yet. Lot's of folks drive into hang out on the weekends but it's still suburbia.

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Thank you for this break down. Will be huge to refer to when I'm looking around in a couple of weeks.

Awesome. Thanks for the advice.

That goes for everyone on this thread. I didn't expect such thorough recommendations.

Definitely don't stop though, any insight you can provide would be great. This is extremely helpful.

hph6203 said:

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Just my experience, I never spend any time down there so it may have changed, but Main/Akard is like 4 blocks from where I lived and I can't imagine where I lived has changed much. All my friends that have worked/work down there have run the spectrum of disliking it to outright hating it. Buddy worked in the Victory Park area and complained constantly about how dead it was.

West End was the worst place I've ever lived and my friend that I had as a roommate regularly apologizes to me for suggesting that as an area. Maybe there are better spots, but the West End definitely sucks, people getting arrested for dealing, getting asked for money all the time, stairwell smelled like urine, car got broken into in a gated garage.

I'd much rather live near Lower Greenville than downtown.

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I won't argue with you on West End, but I actually wasn't even thinking of West End when I listed DT. The only time I've been to West End in the last 20 years is to go to the Dallas World Aquarium which is badass by the way.

I've read a few articles in recent years that talked about plans for completely rebooting WE, but I don't think that has actually happened.

wealeat09 said:

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Awesome. Thanks for the advice.

That goes for everyone on this thread. I didn't expect such thorough recommendations.

Definitely don't stop though, any insight you can provide would be great. This is extremely helpful.

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I'm not sure this is possible but if you can find it online or order back issues D Magazine did an entire issue on pretty much every urban pocket in DFW last year. Walkability ratings, residential, retail, etc.

Firestone apartments

Found the issue: https://www.dmagazine.com/tag/dallas-and-the-new-urbanism/

Other hoods I forgot to mention:

Lower Greenville - mentioned above; similar to Knox Henderson and geographically close to it. The whole Lower Greenville / Knox-Henderson / Fitzhugh area all kinds of blends these days with all the development that has happened. Not necessarily a bad thing as its created a more seamless area.

Deep Ellum - usually some hot sports opinions on this area. It's had an up and down life cycle over the years. Currently on the upswing and I highly doubt it will be returning to its shady roots. Too much investment now and rising tide lifts all boats going on. Adjacent to downtown and you could walk into DT from there if you wanted to.

Farmer's Market - meh. Lots of apartments now but doesn't seem very livable. Adjacent to DT but not sure it's feasible to walk to it.

Still think Uptown and it's immediate surroundings are your #1 option to explore first.

Demasiado said:

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North oak cliff. Best decision I ever made

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Could you expand on this? What is the neighborhood like?

In your same boat OP, 31 and single and lived here since graduation so I know.

The only two options you should consider is the west village to knox henderson stretch or over in lower greenville. That is mostly where our demographic hangs and its convenient to most every other area.

Uptown is still doable as long as it's not any of the cheap places

Ag CPA said:

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32 seems kind of old for Uptown, I would think most people the OPs age have moved out and on by then.

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This is why I'd consider moving Legacy West up the list a bit. Not to the top by any means and he's not aged out of those top downtown spots, but I do think it's worth checking out just to see if the vibe there might work for someone that is 32 vs. 23.

What's wrong with the Village area (Lovers/Southwestern/Greenville)? So much cheaper and within striking distance of uptown.

Used to live there in the day and was great right out of college, but I'll admit I moved away about 8 years ago.

Uptown is starting to become a bargain compared to the new apartments in Deep Ellum and Victory.

PDEMDHC said:

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What's wrong with the Village area .

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I believe hes looking for walkability.

I still say check out firestone or something by west 7th. If you have no preconceived notions of Dallas superiority then that area can be great.

Driving to DFW is only slightly more terrible than from East Dallas