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Is anyone planning to move away from DFW due to COVID?

8,374 Views | 74 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by flyingaggie12
YouBet
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10:30a, 7/14/20
AG
So, early on we had a WFH thread as an outcome of COVID. Now that we are 5-6 months into this is anyone actually considering moving out of Dallas proper or the larger DFW area? There have been many articles written on this topic i.e. why live where you are if you don't have to anymore?

Dallas seems especially vulnerable to this mindset considering we sit in the plains and there is really not much here geographically enticing and it's hotter than hell in the summers. Our pastime here is basically going to restaurants and bars and when that is even not available there isn't much to tether one here unless you have family here as well. Plus, factor in big cities are potentially going to be hell-scapes going forward and the idea of living urban becomes unappealing.

It still has cost of living going for it (for the most part - minus ridiculous property taxes), but beyond that we are personally finding it more difficult why we should stay. I've made the first move to make that happen by leaving my job. My wife is still tied here with job but she's not going to back to the office until 2021 and even when she does it will be 1-2 days per week.

Six months ago this was unfathomable, but now even my city girl, wife wants to consider moving out. Just curious if anyone is considering it or making moves to make it happen?

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jtraggie99
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10:48a, 7/14/20
AG
I'd move back to Colorado in a heartbeat......if I could talk my kids and ex-wife into it

And I already worked from home before this all started, so in theory I could live where ever I wanted...
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drewser95
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In reply to YouBet • 10:49a, 7/14/20
AG
Being in residential real estate, working from a remote location long-term isn't an option for me unfortunately. Otherwise Asheville NC or Greenville/Spartanburg SC would be on my list.

What places are on your radar if you all were to go elsewhere?
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YouBet
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In reply to drewser95 • 11:01a, 7/14/20
AG
drewser95 said:
Being in residential real estate, working from a remote location long-term isn't an option for me unfortunately. Otherwise Asheville NC or Greenville/Spartanburg SC would be on my list.

What places are on your radar if you all were to go elsewhere?
All over the place right now, literally and figuratively. We are still early in this mindset, but I think we will be out of here inside of two years. The conundrum is going to be if our local housing market holds up through the chaos of COVID and outcome of 2020 election. It seems to be doing ok here in Dallas still, but I just wonder how long that holds and if we need to make an early move now to get ahead of or not. Who knows.

As for places on radar, we are blessed to actually have another house on the coast so that's always an option although there could be some complications with that that prevent it. I absolutely wouldn't mind living somewhere cooler and semi-mountainous to mountainous though. I think the main criteria is going to simply be move somewhere smaller. I flat out don't want to live in a big city anymore. Again, ask me that six months ago and I would have balked. Now, get me out of here! Our mindset has completely flip flopped during this whole event and spending a week on the coast last week really hit home that we don't want to be in Dallas long-term or even mid-term.

I think our first move reality may end up somewhere in the middle - out of Dallas but still on the outskirts but hell the pace of change right now is so rapid maybe we go all-in and get totally out.
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MGS
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11:13a, 7/14/20
I can imagine those nice new houses being built in Prosper are getting a lot more desirable to Dallas county residents.
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harge57
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12:02p, 7/14/20
AG
Wife and I have started making serious plans.

May start as just airbnbing our house and then something permanent.
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Buford Tannen
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3:02p, 7/14/20
AG
My wife and I are very much toying with moving to Aledo. Our family is all in the DFW area so we will probably stay here, but the appeal of a couple acres in the country in one of the best public school districts in the state very much attracts me. We have also discussed Southlake. For perspective, we live in Lake Highlands, which is in itself a small community, but being inside the insanity of urban living does not interest me at all anymore.
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bagger05
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3:33p, 7/14/20
AG
My business is here. Hoping to get some flexibility in the next 18-24 months that will allow me to summer elsewhere but in the meantime I need to be here almost all the time.

Getting comfortable with people working remotely will make this a lot easier. I can still attend meetings as needed even if I'm somewhere else.
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Buford Tannen
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In reply to bagger05 • 3:38p, 7/14/20
AG
I get that. If things go fully remote, or even a significantly heavier weight on remote, there is no reason to be in Dallas anymore. All I need to do my job is the Internet and an airplane, and Teams/Zoom have taken the place of the airplane for the time being. I will be interested to see how this all plays out over the next couple of years. I am expecting a huge population shift towards rural/suburb areas.
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Proposition Joe
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3:40p, 7/14/20
This year more than any outside in the heat I've asked myself how the hell I still live here.

Entire family is here though, and I know I'd miss that.
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Rubble
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4:23p, 7/14/20
AG
As I sit in northern New Mexico for the second week working after a week of vacation here, we've discussed it quite a bit. We're going home this weekend (mostly because the kids want to be home), but the talks will continue. I work from home and my wife does for now as well, so I can literally live anywhere. No telling what the future holds.
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True Anomaly
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4:43p, 7/14/20
AG
Here for the long haul
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littlebitofhifi
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4:50p, 7/14/20
AG
I've worked remote for a few years but stayed in the metroplex for proximity to airport for work travel and as a safety net in case I ever had to go back to office life. Now that everyone else is seeing that WFH is possible, I'm likely relocating to be closer to aging parents.

So COVID didn't change anything for me per se, but getting everyone else to realize that WFH can be viable long term (in certain fields/industries) and that we don't have to travel for internal meetings did have an impact on my decision.
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TxAgLaw03RW
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In reply to Buford Tannen • 4:54p, 7/14/20
AG
Same boat, but thinking more north or Heath area. Lake Highlands has been great, but the appeal isn't as high when I'm not tethered to a downtown office. The COVID response of local government has been terrible from my perspective, so that is a motivator in getting out of Dallas County as well, not just the WFH angle.
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Texker
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5:31p, 7/14/20
AG
After a couple of decades in Collin we moved to Rockwall county. Still in a neighborhood but it's much less hectic here as long as you stay away from I30. We love living near the lake, it's much quieter and darker at night. The City of Rockwall does a great job with their events that have a great small-town feel.

I know 2 couples who scrapped the suburbs this year and bought homes on 10 acres in Wills Point.

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YouBet
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In reply to TxAgLaw03RW • 6:56p, 7/14/20
AG
TxAgLaw03RW said:
Same boat, but thinking more north or Heath area. Lake Highlands has been great, but the appeal isn't as high when I'm not tethered to a downtown office. The COVID response of local government has been terrible from my perspective, so that is a motivator in getting out of Dallas County as well, not just the WFH angle.
We've looked over in Heath as well. We randomly ran across two neighborhoods over there out in the country that were nice as hell. Shockingly expensive though. More than I want to pay but they were damn nice.
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hbc07
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9:10p, 7/14/20
AG
Not really. Even if my job converted to full WFH, I have to travel to every end of Texas and need to be within a ~30 minute drive of an airport as a result.
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Buford Tannen
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In reply to TxAgLaw03RW • 11:40p, 7/14/20
AG
The getting out of Dallas County angle is key. I have in laws in Granbury and a brother in Benbrook, so Aledo makes sense for us. Parents are in Keller. All this nonsense has made it clear that it's time to prioritize proximity to family over the office.
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Aries
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In reply to Buford Tannen • 12:06a, 7/15/20
Aledo isn't as small as it once was.
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bthotugigem05
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7:29a, 7/15/20
AG
Was really close to moving to Melbourne Beach, Florida, before a place I liked went on the market here.
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wangus12
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7:35a, 7/15/20
AG
We're the last exit in North McKinney. Far enough from the ****storm of living in Dallas proper. I have a pretty specific job and work at place that is kinda top of our field so moving isn't an option really. Plus, most patients don't like spending money to talk on the phone.
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AggieBarstool
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7:43a, 7/15/20
Strange, my perspective is the polar opposite from OP's.

I moved to Dallas from College Station in late February for a job that started March 2nd. I worked in the office just north of two weeks before being told to WFH (and I'm beyond thankful that I had that option vs. being furloughed).

While it's a bummer that my wife and I didn't get the chance to build new social circles for ourselves amidst the stay-at-home orders, we're beyond happy of the opportunities to do *stuff* that simply didn't exist in the Brazos County. Even if it's something as simple as a walk or bike ride around White Rock Lake or hiking an hour north, we're content with the options available to us while social distancing and keeping safe.

That said, my wife and I *are* looking to buy a home, but that's born more out of a desire to start a family vs. escaping some place where we're unhappy.

I guess perception is all in the eye of the beholder.
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YouBet
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In reply to AggieBarstool • 8:54a, 7/15/20
AG
AggieBarstool said:
Strange, my perspective is the polar opposite from OP's.

I moved to Dallas from College Station in late February for a job that started March 2nd. I worked in the office just north of two weeks before being told to WFH (and I'm beyond thankful that I had that option vs. being furloughed).

While it's a bummer that my wife and I didn't get the chance to build new social circles for ourselves amidst the stay-at-home orders, we're beyond happy of the opportunities to do *stuff* that simply didn't exist in the Brazos County. Even if it's something as simple as a walk or bike ride around White Rock Lake or hiking an hour north, we're content with the options available to us while social distancing and keeping safe.

That said, my wife and I *are* looking to buy a home, but that's born more out of a desire to start a family vs. escaping some place where we're unhappy.

I guess perception is all in the eye of the beholder.


Agree on the bold. And I'm not saying we are necessarily unhappy here. It's really more that we could be even happier (and much safer) somewhere else. We've been here 20 years so our perspective is different. We've pretty much exhausted the limited options available to us here. And most of those options are not available or degraded to the point of not being worth it with Covid.

And while I won't devolve this into a political discussion, the politics here in Dallas County no longer align to us at all. And our property taxes for DISD are to the point of being unsustainable and we don't even have kids. And we just keep voting ourselves raises.

Bottom line is if we are going to be in our house full time most days of the week I want my outside the home time to not be....flat, hot, concrete Dallas. Especially when there are so many options out there.
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permabull
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10:25a, 7/15/20
AG
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Ag CPA
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2:48p, 7/15/20
AG
Quote:
we're beyond happy of the opportunities to do *stuff* that simply didn't exist in the Brazos County.
Loved my time in BCS but this is a pretty low bar to clear.
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HarleySpoon
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In reply to YouBet • 3:26p, 7/15/20
AG
Buy my house on 16 acres in Northeastern Denton county. Reasonable commute to about anywhere on north side of Dallas, in gated five resident subdivision with similar sized acreage, a number of 100 year old oaks. Perfect place to raise a family. Our last is graduating and we are headed northwest.
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YouBet
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In reply to HarleySpoon • 3:53p, 7/15/20
AG
HarleySpoon said:
Buy my house on 16 acres in Northeastern Denton county. Reasonable commute to about anywhere on north side of Dallas, in gated five resident subdivision with similar sized acreage, a number of 100 year old oaks. Perfect place to raise a family. Our last is graduating and we are headed northwest.
But it's just me and the wife. Where are you headed? I may follow you there!
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Phat32
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4:15p, 7/15/20
AG
There is appeal in this mentality to me. Lake Highlands resident.

Dallas County has really showed their true colors throughout the pandemic (500K deaths in TX in April, yeah?) and with how they've treated their police. Dallas can be a very dangerous place if not policed properly, and the city/county has not supported their police with funding or politics.

We'd move to Colorado in a heartbeat if we were guaranteed that all positions at my company were going to go remote. There is not an appeal to me of a Prosper, Celina etc as I am a city dweller.

However, my guess is that this too will pass, and will be a (albeit big) blip on the radar of the overall structure of corporate America. As an executive, my value is in dealing with/influencing people...and that is much more difficult in a remote environment.
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HarleySpoon
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In reply to YouBet • 5:37p, 7/15/20
AG
Saint Jo/Muenster/Forestburg -North Texas Hill Country....lots of new neighbors out there from the park cities. But too far for a commute.
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oldag941
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5:48p, 7/15/20
AG
Beware Aledo. My brother in law and family moved there for the schools. They have since found out that there will be another high school and elementary etc built. Their kids will be transferred to a new school and feeder pattern. Not happy with the development but couldn't stay a "secret" for long. The numbers that will be in that small area and limited infrastructure (roads) will choke it out.
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Buford Tannen
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In reply to oldag941 • 7:41p, 7/15/20
AG
You're probably talking Walsh. Staying far away from that one.
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8:07p, 7/15/20
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In reply to [removed post] • 8:10p, 7/15/20
AG
SoupNazi2001 said:
The problem with this approach is while all companies are WFH now these kind of events have a way of not lasting. My guess is when this is over most employees go back to mostly office and some high performing employees are given WFH options but are still expected to be in the office 1-2 days per week.
Agree on the 1-2 days per week. I think that will ultimately be the norm. That's where my company is headed. However, even that allows me to get out of Dallas County at a minimum. I don't mind commuting a long ways 1-2 days per week...hell even if I had to fly in.
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AggieBarstool
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In reply to [removed post] • 6:16a, 7/16/20
SoupNazi2001 said:
The problem with this approach is while all companies are WFH now these kind of events have a way of not lasting. My guess is when this is over most employees go back to mostly office and some high performing employees are given WFH options but are still expected to be in the office 1-2 days per week.
My hope is that employers realize, when this is all said and done, that there are certain jobs that can be done anywhere there is an internet connection and will allow their employees to do so.
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Rubble
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In reply to AggieBarstool • 7:32a, 7/16/20
AG
AggieBarstool said:
SoupNazi2001 said:
The problem with this approach is while all companies are WFH now these kind of events have a way of not lasting. My guess is when this is over most employees go back to mostly office and some high performing employees are given WFH options but are still expected to be in the office 1-2 days per week.
My hope is that employers realize, when this is all said and done, that there are certain jobs that can be done anywhere there is an internet connection and will allow their employees to do so.

Mine has been that way for a while. Certain jobs just need the internet, but it wasn't always seen that way corporately (or even locally). COVID has definitely changed the views of the higher ups in my company however.
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