Moving to DFW area this summer

[worldbound4now]

My wife and I are relocating to the DFW area this summer for new job prospects, grad. school, and we have family in the area. The "family" does not ride at all. Do you DFW area riders ride year-round? Cold doesn't bother me, it's the hard slick stuff on the ground that will stop me from riding. We get by in 'vegas with one car and me on the FJR 99% of the time. Do I need to buy a "backup" car just in case the weather is foul or is all weather ridable in the DFW area?

 

[Bounce]

we can get ice once or twice a year. other times we don't. when we do, you either have 4 wheels or don't go out. even them many locals don't go out anyway. how are you with month+ long stretches of 100°+ weather? that's the bigger question.

ah... vegas! other than the higher humidity, you'll be dealing with more rain (usually).

 

[FuzzyRider]

Yeah, like Bounce said there are about 4 - 5 days of ice on the roads in the winter with one or two ice storms. It's not too bad but during those days a cage is the only way to get around. So far this year we haven't had any of the frozen wet stuff - but we still have another two months where it's possible.

 

[FJR@DTS]

Hey, Where are you going to grad school? Do you have any idea what city you will live in? I live in downtown dallas and am doing grad school at DTS. There is another FJR owner here as well. Let me know if you need anything relocation wise. Also, take a look at the texas regional section of this forum. There is some good discussion stuff there.

I pretty much ride year around here, with the exception of the few ice or freezing rain days. I find that usually a set of long johns under my pants, the winter liner in my riding leather, some warmer gloves and boots and I'm good for about as cold as it gets here. I am thinking about a heated vest for doing long cold weather riding, but havent needed it yet.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Hey WB, odot will let you borrow his Prius h34r: Might even let ya us the PT Cruiser if ya wink jus right.

:jester:

 

[vandy]

just doing the math with partial knowlage of the dallas area .. they seem to shut down 90 percent of the city with any bad weather

If you just happen to be connected to that other 10 percent that still has to move around in that weather then it would still be cheaper to call a taxi for those 5 days a year ( if they are not on the weekend ) so maybe 3 days a year.. On the other hand if you change your mind and decide to buy a 4 wheeled vehicle the overall price of cars in dallas fo some reason is a little below the national average on most...not pickups.. so you still save by waiting.

I live in tulsa oklahoma and it is a little worse weather up hear pluss ive turned into a real wuss... i dont ride below 45 anymore if i can help it..

I went 1 year in northdakota with only a motorcycle and decided that i dont want to do that again...

My advice is dont get one.. at least not yet

 

[madmike2]

how are you with month+ long stretches of 100°+ weather? that's the bigger question.
ah... vegas! other than the higher humidity, you'll be dealing with more rain (usually).

That was going to be my observation: Vega isn't hot enough for you!?!?

Where are you going to grad school? Do you have any idea what city you will live in? I live in downtown dallas and am doing grad school at DTS.

I also assumed DTS. Will you guys be starting your own "sect": FJR ownership being one of the tenets?
Good luck with the move. It sounds like you'l be in good hands with the FJR owners down there. BTW, Bounce knows most of the good back roads and scenery. I've read his ride reports.

 

[Old Michael]

.. they seem to shut down 90 percent of the city with any bad weather

Sounds like Santa Barbara when it sprinkles! :lol:

I live in a town way up north, and we never let weather slow us down. Man up!

 

[fjrchik]

Prepare yourself for depression. You are definitely gonna miss that easy and quick access to great roads and scenery. It just doesn't exist here.

As for the weather, start buying cold weather gear. The winters here are not all that warm. But everyone is right, there's usually 1 or 2 days of ice a winter and most texans stay home on those days. You won't have to store your bike by any means but you'll need good warm gear for about 4 months. I also hope you don't mind riding in rain. The roads get very slick here due to the oil buildup on them when it rains. We had an extremely wet spring in 07, not typical at all. But it definitely made for a milder summer for us. Ya just never know what your gonna get here. AC to furnace all in the same day is no joke.

 

[worldbound4now]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I figured the period of needing a car was pretty short. I've also considered just doing a month-long car rental when the weather gets too bad for riding.

School..... UTA. They are one of four decent Emergency Nurse Practitioner programs in the country. My application is pending but we may move anyway. The job prospects for a Spanish/ESL teacher and nurse family seem pretty solid in the DFW area.

As far as where to live... I'm not sure. I have heard from locals who left Texas that Arlington isn't the best town to raise a family in. My wife has her application in for a faculty position at DCCCD's Mountain View campus. Hopefully that pans out. We have family in McKinney (who used to live in Plano) and they can't say much positive about Arlington. Are they wrong?

 

[worldbound4now]

Oh, and as far as slick roads in the rain... try riding on wet roads when it hasn't rained for 100+ days. Not only does it get slick here, everyone's IQ drops by a few points when the humidity goes up.

 

[fjrchik]

no they are right. arlington is going to hell in a hand basket. lol! sorry, couldn't resist. but yeah, not so nice there anymore. Fort Worth is the growing bud of the area, making all the lists lately. very nice downtown area and lots of culture. mansfield is nice too but i think they are overtaxed on their schools. the area around joe pool lake in grand prairie is very nice too and fairly affordable. my favorite place is savannah, a mud district just north of the colony. it would require a fairly long commute to Arlington, but man, its like living in freakin Disneyworld! major major amenities! very nice houses going for very good prices right now. my cousin and her family just moved to there from McKinney and 50K off their new house. i can't tell you how awesome this place is.

anyways, i'm sure you'll get lots of opinions from us. i came here to be in Arlington and found more house and better school districts for my dollar in FTW. just stay away from 183 through mid-cities cause its the highway from hell! seriously! and dallas county taxes are higher and their schools suck. ok, now i'm done.

 

[worldbound4now]

Ummmm.... a "mud district".... "the colony".... I though I was moving farther away from those fundamentalist utah folk near the colorado city/hilldale area. What do these terms mean?

 

[krashdragon]

Ummmm.... a "mud district".... "the colony".... I though I was moving farther away from those fundamentalist utah folk near the colorado city/hilldale area. What do these terms mean?

These Texans have their own language... I've just started learning and I've been here since October...

but the Metroplex is DFW. Loop 12 isnt' a loop, and North Central Expressway is a freeway...

with tons of business...on the frontage roads that run on either side.The addresses are listed as N or S Central Expressway.

That kind of stuff is common out here.

I know you want north of the 30 or where ever FJRchick said.

The Colony is the name of a city...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colony,_Texas

there's places like Frognot, Tx (all I saw was a water tower, tho)

and Snow White Street

and lots of Parkways are just streets...

No oidea about the "mud city"

Of course there's always the towns of Gun Barrel City, Lively, and Fate.

Interesting names here...

good luck,

Mary

 

[krashdragon]

Double posted...

 

[fjrchik]

Ummmm.... a "mud district".... "the colony".... I though I was moving farther away from those fundamentalist utah folk near the colorado city/hilldale area. What do these terms mean?

Mud district allows it to have its own address, it really is Savannah, TX besides being a neighborhood called Savannah. Its out in the country and prolly way too far away from Arlington for you, like i said earlier, but its a helluva place. And The Colony is the nearest town to it, that is a metroplex suburb. Areas north of Dallas and the central part of DFW and areas south of Arlington and Fort Worth are growing very rapidly. Good old fashioned urban sprawl. Savannah won't be "in the country" much longer.

 

[jcyuhn]

I've been here 20 years and I have no idea what fjrchik is talking about!

We only have a few icy/snowy days a year, that is true. But we have many more days of heavy rain/violent thunderstoms. How comfortable are you riding in a driving rain with lightning strikes and 40+MPH wind gusts? We get that kind of weather a lot more than snow or ice.

There are other winter hazards as well. Nobody around here ever turns off their lawn sprinklers. Anytime the temperature has gone below freezing overnight there may be ice on the roads. I've been OK on the moto, but have crashed the bicycle on frozen man-made precipitation.

What temperature range are you comfortable with? In the winter it's commonly middle/upper 20s in the morn. Occasionally teens. I can't recall the last time we had single digits. On the other side, how hot is too hot? Summer time highs frequently hit 100-105, with heat index values of 110-115. A bad summer will bring 110+ degree temps.

Can't comment on living in Arlington, don't know the midcities area well enough. Not sure where to recommend over there for good schools/low crime/cost of living considerations. Commuting from Richardson/Plano/Mckinney to Arlington would be brutal, that much I can tell you.

My $.02,

- JimY

 

[fjrchik]

I've been here 20 years and I have no idea what fjrchik is talking about!

i'm sorry Jim, which part(s) are you confused about? i think i was pretty clear in all my comments. i answered his questions. and i quite clearly, gave my disclaimer twice that the place i was mentioning would be hell for commuting. as for my comments about the weather, well he said he doesn't mind the cold. and i did mention all the rain. personally, i won't do either on the bike. i could never get around down here without a car but he seems interested in trying it. maybe if he lives close enough to wherever he needs to go, like odot does, he can easily swing it on the bike and take a taxi on the bad days. i don't have that luxury and have a 45-mile one-way commute. so i prefer my car on the crappy days. i personally don't feel its possible to live here without a car but that's just me. odot did it for a long time. but he's less than 2 miles from his work. to each their own.

i do agree that the thunderstorms here are strong and do suck but i wouldn't say they happen all that often either. last spring was extremely wet and we had all kinds of flooding in NTX. but the few years before that were dry as a bone and we were in a drought. wildfires all over the place.

if he lives in vegas, he's good with the heat. i think he even mentioned that already. it doesn't get as hot here. and it prolly gets a little cooler in the winter. check out wunderground.com for seasonal averages.

 

[TejasFJR]

I'm a little pressed for time right now so I can't dig into it but if the quality of the school districts in the metroplex is a serious consideration then you should look through the states accountability ratings data located here:

https://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/