I'm moving to Texas (not a native New Yorker, and I'm only here temporarily for my wife's school) and am trying to decide which area would be the best for my wife and I to raise a family.  We'd be in the suburbs, not in the city, regardless of area.  
So far, I have potential jobs in Mansfield and Arlington in DFW, and Sugar Land, outside Houston.  No real prospects near Austin, but I've sent a couple resumes to places in Round Rock.  
I've been to Dallas a couple times and really liked the northern suburbs, but obviously wouldn't live up there if I'm working in Mansfield.  Sugar Land looks nice, but I haven't visited yet, and I keep hearing how "diverse" Houston is and what a nice place it is from New Yorkers (two big strikes against it).
Wife and I are dentists, fwiw, so there are jobs to be had in each area.  We're mainly looking for quality of life.





Update #1:  I have a really strong potential job in the Westlake section of Austin.  Is anybody familiar with the area?  Looking at Zillow, it seems like a super high rent area, which could be good for me, job wise.  Where would you live if you worked there?  I'll probably be renting for the next year or two, then buying a little ways down the road.  



Update #2:  The job in Austin is a done deal.  I decided renting an apartment is my best bet for the time being.  Going to visit a few places this weekend.  Any recommendations on things to do, places to see, or food to eat are welcome.  



 

I am in SL  

never really had a housing bubble burst .. booming suburb, low crime rate, lots of roads everywhere ( no bus service) lots of people here with disposable income.  -  has the 2nd largest medical facility after the MED center  in  the greater Houston area I and growing )   - that could be a negative as it seems half the people here are in the medical field


If I was to leave here  I would move further out  and get some land and  more elbow room (   maybe not in Fort Bend County  as they love their taxes )

Houston weather is fucking awful. Shit shit shit. The crime is ridiculous.

I don't particularly care for DFW. Too chain foody. Traffic suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. Like 1.5H commutes and shit.

I am biased though .. been in Austin for almost 20 years now. Tons of stuff to do, great for kids, though it is getting crowded. Traffic is starting to get rough, if you live in the burbs and go into the city. If you're looking RR it'll be easier because you'll miss most. Leander, Cedar Park, RR all have really really nice areas.

I'd vote Austin area given a choice.   Houston and DFW offer more cultural activities, but for casual lifestyle and less hassle, Austin area is better.   Don't know about demand for services in the Austin area compared to the metro areas, but all three are growing.  I will say that Austin is much more exposed to economic upheaval than the metro areas, though, since it is smaller and less diversified.    

Weather? 106 in DFW right now.

I would setup practice in west Austin, and live further West towards the Hill Country.

I was in Dallas a couple weeks ago.  105 was more comfortable than low 90s and humid where I used to live near VA Beach (lived there for 3 years before coming here last year).  Dallas also had a better proportion of independent to chain restaurants than I was used to.  



Austin would probably be my first choice, but I've gotten almost zero response from sending resumes there.  If anybody knows a good dentist who's looking for an associate, let me know  



fwiw, my plan is to move ahead of my wife (she's here until next June, we have no kids, and we've lived apart before) to get the lay of the land, then once she's making money, start looking for a practice to buy.  The move to Texas is permanent, but we may not stay wherever I end up moving in the next few months.



Thanks for all the replies



 

If it has to be one of the three...I picked Austin.  Well, Pflugerville to be exact.  A quick search on Indeed.com for dentist provided several results.

DFW and Houston weather kept me away.

Yeah, those are almost all corporate-owned practices.  Generally, you're expected to throw ethics to the wind in order to churn out money.  Not the way I want to work (and not worth risking my license)



 

DFW 106 weather is better than Houston humidity. Just move from houston to Fort Worth and dfw has more exciting things to do and you can get around the traffic better than houston.

DFW weather to me is much better than San Antonio weather were I grew up and Houston is much more humid. It's only unbearably hot July and August instead of March-November like it is down south.

In the northern suburbs, home prices are going through the the roof. I bought my 1900 sq ft house in Frisco for $185k 3 years ago and now it's market value is around $250-270k (hoping to extract a nice helping of that equity when I move a year from now). The traffic is also horrible unless you have a job within a few miles of your home. I worked in Addison (10 miles south) a few years ago and the commute took 45 minutes. Now I work from home and the commute is 30 secs .

Not sure of the traffic in Arlington but you could probably find a house at a reasonable price that is close to your work.

Pflugerville realestate market seems to be heating up quick though.

OP, if you head down here do it quick.

**I apologize in advance for the long reply**

Grew up in Dallas, spent 4years in Austin at UT, lived in Houston for a year for work and got back to Dallas as fast as I could.

Weather in Texas only varies in humidity. It's gonna be hot no matter where you move, the only differences are do you want to deal with sleet and black ice which DFW will get more often since it's most northerly of the 3 choices you've mentioned and how much humidity can you live with on top of the heat.

My thoughts on the three areas, in my own experience, are this:

Dallas/Ft Worth- all the effin major highways have seemingly been, or are currently, undergoing construction for the last 10years. I don't know how anyone can have an hour and a half commute to anyplace in DFW, unless a) you got stuck behind a major traffic accident or b) live waaaay out in one of the outlying counties and are driving in. If you learn the major roads around town, you can find alternate routes to your destination. Housing prices are at a premium and have been for awhile. I have had friends and family who have put their homes on the market thinking it would take a couple of months to sell and instead, have them sold within a  week of their listings go  "live". If you've got offers in the Mansfield area, and decide to put down roots there, you have the best of both Dallas and Ft Worth since you'll be located somewhat centrally between the two cities. Dallas can feel more "showy" in feel, a see to be seen kind of crowd, whereas Ft Worth is much more laid back. Ft Worth got it's downtown nightlife area figured out right with all the bars and restaurants right there in Sundance Square. Nightlife and quality food is more spread out across Dallas in areas like the Bishop Arts DIstrict, Uptown, Greenville Ave, etc, so expect to have to drive around town to go what you want

Austin....well, Austin is what it is, weird. It lives up to it's city motto of Keep Austin Weird. It's a college town with UT being there, our capital city, and a well established Tech industry all mixed in to one so you have a broad spectrum of people  and ideology all gathered in one spot. The food is great wherever you look, there are great bars to go to since Austin is the "live music capital of the world", and if you want to get away, The Hill Country is some of the best natural scenery around. I can't speak much to the traffic or housing situation there since all my living time there was spent as a very inebriated college student, but I have family living there in North Austin and they have said in the past that tollways are taking over so you have to pay to get where you want and the housing scene is still "booming" so finding a good deal on a home could be hard.

Sugarland/Houston. Sugarland in itself, is a nice suburb of Houston. Pretty affluent for the most part, and growing quite rapidly. The pro's for Houston, are there's a great deal of cultural diversity there so if you're looking for great and authentic ethnic food, you can find it easily. Their city rules for neighborhood bars and clubs more closely resemble cities like Chicago and New York, where you can live inside the loop and find a bar right around the corner from where you live. but that was inside the loop of Houston. If you want to get away to the coast, it's not that far a dirve to places like Kemah  or even Galveston(and Austin is only a 2hour drive). The cons, it seems like it takes forever to get where you want in Houston(esp if you live in Sugarland). not because of the traffic, but more so because every place is so spread out. And yeah, the humidity is terrible at times there. Sometimes it feels like youre breathing in a heavy breath bc it's so damn humid at times.

My 2 cents and then some.

I have lived in D/FW (currently Collin County) and Houston area (Spring).  Both times I was a regional manager that traveled extensively around both areas.  Here is my .02.

Houston

Pros:  Close to the coast/beach.  Wide variety of terrain to live in (inner city/sub, trees/costal/hills).  Cheaper to live overall.

Cons:  Crime BIG time.  Humidity.  Traffic (worse than D/FW IMHO).  Industry was not as diverse as D/FW (heavy oil and gas).  When I say close to the beach, it's Galveston .  Overall, just not as nice of an area.


D/FW

Pros:  IMHO, overall nicer area.  Lower crime than Houston.  Better weather (less humidity) and more of a "true 4 seasons" than Houston.

Cons:  Very "keeping up with the Jones's" mindset.  Higher cost of living (especially housing).


I will try to think of some more.  Busy here at work.

Although Austin has grown, it is still a great place for a family.  Still the capital of Texas and home to the University of Texas; but, the town is no longer dominated by these two institutions as they had in the past.  

Choose your home location based upon the location of your work.  Choose carefully . . . traffic doesn't have to be a problem.  I live in NW Austin and work in Round Rock.  Toll Road 45 makes my 10 mile drive a breeze; posted at 75mph, but everyone drives 80.

More to do in Austin than you'll have time for.  The Hillcountry offers much in the way of outdoor pursuits.

If I had to choose between DFW and the Houston area, I'd choose Houston.  Don't forget to look at San Antonio.  It is also something to consider.

I was born in Austin but spent most of my school-aged years in different parts of the country . . . Dad was Air Force.  When he retired, we moved back to Austin my senior year of high school in the mid-70s.  I'm obviously biased, but I wouldn't live anywhere else.  The City of Austin makes me think twice at times (politics, building codes, roads, etc.)

Nothing to apologize for at all!  That's exactly the kind of info I'm looking for.  Thanks





It's funny that you mention that.  I was doing some research over the weekend and most stats I found said cost of living in DFW is significantly cheaper (something like 10%) than Houston.  
Frankly, compared to where we've lived, everywhere in texas looks incredibly cheap.  Right now, we're paying $2400 for a 700sqft apartment with 2 parking spaces in a garage just outside of NYC (it fucking sucks here), and there's an 1800sqft house around the corner that's listed at a million bucks.   In our neighborhood in VA, a 3500sqft house would be half a million or more.
A couple friends in McKinney paid $1700 to rent an 1800sqft house with a 2 car garage in a nice neighborhood and we've seen 3000+sqft houses on zillow for well under $400k
fwiw, I'm looking to rent a house when I move, depending on income.  My wife is stuck here in NY until next July, but I'm hoping to get established and start checking out areas to settle permanently.  Our plan is for me to buy a practice a year or two after she starts working.  If I get a job in Dallas now, but find a great practice in Austin in 2017, that's where we'll go.    
eta: after a little over a year near NYC (wife is in a residency in the Bronx) our attitude is basically "fuck diversity."  One of the big drawbacks for us about Houston and Austin has been that people we talk to around here seem to think they're cool places, and we want to get as far from this place (geographically, but also psychologically) as possible.  The food here is great, summer is mild, but winter (-10), people (rude as hell), traffic, statism (my guns are in exile at my in-laws in WV), and the cost of living here all suck.    
 

I was raised in Fort Worth and still live/work in this area.

If you have to work in the DFW area try to live on the Ft. Worth side somewhere.

I personally don't care for N TX at all. But there are a lot of jobs.

If you can swing it, Austin area is far better. My BIL lives in Cedar Park and it's really nice.

We are thinking about retiring somewhere around Goliad or Gonzales.

Crime in DFW is almost as bad as Houston

I've lived in the Houston " area " all my life. My father had the largest periodental practice in Houston at one time. Very active in dental politics Greater HDDS, TDA, ADA, former President of all. Give Dr. Lee Clitheroe a call. He's in Sugar Land, we've been friends since we were kids, our Dad's were best friends. Lee might be able to give you some insight as he is very active in GHDDS and knows the business climate. With almost 5 million people in the Houston area you won't starve. You don't want to be in Houston proper, look at the communities outside of Harris County. The population is moving south ( Brazoria County, Galveston County) and west ( Ft Bend ) with movement north ( Montgomery ) still happening. Opportunities are everywhere talk to some real estate folks in each area, The greater Houston area is SO big the real estate markets are VERY localized. Some one in Conroe would be very ineffective with the Pearland or Sugarland market. Most of the outlying towns have taken precautions and have buffer areas that will keep you from being annexed by Houston. Insurance costs are signicantly cheaper out of Houston/Harris County, we get a coolling effect from the Gulf breeze most of the time, no matter what your wants and needs you can find it here.

Use the search function, we had this exact thread not that long ago.

update in OP

I hear people like real estate agents say that but I've seen little evidence of that, at least where I am...  PVille values are predicted (by zilow, etc)  to go up slower than most of the rest of the Austin area.  I like it here in some ways but parts of the area have a not entirely undeserved reputation for being a little ghetto, mostly the areas where they've built a lot of apartment complexes (especially if they have any section 8) and low end house (bi-attached and townhomes) like the PVIlle Estates area and Brookfield.  Lots of vandalism and property crime, mostly car breakins and stuff stolen from garages or garden sheds if people forget to lock them, have vulnerable remote garage door openers or don't have a fenced yard or don't lock it.  There are other neighborhoods that are better, with fewer "urban yoots" running around.

Westlake is a high end area, known for being fairly snobby. The Westlake PD guys like to ticket for 32 in a 30, that kind of thing. If you're trying to get away from diversity, that's a good place to start.

They have a really nice splash pad / mini kid water park in the neighborhood that my daughter loves. Tons of restaurants and things to do around there. You're adjacent to the lake, so very easy to get out on the water. Things are busy busy out there during the summer but slow down in the "winter" months.  

Living in Westlake would be good, or you can look at the surrounding area in Bee Caves and such. Steiner Ranch is another high end area. Anything on the lake or waterfront will be pricey. I'd suggest sticking to west of 620 if you can. There are a few shithole neighborhoods along 620, if you let me know where you're looking I can give you the info on where to stay away from.

Dr. No nailed Westlake.

Welcome to Texas and enjoy.

Hking

We lived in Houston for 6 years, and are now in DFW, starting our 4th year here. We MUCH prefer DFW to Houston. The traffic in Houston sucks ALL.THE.TIME. Noon on Sunday? Traffic jam. 10pm? Traffic. Ugh. We lived 20 miles and 1 hour away from family in Houston... Houston also has RIDICULOUS humidity, to the point where you feel like you're breathing mist.



DFW has traffic, but it's not as bad, and doesn't happen 100% of the time. We live 19.6 miles from where I work, and it takes me about 25 minutes during rush hour. There are actual seasons here, and while the thermometer reaches a higher number in the summer than it does in Houston, the humidity is so much less that it's actually better to be outside here. DFW has hills. That is one our biggest enjoyments since moving here - hiking is so much more interesting and challenging. Some parts of DFW are exploding in population, especially the suburbs of the suburbs.



I have no experience with Austin. My sister-in-law lives there. She votes Democratic and then complains about the results of the things she voted for that almost always get passed. Currently under debate is banning smoke from BBQ restaurants inside the city limits.

LOL when you say it that way, I sound like a klansman or something.  We don't have anything against diversity.  It's just that where we live now, when some libtard says how great an area it is because it's "sooo diverse," they're usually talking about a shithole.



I've been told Westlake is near downtown.  Could you live outside the city and commute to the area without having a crappy commute (preferably <30minutes but no more than 45).



 

The vast majority of folks who live in Lakeway are white. There is a large hispanic population surrounding it, as a lot of them do labor jobs for all the rich folk out by the lake.

Yeah the "diverse" area in Austin is downtown, east of 35. $750,000 house right next to a crack house. It's unreal.

Westlake is nowhere near downtown. With no traffic, you're looking at a 30-40 minute drive to get to mopac/5th street. You could live outside westlake and commute there, a lot of people do. 620 is the only way to get to it, and it's a 4 lane road with lots of lights, so it tends to bottle down during rush hour.

That's the kind of "diversity" I want to avoid.  I don't care what people look like as long as they don't suck.    



I'm probably going to be there to see the office next weekend.  Hopefully that will give me a better feel for the area.  



 

Another vote for Sugar Land.



I might be biased as I have lived in the area for the past 10+ years.



It has grown enormously the past few years so I might look a bit further out personally.  Riverstone is building some monster houses toward the river though...



Austin is prettier with more left leaners.  I just don't like DFW.



One man's opinion.

Westlake?  RR 620?  I think you either mean Westlake and Loop 360 or Lakeway and RR620...  Westlake is nowhere near RR620 and Lakeway is nowhere near Loop 360.  The river goes down between there and there is a whole lot of nothing in a lot of the land between 620 and 360.

Both of those roads have terrible traffic.

When you come to Austin, check out the North Hills and Cat Mountain neighborhoods between MoPac and 360.

if you were going to work in Westlake, near Bee Cave Road, where would you recommend looking for a place to rent?  Preferably a house, ~$1500/month or less.  Looking at google maps, not knowing the area, it's really hard to get an idea of drive times



 

Not going to find a house under $1500 in Westlake area. Be close to double that.

not necessarily in the westlake area, just a reasonable (~30 minute) commute.  I'm open to apartments too.  Just don't know the area and if I end up taking the job I'm interviewing for I'm going to have about a month to quit my current job and move.



 

That's a tough one...  Traffic on 360 is brutal.  There is a back road between West Bank and Mopac, but that takes you out through Rollingwood to near Zilker and that area isn't cheap either...  You may have to go further than 30 minutes to get down to that price point for anything decent.

OP take the job in Westlake.  Look at Bee Cave TX.  There is also a hood down Curnivaca that has lots of rent houses and lake access.   West Lake is also only 20 min form down town if you want to live down there.  The wife lived in a condo downtown for a few years and had a blast.  

feel free to drop me a line with any questions.

Is Bee Cave an actual town?  Researching the area, Austin got to be the weirdest shaped city I've ever seen.  In person interview is this weekend, so I've got my fingers crossed.  They're going to drive me around and show me the area.  



 

Look at Cuernavaca.  Its a road that leads to lots of houses close to the lake.  It is a hidden gem in Austin.  

Edit,  Its off of beecave road.

I'm finalizing everything for the job Tomorrow.  I've decided it's not worth the hassle of renting a house for now.  I'll probably go look at apartments next weekend.  



Any more info or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.  I'll be working near Bee Cave road and Mopac

Nowhere.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/house,townhouse_type/2101552834_zpid/30.343899,-97.857478,30.316673,-97.897818_rect/14_zm/?view=map



There are much nicer places if you want to spend a bit more.

There are many nice looking apartment complexes on the east side of Mopac between Bee Cave Rd and 360.  There's also another complex on the other side of Mopac next to Barton Creek Mall.  I don't know what the rent is like in any of those places but IMO your commute would be short and easy.  I live out towards Dripping Springs but work downtown and drive by that area every day.

Spend 6 months living in the NYC area and you'll understand the point I was trying to make.  Actual diversity is fine.  The multiculturalism BS that northeastern libs are espousing when they say "diverse," not so much.  



New update in the op.  I got the job in Austin.  Now it's just a matter of finding a place to live and moving in the next month.



 

From the research I've done so far, that place is my first choice.  I'm going to check it out this weekend.