[TRDSport]

As the title says, maybe picking up the family and moving to the DFW area for a new job. I have put in an application with the Irving Police Department and will most likely put in an application with Garland PD as well. In either case, we would be moving purely for the job as we know no one in the DFW area. I have picked these two departments on recommendation from a co-worker who use to work for Flower Mound PD before lateralling out to Arizona.

Instead of getting the touristy info I would get from using google, I have come to all of you for the real info on the area. What's good about the DFW area? What is bad about the DFW area? What are the schools like? What's the weather like? What attractions does the DFW area to offer to a young family? What are the neighborhoods like in Irving and Garland? I got to drive around Irving some while I was out there for the written and PT tests and it seemed like a really nice area.

I guess what I'm looking for is why SHOULD we or SHOULDN'T we move to the DFW area? If I get hired by one of these departments, is a different area you would recommend living in and commuting?

:ts:

 

[pic_jon]

Everything I've seen, in and around DFW makes it seem like an overall nice place to live. I've visited the McKinney area mostly, which is an middle class, to upper middle class area. Nice people everywhere and very well kept part of town. The highways are in great shape from what I've seen.. Although, I'm not used to the set up. Houston has a pretty simple layout in comparison IMO.

One other note, DFW is a cyclist-friendly area.

Hope some other chime in! Good luck

 

[TRDSport]

Thanks for replying....going to be several months before I hear if I got the job.

 

[Heavishot]

I've lived in the DFW area for 16 years. Overall it's a good place to live. There's plenty for a family to do. Plenty of good churches if that's important to you. If you're into hunting expect to have to drive a couple hours to find any place decent. Irving and Garland are like a lot of DFW in that it is a very mixed community. That is to say there are good and not so good neighborhoods that may be located near each other. Both will have whatever level of neighborhood you prefer.

The weather in summer is HOT. Spring and fall are brief and winter is mildly cold.

Unless spending time outdoors in really scenic locations often is very important to you I can't think of a reason not to move to DFW. There's a lot of concrete and not much scenic about it. But there are plenty of scenic locales within a couple hours drive for when you need to escape the concrete jungle.

 

[Crawler]

I work in Rowlett and Dallas depending on which office I'm in. Rowlett is next door to Garland. If you go to work for garland and like the outdoors or a bit more relaxed living then look at living in Sachse, Wylie, Lavon areas. Sachse touches north garland and Lavon is away from everything. Yet all three are a straight shot drive into Garland for work and would not be a long drive either. That side of the DFW metroplex hasn't become crowded yet and is still easy to navigate.

If I were to take a job in Irving and had a family/kids then I would look at the "HEB" area (Hurst, Euless, Bedford).

The garland spot will give you the best chance to live outside the city so to speak and still be able to drive to work in a reasonable time. I know a number of Garland PD cruisers are parked near homes in Sachse and Wylie. I live in Sachse myself.

 

[123Gone]

The word is that the Hurst PD pays pretty well, you may want to check them out.

I've lived in Fort Worth most of my life.

It does get hot!!

 

[TRDSport]

It can get up to 110+ here so used to the heat...checking out Hurst PD now.

DFW area get many tornados?

 

[spenser24]

It can get up to 110+ here so used to the heat...

That's in the shade.

 

[TRDSport]

That's in the shade.

And that's why I work nights!

 

[123Gone]

It can get up to 110+ here so used to the heat...checking out Hurst PD now.

DFW area get many tornados?

Well, we seem to get more violent weather than when I was young. Hail and straight line wind are common, tornados are less common but do occur.

(I'm a ham radio operator and a trained storm spotter for Tarrant County.)

 

[tigersball]

I work in Las Colinas, a township of Irving I guess you could say, and live in Keller, North Ft Worth area (Rated 7th of top 100 Small Cities in the US) and have been here 19 years, but am in no way biased. My wife and I contemplated Denver, Houston, Phoenix, and Sacramento all with job opportunities, but none could up hold the ratio of what you make to what you get as good as DFW does for us. The standard of living is great.

I will warn of only the traffic. Irving is right in the middle of Dallas and Ft Worth, and right now, there are some hellish renovations occurring, especially around the DFW airport. Hurst is a great mid cities area, along with North Richland Hills, just be prepared for lots of work because of the traffic in that area. It is of no comparison to DC or Houston, but it isnt always pretty.

There's the Cowboys..? Eh

Irving and Garland are older areas as far as I know, and are in the middle of the metroplex so I am not sure how much more expansion can be expected, such as cheap new homes. The edges of the metroplex are blowing up, as in the above post regarding McKinney, and are not as expensive as one would expect.

I say go for it!

 

[TRDSport]

Thanks for all the great information. Found out where I ranked on the Irving hiring list and doesn't look like it's going to work out. Garland invited me out to test with them at the end of January. On recommendation from a friend, I started to look into agencies in Washington and Oregon and have applied with an agency outside of Seattle. Right now, my wife and I would prefer the Seattle agency but we'll go where I have a better future.

 

[PoPo]

You seeing a bunch of competition from Michigan PO's? I know a bunch of guys from around here are getting laid off and looking for jobs out there. Detroit PD especially...

Unless my city dissolves, I should be pretty safe --- but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[TRDSport]

When I went through the Irving testing, it seemed to be mostly local people.

 

[Barney_Fife]

WOW missed this thread.
honestly, as i think you know now, its not about where you WANT to live rather, where the work will hire you.

dont move anywhere till you get the job offer IMO. even if you have to get an apartment till you can find a house etc, moving to the wrong area only to have to move again is going to be a pain.

around here, there are tons of PD applicants out there...and only a handful of openings. I recently changed agencies and when I was looking last summer, i would be in a room with 200 others testing for one spot, and maybe one more coming up in 6 months if the guy retires when he says. No agency i tested with had more than two or three openings. some of the larger ones will, the ones that have their own academy and need to fill a class but they are so spread out now due to budgets..they may have one or two academies a year...

as far as the metro plex goes, honestly i would not live in any of the larger cities, i live in mansfield, outside of arlington. most of us like to live away from the area we work. only downside to that is when you get into specialized units that have take home units and require you to live either in the city or within a certain response time from the city. thats one reason i say dont move till you get an offer. some agencies still require that regardless of a take home unit or not. but again, the agency i am at now- 100 percent of us dont live in the city, the last agency (much larger) i would estimate 80 percent of the officers dont live in the city, rather they live in outlying areas. good luck...most of the country is lookin for PD jobs right about now it seems...and lots of layoffs too..way too many applicants for a handful of slots.

 

[zcd]

I grew up in Oak Cliff, which is probably one of the worst areas in Dallas, and I recommend staying north of I-30 at all costs (its feckin ghetto, yet I'm no hood rat). Move to Frisco or McKinney, best places in the whole DFW area. Frisco has one of the best public school systems in the nation, also there are still rural parts up there as well as a LOT of shopping and things for the family. There are also a lot of smaller towns north of McKinney like Trenton, Anna, West Minster, Van Alstine, etc... that offer larger lots, some farms, country life and such. Only problem with living in McKinney and north of there is the only way up there is 75, which can get pretty damn congested. Pretty much expect all major highways to be full of traffic in the mornings and evenings (635, 35E, 75, George Bush Turnpike, 30, 20, Dallas Tollway just to name a few).

Oh yea, we've got good BBQ and mexican food down here too. Good luck at the Garland PD.

 

[Heavishot]

Hey zcd, maybe you can point me to your favorite BBQ places. I've been in the Dallas area a while and still haven't found anything that I'd call GOOD BBQ.

 

[zcd]

Mike Andersons in downtown dallas off harry hines, its across the street from parkland.
Railhead Smokehouse in fort worth off montgomery
Bakers Ribs off commerce st in dallas is good
Red Hot and Blue has several locations, as far as i know, theyre all good

 

[Heavishot]

Thanks for the tips. I eat Red Hot & Blue fairly often but i'd call it good but not great. I'll have to try the others.

 

[jetman 1979]

I live in north Texas between Fort Worth and Dallas in a small town called Trophy Club. Here is my 2 cents on living here.
First off buying a home here is real cheap compared to other parts of the country like FL or CA. you can get a huge house for 200k.
There is no state tax a plus. The weather is either hot and humid or cold.
In the spring time we have been known to have severe weather with hail and torndos. There are many churches in texas with most being of Baptist orgin.
Dallas has and is getting more toll roads that i am not in favor with. There is plenty to do here in North texas like six flags stock yards and many historical sites.
Texas is a gun friendly state so many people including myself own a few and have CHLs. The pickup truck is it seems the vechicle of choice driven by everybody from grandma to wantbe cowboys.
Cars and trucks get a once a year inspection at a cost of about 36 dollars. Yea Texas is a pretty good place to call home i would say.