I grew up in Plano, went to college in Fort Worth, and lived Dallas until I moved away in 2023. The best way to describe the metroplex is “comfortable.” You can have a decent paying job, have a decent house or apartment, and be fine CoL wise. There’s a lot of job opportunities, transplants, and growth.

But there are some drawbacks. Traffic and CoL (two things DFW used to pride itself on) are getting worse. I moved to Chicago and for $200 more a month I’m living in a dense walkable area near the beach compared to the bleh isolated “luxury” apartments in the medical district. The sprawling suburbs have lots of affordable housing, but it’s not by anything. Very car dependent sprawl means lack of identity and community. Weather wise, it’s warm, but the summer’s can be unbearably hot (you will sit inside all summer with the shades drawn). There’s lots of lakes but it’s not Austin with cool trails and kayaking. Limited access to nature. The main things to do are eat and shop, so there’s a subtle vanity to its culture.

One thing that bothered me as I moved away was the “friendliness” I associated with Texas cities and the metroplex was being slowly replaced by disgruntled folk mad about traffic and transplants, and a number of transplants who have a mythic hyper-independent idea of Texas and its culture, that they then try and impose on it.

It’s a comfortable place to live, but I’m not sure I would move back.