All Forum Posts by: Ola Ade

@Bruce Lee   Techonology is mostly centered around Richardson, Plano, Frisco.....but there is some spreadout over the Metroplex.

TI is based in Richardson near 635/75 for example.

What we call telecom corridor is around Richardson....more or less 75 between Spring Valley and George Bush tollway.

Just depends on what tech you are thinking of....some data centers south of the city...some west.

Dell in Plano, Sabre in Southlake, Real Page in Plano, Accenture...everywhere, Goldman Sachs probably in downtown Dallas, ubertech in Deep Ellum, Microsoft in Irving, ATT in downtown Dallas, Solera in Southlake, Mercado Labs in downtown Dallas, you've also got big tech contingents at Capitol One, JP Morgan Chase, Deloitte, Palo Alto Networks, etc.

Lots of people think of Silicon Alley, Seattle, and Austin as tech centers of the universe, but Dallas is strong....TI was probably one of the first IC chip companies is based here and EDS was started here, sold to GM, reinvented as Perot Systems, sold again....to Dell....but still have strong presence here.

@Ola Ade

Check out Mansfield. That’s where I am, about 30 min south of DFW airport and in the middle of the metroplex. It’s VERY diverse with good schools. And everything is pretty new with a lot of growth.

North of Dallas, I like Richardson, Plano, up to Frisco.  All have nice areas with good schools, south of Dallas the Cedar Hills area has lots of new development and good schools.

@Ola Ade  What do you do for a living?  There are lots of great areas in the country to live in but certain occupations tend to cluster geographically.  Phoenix has a lot of aerospace, a lot of finance firms are opening offices in Florida, tech companies in Texas, etc.

Do you have a spouse or partner with career considerations?  What do they do?  You will want to find something that suits both your needs.

Do you have kids that are of school age?  That can play a role too.  Here in AZ we have a LOT of charter schools, some are good, some are great, some not so much but as a parent you have a choice where your kids go and if you don't like the curriculum are are not locked in.

What sports and recreation do you and your family enjoy? There is more boating in Florida than AZ, more skiing in Colorado.  Do you belong to a religious or ethnic group that is important to you? some may be more prevalent in some parts of the country than in others.  

If you are looking to avoid crime I would suggest avoiding urban core areas.  Check crime maps for various cities before settling.  Even good cities can have bad areas.  Trulia.com used to have crime map but seems to have discontinued it.

Good luck to you with your move.  Feel free to reach out if you have any questions on phoenix.

...about Flood insurance....

You SHOULD get hurricane insurance. You never know, and if you wait until a hurricane is spotted, it's too late.

Speaking of water, the very best time to look for houses in South Florida is Hurricane season. Before I bought my Florida house, I had reservations to look at 3 houses. One I really wanted. I looked at them from the outside two days earlier and all looked fine. The day I came to do a walkthrough, I could not drive my car to the place because roads were flooded a great deal! Your realtor may not know that your house areas flood easily. I was lucky, but now I know better!

I would give the areas a look. 

My condo in Chicago was my first property, and the only one I've lost money on. But I regret neither my fun years there or my move.

Happy to be a part of your brainstorm.