Need Info on Fort Worth Area

[Guest 2004]

What a year :)I have to move to Fort Worth next the middle of month. I was there once for 3 days 6 years ago. I am unable to visit prior to moving. It's too long and boring to explain why.

 

I need all the info you guys might be able to share.

 

Since I am stuck in the area my likes and dislikes probably don't matter that much. Though here are a few, I will be renting at first, I need to be driving distance (about 15 - 25 miles max) from North Richland Hills. It would be nice to know of any Gay area of town but I do not have a desire to live in the ghetto. I currently live in a middle to uppper middle class suburb.

 

Again, all info is needed such as nearby cities, gay areas, areas to def. avoid, suggested areas to rent and so forth.

 

^2004^

[scudman]

Hey 2004,

 

I live in Dallas, not Fort Worth, but I can give you a little advice. If you're looking for more upscale suburban and need to be in easy driving distance from North Richland Hills, I would recommend Colleyville or Southlake. Those two suburbs are just north or North Richland Hills. They are very family oriented towns, however, definitely not much gay life. In fact there really is no such thing as gay life in FW as far as I know. Your best bet for night life is to head over to the Oak Lawn section of Dallas, which is about 45 minutes away if it's not rush hour.

 

Most of the other area around North Richland Hills is pretty much a pit, unfortunately. There may be some more upscale urban places to live down closer to downtown Fort Worth, but I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't great. Fort Worth has a very nice cultural area down near TCU, but that is probably a 30-45 minute drive during traffic times.

 

If you snag a wife and a couple of kids you'll fell right at home in the Fort Worth area, otherwise, I'm not sure you'll have a ton of fun. If you value your nightlife over commute, you may be better off living in the uptown area of Dallas and driving over every day.

 

Hope this doesn't bum you out. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

Scud

[BigD]

I too live in Dallas, but lived in Ft Worth years ago.

While the two cities are within close proximity, there

is much distance between them. Competition between the

two cities does not create good neighbors. The arts are

great in both cities. While Ft Worth is known as Cow Town

and prides itself in rodeos and cattle drives,

it also is home to Bass Hall and the Kimball Museum, one

of the best in the country. Dallas boasts in being

a notch above Ft Worth in the arts, but that is debatable.

Dalls does have a active gay nightlife, with a little

of everything available. Ft. Worth also has bars and a

visable gay community. Baptist-Evangelical fundamentalism

abounds in DFW, but its stronghold is less obvious all

the time, partly evidenced by the election of a Jewish,

liberal woman as the new mayor of Dallas. In the end,

I think geography has little to do with the quality of

life. So much depends upon your attitude.

D

[Guest Utopia]

This San Diego native spent about 5 months in Dallas and visited Ft Worth a few times. It was not as much culture shock as I had thought it would be. The weather sucks but the people seemed friendly and I think both Dallas and Ft Worth are not as conservative as some might think.

 

They're both large cities and due to the reasonable cost of living many people from all over the country of different backgrounds now live there.

 

I didn't spend a lot of time in Ft Worth but my guess is someone here can tell you the best places to live there .. or somewhere nearby in Dallas.

 

The drive between the two is not unlike the drive from San Diego to Orange County.

 

"You realize that life goes fast

It's hard to make the good things last"

[Guest zoom]

Fort Worth? Are you crazy man. The place is nothing but a dust town loaded with rednecks and racists. The weather sucks, the entertainment is the pits, traffic is a nightmare and Dallas offers little alternative.

 

I cannot think of a more problematic place to move to.

[scudman]

Ease up, Buddy. I've lived in many places all over the country, including Boston and LA, and I can tell you that there are pros and cons, rednecks and racists everywhere. In fact, I've found people in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to be quite a bit more friendly and hospitable than other, supposedly more "cosmopolitan" locales. IMO, the weather in Boston sucks much worse than it does in Texas, and I was no fan of the traffic, cost of living and lifestyle of California. I live in Dallas because I choose to, not because I have to. It's not a bad place to live if you come at it with the right attitude. It was sunny, dry and in the 70s all weekend here and I was loving life.

 

I'm sure 2004 will find ways to be happy.

[Guest TommyTam]

Don't worry 2004 Fort Worth isn't really a cow pit (even some people think it is...)and it is much better that what it was already. I do like to go to Fort Worth sometime, they have a good BBQ place and some really cute shop. The best gay area is on Oak Lawn in Dallas (45mins.) and here in Austin (3 hours). As area to live, look around the Grapevine Lake area and don't get anything close to TX-183.

BTW. Dallas - Fort Worth area is the #10 best cities for singles and #9 best places for Business and Careers as reported by Forbes...Good Luck

Tommy Tam

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[Guest DevonSFescort]

As a native of the Houston area I am supposed to be constitutionally allergic to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but I thoroughly enjoyed my brief visits there last December. I would echo the comments above about the thriving art scenes in both cities; they are frequently discussed in the national art magazines and Texas is increasingly viewed as a major player in the "new regionalism" -- a process of the decentralization of the art world to the extent that everything that matters ISN'T necessarily happening in New York). You see more and more Texan artists represented in the Whitney Biennial, for example. My visits were too brief for me to sample the galleries and even all the museums I wanted to see, but EVERYONE in Dallas was talking about the new Nasher Sculpture Garden, and I can't stop talking about the beautiful Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which was designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and looks like it's floating on the 1.5-acre pond it's suspended above. The galleries are also very well suited to viewing the art, and the collection, while still new and growing, is well chosen and puts its best foot forward. Their main curator is a brilliant guy who both originates and attracts absolutely top-notch traveling shows. As noted above the Kimball is also excellent and also boats some of the HOTTEST museum security guards I've ever laid eyes on. (I posted this observation in my diary and a few weeks later one of them emailed me a beautiful shirtless pic of himself. :9) And there's also the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth which is supposed to be an excellent showcase of Western art -- Western as in the western US, not Western Civ -- LOL). I haven't been there yet but have occasionally run across traveling shows they've either hosted or originated.

 

The gay men I met in Dallas -- one of my clients there took me to a party, so I got to meet a lot more gay guys who weren't clients than I usually do when I travel -- were erudite and sophisticated but also very friendly and not as pretentious as other Texans like to accuse Dallas folks of being. This crowd seemed to make and spend money -- they dressed sharp and drove expensive cars -- but were for the most part unaffected in their attitudes and conversation. I don't think I met anyone from Fort Worth. I may, just as an experiment, try spending one of my nights in DFW in Fort Worth instead of Dallas and see if that attracts any clients from the "FW" part of DFW.

 

From what I hear traffic isn't all that bad in DFW compared to a lot of other cities (like Houston, where it's an absolute nightmare).

 

I didn't end up sampling the nightlife but a client did take me to dinner on Dallas's gay strip. It looks really cute. Dallas's downtown looked pretty dead to me, but apparently they are just beginning to do that "convert old buildings to lofts and make downtown liveable" thing. One of the people I met, in fact, was just about to move into one but was worried about the lack of surrounding shops and services to support new downtown residents. As he told it Fort Worth is way ahead of Dallas in that regard, so you may want to check out downtown living options. Good luck and enjoy exploring your new home. There are a lot worse places you could end up.

[Guest 2004]

Thanks for all the info guys. If anyone has any last minute suggestions or advice please post it. I have about 3 weeks till the move. BTW just for comparison I'm moving from Los Angeles, I currently live in Woodland Hills, which is in the Valley for those who might not know the area.