I recently returned home to Texas and settled in a suburb north of Dallas: Allen, TX, population 73,000. I haven’t been here long, but I generally like it.
Pros:
– Affordable housing
– Great public schools (K-12)
– Family-friendly environment
– Lots of parks and bike trails
– Tons of shopping choices, including an incredible supermarket
– No state income tax (which could also be seen as a con)
Cons:
– Highly-affluent, therefore heavily Republican environment
– In-your-face churchiness
– Occasional water shortages
– High sales tax
– The Dallas area in general is kind of shallow. The unofficial slogan of Dallas is “keep Dallas pretentious”
I moved back to Texas from Baltimore, MD. Baltimore was….interesting.
Pros:
– Close enough to Washington, DC for dinner
– Close enough to Philadelphia to spend the day
– Close enough to NYC to spend the weekend
– The Wire was the greatest TV show ever
Cons:
– Corrupt city/state government
– High housing costs
– High tax burden (relatively low sales tax but high state/local income tax)
– Very high crime rate (our bikes got stolen off the moving truck while it was being loaded so I can’t enjoy the trails in my new town)