You want museums, big leagues sports, art shows, etc, etc? DFW > CLT.

Life in CLT is easier.

If you like the w/b flying, when you get the seniority to hold it, DFW will offer more options. You can commute to DFW for that. I did that 3x over my 37 yr career. The rest of the time you can live in a more pleasant area (CLT driving distance).

Asheville (an example of the mountains) is 2+10 drive from CLT. Golfer? Myrtle Beach is 3+35. That's a long commute but you can live between CLT and the beach if you're a fisherman, boater, beach bum, etc.

I think most wouild choose CLT *if* it wasn't a choice between a pilot career in DFW vs CLT. That muddies the decision.

Grab you wife, rent a car, and spend 4-7 days driving around CLT. DFW? You'll only need 2-3 days to see what the options (towns) are. Light airplane guy? Pecan Plantation to the SW. 1+15 drive. Airport, golf, small town. Mild winters.

 

Actually, yeah I was thinking Asheville with the drive to CLT vs living on the perimeter of the Dallas metroplex. On that, I'm wondering if those 2hr-3hr drives get old or if those that do that, find it worth living somewhere they love.

 

There are a ton of nice places to live within two hours of Dallas that allow you avoid the city and have a decent QoL. South is better for traffic

 

Any places in particular, that you might recommend? I know it's highly based upon personal preference, but any pointing me in the right direction would be a helpful/appreciated place to start. Thanks!

 

What type of lifestyle are you looking for? Suburbs, Downtown Ft. Worth or Dallas, Land / Country style living? There are a lot of options! The further out you go the more you get for your dollar.

I grew up and live in Southlake (suburbs about 35 min to down town Ft. Worth and Dallas) 10 min drive to the airport. Its a great spot, we were lucky to purchase before things got crazy, it is very pricey now with limited market availability. It all depends on your budget and what you want.

In the same general area..Grapevine, Keller, Colleyville, North Richland Hills, Trophy Club, Roanoke, Argyle, Flower Mound are all good options. Closer to Dallas are Allen and Plano, Frisco, Prosper, White Rock lake area The Colony, Highland Village, Rockwall, but a longer drive to the airport. I am not as familiar with areas south of Ft. Worth but there are some good ones. All have a different feel.

My wife is a realtor based in Southlake for the past 13 years, we both grew up in Southlake. Take a look at google maps at different areas and feel free to message me with questions if you want. I can try to help the best I can with some info on what type of place you are looking for.

 

Back when we lived in Frisco I used to joke that you could climb into the passenger seat of a car, fall asleep for an hour, wake up and swear you were in the same exact neighborhood after an hour of driving. I mean, everything looks exactly the same in the Jethroplex... houses, roofs, streets, trees, neighborhoods... they all look identical and it goes on for miles and miles. It's almost like the real estate developers try and clone every neighborhood to look exactly like the next one. Even the streets look identical. It drove me crazy.

I'd personally pick CLT over DFW one million times over. You're not as land locked in CLT... there are much taller trees, rolling hills, less concrete, mountains are close by, beaches too. Plus much nicer 4 seasons and not as bad killer heat/humidity in the summer time. In DFW you tend to hit 100 degrees by June through August almost daily. By October you still have days in the mid 90s, ugh. The trees don't even start turning colors until late November/ early December. The flip side of that is that Dfw does have some nice warm days in the winter , but I digress.. I just think CLT is a much more pleasant place to live.

 

NC does have a 5% flat rate income tax, so take that into consideration. We also have personal property tax on cars, boats, and planes. I have two cars worth about $50K total and the tax is around $600. Property tax on a 33yr old 2648sq ft home is $3300 on an appraised value of $433K. And that's about it. Not many homes on the market right now. No one wants to give up their 2% mortgages. Play around with websites like zillow.com and see what estimated values are for homes in various areas around CLT and DFW.

Weather: I've been in CLT 33 years and have never seen a tornado. Our last snow/ice event was 25 months ago in Jan. 2022. We've seen temps in the teens sometimes but it's rare.

 

Awesome info, thank you. I am interested in the more rural areas outside of DFW. I'm curious if those are nice places to live.

Good stuff. Yeah, trying to decide what's the better overall between the Asheville/Hendersonville 2hr commute vs living within 45 of DFW. I can try both while things are still flexible.

 

Don’t limit yourself to 45 minutes of DFW. I’m closer to the Oklahoma border than DFW and don’t have issues with the drive.

 

I am planning on commuting and will choose either DFW or CLT. They both have 3 flights a day from my home airport with flight time to CLT being a 1+40 and DFW a 2+20. I am not planning on bidding WB. How would that affect the decision?