re: Escaping Chicago - moving to Dallas

The Crescent Hotel is in Uptown which is close to downtown. Uptown has tons of bars, restaurants and high rise condos full of people who give Dallas its motto, "Keep Dallas Pretentious". As for taxes, sure, there is no state income tax but we have some of the highest property taxes in the country and the 12th highest sales tax. We also have very high homeowners insurance. So you will probably be better off tax wise here, but its not the tax haven people think it is. As for where to live, it depends on your budget and whether you are a suburban guy or a city guy. The city proper is booming with people wanting the urban lifestyle which has caused housing costs to double in the last few years. The Dallas schools are good for elementary, average to mediocre for Jr. High and if you can get your kid in a magnet high school, they are some of the best in the country. There are some magnet Jr Highs that are good too. You're probably looking at $600k and up for a 3 br 2 bath house in a good neighborhood in Dallas, so you can definitely get more for your money in the burbs. But then you are looking at a commute which I wouldn't want to do but plenty of people don't mind it.