North Texas is a fine place to raise kids if you get out of the metroplex urban sprawl areas. Small-town America survives there. But in DFW the traffic sucks, the mass of humanity sucks, the weather is bad summer and winter, and the cost of living is high. You have to speak Spanish to talk with a yard man or housekeeper. On the other hand, salaries are high, opportunities are rampant, and it's probably a good place for young people without kids to get a foot in the door and move up the company ladder, save some money, and look for a permanent opportunity somewhere else.
Atlanta is the worst. Have to drive thru there to visit family in Louisiana and Texas and always try to hit it during the wee hours of morning or after 10 pm just to avoid the crowds.
It's definitely a great place to raise kids, especially since public schools (in the suburbs) are quite good. The cost of living is definitely comparable to South Louisiana, and the housing prices can actually be more reasonable up here than in Louisiana. It's true that my housekeepers don't speak a word of English.
have flown into DC and taken cab or transit but have never driven there.....but have heard that from several people.
The beltway is the nightmare and you have to use part of it to go just about anywhere. Street-level DC is really no worse than other big cities. But the beltway, as wide as it is, carries huge amounts of traffic on a hilly course with lots of tight high-speed curves, lots of ramps and interchanges. It is always under construction somewhere and accidents are frequent, backing up traffic for miles and miles.
