Hey folks in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I’m moving there in July. Most likely the suburb of Plano or Frisco.
So what I want to know is: Why should I be excited? What’s great about DFW? What isn’t great about DFW? What are the hot spots for a happening 16-year old man like myself? Any and all information you have about the area is great (and no cute stuff like posting square mileages and populations). I’m looking for useful knowledge! Help me love the area before I’ve been there!
OK, here’s a couple of factoids the chamber of commerce probably won’t mention.
Frisco is growing like a weed on steroids and has some truly mind-numbing traffic jams, especially now that the main road through town (Highway 121) is being rebuilt as an 8-lane tollway. On the other hand, Frisco has a very new, very large mall that is quite the hang-out spot for teens. They are also building a new minor league ballpark in Frisco for the Texas Ranger's farm team (forgot the name).
Plano is one of the more affluent DFW 'burbs, with lots of malls, parks, etc. for teens to commingle in. It also has (or had) one of the highest teen mortality rates for heroin overdose in the area. Welcome to the DFW Metroplex!
Btw, if you’re not moving here from a warm climate, like the surface of the Sun, you may want to spend the summer hanging out at one of the ice rinks in the area (I know of three) 
The 7up/Dr. Pepper ballpark opened a month or so ago. Haven’t been yet though. The team’s called the Frisco Roughriders
Hmm… 16 year old? I’d guess you’re limited to the shopping malls for the most part. If you’re the churchgoing sort, there are lots of churches(too many, IMHO) around here.
Gah, I live in Plano and I can’t even tell you anything good about the area. Well, nothing for a young 16 year old guy. Check back with me in a few years and I’ll tell you all the places to get a really good Bloody Mary.
Oh…the mall on 121 and Preston has a Dave and Busters. I’ve gone and won a lot of junk there.
I’ve got a fair number of friends who live in the Plano/Richardson area and a couple others in Frisco. As noted, the area is growing by leaps and bounds. Mostly it is growing with young professionals and a fair number of immigrants. This leads to a fairly young and diverse mix of people to socialize with. Fun centers, like Dave and Busters, are within easy reach and fairly highly trafficked. There is a university(University of Texas at Dallas) in the area and it is growing fairly rapidly so the next few years should see a decent number of people your age in the area.
As with many of the newer suburbs of Dallas, Richardson and Plano have a fair number of parks and civic centers hosting events where you can meet people with similar interests. I’m not sure what your exact interests are, but with the diversity available in the area you should be able to find something that appeals to you. Worst case, call up some of the DFW dopers and plan a dopefest. 
Enjoy,
Steven
Welcome to DFW!
Although Arlington is not too close, you will probably enjoy going there every now and then. There you will find 6 flags, the ballpark (rangers) and wet and wild (or what ever it is called today).
Fort Worth (again, not close) is home to museums, a botanical garden and a wonderful zoo (voted best zoo in the south).
Dallas is home to an area called “Deep Ellum”. While most clubs may be off limits to you due to age, many shows are “all ages”.
Dallas is also home to the Inwood and the Majestic, theaters that play “art” films.
What kind of stuff are you interested in? That could probably help us out.
I second the notion of coming to a dopefest. DFW dopers are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Feel free to come with your parents or friends.
Plano is north of Dallas, right? You’ll probably want to check out Dave & Busters somewhere in Dallas and the Grapevine-Mills Mall. The mall has a Gameworks and an AMC 30. No clue what else is in Dallas, and I can’t imagine you’ll come over to Fort Worth for much of anything.
If he is interested in Art and Architecture, the museums in Fort Worth are outstanding.
The Kimball and the new Modern are both national treasures not only in regards to their contents but the bulidnings themselves.*
The Kimball is considered Louis Khan’s Masterpiece and the Modern is by a highly regarded architect, Ando.
The DMA in dallas is good, but it does not hold a candle to the Modern at all.
Fort Worth maybe dull but it does have its gems.
*We also are home to the amon carter designed by Philip Johnson. I personally don’t care for it, architecturally, but is a ‘major’ design as well and should be mentioned.
The American Airlines Arena!
We have four great sports teams that play here in town. The Dallas Burn (soccer), Stars (Hockey), Mavericks (basketball) and Desparados (arena Football.) We also have this little team called the Cowboys, but I hesitate to comment on their greatness.
There are also several lakes in the area that are good for recreation. White Rock Lake in Dallas, Lake Louisville, Lake Ray Hubbard are the ones that come to mind though I’m sure that there are more.
The West End is a happening place on the weekends with restaraunts, clubs (which you may be too young for) arcades and such.
OU/Texas weekend is always a great weekend in the metroplex. The afore mentioned West End is packed with literally thousands of people for a couple of nights for some serious partying!
Hope it helps!
There’s also a ESPN X-Games Skate Park in the Grapvine Mills mall, right next to the Gameworks, acroos from the 30 screen theatre. I think I’m too old at 31 to be brave enough to try the stuff, haven’t touched a board since I was 17, lol, but I do love to go and watch the kids (and adults too!) skate/blade. Here’s a link about the place. It’s an indoor (and therefore all-weather)
25,000 sq. foot skate park.
http://www.thexmag.com/index.php/news/main/46/event=view
There’s also a ESPN X-Games Skate Park in the Grapvine Mills mall, right next to the Gameworks, acroos from the 30 screen theatre. I think I’m too old at 31 to be brave enough to try the stuff, haven’t touched a board since I was 17, lol, but I do love to go and watch the kids (and adults too!) skate/blade. Here’s a link about the place. It’s an indoor (and therefore all-weather)
25,000 sq. foot skate park.
http://www.thexmag.com/index.php/news/main/46/event=view
Note- the official site of the place says it’s actually 42,000 sq. feet, shrug here’s the link to the actual site:
More cultural stuff. The Myerson Symphony Center is simply one of the best, if not the best, orchestral venues on the planet. The new Bass hall in Ft. Worth is a close second IMHO. The Music Hall at Fair Park has always failed to wow me but they are host to the Dallas Summer Musicals each year and some really nice traveling shows, the regional tours of Broadway’s best, come through each year.
Homegrown stuff can be pretty good as well. The Kalita Humphries Theatre owned by the Dallas Theatre Center is interesting both as a performance venue and from an architectural standpoint. The architect was none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. I worked in this theatre for a summer when I was about your age. A very interesting place, especially backstage and in the basement. You don’t get to see much of it as a patron though.
D/FW is also home to a great many unique events and places. The stockyards during the annual stockshow in Fort Worth is a pretty interesting experience. The Texas State Fair should be experienced at least once. Since it gets pretty hot down here we have a good number of water parks as well.
Enjoy,
Steven
Another Frisco-ite checking in…
As mentioned, lots of sports (major league, minor league, and high school) available, and Stonebriar Mall is pretty nice. There’s also lots of opportunity for outside activity (although, obviously, it does get quite hot in the summer). Plenty of places to bike, boat, rollerblade, etc. As long as you are not looking for mountains, there are plenty of places to hike, too.
No, you will never get used to the heat. It will always suck. But it doesn’t mean you have to stay inside. Just drink lots of water.
And I am not sure where you are coming from, but the women (of all ages) are beyond compare. Enjoy, and welcome to DFW.
As a newbie to these boards, I was looking for something about Dopefests in the Dallas area when I found this thread. Earlier, I read threads about these in-person get-togethers in other parts of the country, and it was such fun, especially seeing the pictures that had been taken during them of SDMB members. Do any of you know of other threads that focus on the Dallas area, and especially any about Dopefests here?
MizQuirk
Sure, the DFW dopers get together fairly regularly. The last one I attended was when we went out to see the new Matrix flick last month. Just keep an eye out on MPSIMS, as the announcement/planning threads tend to show up at least a week ahead of the event.
Good to hear, Minty. Thanks. Might there be a wrap-up I could find about the last one? Guess what I’m asking is, what could I search on to find this? It would be fun to hear/read about it!
My, my, my. There are a lot of us around here, aren’t there? Personally, I think Plano and Frisco are the worst sorts of suburban hell, but hey, that’s just me 
And of course for anyone not moving here from Bombay, the summer weather is too f****ing hot. But again, hey, that’s just me … Good luck, kid!
MizQuirk, welcome. You can probably search on my name over the past few years. I post to almost all of the DFW area gathering threads. I have some links to photos on the page I use for my website here.
Welcome to you too, Ponder.
Oh, and of course, welcome to the area, Quack, if you have made it here.
Thanks, Lord. Oh, that sounds impressive! When doing this, I found that the members list has been disabled, and searching for your name . . . well, Jim has too few letters in it.:eek: “Dallas area gathering threads” sounds interesting, though. Care to impart any of those to me, by e-mail even, if there are too many, or if you don’t want to include them here, or something? Appreciate your help.
Miz