re: The DFW metroplex is fascinating to me

Lived for 20 years in DFW for work, mostly in one of the top suburbs between the two, and could not be happier to be back in Louisiana. The whole area is best described as fake.

Great schools? Sure - on paper. What they are 'learning' in class will have a nice label on it and be completely full of shite (ex. top school district's grade school level gifted program "robotics" class used only cardboard boxes and make believe, I shite you not). Science was WAY behind. Math was on par once in middle school, seriously behind in grade school. Reading/spelling was something you completely taught your kids at home because there was no learning at school. Social Studies was neutered to nothing but Texas, from pre-K to 8th grade.

Neighborhoods were either DR Horton trash or typical McMansions where an "over sized lot" meant you had grass that might take a push mower to cut vs just using a weed eater. Custom homes? Better have the money to build a castle (there were two near us, just fyi...). Conveniences certainly abound if you like knowing that every chain store in existence can be found just a few miles in every direction.... over and over and over and over ad nauseum. Things to do? Sure... zoo, aquarium, jump park, Main Event, movies or shopping... over & over & over again. A couple moved into the area and asked "what's a local-only restaurant that we should try?" Answer: there are hardly any that exist, much less any good. It is almost all chains: Chillis, Hard 8, Papa Deaux's, etc. When it comes to food, there is no soul.

Politics? They give Louisiana a run for the money. Mayor was bought & paid for, facing recall twice. City Council members were caught on the take as well, pushing kickbacks / tax breaks for local money guys at a loss to the residents (sound familiar?) Every decision was about "increasing tax revenue", which meant breaking the established zoning ordinaces to put up high density housing or apartments, turning what was mostly a farm area in the early 2000s into a copy of the very shitty Addison area. Park system was nice to walk around (and neccessary since yards basically didn't exist) but shite for sports; real fields were "game only" (unless you pay the local bureaucrat per use and yes, your tax money built and maintains the fields) and park fields were all holes & rocks. But hey! The parks had stupid arse "modern sculpture art" in them.... Utilities were high (and we were on a co-op for electricity - gas, city, water were over priced). Real estate tax erases the thought of living there post retirment and tax valuations were maxed every damned year. The county was also a large target of voter fraud, so it has that going for it too I guess.

The one highlight I found was in our town / area (since the towns bleed into one another) was that overall, crime was low. That said, if you were wealthy enough, you could literally kill people and get off for being spoiled / "affluenza" and the hoods weren't really all that far away. High priced drugs were of course an issue.

All in all, my wife missed the conveniences when we want them but her, the kids, and I are all much happier back in Louisiana. Yeah, this state has its share of problems too but they are pretty front and center compared to the facade of bullshite in DFW.