Re: Best place to live
Places I have lived:
London , UK (18 years)
Houston & Dallas , TX ( 20+ years)
I would never, ever live or move back to the UK. i find it to be the most depressing place . Visiting family/holidays are great etc. London is special to me, as I grew up there and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Vancouver, Canada..we actually moved there to find a better place for our children to grow up in. I hated it. The scenery/surrounding areas is beautiful etc, but I found it to be too similar to the UK. Very harsh, cold winter and too much rain.
Houston / Dallas TX.. Very hot summers (stuck in A/C all day). Winters can be cold to warm.
My oldest children would like to leave Dallas and TX altogether when married etc. They have had enough of the summers. There really is not much to do in Dallas, TX, unless you want to drive and drive to get someplace. Clubbing, great. Food , great. Retail therapy, wonderful. Various family members from around the world have visited both Dallas and Houston, and are not impressed. They all love to shop here, but living here..nope.
Dallas has the new Bayyinah program. I know students who have completed the program. Very mixed reviews. It is the IN thing nowadays. As mentioned by other Imams, religion is the new hot fad now. Youth and young adults aspire to be the next celebrity Imam. I have had my own experience of Bayinnah, Al Maghrib etc. Next up is the Qalam program..
My thoughts are simply my thoughts, so those who do live in the DFW area will/may disagree with me.
I’m born and raised in DFW and your assessment is spot on!
Dallas is a very comfortable place to live/raise a family as the cost of living is relatively low, it’s very desi friendly, no shortage of shopping/restaurants/masjids etc.
There is no natural beauty/relatively no outdoorsy activities or big city culture.