I’m no expert of the DFW metroplex but I will try to give you some information for thought.
I guess I should first say that you probably wouldn't want to live in Dallas or Ft. Worth, instead look at suburbs throughout the metroplex. If it came down to it, I'd recommend Ft. Worth over Dallas though. Ft. Worth is safer (statistically) and cleaner. Ft. Worth is also home to Texas Christian University (TCU) and Texas Wesleyan University. Dallas is more of your typical big city – the traffic, the pollution, the crime, etc.
Suggested suburbs:
Southlake – Population: 25,000, good public school system, big on H.S. football, area has rolling hills, well-kept area, huge shopping district
Grapevine – Population: 50,000, near Southlake area, great shops/restaurants
Arlington – Population: 350,000, large city, Six Flags, Texas Rangers baseball, University of Texas at Arlington, and Dallas Cowboys football is moving from Irving to Arlington in a couple of years
Plano – Population: 250,000, large city, good public school system, close to several shopping districts
Frisco – Population: 75,000,
really growing right now probably too fast to keep up with, minor league baseball team, Pizza Hut Park for events
I don’t recommend living in Denton. It’s pretty much a “college town.” It is home to Texas Woman's University and the University of North Texas (UNT). UNT is a pretty good university and we also have an Alpha Phi chapter there. If you’re looking to continue your education, though, you may want to keep these universities in mind.
As far as housing goes, I don't know what you consider a mansion but you can't get what I consider a mansion in the DFW metroplex for $350,000. What the $250,000 to $350,000 price range will get you in DFW is a brand new or fairly new 2,800 to 3,800 sq. ft. two-story brick home, 5/4 or 4/3, with a pool and a 2 or 3 car garage in the suburbs.
You'd of course need to do your homework first and find out where you'd be working, decide on a price range for a home, know if you are looking to continue your education, etc.
The commute in the DFW metroplex is awful. You could be looking at 2 hours, depending on how far you need to drive. Know what you need to be near and look for something nearby. You don’t want to leave home by 6:15am to be at work by 8:00am if you don’t need to. Also, DFW has hot summers and cold winters so you’ll sometimes have to deal with snow. Another heads up: tornadoes. DFW has ’em.
And last but not least, OKC is about 2 hours and 30 minutes from the DFW area.
I hope this helps you out some. If you have any other questions, you know how to find me. You know, why don’t you just forget about DFW and consider San Antonio or Houston? I know a lot more about those cities.
eta: Pricing on homes is an estimate of homes in the developing suburbs.
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