Cori,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful input. What you described is exactly what my perception was, sight unseen. I know Dallas, as any city or town, has great things to offer, and I know the food arena down there can be phenomenol. But, as you said, at a price.
The 'shiny and new' aspect that you describe is one that so does not appeal to me. I'm originally from a small town in WV. I like more options than the town has to offer, but it's quaint, has a lot of history and original architechture and character. And pretty big hills! I then lived in Lex for 5 years getting my 2 pieces of paper, and while I hold nothing against the town, I can tell you that I felt more at home in Louisville after only 6 mos. than I ever felt in Lexington. I realize I was a student, so it was a different situation, but Lousiville's Chamber's tagline of "Your New Hometown" is right on in my book. I'm rambling, but the things you described about this town are the things I too love the most. I have often described Louisville as a CITY with a small town feel. We are fortunate to have the best of both sides, with lots of culiary, arts, and festival functions for all. In short, we love it here, and really don't want to move.
And I'm so not a shopper, so that doesn't appeal to me, and big money speaks of a general attitude where I can't go. Just not me, or my husband.
Our 2 defining decision factors on this move have been, number one, the proximity to our aging parents. My mom is still in WV, and his folks are in WI, and we can hop in a car and be in either place within 5-6 hours, in general. The other is quality of life, which we love here, and questioned in Dallas. We will still go next week with an open mind, but we have pretty much made our decision to say no (did I just contradict myself??? oops
) Blue skies and warmer weather appeal to me, but in the right place, and we're fairly certain that Dallas is not it.
We will only be there from Wed. through Sat. morning, so this is a long shot, but perhaps we could meet for dinner or lunch on one of those days. As of now, they don't have any formal agenda for us, so we're pretty wide open.
Thanks again for the input. It pretty much confirmed what we already knew/thought