The Golden Triangle -- Denton, Ft Worth, Dallas -- March 9, 2023

Wow, I wish every mom-and-pop retail investor had the opportunity to spend a month in the Golden Triangle of north Texas. 

One doesn't hear that term often (if ever, any more) but it's the real deal.

Link here:

The three points of the Golden Triangle in north Texas: Denton (immortalized in Rocky Horror Picture Show); Dallas, and Ft Worth.

Grapevine - Euless are smack dab in the middle of that triangle.

When we moved to north Texas in 2013, we lived in The Vine Apartments in Grapevine, since renamed Vine South. We moved in 2020 (?) to Euless, to a much nicer apartment complex, Cortland, about a quarter-mile down the road. It has since changed hands and is now known as The Edge. No one knows why. The edge of the Golden Triangle? Who knows? 

I don't often drive but I am working on several summer projects for Sophia and I have had to visit a number of spots to get all the things I need: Harbor Freight, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, the US Post Office, Target, Market Street.

It is impossible to articulate why I love north Texas, but let's start. The following pertains to what I see in the center of the Golden Triangle; not all data points are likely to pertain to the points (Denton, Ft Worth, or Dallas proper).

• no state income tax
• weather: perfect 11.5 months of the year, especially if you like to swim
• clean streets and neighborhoods
  
• incredibly low utility costs
• $75 to register each of my three old cars (actually, I only register two of them; I quit registering the third one about two years ago)
• incredibly low rent compared to California, let's say
• the roads are incredible; best in the nation; both in their layout and their maintenance;
  
• we live less than ten minutes from the best airport in the country DFW
• even in rush hour, smooth sailing to DFW and back
• and, light rail to DFW if one wants that alternative
• Texans drive as if they have a purpose; no-nonsense driving, but incredibly friendly; no road rage but an occasional idiot -- but ...
• except for speeding, everyone seems to follow the rules, and the police are out in force, keeping speeding to a minimum;
• every Texan with two vehicles has an F-150 or F-250 as either his first or second vehicles;
• the other car, as often as not, a Porsche, Corvette, or Lamborghini;
• if the Texan in Southlake (a neighbor of Grapevine) owns a third car, it's a Tesla
• there's a new phenomenon with regard to home building; folks are building their homes on two residential lots and the house is the size of two McMansions -- I've never witnessed this phenomenon before; reminds me of the homes in west LA, in the Hollywood Hills; perhaps, locally, it is the Californians moving to Texas;
• I think Houston, TX, holds the US record for highest percent of obese residents; the other side of that coin: the best restaurants in the US and lots of them, and wow, does Euless and Grapevine have more than their share of great restaurants and in the Golden Triangle, the number is growing;
• if one want to eat out, my own neighborhood has the following grocers: Tom Thumb (most expensive, worse selection); Albertson's (better); Target (good); Walmart (best on price and number of line items); and I understand HEB -- the best grocer in the world is coming to our neighborhood sometime in the next two years; and I haven't even mention Whole Foods, Market Fresh, Sprouts, and Kroger's -- all here but requires a car to drive there. Also H Mart and 99 Ranch Market -- Asian supermarkets.
• non-grocery retail; second to none with shopping malls everywhere; the best is the outdoor mall in our backyard
• Chicken N Pickle; link here; five minutes by bike from our apartment; this may just be the biggest phenomenon to come out of the pandemic
• link here: see screenshot below;
  
• dine-in cinema-multiplex theaters; Japanese restaurants; 
• high school, college, and club sports facilities that are absolutely incredible; one needs to see them to believe them;
• baseball fields; soccer fields; 
• Dallas: pro basketball, football, soccer, baseball, hockey; the kids all have their own team to follow
• schools: really, really good;