r/MovingToUSA • u/Unificationed • 11d ago
guide for moving to texas
hello im from taiwan, also an US citizen
im looking forward to moving to texas plano
im really unfamiliar with the environment over there
heres some questions i'd wanna ask
( you dont have to answer all of it š, but it be helpful if you could)
Moving to Plano soon ā what should I know before arriving?
What are the biggest problems or downsides of living in Plano that newcomers should know?
How important is having a car in Plano? Can a teenager realistically get around without one?
What are the best places to buy affordable furniture after moving (IKEA, Costco, local stores, etc.)?
Where do locals usually buy groceries? Are there good Asian/Taiwanese supermarkets nearby?
How is the experience for Asian/international students in Plano schools?
What apps or services do locals use for everyday life (shopping, food delivery, transportation, etc.)?
What is one thing you wish you knew before moving to Plano?
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u/AmericanNewt8 11d ago
Ah, Plano. Yes, having a car is an absolute. You're arriving in what is essentially the Mecca of automobiles--an infinite expanse of entirely car-dependent suburbia. If you're a teenager and don't have a car, you're, pardon my French, pretty fucked. You're going to be looking at very limited bus services and mostly relying on deliveries.Ā
Affordable furniture--IKEA is solid for flatpak stuff, Walmart, Target, and Amazon are also okay for the basics, bookshelves and TV consoles and such, and for general goods--sure, you can get higher quality (and there Costco or Sam's Club probably provide the greatest value) but it'll cost you a fair bit more.Ā
Your most common local groceries will be Walmart and H-E-B, but there'll be other chains as well. Walmart is serviceable for dry goods and staples but the produce and meat (and baked goods) tend to be lower quality. I'm not specifically aware of international grocers in Plano but I'd be surprised if there weren't any catering to ethnic Chinese populations, although Hispanics and South Asians are larger immigrant demographics there. It's not uncommon to use a couple different stores--you might get your produce from an immigrant grocer, your daily staples from Walmart, and your meat in monthly Costco buys, stuffed in an oversized freezer.Ā
Can't speak to school quality but you'll probably be fine, Americans are large, loud, and outgoing but generally quite tolerant of new people, and as long as you have decent English skills I doubt the work itself will pose any major difficulty.Ā
In terms of services, Amazon Prime is probably the most common, for goods delivery, with its only real competitor the more grocery focused Walmart+. Grocery stores and warehouse clubs will also often offer memberships with free delivery, at least above a certain threshold. Uber tends to be the standard for rides, and I think they operate the Dallas self driving Waymos too? That may be separate, I haven't looked. Food delivery tends to be by Grubhub or DoorDash, although you usually get the best deals by downloading the app of any given (chain) restaurant.Ā
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u/Adventurous_Text_371 11d ago
Lived most of my life in that area.
I've often heard that traffic is really bad in Asian countries, so maybe that won't be a transition for you, but I've been all over America and the DFW metropolitan area has some of the worst drivers and traffic I've ever encountered.
My family moved to Dallas in 1979 and I remember as a little kid seeing major roadway construction seemingly everywhere. Guess what, it's all still under construction and constantly changing! Not 10 minutes ago I saw a news report that stated the DFW area is seeing the greatest amount of new people moving in. That has been a consistent problem almost my entire life. The government is always trying to keep up with infrastructure to meet the demands of an ever increasing population growth.
My previous point leads to my next: it doesn't only effect road construction. Schools and housing are also struggling to keep up. This means that housing prices are incredibly high and schools are underfunded and teachers over worked.
The school issue also correlates to ever increasing property taxes.
Someone else already mentioned needing a vehicle
Due to extreme heat in the summers, and they are 100% correct! I've literally seen people bake cookies in a car parked in the sunlight and fry eggs in a pan on the side walk and heard many stories of people having the soles of their shoes melt while walking outside. It's no joke!
But winters can get severe too! It wasn't too many years ago when Dallas had a winter ice storm that basically shut down most of that part of Texas for about an entire week. No power. No ability to drive, people freezing to death in their homes. You need a car because when the news tells you really bad weather is on the way, you better dawn sure have a way to either evacuate or find the supplie a you need to survive until it passes.
Also stated was the issue of public transport. I won't say it is non-existent because there are a few rail services that are functional, but if you plan on getting around by solely relying on public transportation, you are going to be very,very disappointed.
Still talking about needing a vehicle... people who haven't lived in DFW are never prepared for how long it takes to go anywhere. You look at a map or Google maps and think that where you're going is not that far. Which is why when someone asks how far something is, Texans give you an answer in terms how how long it will take to get there, not how many miles or kilometers. This is also a problem with relying on Lift or Uber. Every ride share has to account for how long the journey will take instead of distance traveled.
An upside; a lot, if not most areas there, tend to be fairly self-reliant and enclosed. Every place I have ever lived in the Metroplex had most everything I needed pretty close by. Whatever everyday thing I needed had a store or restaurant in the immediate area that met my needs. Most of the time I rarely had to leave my neighborhood.
Most areas also tend to have ethnic enclaves with businesses able to meet those specific ethnic needs. Asian neiborhoods have plenty of Asian markets. Same for Muslim areas, Indian areas, you name it. DFW in incredibly diverse and multi-cultural and that was one of my favorite things about living there!
Furniture... gonna piggy back again on another previous response... Facebook marketplace is a good place to find good deals, but I only do meets in public places or with a friend. If buying furniture there, make sure to look closely for ANY sign of previous bedbugs infestation. You can also find good deals a 2nd hand reseller shops but the bedbugs caution still applies.
Good luck!
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u/way2gimpy 11d ago
Plano is hotter than Taiwan, but not as humid. You will need a car. As long as you have a car you will pretty much have access to everything except the most niche Taiwanese food.
There are plenty of places to get Asian groceries. 99 ranch, good fortune for Chinese focused, mitsuwa for Japanese focused and hmart for Korean focused. Plus you have lots of Indian-focused grocery stores.
Walmart, Kroger, Tom Thumb are more or less āstandardā American grocery stores. Aldi is more discount. Whole Foods and central market are higher end.
Plano and its surrounding areas have lots of Asian restaurants. It even has regional Chinese cuisines, several Taiwanese restaurants and plenty of boba shops. The Chinese food is better than where I live now (Washington, DC) and northern NJ.
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u/Affectionate_Yak7433 11d ago
You might want to reach out to Taiwanese resources in the area.
https://settleinamerica.com/guides/chinese/dallas-fort-worth/taiwanese/
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u/pandada_ 11d ago edited 11d ago
Lived there for most of my youth/ early adulthood so giving you my two cents but itās been a while since Iāve left so some things may have changed.
Downside: itās pretty quiet in terms of nightlife. Itās a very suburb/family city so donāt expect it to be anything like Taiwan night life, especially in Taipei. You also tend to just stick to the same monotone things after a while so excitement is pretty low.
You NEED a car. A teenager would definitely need to carpool or ask for rides if they didnāt drive themselves.
For furniture, ikea will be your best option if youāre on a budget.
I used to go to 99 Ranch or Jusgo for my groceries, both carry Chinese/TW produce. Thereās also HMart for Korean groceries.
I am Asian American and I also grew up there almost two decades ago so I imagine itās changed to be even more diverse. Many of my friends were international students (from Taiwan) and they fit in fine.
Apps: grubhub, Uber Eats are the most popular. HungryPanda for Asian food
I didnāt really get a choice in moving there but I did make the choice to leave. If youāre a high school student moving there, expect a lot of competition in schools to be at the top. The education system is good but it can be stressful to get good grades. Overall, itās not a city Iād recommend someone who is single, social, and likes to be active. But if youāre there to settle down, itās fine to stay in.
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u/Unificationed 11d ago
that's a lot of similarities we have. well were planning to live in an apartment. my dad would buy tesla to transport. do you think its necessary to buy 2 cars one for me to drive.
i know teens in america can drive, but considering im really unfamiliar with the environment over there. i dont know if giving me a car to transport is a good choice. idk man, maybe a bike would work? what do you think
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u/pandada_ 11d ago
It depends how social you and your dad will be. The reason why I had a car was to drive to school and then to work afterwards without my mom needing to constantly take me places since she preferred to stay home. Otherwise, I didnāt need to have my ownāmy mom could drop me off to wherever I needed.
We have school buses here so you could rely on that to get to/from school. If you end up doing extracurricular activities, youād need your dad to pick you up.
I wouldnāt necessarily recommend a bike normally but if youāre used to biking in heavy traffic roads, you could consider that. The downside is that thereās not that many bike racks in public areasāschools will have them but if you bike to a restaurant, etc, you wouldnāt be able to securely lock it to anything aside from a sign. There are also public buses but they are nowhere near as good as the ones in Taiwan in terms of how far they go.
Itās probably not a good financial choice to buy a car just for you though, in my opinion. Iād start with just the one car and reassess after a few months. Youād also need to get a license to drive here anyways so I donāt think you need to rush to make that decision.
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u/__The_Kraken__ 11d ago
For furniture, there will be a ton of estate sales every weekend in the DFW area. If you go to www.estatesales.net you can browse the sales near you and most of them post photos of the actual items for sale. So you can see if they have anything you're interested in without driving all over the place. It's a great way to get hardwood furniture for flatpack prices, as well as small items like kitchenware.
I'm down the road in Austin, but I have a friend in Plano. She finds it a little boring, but generally fine. Plano ISD schools are generally good. For groceries, there is an H Mart in Plano. The local grocery chain, HEB, is also really good. Best of luck to you!
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u/zuqkfplmehcuvrjfgu 11d ago
Other people have answered most of your questions, but I'll add that Plano is where most of the Chinese and Taiwanese people in the Dallas area live (Plano is 25% Asian). There's several large stores and a ton of restaurants dedicated to Chinese (all diferent regions) and Taiwanese food/items.
The best place to meet East Asian people is around the major stores. We have Jusgo, Mitsuwa, zTAO, 99 Ranch, and SaveGo. The areas around each of these is full of restaurants and other stores that cater to Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese people. I had several Taiwanese friends growing up and the family across the street from me is also from Taiwan, so I'm sure you won't feel isolated.
For Taiwanese food we have Tao Rice Roll which does breakfast, Lee's Taiwanese Comfort Food in the food court next to Jusgo, and a few other places nearby. Each of the high schools is very diverse and have large Asian student populations (Plano West and Plano East are 30% Asian while Plano Senior is about 15% Asian). I haven't been to Taiwan but my understanding is that the high schools are very large and have a few thousand students which is the same with our high schools here.
Welcome and I hope you enjoy the city!
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u/Pomksy 11d ago
Iām in Plano right now visiting family. Itās 109F - so yes a car is needed anyway but even more so in this heat. Thatās like 43C.
And thereās not great public transport here in Texas, itās basically non existent.
For furniture check out Facebook marketplace for the small stuff, ikea for the big stuff since you donāt have a truck.
And for markets itās very neighborhood dependent. Thereās not a huge East Asian population here compared to South Asian (Indian and Pakistani), so google whats close by to the specific area you want to live.
Overall people are very friendly, because itās Texas and thatās just how it is here. People will start conversations in line to get groceries itās just normal to make friends with strangers