Dallas: Model Evaluation

Dallas is the first location to actually pass our model's criteria, though it is a close call on our cost of living requirement. According to the site I've been using for the cost of living numbers (http://swz.salary.com/CostOfLivingWizard/layouthtmls/coll_metrodetail_93.html), Dallas is 4% more expensive than Cleveland. But we live in Hudson, which is more expensive than Cleveland but is not available for the cost of living comparison. I also know from other parts of the model that housing is less expensive, as are taxes. Based on this, I said Dallas passed the requirement, but ultimately I may need to redesign the model. Given Ohio has a relatively low cost of living, it may be unrealistic to expect our new home to be even lower - perhaps being within 5% is good enough.

The whole Dallas model looks like this:

Dallas (Decision)

• ●This town is a good choice for our next home.
• ●AND [1 of 5] : This town has a good climate.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : This town has moderate winters.
• ○OR [1 of 2] : The number of days each year at or below freezing should be 10 or less.
• ●OR [2 of 2] : The average winter temperature should be at least 10 degrees warmer than Hudson OH.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 2] : This town has a good balance of sunshine and summer heat.
• ○OR [1 of 2] : This town has moderate summers in exchange for lots of sunshine.
• ●OR [2 of 2] : This town has lots of sunshine but hot summers.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 5] : This town has an affordable cost of living.
• ●AND [1 of 4] : This town has health insurance available for less than $1500 a month.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 4] : This town has lower taxes than my current home town.
• ●True
• ●AND [3 of 4] : This town has a lower cost of living index than my current home town.
• ●True
• ●AND [4 of 4] : This town has good housing for less than my maximum house budget.
• ●True
• ●AND [3 of 5] : This town has good work opportunities.
• ○OR [1 of 2] : This town has good fulltime work opportunities.
• ●OR [2 of 2] : This town has good freelance work opportunities.
• ●True
• ●AND [4 of 5] : This town provides a good quality of life.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : This town can provide a healthy lifestyle.
• ○OR [1 of 2] : This town has neighborhoods that provide a walkable urban lifestyle.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : This town has at least one neighborhood with a walkscore greater than 90.
• ●True
• ○AND [2 of 2] : The neighborhood with a walkscore greater than 90 has a crime rate no greater than 125% of the national average.
• ●OR [2 of 2] : This town has areas with affordable nature 'compounds'.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 2] : This town can provide an inspirational lifestyle.
• ●OR [1 of 3] : This town has a high quality university.
• ●True
• ○OR [2 of 3] : This town has cultural diversity.
• ●OR [3 of 3] : This town has beautiful scenery and views.
• ●False
• ●AND [5 of 5] : This town has good accessibility.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : This town is within 2 hours of a major airport.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 2] : This town is within 30 minutes of high quality hospitals.
• ●True