NoBaal wrote: I think your plan is a good one.
I am from UK but used to be in DFW & Austin & Waco areas.
Even otherwise, it is not a good idea to buy something permanent, like a house right away before you understand the area well.
If it was me I would rent an apartment very close to work for say 6 months, then study the whole area and all options & then buy a house at the location of your choice.
I also do not know if this is a permanent job. As far me I always tried to be extremely close to my job, if I was going to be there at least for a few years.
Rent a 2 or 3 bedrroom & buy a table and robot (unless you are married and your spouse decides to buy a multi-million dollar insurance policy on you to kill you for doing this, instead of a divorce) till you decide on your house & club etc
Baal wrote: There are quite a few good players in Dallas., especially around Plano.
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Plano is quite far from Ennis and in heavy traffic going all the way across from south of Dallas to north of Dallas
PlanoTTC.com plays 6 days a week in 2 rec centers (3 times each except Thursdays) on 8 to 12 tables. If you join you can use all other activities
Take a look at
Plano Rec
Plus swimming + and many many other activities included in membership to all rec centers.
There are two other rec centers in Plano , Carpenter Park with 3 tables to play anytime & oak Point rec with two tables to play anytime.
Sam Johnson senior center also has table-tennis like 3 or 4 days if you are over 50.
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DFWTT.com
is good. Many places all around Dallas & Irving & Frisco to play.When I was in USA, I preferred DFW.TT & SenterPark to Plano because I found DFWTT friendlier than Plano but Plano has tons of players 1300-2400. Donna Chen owns DFWTT. She is 2400+ but she will play you singles or doubles if noone else is around to play you
There is a club in Grapevine, TX.
gppctx.com
And if you are into celebrity worship, you have the Olympic Bronze medalist Jasna Rather who runs a club in Texas Weslyn University in Fort Worth.
Friday evenings they play play at SenterPark recreation center in Irving TX . The fee last time I checked was a whopping $1 for the whole night. Individually barriered courts & lot of doubles & generally friendly & good players
They play at Vietnamese club everyday in Grand Prairie, TX like 3 to 7 PM or something
ATS Table Tennis Club 2615 W.Pioneer Pkwy, GrandPrairie , TX 75051
They are on facebook.
I am told they also play at a Vietnamese temple in Richardson but have never been there
They also play at 50+ senior center in Grand Prairie called Summit three or four times a week.
Grand Prairie
There are 2 more clubs in Frisco I think
Waco, TX is 75 miles in lesser traffic and they had a club for a long time there . don't know now due to COVID. They had a club in temple TX also and of course you can keep driving to Austin & then San Antonio
There is also a club in Tyler TX
I don't know which club Baal plays but I would avoid going into dangerous neighbourhoods like that. Clubs seem to come and go in Houston but they get the World Championships. Go figure
Let me know which club(s) you join, so I can collect my commissions from them & USATT