I sympathies ize! But,I must ask the obvious question: If it's not to your taste, why did you move there in the first place?
Living arrangement and the fact my immediate family is moving to Florida. Mom and I are already here in Ocala, Ellie will be moving to Orlando and Brittany and her husband will most likely move to Tampa.
Second question: Why don't you employ your obviously good mind to creating the conditions to move to a more conducive location.
This is the part of Florida Mom liked best after considering different parts of Florida.
If you really want a true big city experience ( in the Classic European understanding of a city) , there are only four real choices: NYC, Chicago, New Orleans, & San Francisco. DC is more a power center than a City. But it's fabulous museums, monuments and arts venues are world class. Runners-up would be Seattle, Boston & Miami. Honorable mention to Portland for its unique walk/ bike cultures. Yes, I know, I left out LA. IMO LA is an amalgam of sprawl, not a real downtown centered city in the classic sense.
Dallas is not well known for the arts but Dallas has a higher percentage of artisans and creative people than other U.S. cities. In the mid 1800s, a community of artists from France moved to the area to start their own town. The area they settled was not fertile so a year after they moved to the nearby town of Dallas because of crop failures.
Dallas has a central hub with trains going out and the rail lines are expanding. Moreover, Dallas has bike trails which too are expanding.
Jeanette Isabelle