By Mariah Parker
I grew up and lived most of my life in a smaller area near Duluth, Minnesota, called the Twin Ports. Known for its harsh winters, it’s a spot where snow can pile up taller than you and temperatures can drop to negative 60 degrees with wind chill off the beautiful Lake Superior.
It was the place I called home for 26 years but, as an aspiring author, I always knew I would move away to someplace bigger. I reasonably thought I would go down to Minneapolis, or maybe even Kansas City.
The Midwest always felt like a great place to live but in April of 2025, I moved to the Watauga area of Fort Worth because I had friends there. Moving away for the first time, truly on my own, felt daunting.
The small city where I grew up had scarcely more than 25,000 people, and now I live in the 10th-most-populous city in the country. At first, it was very overwhelming.
Instead of cold nights up North with nothing to do, I suddenly felt like I finally had the world at my fingertips. Whether it’s going to the dog park to watch Cammie chase bicyclists back and forth at the fence, going out for a karaoke night with my girlfriends, or a Sunday morning coffee and shopping day, there was always something to do.
One of the highlights of the Summerfields neighborhood is its proximity to the dog park and an array of restaurants to choose from; the downside is that it lacks walkable options without proper sidewalks in many parts of the area.
The hardest part of moving here has been finding a steady job — thousands of applications with hardly any feedback or interviews has been a constant battle. Despite the ups and downs, I’ve tried to stay positive and focus on something I’ve dreamed about my whole life: finishing my first novel.
Otherwise, I drive for Lyft, and it has allowed me to meet people from all walks of life. My favorite experience was driving folks around during the World Cup. People from all around the world gathered to watch a cultural event, and it was exciting to see firsthand.
Despite how different Texas is from up North, I know I made the best decision for myself. I may not know when the right job will come, whether I’ll finally write “The End” on my manuscript this fall, or if I’ll ever get used to the 100-plus-degree days, but for the first time, Fort Worth has started to feel like home.
Mariah Parker is a writer who moved to Fort Worth in 2025.
Total population: 7,638
Female: 54%
Male: 46%
Age
0-9: 17%
10-19: 14%
20-29: 14%
30-39: 17%
40-49: 10%
50-59: 10%
60-69: 12%
70-79: 5%
80 and older: 2%
Race
White: 46%
Black: 24%
Hispanic: 16%
Asian: 7%
Two or more: 5%
Other: 1%
Education
No degree: 10%
High school: 24%
Some college: 36%
Bachelor’s degree: 21%
Post-graduate: 10%
Click on the link to view the schools’ Texas Education Agency ratings:
Source: Census Reporter
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