I'm actually looking for a new place at the end of next month. It really depends on how much you're willing to pay and what lifestyle suits you best.
Yeah, if the perfect place popped up, I might stretch things to up to $1,000 per month for a studio or 1 bedroom. But more realistically, I should stay in the $700-850 range which of course mostly takes me out of the city proper. I'm trying my best to find something near a DART station.
Where will you be working and how much of a commute are you willing to put up with? I love our area of Frisco, and their are some new apts that just went up that are very nice right next to the Frisco Lakes. Its a great "home base" area, but the commute can be long if you work downtown (I work in Las Colinas, the commute is about 35-45 minutes depending on what time I leave in the morning)
And speaking on location, I will actually be working from home, so no standard commute to worry about. However, I will need to travel relatively frequently to areas south of I-30, south Dallas, and Fort Worth. So the reality is that a location near DART might not be the best. My previous office commute at my old job was about 40 miles one way and about 45-50 minutes.
As far as lifestyle, definitely something with some decent nightlife activity. Good restaurants, farmers markets, some cultural stuff. Basically what a lot of unmarried 27 year olds want lol.
I feel like that puts Arlington on the map, but I'm not sure.