Dallas questions?

subec · Jul 6, 2003

Avoid Dallas Independent School District!!!

Frisco/Allen/Plano----great schools, good for children, relatively affordable housing (especially in Allen)

Watauga/Keller----from what I have heard, the schools are pretty good, and housing is affordable

Southlake----wonderful schools, but extremely expensive housing, low crime

Colleyville is a nice alternative to Southlake.

Hurst/Euless/Bedford area also has good schools and affordable housing.

passing thru · Jul 6, 2003

Texans are real friendly, real outgoing. You're gonna like it, don't worry.

If you arrive in Dallas in July and August, you'll think you made a mistake.

But, you will love Sept. thru May.

One of my cousins emigrated there from Boston, another

from Minneapolis. They both love the area and say they

would never consider going home.

mattsmom81 · Jul 6, 2003

I moved to the Arlington area (suburb of Fort Worth) from Minnesota 21 years ago during the summer and hated it for a year. Now I like it. It's hot in the summer but a backyard pool fixes that fast...LOL!:)

It is a culturally diverse area with good schools, particularly the north and west sides of the city, (Martin and Lamar HS districts) which are rated exemplary and are college prep. Also some excellent private schools if you orefer that. Housing is very reasonable, and it's an easy commute to Ft Worth or Dallas . Personally I'd never live in Dallas...taxes are high, crime is high, traffic is awful.. I prefer the Fort Worth side. To each his own. Lots of racial problems in Dallas...picketing, marches, school board bickering all the time on racial lines...it wears me out personally.

I have friends in Keller and Southlake and Colleyville. Wealthier communities but the housing costs show it. My 120K house in Arlington costs 175K in the 3 above areas. Wautauga is north of Arlington in the midcities area and is quite reasonable, as it is also a suburb of Fort Worth. Keller is overcrowded IMO, and many of my friends have left due to traffic, etc.

Everybody has it's opinion though, and as you can see Dallas and Plano folks think their areas are best.

If you want any info on the Fort /Worth Arlington/midcities area feel free to pm me. :)

pedi-RN · Jul 6, 2003

We have lived in Texas all of our lives. We were born and raised on the southern end of Dallas, back when it was nice. We just recently moved to the northern end, to Corinth, a suburb of Denton.

I can tell you about Lantana, since we looked there. First, it is not actually a city - yet. It is a master-planned community. It is on a golf course, with several pools, playgrounds, and work-out facility in the neighborhood. The houses are LARGE - and expensive. They are nice, but you can reach out the window and touch the house next door. That's great if you don't want much yard to maintain, but it wasn't for us. Another thing, there is already an elementary school in the neighborhood, which will eventually be only for the residents of Lantana, but there aren't enough students to fill it yet, so they are bussing more in. It is Denton school district! We didn't want our children in Denton ISD, so that was another reason we passed the area by. There are plans to add more school levels to the area, not sure where those plans stand now.

We are only about 10 minutes from there now. The crime rate is very low!!! We are very happy here. We chose a section of Corinth that attends a different school district, the other half is in Denton ISD. There are 3 college campuses withing 10 minutes of my house, and several more in Dallas, which isn't but 20-30 minutes depending on where you want to go.

Holli

nicudaynurse · Jul 6, 2003

Hello. I am a Texan as well. Like Mattsmom81 I am in the Arlington area as well. I live in Arlington, but work in Dallas.

Anyway the metroplex is a great place to live, but like you have already discovered there are so many places to live. I don't have children yet so I can't really tell you about the school districts. I do hear good things about the Plano/Frisco/Allen area. Flowermound and Carrollton are good choices as well. As some have already mentioned Dallas county is more expensive (taxes, etc..). Tarrant County is a great place to live. I have heard good things about Keller, Watauga, Grapevine, and Southlake.

So what kind of nurse are you? There are A LOT of hospitals in the Metroplex. You shouldn't have any problems finding a job. If you have any specific questions about any of the hospitals let me know. Are biggest hospital systems are Texas Health Resources and Baylor Health System.

Good luck to you!

nursnancy, LPN, RN · Jul 6, 2003

We lived in Rockwall, TX, an eastern suburb of Dallas, for about a year, and loved it. Our daughter was already in college, so I can't tell you anything about the local schools there, but Rockwall is really pretty. It's situated beside a huge, beautiful lake. I would suggest calling or e-mailing a real estate agent in the Dallas area. They can be very helpful in choosing the right community for you. By the way, our favorite restaurant in Dallas was Razoo's (a cagun restaurant with a really fun atmosphere). Good luck and have fun in your new adventure!

tris · Jul 16, 2003

Hi, I too live in the DFW area--lots of nice places, I presently live in one of the suburbs--best place as far as I am concerned--summers a bear but we do have AC!!!

Good Luck.

echo*echo · Jul 16, 2003

Hi,

I currently live in Carrollton, a northern suburb of Dallas. Carrollton has some nice neighborhoods but is generally considered to be below most of the places you mentioned. Plano, Frisco, Flower Mound, McKinney, Southlake to name a few tend to have a much higher percentage of upper middle class residents and newer neighborhoods. The mid-cities tend to be a bit cheaper than the northern suburbs, but you also have more lower middle class and blue collar neighborhoods, but even here you can find some really nice developments. Compared to other areas housing is cheaper and we have no state income tax. However property & school taxes can be quite high. Sales taxes are about 8%.

Crime can be very high in certain areas, and often a block or two seperates an upper middle class neighborhood from a working class neighborhood, especially in older areas. My neighborhood is about 30-35 years old and has changed signficantly in the last five years. It's more blue collar than young professionals now.

Crime? Traditionally Dallas has one of the highest crime rates in the country, but violent crime is rare in the northern suburbs. Property crimes and car thefts not so rare anywhere in the metro area. I've had my car broken into four times (3 times while in Dallas) over the past 15 years. I was robbed using a pay phone about ten years ago. If you are traveling alone at night in Dallas be very, very careful.

Schools? Most of the northern suburbs school systems are above average. The City of Dallas on the other hand has a horrible public school system. Quite dangerous as well.

Malls, restaurants, etc? The biggest developments are now in Collin and Denton county where new malls and restaurants are abundant. The best non-chain restaurants are closer to the Arts District downtown.

Culture? Not bad. Arts, Museums, Symphony, Three major sports teams, Six Flags, the State Fair. Popular haunts include the West End, Deep Ellum and lower Greenville Ave. Much more generic fare in the burbs.

Commute? BAD! People don't realize how large the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area is. I don't have the exact numbers, but I estimate about 5 million people live in a four county area. It can literally take 1.5 hours to drive 25 miles during rush hour.

Weather? Native Texan and I hate our summers. Hot AND humid. Its miserable. Expect 90-100 degree days with high humidity from May through September. Lows right now are about 80. We don't have true seasons. Mild winters with an occasional cold streak or ice storm. We get a real snow storm maybe once every five years. But we do have vicious thunderstorms, hailstorms and an occasional tornado in the spring.

People. We have a very large Hispanic population here. The nothern suburbs tend to be mostly white and mostly conservative. Lots of southern Baptists here. The only liberal mecca in Texas is Austin.

Colleges? Lots of community colleges with insane waiting lists! Most operate on the GPA formula so if you don't have at least a 3.5 you are in trouble. As for BSN programs? Texas Women's University in Denton is probably the best.

Don't know about builder reputations. My 30+ year old home was built by Fox & Jacobs and I have had numerous problems. Lots of foundation problems in this area. You can buy really nice new homes for around $175,000 here.

Its not a bad place to live but I am looking forward to moving west.

JuicyJem · Jul 31, 2003

I'm 22 and grew up in Allen. I have always felt prepared and ahead of the class in college from my public education in Allen, K-12. Its a growing community with a lot of new housing developments. A lot of good churches too. Hope this helps.