Dallas to Commerce, TX commute (Plano, Grapevine: city hall, crimes, house)

[ChristieP]

The amount of miles/wear-and-tear you put on your car, the gas you burn (unless you drive a Smart or Prius) and the wasted time are just not worth it. Then add in the occasonal delay due to wrecks, and speeding tickets, and it is just a HUGE outlay of money that would be better allocated to another use.

Look at the apartments in Rockwall around The Harbor. You get the cool, walkable, urban neighborhood without the Dallas crime or awful commute.

[hamiltonpl]

We clearly have different definitions of "crime" and "cool."

[codytravers]

Seriously, wtf. Sure this isn't the utopia that Grapevine is but I have managed to not get murdered yet.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by codytravers

Seriously, wtf. Sure this isn't the utopia that Grapevine is but I have managed to not get murdered yet.

Eh, some people like to write the whole city off as "crime-ridden" when they see homes older than 20 years, a panhandler or two, and scary crime reports talking about handbags being stolen from unlocked cars!

OP- you're in a tough situation. Would you live in Delaware and commute to Mnhattan everyday- 3 hours per day?! Sure some people suck it up and do it because it's the best/only job they can get....same goes for living in Dallas and commuting to Commerce. I would suck it up and live cheaply in Commerce and make sure you have friends' couched you can crash on in town on the weekends. You're not going to be any happier living in Rockwall if you have your heart set on downtown- there's a tiny bit that's walkable, but it's hardly urban in the sense that you're looking for.....

[dallas90210]

The Dallas police department is understaffed and underfunded. So the policing sucks in Dallas, compared to the suburbs. That give criminals a lot more freedom to do what they want in that city...especially when it comes to minor crimes.

If your car is broken into, and you call them - do they come out & take fingerprints, and make an effort to solve the crime? NO - they only will do a report over the phone only. No kidding.

If your business is being broken into, will the police respond to a burglar alarm? NO. Not unless someone physically sees the criminal there with their own eyeballs. So the business owner either has to have remote cameras, or he has to drive down there with a baseball bat or gun and see the criminal in action. LOL.

Plus the schools suck.

Among many other things. The panhandlers suck too.

[fratermus]

The big commute wouldn't allow much time to enjoy the downtown living experience, I think.

I lived in Commerce as an undergrad and really liked it. Just throwing that out there.

[etjaipleure]

Originally Posted by rantanamo

I do this every week as a grad student from East Dallas. I imagine its a little quicker from downtown since access to freeways is better. Its 1 hr each way. If you're involved with grad students, you'll find that lots of them make this drive. Its an easy, stress free drive. I was spending that same hour going across LBJ in traffic and it was much worse than this.

Wow, really? I drove from Greenville to Downtown Dallas and it took an hour every time. Commerce is past Greenville. I just gotta ask...why don't you live in Commerce or Greenville? Much closer and cheaper. And during rush hour times it would take at least an hr and a half or longer from LBJ to Greenville. I wouldn't do it for a job, maybe if I knew I was going to be done with school in a few months but not for a full time job, no way.

My dad works in Greenville and has several friends he works with that live in Dallas. They do commute but I can't say that any of them particularly enjoy this and it does get expensive.

[etjaipleure]

Originally Posted by dallas90210

The Dallas police department is understaffed and underfunded. So the policing sucks in Dallas, compared to the suburbs. That give criminals a lot more freedom to do what they want in that city...especially when it comes to minor crimes.

If your car is broken into, and you call them - do they come out & take fingerprints, and make an effort to solve the crime? NO - they only will do a report over the phone only. No kidding.

If your business is being broken into, will the police respond to a burglar alarm? NO. Not unless someone physically sees the criminal there with their own eyeballs. So the business owner either has to have remote cameras, or he has to drive down there with a baseball bat or gun and see the criminal in action. LOL.

Plus the schools suck.

Among many other things. The panhandlers suck too.

I walked around Deep Ellum with another of my girl friends and we saw cops everywhere. We weren't harrassed or bothered or mugged or killed or anything. No one even looked at us funny. Is it always completely safe?, no, but if you aren't a complete idiot I think Dallas is fine. That's like saying everyone that walks around in Central Park gets mugged and people get killed walking down Broadway in NYC. It just doesn't happen as often as everyone thinks. As for the other crimes, yeah probably they don't investigate as much as they can but that goes for anywhere. Dallas undoubtedly has more crime than a small town and murders more than likely get top priority over someones purse getting stolen but...that could be anywhere...

[rantanamo]

Originally Posted by etjaipleure

Wow, really? I drove from Greenville to Downtown Dallas and it took an hour every time. Commerce is past Greenville. I just gotta ask...why don't you live in Commerce or Greenville? Much closer and cheaper. And during rush hour times it would take at least an hr and a half or longer from LBJ to Greenville. I wouldn't do it for a job, maybe if I knew I was going to be done with school in a few months but not for a full time job, no way.

My dad works in Greenville and has several friends he works with that live in Dallas. They do commute but I can't say that any of them particularly enjoy this and it does get expensive.

Key. You said you drive from Greenville to Downtown Dallas. The OP said Downtown Dallas to Commerce. This drive rarely runs into any resistance at all unless there's a major traffic event on I-30.

I don't live in Greenville or Commerce because I have a job and gf in Dallas I can't just up and leave. I laugh at expensive. As I said, expensive and stressful was when I worked on the FB/Irving border and had to commute from Garland each day. That was a guranteed 2 hours in traffic. Mostly stop and go. Eating up a ton of gas. Driving to and from Commerce is a breeze in comparison. No traffic, no stress. Highway mileage is ten MPG or more on the good side better when you can lock on at 70 or 75 and cruise all the way. Currently, I ride the train to work in Dallas. I'm spending much less on commuting living and working in Dallas and going to school in Commerce than I was living in Garland and driving to FB. If I moved to Commerce or Greenville, commuting time would be horrible and much worse on gas as I'd be going with the normal commuter traffic during the morning and afternoon. NO WAY JOSE. BEEN THROUGH THAT ONE. If I didn't have to work and no woman, I'd probably just stay in Commerce.

Around the country and even in the metroplex, 2 hours of commuting is not uncommon. If the OP doesn't mind that, I was simply stating this is a leisurely 1 hr each way that's against the flow of traffic. Steady, reliable, easy on the car drive. Its really not that bad. I usually leave Commerce around 10 or 10:30. Very easy drive home.

[whatglasses]

When I was a child, my family lived in Wolfe City (about 10-15 minutes from Commerce) and my mom commuted to Dallas every day. I think she made the commute for about 10 years before we moved to McKinney. She only had to work 3 days a week, so she was still able to enjoy living on our farm.

Obviously you are looking to do the opposite - I live in Uptown Dallas now and I love it. I'd live in Downtown if I could afford it. I'm still younger than you, but if I was your age you couldn't pay me to live in Commerce (or Rowlett or Rockwall, for that matter).