McKinney , San Antonio or Frisco (Houston, Dallas: homes, new construction, schools)

[dmdpublicity]

My family and I are considering moving to one of these cities in Texas and I wanted to know what will be the best fit. We have a 8 yr old daughter, want to be within 35 miles from a major airport, Good eats - Mexican, Chinese, Southern and a little rural (1 ac home 2000sq Ft.) ANYBODY HELP?

[TurtleCreek80]

What's your budget? There aren't many 1 acre lots in McKinney or Frisco as the majority of new construction/planned communities are divided into .15-.2 acre lots.....unless you're looking at the $1Mish handful of homes in McKinney's Stonebridge area.

They also aren't suburbs I'd describe as "a little rural" either. Both are only about half built out but expect to be built out in the next 10ish years if the pace continues.

For rural-ish areas with big lots, look further north to Celina, Van Alstyne, etc. Northern Collin County and Grayson County.

[txgolfer130]

Frisco sounds like your cup of tea. Maybe McKinney, but the 1ac will for sure cost you an arm & leg. It will also in Frisco, but it's more possible there. San Antonio, awesome home opportunities there and CHEAP...but not very many 1ac lots within 35 mi from airport. You could probably get pretty close (.5-.75 ac) pretty easy though well within your distance from SA Int., and get lot's of home for the buck. But the trade of is EXCELLENT Mexican & Southern food...very little everything else, except for chain-brand restaurants.

Hope that helps.

[momof2dfw]

Based on the title I started to think that someone was seriously considering a commute from San Antonio. LOL!!!! I mean, there are people that commute from Oklahoma practically. LOL!!!

[needsomeinfo]

depends on what is most important to you.

schools? frisco
diversity of food? frisco or mckinney
lots of mexican food? san antonio
1 acre? san antonio
ease of getting to airport? san antonio (35 miles from the airport can be long way in dfw traffic)
ability to fly almost anywhere without having to connect? dfw

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by needsomeinfo

depends on what is most important to you.

schools? frisco
diversity of food? frisco or mckinney
lots of mexican food? san antonio
1 acre? san antonio
ease of getting to airport? san antonio (35 miles from the airport can be long way in dfw traffic)
ability to fly almost anywhere without having to connect? dfw

This is VERY important to pay attention to if you travel frequently. Almost every flight to NYC where I travel for work often comes from San Antonio, through DFW, then to LGA. Most flights from SA involve a stop in DFW (American or Delta) or Houston (Continental). That can add another 2 hours to your travel times with waiting at the gate, 40 minute flight to DFW, waiting at the gate again, etc.

[needsomeinfo]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

This is VERY important to pay attention to if you travel frequently. Almost every flight to NYC where I travel for work often comes from San Antonio, through DFW, then to LGA. Most flights from SA involve a stop in DFW (American or Delta) or Houston (Continental). That can add another 2 hours to your travel times with waiting at the gate, 40 minute flight to DFW, waiting at the gate again, etc.

yep. getting to SAT is easy, but I still miss the ease of flying from DFW. SAT has to connect to get to almost anywhere (except DFW or houston, of course).

[Saintmarks]

There are plenty of homes with acreage and a rural feel in McKinney if you go north of US 380. Would say a lot more chance to get acreage there for a reasonable price compared to Frisco.

[artsyguy]

Have you tried Lewisville or Flowermound ( is by Grapevine lake, Lake Lewsiville, and the airport)? Southlake is another similarly good city in that area.

The Colony is also by the lake. But not much goes on there.

Cedar Hill is south of Dallas. It's hilly, near a lake, ruralish, but has every major retail you could need.

Richardson and Addison are closer to Dallas and located virtually in North Dallas (the bastion of retail, restaurants, corporate headquarters, bars, etc.. Both cities offer everything, too.

[artsyguy]

But McKinney is such a far drive to get to both major airports. And if they want to attend events in the big city........the drive will be just as bad.

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

There are plenty of homes with acreage and a rural feel in McKinney if you go north of US 380. Would say a lot more chance to get acreage there for a reasonable price compared to Frisco.