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Location: Currently SA TX, but who knows where next..
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Hey, Thanks in advance for reading and your comments.
So my husband and I both in our mid 30's, we moved from CA to San Antonio about 18months ago. While we do enjoy it, we don't love it. We explored Austin and felt it was too small of a city. So now we are thinking about Dallas. So far my online research has indicated that we will like the areas north of Downtown.. We don't have any children, but we do have a Great Dane, so we need to have a decent sized yard, half acre +. We both work from home, and our budget for a home would be around 1.5-2 mil. We love to eat out, and I don't mean at Chilies, and McDonalds.. our favorite places in SA are 18 Oaks Steakhouse and Bonohans Steakhouse. A few questions I have are, how dog friendly is Dallas, SA is extremely unfriendly. Is there a "restaurant alley" not necessarily one street, but a section or part of town that has great food? What about shopping, I know that Neiman's is headquartered in Dallas, and I found NorthPark and the Galleria, any other areas? we have a pretty cool outdoor shopping mall, that I enjoy. Also we have the HEB as our grocery, what is the main chain or chains in Dallas? And lastly what gyms are around?
I guess all in all, we are looking for an area that is close to food/shopping, and that has people our age.. we are looking to start a family soon but schools are not a problem, we plan to send to private.
You will probably want to focus in on the North Dallas area, north of Loop 12-Northwest Highway, south of LBJ, west of 75/Central and east of Midway (which is slightly west of the Dallas North Tollroad. This includes the neighborhoods of Preston Hollow, Northaven Estates, JanMar, etc. Zip codes include 75220, 75230, and the northern part of 75225.
In your budget, you can probably find .5 acre or even an acre. I have looked at some gorgeous sprawling 1950's ranches (like 3,500 sf on one level) on .5 acre lots in Jan Mar (north of Royal, south of Forrest, east of Hillcrest and also the Northaven Estates area which is bordered by Royal, Forrest, Preston and Hillcrest. The completely remodeled ranches run $550-750k. A new build is $1.1-1.5M for a nice custom home; up to $3M-ish for something spectacular on 1-2 acres in the Estate area along Northaven. These areas are in 75230.
Most all the elite private schools are within the area I described above- Hockaday and Ursuline for girls, Jesuit and St Marks for boys, ESD, St Monica, and Lamplighter for co-ed.
Shopping is very close by. Northpark is at the southeast corner of the "North Dallas box" I outlined above. It has the #1 grossing Neiman's, plus Nordstrom w designer apparel, Barneys, a nice Dillard's, nearly every designer store you can imagine (LV, Tod's, Oscar, Ralph, Bottega, Gucci), NYC boutiques like Intermix and the everyday clothes from Banana, Ann Taylor, etc. Texas' first H&M is coming to NorthPark next year.
At Preston Road & Northwest Hwy (just south of the North Dallas boundary), Preston Center, which houses Tootsie's (a great women's mini-dept store carrying contemporary & designer labels, a huge selection of eveningwear, and gorgeous accessories), Carla Martinegro (European designer boutique), Calypso St Barth's (only TX outpost), and some cute kid's boutiques. Further south on Preston is Highland Park Village, which has Jimmy Choo, Hermes, a wonderul Anthropologie, Tory Burh, a huge Polo store with home goods, Chanel, Scoop NYC, Christian Louboutin, DVF....basically, you won't lack for shopping opportunities in Dallas!
There are some very good neighborhood restaurants in North Dallas (Neighborhood Services, Ziziki's, Mi Cocina, etc come to mind), but most of the best restaurants are closer to downtown (10-15 minute drive). I'd check out Tei An for Japanese, Shinsei for sushi, Nonna for Italian, Nick & Sam's for steak & fish, Stephen Pyles for Southwestern, Bolsa and Local for farmer's market-driven menus....there are also a ton of popular restaurants for people your age along Knox-Henderson just north of the Uptown neighborhood- The Porch, Park, Fireside Pies, Hibiscus, Taverna, Etc are all popular & good restaurants.
I don't know what you mean by "dog friendly"....You certainly can't take a dog shopping or to dinner with you (though a small handful of patios welcome dogs) like you can in NYC, but there are tons of doggy day cares, pet walkers, vets, groomers, etc in Dallas.
Tom Thumb, Kroger, and Albertson's are the three main grocery chains in Dallas. We also have lots of Whole Foods, as well a few Central Markets (HEB's upscale store). There is also a good farmer's market Downtown as well as several food coops and organic stores.
Location: Currently SA TX, but who knows where next..
10 posts, read 14,815 times
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Thank you Turtlecreek80.. you are a wealth of knowledge. We figure we will move in the next year, if we like it, so I decided we need to see it in each season.. so we will be venturing up for our first visit in January.... I hear it is colder then here in San Antonio. Again thanks for your input!
Another city to look at, although not in Dallas, is Southlake. Southlake is in Tarrant County, just west of DFW airport. Tarrant County has lower property taxes, homeowner's and car insurance. You will be able to get a gorgeous home in your price range!
Southlake's public schools are VERY good. Few people in Southlake use private schools because the city is so involved in the public ones, expecially in the athletic and drama programs.
The three main gyms here are 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, and Lifetime Fitness. Southlake also has Larry North, which is small and more exclusive.
Main shopping area in Southlake is Southlake Town Square, which is a fairly new outdoor mall. North East Mall in Hurst is also very nice and about 15 minutes' drive. Southlake has its own Central Market for groceries, and it is VERY popular!
Fort Worth/Tarrant County has many wonderful restaurants, especially in the downtown area: Del Frisco's, Texas De Brazil, Simply Fondue, and (my favorite) Reata. Southlake and Grapevine have several really good ones: Bob's, JR's, Silver Fox (steak), Truluck's, Buca Di Beppo, Uncle Julio's, etc. and of course all of the normal chains. As for nightlife, there are lots of small, intimate clubs in the area. My husband and I love Coal Vines in Southlake, and Tap In in Grapevine.
North Dallas (north of downtown and south of 635) is the only place for you. It's the highest concentration of wealth in the area and has all the restaurants and other services that cater to that demographic. On that budget, you will easily be able to find a place on a half-acre or more. The areas with good restaurants are roughly south of 635 running all the way to downtown. This is also very close to the main (and most elite) private schools in town.
North and East Dallas neighborhoods like Preston Hollow, Lakewood, Park Cities (Highland Park and University Park), Turtle Creek, Oak Lawn, Uptown, Downtown, Knox-Henderson and Greenville Avenue all have unique, good restaurants.
The suburbs of Dallas are going to feel like that small town you are trying to avoid. They are also known for their chain restaurants and homogeneity. This is why you should stay south of 635.
The City of Dallas does have a good dog ordinance for eating on patios with your dog, etc...
If you really like Austin you might check out Lakewood - it's more laid-back than the North Dallas and Park Cities areas. It's also less expensive and you might stand a better chance of getting a larger lot - there are many estates. Lakewood is on the west shore of White Rock Lake. Forest Hills, on the south shore, has lots that are uniformly almost .5 acre. There are quite a few new-builds in there mixed up with character homes and early rambling ranch homes. The Dallas Arboretum is literally across the street. There are a lot of unique shops and restaurants in the Lakewood/M-Streets/Greenville/Henderson area but the foodie restuarants are mostly in the Oak Lawn/Turtle Creek/Uptown area. However, Lakewood has a Whole Foods and is very convenient to Central Market and a lot of the more in-the-know obscure food and wine providers such as Jimmy's Market, Mozzerella Company, Rudolph's Butcher, Civello's Pasta, Dallas Affaires and Society bakeries, Two Sisters Catering, Stoney's Wine, Times Ten Cellars, Calais Winery and 10 minutes from Farmer's Market downtown. Many chefs and caterers live in the area.
It's a lot like a small town in the big city. It has the best public schools in Dallas. I don't know what you have in mind as far as privates but the best ones are located in North Dallas, which would be 20-30 minutes drive, depending on the time of day. Be careful as many of the lesser privates are hit and miss as many were formed to obviate children from attending the public schools during desegregation.
If you really like Austin you might check out Lakewood - it's more laid-back than the North Dallas and Park Cities areas. It's also less expensive and you might stand a better chance of getting a larger lot - there are many estates. Lakewood is on the west shore of White Rock Lake. Forest Hills, on the south shore, has lots that are uniformly almost .5 acre. There are quite a few new-builds in there mixed up with character homes and early rambling ranch homes. The Dallas Arboretum is literally across the street. There are a lot of unique shops and restaurants in the Lakewood/M-Streets/Greenville/Henderson area but the foodie restuarants are mostly in the Oak Lawn/Turtle Creek/Uptown area. However, Lakewood has a Whole Foods and is very convenient to Central Market and a lot of the more in-the-know obscure food and wine providers such as Jimmy's Market, Mozzerella Company, Rudolph's Butcher, Civello's Pasta, Dallas Affaires and Society bakeries, Two Sisters Catering, Stoney's Wine, Times Ten Cellars, Calais Winery and 10 minutes from Farmer's Market downtown. Many chefs and caterers live in the area.
It's a lot like a small town in the big city. It has the best public schools in Dallas. I don't know what you have in mind as far as privates but the best ones are located in North Dallas, which would be 20-30 minutes drive, depending on the time of day. Be careful as many of the lesser privates are hit and miss as many were formed to obviate children from attending the public schools during desegregation.
Good point. And there's nothing like the White Rock dog park and White Rock Lake itself for the "dog friendliness" factor.
Location: Currently SA TX, but who knows where next..
10 posts, read 14,815 times
Reputation: 11
Awesome Thanks for all of your help. This has certainly helped me narrow down and expand my search at the same time... :-) Would you all guess that January is your worst cold Month and Julyor August your worst warm month... I want to make sure we visit at the worst possible times, that way if we can handle those, we know we will like it there. Also forgot to mention, my husband and I originally grew up in the Northeast, so we can handle the cold, but don't want super long NorthEast winters that are 6 months long. We have been around in each climate zone, so I am pretty sure that we are going to like Dallas. It certainly has everything that San Antonio is missing, so I don't think it will be a bad decision to move there...
Thanks again!
Awesome Thanks for all of your help. This has certainly helped me narrow down and expand my search at the same time... :-) Would you all guess that January is your worst cold Month and Julyor August your worst warm month... I want to make sure we visit at the worst possible times, that way if we can handle those, we know we will like it there. Also forgot to mention, my husband and I originally grew up in the Northeast, so we can handle the cold, but don't want super long NorthEast winters that are 6 months long. We have been around in each climate zone, so I am pretty sure that we are going to like Dallas. It certainly has everything that San Antonio is missing, so I don't think it will be a bad decision to move there...
Thanks again!
It's going to be marginally cooler than San Antonio and just as hot. It does ice or snow once a year. Sometimes it sticks for a whole day, sometimes just a couple hours. I guarantee you a big fat paycheck that Dallas won't have any 6 month long winters.
August is probably the hottest. February is generally the coldest.
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