Richardson Job- live Allen, Frisco, McKinney? (Dallas, Plano: HOA, how much, houses)

[canuckmom]

Husband working in Richardson - we are relocating from an Atlanta suburb (Alpharetta - lots of trees, rolling hills etc...) Prefer planned communities - swim/tennis/golf. House price between $375K to 425K. Could afford more, but not when you need to factor in up to $1000/month for property taxes - whew!!!!

Commute time important - but want to live in newer subdivision - two kids, elementary (5th) and Middle (8th). Have read all school reports and reviewed ISD's on line. Both kids on local dive team here, so high school swim/dive team important. Good middle school, high school most important.

First choice - resale in newer community with less chance of being "redistricted / rezoned" in school district. Plan to stay in house minimum of 5 years.

Besides Allen, Frisco , McKinney, are there other places to consider that fit the criteria?

Thx to you all - I have already learned a lot from these posts, but haven't seen many posts about where to live if you work in Richardson.

canuckmom (originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

[scyogi]

Welcome Canuckmom! I am a original ATL girl with several of my best girlfriends still living in the Alpharetta/Cumming area. I have been in Mckinney for 2 months. Mckinney is probably the most comparable to Alpharetta. That being said the commute to Richardson would probably be about 45 minutes. (plus or minus with wrecks/weather/construction on 75). Richardson is very pretty with older homes and beautiful shade trees. (not up to Decatur standards but that is what it reminds me of) momof2 knows a ton of info on Richardson so hopefully she will jump in with some info for you. Resales right now are a great choice in Mckinney, due to all the new construction. Many are well below market and some only being 2-3 years old. Stonebridge Ranch is a really large planned community in Mckinney within your price range. Swim team you can find here--dive team, unsure. My daughter takes Gymnastics in Allen--equally a great area of town. The High School in Allen (on Hwy5) is HUGE. We looked in Frisco, I personally did not like the 'look' of Frisco. Seemed flatter...less trees. Every house we looked at had the smallest yard I have ever seen. As far as the redistricing of schoos here...I don't have any experience with that....YET. Several parents do mention it when you talk to them. Just look carefully at the ISD web sites. Mckinney's ISD web site states that if the class that your child in enrolled in is at capacity that they can send you to a overflow school. I would not trust what the realtor says is your school. I would go visit those schools just to make sure that the schools listed on any home flyer is actually the school your child would go to when you move. Good luck with the move!

[momof2dfw]

Richardson is fine to live in and if you want the newer subdivision feel then head to far east Richardson. Some of the areas out this way even though they are in the City of Richardson they may be Plano schools. In the far east area you have where Richardson, Garland, Plano, Murphy, Parker, Lucas, Allen all kind of meet together and intermingle to some extent. The school district boundry lines do not always follow city limit lines. Basically if it is in Collin County it will be Plano ISD, Dallas County is Richardson ISD. The schools for Richardson are going to be a little bit older and no new high schools since - gosh........ Berkner??? I personlly would not mind living in Richardson and you will find lots of large parks, bike paths, sports fields, etc. Breckinridge Park for one. Bob Woodruff Park is in Plano. You will find people that work in Richardson live anywhere from Rockwall, Mesquite, Garland, Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Allen, McKinney and on. Richardson is a fairly well centrally located suburb of Dallas on the north side. If you want older homes w/ large trees, creeks and such then the Canyon Creek area is one to check out. You can live in Canyon Creek and not have the HOA clubhouse or pool but you can join Canyon Creek Country Club and have access to all of that and golf and much more. Many of the homes while they are older are updated. VERY NICE AREA! But if you want new then no this would not be the area.

As for the school attendance boundries changing - this is something that is really bothering Frisco and McKinney. It tends to make the news every fall and already did this week. The parents are mad their kids are getting moved to the new school or having to change for one reason or another. This is a problem that I believe parents should accept if they are wanting to move to an area that not just 10 years ago was mostly farmland and now is just another new large subdivision after another.

My suggestion - visit and drive around in every direction and see what you like. There is SO MUCH to choose from that I would not limit myself to just one or two places.

[FarNorthDallas]

I have family in Cumming (formerly they were in Dunwoody) and have been to Alpharetta many times.

I would look at Twin Creeks in Allen or Stonebridge Ranch in McKinney. Frisco may be too out of the way. Maybe not. At least with Allen and McKinney you could come straight down 75. No tolls. If you were in Frisco you might find your best route to Richardson is via tollways.

I know Allen High School has a swimming and diving team. McKinney has several high schools. Allen, just the one big one. Allen is a lot smaller than McKinney. Have you been to the districts' websites?

Here's Allen High School's swimming and diving page
Allen Independent School District (http://www.allenisd.org/Web/New%20Athletics/SwimmingDivingHome.html - broken link)

I'm pretty sure McKinney High Schools offer swimming and diving, too.

[average_joe]

I live in Mckinney and used to work in Richardson. It's about a 25-30 minute drive. I worked at Texas Instruments which is actually on the Dallas border, so your h's commute shouldn't be too bad. Not sure where you are getting the $1000 per month property tax info from, but it is certainly not that bad. My home is in the $200k's and my taxes average $6000. Centex is building a new development just off of Virginia Parkway. It is directly across the street from Minshew Elem. and the middle school is about a 1/4 mile away. The homes are absolutely gorgeous. My wife and I went to the models and we were actually considering selling ours and buying there. We were that impressed. The development is Cambridge. Very nice scenery all around the area. Not as nice as GA or NC, but nice for TX. Good luck with your move.

[canuckmom]

Thanks to everyone for the great input - I am flying out to DFW for Labor Day Weekend to look around.

FYI...I have checked out all the school sites and think I am on the right track with looking at Allen, Frisco, McKinney (although my husband thinks McKinney might be too long of a commute - he works for Samsung in Richardson).

In fact, Stonebridge Ranch in McKinney was developed by the same people who developed the subdivision that I currently live in (Windward in Alpharetta). Our subdivision here is about 2O years (our house is about 15 years old) so hubby wants newer this time. That is why he has kinda ruled out Plano, Richardson etc...

What about Murphy? A coworker suggested it is the next "up & coming" Metroplex suburb. But not sure how much "infrastructure" is in place - recreation, shopping, entertainment etc.....

Any views/news on Murphy would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Lakewooder]

Plano is too old...omg I thought I would never live to hear that!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Plano is too old...omg I thought I would never live to hear that!

You and me both, lmao. hahahhahaha. Well now for the record as a native I knew there were "old" areas of Plano and always got a good chuckle out of newbie's going on and on about how "new" it all is. If only they ever ventured out of their own little bubble of their part of that burb.

[unexpected]

Murphy is an incredibly strange place. You can buy a nice pad there, with a big lot, but the surrounding area is just all countryside. There's not really any malls or shopping or anything.

I wouldn't believe the hype about a "new" suburb...it's been around for a while, and no one has chosen to live there. Most growth in North Dallas happens around the Tollway, since that's where most of the office space is.

Also, last time I checked, Murphy is zoned to Plano East High School. This is my alma mater. If i had to send my own kids there- well, I wouldn't.

I think you can find houses in West plano with a better commute. Plano is basically decaying East of Coit, but the Deerfield/Whiffletree area should have houses in your price range.

As far as master-planned communites go- well we don't have that much in that direction going on in texas.

And remember: property taxes can be balanced out with no state income tax!