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Cities may often have a lifecycle. At one time even people of more modest means did not throw trash around and kept property up, It is not that expensive to DIY. Expect more of the same with demographic changes and downward preassure on working and lower middle class wages.
For many Mesquite may still be a reasonable place to live with good security and motivated parents.
Dallas is not so bad a place to live and illiteracy may be as much as 70%.
Likely Mesquite can't be worse.
In many areas crime is not even reported unless needed for an insurance claim.
We are loosing the industrial base and social changes will only bring about more blight.
It is true the more affluent are not as effected by changes in society can could be courted by tax farmers.
Mesquite is a very nice town, with lots of good restaurants and a decent mall.
There has been a major demographic shift in Mesquite over the last 10 or 20 years. Many of the whites have fled to Sunnyvale, Forney or Rockwall. So Mesquite is probably 30% black, 30% mexican and 40% white. I know 2010 demographic data may say otherwise, but that's about what I see when in Mesquite and I go there a ton. I go there nearly daily, own property there ... and I used to live there! LOL.
My view on diversity is -> it's great and all ... but people tend to like living in their own communities. Hince the Jewish, Asians, Irish, Mexicans and other niche communities have done it for hundreds of years in older cities like New York City, Boston etc. There is nothing wrong with people of a certain group, wanting to live with people of the same group. Heck...that's still occuring now with the gays in the Oaklawn area of Dallas, Mexican's in West Oak Cliff, blacks in the southern suburbs and Asians in Garland (Jupiter & Walnut Hill in particular) and off Harry Hines. People like living with other people who are similar.
There are some older homes in Mesquite, but every older city has older homes - just look at Irving, Arlington, Garland and Richardson. Luckily Mesquite has a very intense housing inspection program - which helps keep landlords from having run down homes. The old run down homes are either owned by people who live there (or they are unoccupied), or are just old looking and actually structurally sound if they're rented.
In summation... it is still a very decent town and very comparable to Garland, Texas or Richardson, Texas. It has far better schools, police services and other city services than "Big D" ...hince many folks from Dallas have been moving there over the years. If you want a good deal on a place to live and are not afraid of diversity - its definitely a good place to live.
Last edited by dallas90210; 12-15-2011 at 06:26 AM..
I have family who've lived in Mesquite for ten years now. Their neighborhood is very quiet, solidly middle class, they have nurses, accountants and other professionals on their street. In the ten years they've been there, there has never been police sirens racing through the area, no gangs, crackheads or any other ills we associate with run down ghetto cities.
That being said, Mesquite is definitely not a luxury area, we heard of plenty of girls in the high schools who were either pregnant or single moms already. Lots of ESLs/reduced lunch folks there as well. While it is possible for kids to excel, (two of my wife's cousins graduated from Mesquite high schools and are currently in college), it definitely requires a very focused child and very hands on and involved parents. More so than would be required in more affluent areas.
Quite frankly, other than price, a town like Rockwall or Forney beats Mesquite hands down in my opinion. Hence if you can afford it, I would choose one of those two over Mesquite, and in today's economy with the great deals on the housing front, Rockwall and Forney are an option for more people. Just my 0.02
"That being said, Mesquite is definitely not a luxury area, we heard of plenty of girls in the high schools who were either pregnant or single moms already. Lots of ESLs/reduced lunch folks there as well. While it is possible for kids to excel, (two of my wife's cousins graduated from Mesquite high schools and are currently in college), it definitely requires a very focused child and very hands on and involved parents. More so than would be required in more affluent areas.
Quite frankly, other than price, a town like Rockwall or Forney beats Mesquite hands down in my opinion. Hence if you can afford it, I would choose one of those two over Mesquite, and in today's economy with the great deals on the housing front, Rockwall and Forney are an option for more people. Just my 0.02"
Not sure I would agree with all of this. I'm only familiar with the nicest part of Mesquite which would be considered the Creek Crossing area. The two nicest areas of the city feed into Poteet and Horn high schools. Never heard of a gang or teen pregnancy issues at Horn High. I will agree the Rockwall was a better area than Mesquite. They have a higher income per capita than Mesquite and they enjoy the benefits that go along with this (better schools, lower crime etc.). I would not say Forney is better but rather they are inline with Mesquite. With seeing the data I am willing to bet the schools are very similar. I have lived here 15 years and have seen flashing lights twice in my neighorbood. Once was a false alarm of a home security system and the other was a kid smoking dope in the alley. Now there are older parts of the city that are not that great but I can say this about every city in the DFW area. If your a person who likes luxury living with gated communites and golf courses Mesquite will not be the place for you. If you want area with solid middle working class with good schools and alot of diversity then you should check Mesquite out for yourself before making a decision. There are some great areas that I don't think many people are aware of.
"That being said, Mesquite is definitely not a luxury area, we heard of plenty of girls in the high schools who were either pregnant or single moms already. Lots of ESLs/reduced lunch folks there as well. While it is possible for kids to excel, (two of my wife's cousins graduated from Mesquite high schools and are currently in college), it definitely requires a very focused child and very hands on and involved parents. More so than would be required in more affluent areas.
Quite frankly, other than price, a town like Rockwall or Forney beats Mesquite hands down in my opinion. Hence if you can afford it, I would choose one of those two over Mesquite, and in today's economy with the great deals on the housing front, Rockwall and Forney are an option for more people. Just my 0.02"
Not sure I would agree with all of this. I'm only familiar with the nicest part of Mesquite which would be considered the Creek Crossing area. The two nicest areas of the city feed into Poteet and Horn high schools. Never heard of a gang or teen pregnancy issues at Horn High. I will agree the Rockwall was a better area than Mesquite. They have a higher income per capita than Mesquite and they enjoy the benefits that go along with this (better schools, lower crime etc.). I would not say Forney is better but rather they are inline with Mesquite. With seeing the data I am willing to bet the schools are very similar. I have lived here 15 years and have seen flashing lights twice in my neighorbood. Once was a false alarm of a home security system and the other was a kid smoking dope in the alley. Now there are older parts of the city that are not that great but I can say this about every city in the DFW area. If your a person who likes luxury living with gated communites and golf courses Mesquite will not be the place for you. If you want area with solid middle working class with good schools and alot of diversity then you should check Mesquite out for yourself before making a decision. There are some great areas that I don't think many people are aware of.
Reggie
I did say that my Mesquite fam had no problems with gangs or crime in general. Very peaceful in their 'hood. That being said, their kids (4 kids in total went through Mesquite schools (John Horn), 3 have graduated, one still going) would tell us of their classmates, and yes, more than a few girls were either pregnant or had kids while still in school. Now is every girl in Mesquite schools in this situation? of course not. But put it this way; I have a daughter, if she tells me that several girls in her class are either pregnant, or would like to be pregnant (the "pregnancy vow girls") then that is not reassuring. From listening to my wife's cousins talk about school, and their friends from school, I didnt get the vibe that many of them were looking to go to college. The few that did were looking at Eastfield. So no real academic ambitions. I dont know about anyone else, but I would much rather my kids be surrounded by schoolmates who are aiming to get into Harvard, and not the single mom club.
That being said, I saw a statistic somewhere which showed that Mesquite ISD had produced some grads who went on to Ivy League colleges, so like I said, it's certainly not impossible to succeed at a Mesquite school, but as a parent your eyes have to be wide open and alert...I regret to say that my wife's cousins did not do a great job. While two of their kids did go on to college, one dropped out of high school due to consistently hanging out with bad influences from school. One of the others was up and down, barely making it out. Maybe it was a parent thing, or maybe it was just bad luck. Could a change of scenery been the answer? I don't know. Take it for what you will.
We have one branch of our family in Mesquite and another branch that settled in Rockwall, both sides have kids roughly the same age. And it's interesting to hear the stories both sides tell of their experiences in school. Completely different. It really opens your eyes to the demographics and overall feel of each city. Yes Rockwall has its share of 'problems' but overall, it's nowhere near as bad as Mesquite. More kids trying to go to college, fewer dropouts. Just a better overall feel from that aspect.
As far as the TownEast Mall goes, personally I have no use for malls, I only go to them for the movie theatres or the restaurants. My wife on the other hand LOVES malls . She thinks Towneast is trashy and ghetto and refuses to go there unless she absolutely HAS to. She would rather go to Firewheel, Northpark, etc. Take that for what you will. Your mileage may vary, etc.
You say the TWO nicest areas of the city feed into Poteet and Horn high schools. If one of those areas is Creek Crossing, what is the other area?
Where is the Creek Crossing area, such as what are the street boundaries for it?
Poteet High School serves the area bounded by I-30 to the north, US Highway 80 to the south, I-635 to the west, and the Mesquite/Sunnyvale border to the east.
Don't forget about the part of Mesquite that is across La Prada from Dallas Athletic Club down to about country club drive. I think it's Shands, Vanston, NMHS for public schools, though most of the kids in the residential areas go to privates, St. Pius, etc.
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. She thinks Towneast is trashy and ghetto and refuses to go there unless she absolutely HAS to. She would rather go to Firewheel, Northpark, etc. Take that for what you will. Your mileage may vary, etc.
