What you miss most after moving from Plano (Dallas, Austin: apartments, low crime)

[nonexpat]

I thought a thread about what those of us who have moved from Plano miss might be helpful to people thinking about relocating here. It is also fun to compile such lists. I did it for Wisconsin a few months ago.

1. The excellent public schools. I took these for granted when I lived there, but Plano truly has fine schools. My children have been way ahead of the pack both in Austin and Albuquerque because of the elementary education they had in Plano. No doubt Plano schools were much more demanding as well.

2. The shopping. I miss Nordstrom Rack, and all of those stores at the corner of Park and Preston. I lived in Wentworth Estates--so conveniently located close to that intersection, close to The Shops at Willow Bend and not too far from Ikea and Stonebriar.

3. The beautiful neighborhoods. I live next to a mountain now, so you can't beat that, but Plano neighborhoods are very well-kept with pretty landscaping and pretty houses. I went back to visit last month and everything was green and blooming.

4. Reasonable housing prices. You truly get a lot of house for your money in Plano compared to many other well-to-do suburbs in this country.

5. Many good restaurants. Many people like to complain that Plano is the home of chains, but it also has good local places and local chains. I miss Zorba's, Tzitzikis, Mango, Jasmine I, II, and III and Jaspers along with a bunch of others.

6. The Park and Rec dept. with all of their classes and the beautiful Muehlenbeck Center.

7. The ethnic diversity and emphasis on respecting this diversity in the schools.

8. The lack of serious crime and the police department that takes its job seriously. Since I have moved, I can really see the difference unfortunately.

9. The neighborhood parties and general comaraderie of my neighborhood.

10. The proximity to downtown Dallas, the museums, theaters, etc. It was just a short drive to get to a cultural center.

Those are ten for starters. What do you miss about Plano? Later I might start a thread about what I don't miss.

[Shayne_]

Originally Posted by nonexpat

1. The excellent public schools. I took these for granted when I lived there, but Plano truly has fine schools. My children have been way ahead of the pack both in Austin and Albuquerque because of the elementary education they had in Plano. No doubt Plano schools were much more demanding as well.

What do you mean when you say demanding?

[Nujersey]

Mostly reasonable weather 8/12 months, affordable luxuryish housing, great schools, being able to reach everything in minutes, variety of dinning options, recreation center, abundance of shopping, diversity, family friendly vibe.

[nonexpat]

Originally Posted by Shayne_

What do you mean when you say demanding?

I mean more is expected from the students. There is more homework and the expectations are high. The schools are highly competitive. This could be seen as a negative as well, but that's for another thread. I started this thread to discuss what people who left Plano miss. I believe that not as much is expected from students or teachers here in Albuquerque, and that makes me sad.

[ggolf]

Golf courses nearby including Ridgeview Ranch, which as a muni is actually pretty good. God bless those 6 lane roads both north/south and east/west. I went back to Philly and Chicago where I lived before. Both cities have grown a lot, yet a lot of the main roads are still 2 lanes. Traffic hell.

[carroll4628]

Strange, with Sandia nat lab in Alb I would expect all those PHDs in nuclear physics and nano tech would demand better schools for their kids? Must all be private...or their spending too much time in the lab to notice...

[nonexpat]

Originally Posted by carroll4628

Strange, with Sandia nat lab in Alb I would expect all those PHDs in nuclear physics and nano tech would demand better schools for their kids? Must all be private...or their spending too much time in the lab to notice...

My husband is one of those Ph.D's at Sandia. Many of them do send their kids to private or try to move to the area with the best public schools. We live in that area, but they still aren't comparable to Plano. New Mexico is the second poorest state in the country, so the funding isn't like Plano.

[RCtennis3811]

Things I miss about Plano:

1. Wide, clean roads that are always "rehabilitated" meaning there are almost no potholes in Plano.

2. Ease of accessibility to 4 freeways to get anywhere in the Metroplex.

3. Friendliness of people, especially at gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores, and banks.

[TheOverdog]

My favorite things:
1) good schools
2) well timed traffic lights to handle the heavy traffic. I hate going to Richardson due to their poorly timed traffic lights.
3) huge number of supermarkets. Never been to another city with more supermarkets
4) rear entry garages. Mcmansions with huge garages in front are really unattractive.
5) the alpaca farm in the middle of town. Own your farming roots!
6) That Plano takes DART relatively seriously.
7) The Rec Centers are excellent.
8) Numerous parks.
9) Proximity to fun. I don't really consider Plano to be a 'fun' city, but I lived in McKinney for a short while and considered it much more beautiful, but 40 miles of driving to get to fun was a real drag. I wouldn't move back to McKinney unless I was retired.
10) low crime.
11) That Plano is a relatively dark city at night.
12) That Plano's section of N Central Expressway is relatively decent, compared to Richardson & McKinney's Ghetto and Allen's office buildings.
13) The tollways. Many here seem not to like them, but I like them just fine.

Hate about Plano:
1) That the entire city was designed and built by Conservative Republicans, which means about $1 in $100 went to beautification. There are tons of parks, but they are all just fields. No public arts or sculpture to speak of. All art in the city is part of a commerical property.
2) Lack of visible water. I'm pretty sure Lubbock TX has more visible bodies of water, and that's saying something. Plano has creeks everywhere too. That they are treated as such an afterthought should be a crime.
3) That 50% of the city land is parking lots for decrepit strip malls. The building in the front, parking in the rear morons. Like the houses. Like Las Vegas.
4) That the city doesn't tear down those awful strip malls in the middle of town to build better things, but rather concentrates every dollar on the outskirts and edges of town. I will say at least they are learning with the thing on Legacy, and not following Fairview's footsteps with their massive development straight out the '80s.
5) That all the major intersection light sineage is burned out, and the city doesn't seem to care. I had some relatives come to visit and they couldn't find their way around at night because they had no idea what block they were on because all the lighted signage was burned out.
6) That many of the apartments still don't have fences around them.
7) That Plano is not at all walking friendly. The bike signs recently thrown up don't really cut it.
8) The lack of outdoor patio eating. I don't really care about weather that much, but the weather is fine 6 months out of the year or more; there should be more outdoor places to eat. I kind of think there aren't because Plano is so plain-o.

[DitsyD]

/whispered aside/Those are llamas @Custer&Park