600-700K, would you buy a small house in University Park or a nice house in Colleyville/ Southlake (Dallas: apartment, neighborhoods)

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by thebears1982

Padcrasher, what "declining nearby neighborhoods" do you speak of near HP/UP? Everything surrounding the Park Cities is nice.

Not really... The area just to the northwest of the Park Cities around Love Field is pretty sketchy. So is Maple Avenue...

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by padcrasher

UP/HP has the virtual same real estate market as Southlake. The home values rise and fall on the same set of variables. Both cities have zoned out low income housing and have small single high school districts with no low income students. While UP/HP is closer to cultural/entertainment attractions, Southlake is closer to DFW airport and is more removed from declining nearby neighborhoods.

Hey, last I checked, about 2% of Southlake students were "economically disadvantaged", so there are SOME still there.

I'd also agree that "better location" is situational, and obviously 600K-700K in Southlake can buy something considerably larger and newer on a far larger lot than the same amount in UP (and as noted, there are very few choices in that price range in UP, but many in Southlake. Hell, we're looking 200K below that range and finding plenty of attractive candidates in Southlake).

That said, although CISD's metrics are very good, HPISD's are better (although that gap appears to have closed a bit recently at least at the high school level, normal caveats about variations in data, etc.). TC80 speaks often about the "concierge" level of municipal services in Park Cities. Again, if one is working close to downtown Dallas and/or wants to be closer to attractions that offers, UP would be favored.

Again, they're much different types of affluent communities with their own distinct character. In addition to thinking about commute times (if any), the OP should visit both areas to get a feel for them, if they haven't already.

[Lakewooder]

I would say remember the three most important rules of Real Estate...your choice is clear.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Not really... The area just to the northwest of the Park Cities around Love Field is pretty sketchy. So is Maple Avenue...

That's true, but that's true of living in central neighborhoods in ANY city. A mile north of the richest zip code in the country (10020 in NYC's UES, median annual income $800k) is Spanish Harlem, which is filled with projects and probably a sub $30k annual income. Very different crime rates between UES and Spanish Harlem, too.

Yes, if you drive a few miles outside the Park Cities (or Lakewood, Preston Hollow, Uptown, and even West Plano), you'll find low income neighborhoods. So what?! The crime rate in the Park Cities is near zero. Most of the crimes are petty & preventable (ie,LV wallet worth $500 with $1000 in cash taken from unlocked car vs home invasions & armed robberies).

[Lakewooder]

Actually parts of Maple are changing quite a bit - starting with the Crow holdings north of Oak Lawn up to Love Field. Some are predicting quite a renaissance of the Love Field area with the end of the Wright Amendment.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Not really... The area just to the northwest of the Park Cities around Love Field is pretty sketchy. So is Maple Avenue...

For the love Pete ChristieP you are talking about....

A. A tiny UP border area. What 2% of the city?
B. That area is gentrifying as we speak and may well be the best buy area in all of TPC. The city of Dallas has a specific focus on the Love Field area much as it has had in Uptown over the last number of years.
C. Maple along the boundary with TPC is mostly businesses and a lot of it does not border UP.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by EDS_

For the love Pete ChristieP you are talking about....

A. A tiny UP border area. What 2% of the city?
.

Actually, ZERO % of UP or HP directly borders the sketchy neighborhoods that are in proximity to HP/UP. There are signficicant buffers all the way around, such as the Tollroad and the the entire Devonshire/ Greenway Parks/ Bluffview neighborhoods before hitting the sketchy areas around Love Field or across Northwest Highway and across 75 before hitting the Five Points area.

I repeat, it's a NON-ISSUE and someone is really searching for the proverbial "pea" in the "princesses mattress" to call out proximity to bad neighborhoods as a "con" to picking HPISD over Southlake or Colleyville.

[Lakewooder]

People often think Greenway Parks is part of University Park...puzzling.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Actually, ZERO % of UP or HP directly borders the sketchy neighborhoods that are in proximity to HP/UP. There are signficicant buffers all the way around, such as the Tollroad and the the entire Devonshire/ Greenway Parks/ Bluffview neighborhoods before hitting the sketchy areas around Love Field or across Northwest Highway and across 75 before hitting the Five Points area.

I repeat, it's a NON-ISSUE and someone is really searching for the proverbial "pea" in the "princesses mattress" to call out proximity to bad neighborhoods as a "con" to picking HPISD over Southlake or Colleyville.

It's just flabbergasting.

We talking about one of the nation's finest towns/neighborhoods - and some seem to think it's a sketchy area. I'm almost speechless. Most of the buffer neighborhoods you mentioned are awesome.


BTW - I wrote UP above two or three times when I meant HP but you get the drift.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

People often think Greenway Parks is part of University Park...puzzling.

What's up with that?