Thoughts on SE or SW suburbs? Red Oak, Cedar Hill, Forney, etc. (Dallas: crime rates)

[bdlee73]

First, that you very much for all of the information contributed on this board.

Any thoughts on the SW and SE suburbs such as Red Oak, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Forney, or Seagoville?

My wife and I may relocate to the Dallas area next summer. Since I will be working near Love Field, I have been looking at housing in a lot of the SW and SE suburbs of Dallas. We’re newlyweds, I’m just finishing college, and this will be our first home purchase, so we are looking for a home priced 150k max. The northern suburbs appear to be out of the question due to price and the horrible traffic. We also want a new or near new home that will be energy efficient, so an older home in a more established area is not an option. We have a dog, so a small yard is important and my wife wants to be sure she we live where she will be concerned about safety. Momof2dfw has provided some suggestions, but they are either too expensive or older homes. I know our budget and considerations will limit our choices to “cookie cutter tract home”, but that will work for this time in our lives.

Thanks!

[GoPadge]

A lot of the southern cities have tract home developments at prices at your price range. There are several along the Mansfield/Arlington border, between 360 and 157. My father lives in Mansfield and from what I understand violent crime is relatively low. Red Oak and Waxahachie also have developments that would fit your budget. I'd recommend staying closer to I-35E if you have the option, traffic up 35 seems to be better than along 360 or Loop 12.

As a for instance, I drive 70 miles one way from Milford, TX (20 miles South of Waxahachie,) to Plano every day and my travel time most days is right at 75 - 90 minutes (average speed 46 - 56mph.) Based on my WAGs and calculations you should be able to make the 27 mile trip from Red Oak to Love field along i-35E in about 45 minutes.

[ricwil]

Any thoughts on the SW and SE suburbs such as Red Oak, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Forney, or Seagoville?

Cedar Hill is a growing shopping and chain restaurant mecca for the whole of south Dallas county. Traffic commutes from 6:30 am to 8:30 am; all of 45 minutes via Hwy 67/I35 and thru downtown to Lovefield. After 8:30 am you could be there in 30 minutes. You can cut thru Oakcliff to get in Lovefield area and avoid the Downtown mess (via north sylvan which turns into wycliff over the trinity river). After 8:30 am you could be there in 30 minutes. The same minutes in reverse on the commute home from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Please note: traffic in Dallas downtown freeeways can snarl at anytime of any day including weekends.
Cedar Hill as a nice lake nearby (Joe Poole) with marinas, the Oasis restaurant that floats on the lake, a huge state park hugging its shore that's hilly, has lots of trees and is known for its challenging mountain bike trails along with something there for just about anybody. Most people move here after finding those far-away, traffic-clogged, north Dallas suburbs are too pricey. Cedar Hill has lots of tract homes but are relatively new (and up to code) as most the homes here have been built in the last 15 years. However, the city is pushing, and getting, high-end custom homes now.

South of Beltline and west of I-35, crime rates are relatively low, while going east of I-35 to Hwy 175, crime rates increase. The SE Dallas suburbs as well as SE Dallas has very high crime and poverty. Its mostly an industrial area with prisons as its major employers. This includes Wilmer, Hutchins and Balch Springs. I do not recommend living there. I only hear of corruption from their school boards and city councils respectively.

Lancaster has a historical downtown and many old restored homes but is growing into perhaps the largest city on the south side in the next 10 years due to University of North Texas Dallas campus and the Dallas Logistics center for trading and transportation going in nearby. Lancaster has good highway infrastucture with I-45 that gets you to Downtown Dallas in less time than any other freeway. If considering this town, stay away from Ten mile creek as it will flood into nearby neighborhoods.

Red Oak, and Waxachachie are safe, family-friendly towns. Waxachachie has lots of character. I-35 construction is nightmarish in Red Oak as they continue to widen the freeway south of the metroplex. Also keep in mind I-20 is well known (at least locally) for its brutish and heavy truck traffic.

[bdlee73]

Thanks for the great info. I've been doing a lot of research into these suburbs and crime was a bit of a concern. Cedar Hill appears to be in a resurgance, so I may check it out.

From reading this board, the north suburbs appear to also have their share of crime problems- and very bad traffic, so I suppose you their isn't anywhere you can be completely safe.

[GoPadge]

Oh, crime is practically non-existant in my town. Some petty high school stuff, but no murders, violent crimes, or robberies.

Of course there's no business, and 75% of the residents are economically disadvantaged, and the commute is aweful. There's always a catch.

[momof2dfw]

"Any thoughts on the SW and SE suburbs such as Red Oak, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Forney, or Seagoville? "


Of these I would look at Cedar Hill and Forney. Seagoville is a HUGE NO! There is a prison right there. Not a great area at all. Very low end industrial mixed usage. I-20 gets LOTS of truck traffic. Not much for other traffic but the trucks do use it as a way to go around inner Dallas to hit 30. Most of the few gas stations along that area are truck stops. City landfill is over there too. Anything around Seagoville, Balch Springs, Wilmer-Hutchins is going to be dicey. Do some research on what went down recently w/ the Wilmer-Hutchins school district and that will give you a pretty good picture of the entire area around there.

[bdlee73]

Thanks momof2dfw for the info. We'll be visiting the area in a few weeks, so we'll be able to place a "face" to all of the these places. I did live in Dallas for a year, but lived in Irving and Arlington and spent my life commuting between those cities and work in Dallas. The only other suburb I went to on a regular basis was Garland to visit family.

[momof2dfw]

bdlee,

Look on the Dallas Morning News online at dallasnews com and find the story from Sunday about the Forney public schools. The title of the article is, "Forney a model for security in schools". You may have to join to read the artice but it is free. Then you can look up anything you want to know about in the Dallas area. If you are on the homepage put your browser on the "news" on the lefthand column then in the box that pops up click on "metro". Then on the right side you will see "More Stories" then "More Metro" at the bottom of that column, click on "More Metro". The story is not quite a 1/3 of the way down, they are in date order. If you can not find it let me know and I will copy and paste it to you in a pm.

This bodes well for the Forney ISD. Kudos to them.

[heloisea3]

You may want to look at Forney, Red Oak, or Waxahachie. You didn't mention whether or not you have children. If you do, I would stay away from Lancaster. The school district there is horrible. I used to teach there, and it was a nightmare. The school district has incredibly low standards for the kids. Lancaster used to be a really nice town, but, to be honest, I wouldn't move a roach into that town now, no matter how many nice new houses they build. I lived there for one year and couldn't wait until the school year was over so that I could get the heck away from there. I couldn't leave my garage open for five minutes without some little thug trying to steal something. Crime is going up there. The town looks pretty on the outside, but there are more and more people moving in from Dallas, Wilmer, Hutchins, etc. that have few values and ghetto mentalities. Even though it is right next door to Lancaster, DeSoto has a much better school district. I don't know much about living there, but I do know that they have wonderful schools. Good luck with your search.

[dust.bunny]

I'm not sure about schools in Cedar Hill, either. We're in Red Oak & we're having parents move their kids here & out of DeSoto and Cedar Hill like crazy. We're a TEA recognized district that's growing. Not a lot of shopping here, but you can do your shopping in Cedar Hill. =)