Best areas to live in North Dallas? (Plano, Richardson: apartments, credit)

[Jules5]

We will likely be transfering within 4 months. That being said, we have 3 kids in school and live in Cincinnati, so limited time to come to the area to look around, drive commutes etc.
We will not rent before we buy because I need stability for my kids. I have spent hours on this site trying to get a feel for things.
Would we likely be happy in frisco or McKinney given the follow:
We are laid back, not overly competitive. I have zero interest in sending my child to boot camp on the weekend for math. While we value education, I don't think it is the end all be all.
I would prefer a good school district with a moderately sized HS so that if my children want to participate in school sports, drama, leadership they will have an opportunity. We don't mind living about 30 from downtown or in an area that houses chain restaurants. We don't have to eat there, in fact we enjoy exploring different neighborhoods and eating at new places. My husband will be working at 2900 west plano parkway. On the weekends we enjoy backyard bbqs, attending our kids recreational sports activities, biking and being outside with our golden retriever. I enjoy practicing yoga and my husband plays basketball for the over 35. My daughter,oldest, will be in fourth grade next year and has been identified as "gift" per Ohio standards. I will also have a 1st grader and one entering kdg.
I, like most, just want to raise well rounded children.

[HFamily]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

There are schools in Dallas ISD which are ranked higher than schools in some of the districts you mentioned. Funny how people "don't do their homework" on this, but claim to have knowledge to endorse certain schools over others...

There are some great schools in the district, especially the arts magnet. I said there have been too many district scandals for my liking, which effect all DISD shools. There used to be constant ISD scandals on the news- misused funds, superintendent drama, etc. and then I hear too many stories of gang violence and race wars on school property from friends who grew up in seemingly nice parts of Dallas. These are legitimate concerns for a parent.

[Considering Coming Back]

Originally Posted by HFamily

There are some great schools in the district, especially the arts magnet. I said there have been too many district scandals for my liking, which effect all DISD shools. There used to be constant ISD scandals on the news- misused funds, superintendent drama, etc. and then I hear too many stories of gang violence and race wars on school property from friends who grew up in seemingly nice parts of Dallas. These are legitimate concerns for a parent.

I suggest you stay on topic. You are out of your element Donny.

[Jules5]

Oh I forgot to add Richardson, that is also in the mix.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Jules5

Oh I forgot to add Richardson, that is also in the mix.

Richardson sounds like a good fit; if you're in the 2900 block of West Plano Parkway you don't even have to take 75 to work; you could take Custer or Waterview (turns into Independence north of 190) north instead.

Check out the 75080, 75248, and 75240 zip codes. 75080 is in Richardson, the other two are in Dallas, but most if not all neighborhoods in those Dallas zip codes are zoned to Richardson schools. I don't know where the exact boundaries are; you'd have to check. Some parts of FND are zoned to Hillcrest according to the listings, which is weird because Hillcrest is way further south between Meadow and Walnut Hill on Hillcrest Road. I would think they'd be zoned to W.T. White?? Just bear in mind that Hillcrest and White are DISD high schools so if you want to stay out of DISD, avoid those.

[Jules5]

I think I would prefer jj Pearce HS, although I don't know really.

[HFamily]

Noted, thank you. Perhaps it is a bit off topic. What the OP is looking for probably will not be in Dallas. However, as a parent, if I were moving out of state and looking for information on schools, that is some information I would want.

Jules5, I think you will be very happy in either. The lifestyle you described is spot on with what you'll find in both and the commute will be fairly quick and easy. You'll probably find more master planned communities in McKinney. Richardson has more established older homes in beautiful neighborhoods, while McKinney has a lot more newer construction homes, that is outside of the historical areas. The McKinney district is well-rated and seems to be very innovative. A teacher friend was talking about the district's plans to incorporate more technology in the classrooms to help graduate kids with valuable tech skills that are in high demand. I think this is smart, and will probably be a trend in all districts once funding is restored. I don't know as much about Richardson, other than the rankings on JJ Pearce that were previously mentioned and that they have a strong special education program. I've never heard a bad word about either district.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Jules5

I think I would prefer jj Pearce HS, although I don't know really.

I think the parts of Dallas in 75240 that are zoned to Richardson are zoned to the Richardson High School feeder pattern. 75248 seems to be solid Pearce, and 75080 north of Arapaho is zoned to Pearce as far as I know...unless it's in Collin County, in which case it is zoned to Plano ISD schools. The only part of 75080 where you'll see this is the Canyon Creek neighborhood roughly north of Lookout Drive. The real estate listings for houses will say whether they are RISD or PISD, but I would double-check if that's really important to you. I don't know anything about the PISD schools that 75080 is zoned to, but I have heard a preference for the RISD schools.

Why do you prefer Pearce? Richardson High School used to lag Pearce a lot more. Now there's hardly any daylight between the two by looking at standardized test results for the state of Texas, and the middle-class cohort of students performs just as well at RHS as it does at Pearce, so don't immediately write off RHS.

The Richardson Heights neighborhood association has a very active Facebook page and there are a lot of opinions there about the RHS feeder pattern, so if you have questions that is a good place to start. There has been some pretty vocal complaining about overcrowding at Richardson Heights Elementary School (a VERY desirable school) and some neighborhood parents have reported that their children aren't able to attend that school because it's full. That's a pretty ringing endorsement right there. I know of only one family on my street that sends their kids to private school, and they are extremely religious and want a 'Christ-centric' curriculum for their kids. The rest of the parents I've talked to send their kids to public school and are very happy with them.

[Jules5]

Looked at some houses on line in Richardson. LOVED them! Now we need to decide. I think that will take coming down and driving around.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Jules5

Looked at some houses on line in Richardson. LOVED them! Now we need to decide. I think that will take coming down and driving around.

A few houses in my neighborhood recently sold; 2 were on the market for 3 days before going under contract after multiple offers, another was on the market for 10 days I think.