Moving to Dallas within the next month..please help (month-to-month, price)

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by yuni_1

He was thinking about half an hour or so for the commute. We were looking for Mckinney but then realized it would be 70 miles for round trip and that was too much. We had also looked at Cedar Hill but he said that he looked it up and found there was a lot of crime. I looked it up and it looked fine so I am not sure where to go from there. He likes Grapevine but we have not found a lot of listings in our price range.

Cedar Hill's crime rate isn't that high. City-Data just updated its crime index figures for cities across the country. The national average for 2011 was 319.1, the figure for Cedar Hill was 257.6, below the national average. Since I am unsure of how City-Data calculates its crime index, I know they use the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data published annually by the FBI, which categorizes crimes as either violent (murder, rape, robbery, and assault) or property (burglary, theft, auto theft).

Using the latest figures, I calculated the 2011 violent and property crime rates per 100,000 inhabitants for all cities in the 12-county Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metro Area with a population of 5,000 or more. All of the cities I list have higher rates of violent or property crime than Cedar Hill. I also included the figures for the metro area as a whole and the state of Texas.

2011 Violent Crime Rates
788.4 Balch Springs
693.6 Greenville
681.1 Dallas
618.3 Forest Hill
603.7 Fort Worth
593.1 Everman
585.1 Addison
530.8 Cleburne
496.9 Arlington
464.3 Hurst
427.3 Terrell
422.0 Hutchins
408.5 State of Texas
402.1 Ennis
390.8 Glenn Heights
387.6 Watauga
358.4 Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area
354.4 Bedford
330.0 Grand Prairie
328.2 White Settlement
320.3 Duncanville
299.5 DeSoto
296.2 Lancaster
286.0 North Richland Hills
278.1 Mesquite
274.8 Haltom City
267.8 Denton
251.4 Royse City
242.5 Commerce
241.4 Waxahachie
234.9 Cedar Hill

Cedar Hill's violent crime rate is considerably lower than the metro and state average. Irving was mentioned as a possible option and its violent crime rate (232.7) is virtually identical to Cedar Hill's. I would also mention that the other southern suburbs of Lancaster, DeSoto, and Duncanville all have violent crime rates below the metro and state averages as well. They aren't dangerous or unsafe places to live.

2011 Property Crime Rates
6736.2 Addison
6290.5 Balch Springs
5046.8 Terrell
4997.0 Hurst
4747.3 Cleburne
4640.2 Fort Worth
4611.8 Arlington
4582.3 Mesquite
4158.6 Commerce
4047.3 Duncanville
4077.4 Greenville
3967.6 Haltom City
3888.3 Ennis
3884.1 Grand Prairie
3769.9 Garland
3716.4 Waxahachie
3635.0 Kennedale
3575.4 Everman
3515.0 Farmers Branch
3506.3 Cedar Hill
3498.5 Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area
3472.3 State of Texas

Cedar Hill's property crime rate is slightly higher than the metro and state averages, but it is nowhere near the top of the list. Irving's property crime rate (3076.4) is lower than Cedar Hill's.

Cedar Hill is a nice community with a lot of positives and great neighborhoods, so I have no problem in recommending it to you. Parts of Grand Prairie and DeSoto might also be work as well since they aren't that far from your place of employment.

[Squirl]

Repped you, ACNTX, for that!!! The only reason I can't bring myself to recommend Grand Prairie is that I don't find it geographically attractive..... I have a good friend who lives there and I much prefer Cedar Hill, North Oak Cliff or Irving for anyone needing to commute to the lower Loop 12 area. However, I did not realize you have a child who will likely enter High School while you are living here. So, I would only recommend Irving for you if you used charter or private schools. There are a couple of reasonably priced privates in Irving. Mansfield is a better choice. If you want a better high school than Mansfield, rent in Midlothian which is a recognized school district. It should be about 40-45 minute drive. My son-in-law used to work on Sylvan & loop 12 (same area as your hubby) and it took him 35 minutes between work and Midlothian (but he's a hometown boy and knows every back road). It is a highly rated school district, it has a small town feel. Its only a few exits down the highway from a mega-retail shopping area in Cedar Hill, so its a fine venue for access to shopping & restaurants.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by Squirl

I lived in Mansfield and also owned 2 houses there. The commute will be about 40 minutes.

Just about anywhere in the area will require a 40 minute commute. To me, that's the point between a short commute and a medium commute.

[yuni_1]

Hi everyone. Thank you all for all of your help on this matter. We are in Dallas now and staying in temporary housing but we need to leave soon and I am at wits end. We need to find a rental in the Mansfield high school area but we are having a hard time. Any one have any suggestions?

[Rakin]

Lease Houses are hard to find, you might get an apartment. There should be many in that area

[yuni_1]

we just need to find someplace to rent becasue we are almost out of time in our temp housing. We were looking to buy a house but have not found what we were looking for and are still trying to sell our old house. Could you suggest someplace? or a site where I can reach someone. I saw a few places that look nice but when I tried to call the phone number it always says it is out of the area. Please any information right now would be helpful.

[Rakin]

If you would like an Apartment Locater Referral, DM me your contact info... cell & email address. I can forward that to someone who might be able to help.

[Squirl]

Originally Posted by yuni_1

we just need to find someplace to rent becasue we are almost out of time in our temp housing. We were looking to buy a house but have not found what we were looking for and are still trying to sell our old house. Could you suggest someplace? or a site where I can reach someone. I saw a few places that look nice but when I tried to call the phone number it always says it is out of the area. Please any information right now would be helpful.

I sent you some listings by DM

[yuni_1]

Thank you all for your helping us locate a new residence. We found a place in Midlothian to rent until we sell our house. Now I need to know how to go about getting the electric set up. In Iowa we only had one provider so it was a no brainer on who would supply out electricity. Here we have choices. Any suggestions on who is the best?

[mrhotdog]

Originally Posted by yuni_1

Thank you all for your helping us locate a new residence. We found a place in Midlothian to rent until we sell our house. Now I need to know how to go about getting the electric set up. In Iowa we only had one provider so it was a no brainer on who would supply out electricity. Here we have choices. Any suggestions on who is the best?

this is the website to help you choose: powertochoose.org/

I just went through this, I know its confusing when you're used to only one choice. Sometimes free market isn't all that it's cracked up to be, in TX with all the choices, you end up paying more for electricity than other states IMO. It seems like your in a rush & have a lot on your plate, so just sign up for a 1yr contract with a company that gives OK rates. Next year when you talk to your neighbors you can find the best deal. I'm with Gexa, their electricity works fine, its powering my PC as I type this. The cost on the other hand...well the most I've ever paid in my 48 years on this planet.

Hope you like TX, I know I do.