You Pick! (Dallas, Plano, Richardson: rent, houses, asbestos)

[PanTerra]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I agree with you about Richardson being awesome and one of DFW's best-kept secrets,

You're not helping!

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by PanTerra

You're not helping!

With....?

For a lot of people, Richardson won't be on the radar despite its awesomeness because they either don't want to live around minorities or they want a brand-spanking new house because they think 50s houses are lead and asbestos-infested crapholes.

[PanTerra]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

With....?

With keeping it a secret, of course. Shhhhh.

[BiGeek]

I like some parts of Richardson but I wouldn't buy for more than $350k, for $500k or up you can get best public school, nicer area and other amenities in West Plano. I love Park Cities but I wouldn't buy there unless I had $2 million. What you read here must be taken with a grain of salt.

[Pete53FR]

Lakewood

[GripeWater]

Originally Posted by Pete53FR

Lakewood

Great location but public schools not so great.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by GripeWater

Great location but public schools not so great.

Stop trolling Lakewooder......

[MurphyPl1]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Lakewood - unless you like sitting in traffic all day. Also IB (in addition to AP) is offered in the Lakewood secondary schools - it's not offered at the other choices except Coppell (and East Plano).

In which case the Richardson choice moves up IMO. But only on the PISD part.

[MurphyPl1]

Originally Posted by Texas is only OK

I am highly unlikely to ever have a budget of 500k for a house, and certainly not while my kids are still with me, and even if I did I would be more likely to buy a 200k house here and a 300k apartment in Mendocino county!
Despite all of that, I will never live anywhere but Richardson as long as I have kids in school. The schools are just as good if not better than Plano schools, and Richardson is not quite as pretentious (although the entire Metroplex is more pretentious than most places I have lived, including SoCal). Also, Richardson has more diversity, which is something I look for in raising my kids. Just look at the smaller picture for you and your kids- what do you see around you as you are grocery shopping? What do your kids see in the hallways of their schools and in their classrooms? Day to day experiences are what end up making you love or hate where you live. Richardson has everything I want (except that I wish I had the money to update my house). Since Plano is 5 minutes away, anything that Richardson doesn't have is a short drive. Then, if you want to see sports, concerts, art, etc, you only have to go 20 minutes opposite of Plano. Perfect location. Great schools. Great city management. Diversity. Richardson has it all.

Funny, I live in Murphy which is PISD and when I went to Moonlight Movies the other night, not only did I see Asians, whites, blacks, Muslims and hispanic people, I also saw them as my neighbors not just as signs of diversity. To me that's what sets Murphy apart. Richardson has pockets of diversity, Murphy IS diverse. Every street. And we're small enough that most everyone knows someone when they go to the grocery store - they aren't just looking at diversity.

[elan]

I couldn't stand driving in traffic day in and day out, so I picked Park Cities. I'd have to rent though, wouldn't find anything to buy for half a million. It's not on your list, but what I'd really do is buy in North Dallas and send my kids to private school.