Frisco (gated) vs Plano West

[Newbe10]

Originally Posted by jammertk10

So after discovering these forums and reading them until 3 a.m. last night I thought I'd make a post and get some information from the community. We are considering a move up after long years of saving and preparation. Our location is in East Frisco, but we are considering a move to West Frisco or West Plano (75093). Below are the factors I have taken in to consideration thus far:

Kids/Education - Right now we have one child out of the house, but still fairly local (at SMU), one will be a junior in the Fall at a FISD high school, and the third is the young one, just heading in to Middle School. From what I have read it seems that the general consensus is that Frisco schools do not provide the opportunities that Plano schools do, however my oldest has already done well scholarship wise and his younger sister (junior) is comfortable where she is. As our final 'move in date' time frame is 18-24 months down the road I would think PISD would only be a viable option for the younger child, and at that only for maybe 8-12th grades. Our family meeting revealed flexibility in the younger child and an adamant desire from the junior to remain at her current high school. All three kids were open and supportive of a move to a new neighborhood.

Work/Commute - Currently I work from home and travel around 30% of the time, always out of Dallas/Fort Worth International or Love Field Airport; my wife works in Irving around McArthur and the George Bush Tollway, right now her commute varies between 45-75 minutes each way every day from Stonebrook/DNT to GBT/McArthur.

Safety - The 'safety' of the gated neighborhoods in Frisco really appeals to us, as of right now with a budget of 500-780k we have considered Starwood, Latera, Stonebriar (neighborhood across Legacy that is in FISD). I am not sure on the safety of the ungated neighborhoods in Plano, maybe it's just my paranoia, but we have considered neighborhoods along Willow Bend in Plano as well as Avignon which was gorgeous until we drove up to the water tower.

Resale Value - From what I have read West Plano seems to have an established presence and as follows an excellent resale value over the long term which is important to us. When we pass away we want to leave in our estate a property that won't have depreciated 40% from the price we bought it at. This is one anxiety/issue with Frisco. I haven't read too many opinions on how it will develop and hold it's value over the long term (30-40 years), especially with higher priced homes.

Neighborhood - Our first home was in a vibrant neighborhood even though it cost half of what our current house does. We had our neighbors over for dinner all the time and watched our oldest children grow up together. When we moved we lost all of that and have been missing it for the past 8 years or so. When we relocate again we want to make sure the neighborhood where we move will have some sort of reputation for connectedness. Looking at the Willow Bend HOA it seems as if the planned community activities add a lot of spice and this is attractive. Latera's lack of establishment provokes some uncertainty as well.

New vs. Established Construction - In Latera specifically we love the grand entry of the double staircase in some of the Toll Brothers plans and the flow of the house works well for entertaining and our family's active lifestyle. Now after googling 'Toll Brothers Reviews' I have been quickly scared, however many of those reviews are from 2004-2008, if anyone has insight on Toll Brothers' recent construction and even such construction in Latera it would be greatly appreciated. For a 3700-5000 sqft plan in our price range (500-780k) what builder would you recommend out of the still developing neighborhoods in Frisco and Plano? If we build new we have no issue with visiting 3 times a week to check up on the development. This is an exciting phase of life for us.

Thanks for all the insights and wisdom you may provide.

Greatly Appreciated

J

Not to be super-duper trite, but unlike what Plano Girl says on here, Frisco is NOT growing as fast as what people have been saying. Frisco's 2010 population was 102,000. The earlier counts of 116,989 are incorrect.

Why does this matter?? It matters if you are looking for a steadily developing area to move to with good schools vs. an area that is growing too fast for its own good. McKinney is a great example of this, having grown from just 54,000 to 150,000 in 2010.

IMHO, Frisco is a great place for you to live based on your criteria.

[BiGeek]

IMHO Frisco doesn't make any sense once your daughter is done with her schooling. If I were you, I would find some small old money neighborhood in West Plano or University Park with at least some people with older children or empty nesters. I wouldn't go with a huge new subdivision with tons of children parading around.

[frenzyrider]

Originally Posted by BiGeek

IMHO Frisco doesn't make any sense once your daughter is done with her schooling. If I were you, I would find some small old money neighborhood in West Plano or University Park with at least some people with older children or empty nesters. I wouldn't go with a huge new subdivision with tons of children parading around.

Correct.. I would live where there are no teen aged kids....

[frenzyrider]

Originally Posted by Newbe10

Not to be super-duper trite, but unlike what Plano Girl says on here, Frisco is NOT growing as fast as what people have been saying. Frisco's 2010 population was 102,000. The earlier counts of 116,989 are incorrect.

Why does this matter?? It matters if you are looking for a steadily developing area to move to with good schools vs. an area that is growing too fast for its own good. McKinney is a great example of this, having grown from just 54,000 to 150,000 in 2010.

IMHO, Frisco is a great place for you to live based on your criteria.

I don't know where you are getting numbers from but 2010 frisco population is 116k with an estimated 129k by 2012 per the govt website
Frisco (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

And it has grown faster than McKinney!

[frenzyrider]

OP, why do you need a gated community and what are your thoughts on Richwoods which is east frisco (your current location) if you are adamant on gated community...

[jammertk10]

The cited examples of the petty crime that cannot be avoided was an interesting perspective on the lack of gated neighborhood necessity. I drove through some neighborhoods off of Willow Bend in West Plano and was very pleased with what I saw. My wife and I loved the area and it seemed to have mature landscaping as well as a sort of presence. I am not stuck to the gated neighborhood, I mentioned it out of curiosity and to gather opinions on the necessity.

From what I've seen the houses in HP/UP are predominantly 1,000,000+ unless these realtors/sellers are discounting by quite a bit. I can also see that people have quite a few different perspectives on Frisco. When we were younger the growth was appealing and affordable, but I think as we move in to that 'empty nester' phase in the next 5-10 years we will appreciate the established neighborhoods in WP/HP/UP (if we can afford the latter two).

Once again, thank you for all the information you all are providing. New perspective helps quite a bit.

J

[bencronin04]

We were recently offered a hip pocket deal in HP for a small tudor at 595K. Too bad it was on a busy street though. The deals are there, just have to get lucky sometimes.

Original hardwood floors downstairs, with new carpet in the master, and the three bedrooms upstairs. 4 bedrooms, with a study. 2.5 baths, Within walking distance to Bradfield Elementary and HPV. 2164 square feet. Two car detached garage, iron fence & gate, deck, and a real backyard.

[bencronin04]

Oh it went to market, looks like no one was interested.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...5_M77883-59491

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

Oh it went to market, looks like no one was interested.

4529 Mockingbird Ln, Highland Park, TX 75205 - New Home for Sale - realtor.com®

There is a contract on it (option status), so someone was interested. That's a tough stretch of Mockingbird to be on, traffic-wise.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

There is a contract on it (option status), so someone was interested. That's a tough stretch of Mockingbird to be on, traffic-wise.

Especially so close to DNT....poor house, it was there before the tollroad was!