"Urban Communities" in the suburbs...Far North Dallas (Plano: sales, real estate)

[storygal]

Is anyone familiar with mixed use living areas on Plano and Frisco? The Plano one has a very popular area with stores, restaurants mixed with apartments and townhomes. And Frisco town square is now developing that area. But with the market the way it is, it looks like it's slowing down.
My question is for anyone living in those areas...or looking into moving there.

Also, I realize townhomes tend not to appreciate as much as traditional homes. But because of the location...with its easy access to stores, 'events', etc. will it be a better opportunity, you think? Although the parking can be a pain! You couldn't have a large party.

[momof2dfw]

Garland also has an area w/ kind of an "urban setting" for residential at the mall. The apartments/condos just opened up a few months ago and they are already going strong. I think it would be a GREAT place to live as you would not have to get in your car to go for a nice walk outside since the mall is an open air mall. Go shop, dine & catch a movie w/o getting in your car. They have a nice sized parking garage and the way the setup is if you had a party w/ a lot of guests there is a TON of open parking in the parking lot right across the small interior street. No fear of getting a car towed by being parked on a side street or anything.

[Lakewooder]

Plano and Frisco already have very low if any appreciation rates, even for single-family homes. Inside LBJ is three to four times higher at the minimum. There is the danger of overbuilding in central Dallas, but one recent Real Estate report for Oak Lawn showed values going up 97%. This is one of the smaller MLS areas so sales statistics sometimes are skewed - so be aware of that fact.

[storygal]

My husband works in Allen. If we move, we'd like to be closer to his work. I saw that area (Frisco Square) and thought it was wonderful...and after I saw the website where they had listed weekly farmers market, storytelling events, etc. in the center, I thought it would be a neat place for a starting family to feel a sense of community. I've lived in my neighborhood (traditional homes) for 8 years now...only know my next door neighbor. That makes me sad. (I even took over cookies for the other neighbor...but they keep to themselves.) I'd love to live in Frisco Square...but wanted to make sure it would appreciate down the road. Hoping it was like the townhomes in Southlake's Town Square. I think those are going up nicely...and so are the ones off of the Tollway on Legacy. You can't even find a vacancy there! That's got to be a great investment...even if you are comparing it with traditional homes.

[Lakewooder]

Well I certainly wouldn't want to drive from Dallas to Allen every day. I don't think even DART rail goes that far north...so I guess I can't help you this time -- good luck to you.

[lh_newbie]

There's an open-air mall going in at Stacey and Central/75 right in Allen (and Fairview, depending on which side of Stacey). I used to live just down the street from there. It should be an option for you.

[FarNorthDallas]

I'd check the high number of foreclosures in Frisco Square townhomes. There have been issues there. Also the retail that was expected has not fully materialized. You might jump over to Frisco's website because there are folks over there who now what happened in Frisco Square. Frisco-Online Community Talk Forums