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Old 11-30-2013, 07:34 AM
 
1,783 posts, read 2,558,221 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GripeWater View Post
I would say explore Plano and Far East Richardson and you'll find something decent with reasonable commute and good schools. It would be easier to decide once she knows her destination for work but these areas have access to lot of employers.
Has it been said where the OP will be commuting? My wife works at THR-Plano easy commute for her, and I work all over the place. We go to Dallas for Restraunts like Lark on occasion and perhaps North Park. That's about it.
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Old 11-30-2013, 08:58 AM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,130,593 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GripeWater View Post
Of course there are many nice pockets in Richardson and personally I prefer it over going to far flung areas but 75082 is a great value for $250k-350k. PESH is a good school and IB and health academies are good options as well. However, I would recommend exploring 75093 first to see if they can find something decent in their price range. I love it here. YMMV.
No, most of Richardson is nice with a few industrial or run-down streets. Just like Plano.

I've seen lovely neighborhoods in 082 but my main complaints about it are its proximity 190 instead of 75, the lack of supermarkets in the more affordable areas (like the neighborhood near Greenville and Renner), the massive power lines going through it, and the fact that it's zoned to PISD instead of RISD. I've heard a lot of people around here say Pearce is much better than the Plano schools that Richardson is zoned to. I don't have kids so I don't really care about schools that much, but there it is.

As for the OP...if they're not willing to go over $300k, west Plano isn't going to happen. They kept using the word "affordable", which rules that area out...especially since they don't want a fixer upper.

It seems to me like the OP is actually hell-bent on McKinney and just wants us to give her reasons to move there. There are plenty of McKinney cheerleaders here who can do that.
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Old 11-30-2013, 11:24 AM
 
1,156 posts, read 980,387 times
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I'm with BigDGeek- Don't discount Richardson. It really depends on what you want out of it for your kids. We moved to a neighborhood 3 years ago that feeds into Plano West from Jasper HS and paid just over $300k for 2,800 sf. There seem to be homes in the Robinson MS/Jasper HS area that are under $300k even right now. They will be under 2,700 sf though.

Haven't encountered many W Plano snobs, but I hear Jasper is unlike Shepton. Our kids are at Robinson MS. We've been pleased with the schools so far, but you have to look past the test scores and consider size of school, activities, course curriculum, sports, etc.

Plano West is ranked 63 nationwide in Newsweek, but it has the same amount of students for grades 11/12 that Pearce has for 9-12. McKinney North is 1,044 and Pearce is 1,230. Richardson High is 868.

2013 America's Best High Schools - Newsweek

I may be off base here, but many in Plano are incensed with sports, sports, sports. While sports are a great thing, it is not uncommon to see almost fist fights break out and arguments with other parents and refs even after the game is over at the two PSA's (Plano Sports Authorities) in Plano. And this is with the elementary school kids. While you see this happen on the news throughout the country, I have seen it on 4 occasions in just under 3 years. It might be more balanced in Richardson. I have heard it is at Lake Highlands HS in East Dallas, which I believe is in the RISD and ranks 1,762.

Also, there is nothing wrong with Plano HS, or even Plano East for that matter. Just don't know much about Plano East, but do know people that will go to Plano HS. Houses that feed to Plano HS, were about 15% cheaper when we were looking in 2011/2012. I guess we got caught up in the Plano West aura...but still ok with our decision. McKinney will be a long commute unless you work in the Plano area. I just couldn't see spending over $5/day taking toll roads to work. Defeats the purpose of moving to TX for the so called "affordable living."
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Old 11-30-2013, 01:53 PM
 
26 posts, read 101,554 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
It seems to me like the OP is actually hell-bent on McKinney and just wants us to give her reasons to move there. There are plenty of McKinney cheerleaders here who can do that.
Definitely NOT "hell-bent" on McKinney. I'm actually "hell-bent" on Plano West. Our budget for Plano West would be $350-$375. Hubs wants to spend less and we did like McKinney when we visited. I've just done less research about McKinney and wanted to know more about the schools.

I'm not sure what a hellish commute is in Dallas...I commuted to NYC from Long Island and THAT is a hellish commute. As I said previously, I will not be working right away.

Does anyone know if the HS's give tours?
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Old 11-30-2013, 02:18 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,130,593 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013 View Post
Definitely NOT "hell-bent" on McKinney. I'm actually "hell-bent" on Plano West. Our budget for Plano West would be $350-$375. Hubs wants to spend less and we did like McKinney when we visited. I've just done less research about McKinney and wanted to know more about the schools.

I'm not sure what a hellish commute is in Dallas...I commuted to NYC from Long Island and THAT is a hellish commute. As I said previously, I will not be working right away.

Does anyone know if the HS's give tours?
Call them and ask. Probably.

McKinney schools are not as well regarded here as some other public school systems (Plano, Coppell, Park Cities, and yes, Richardson).

I don't know what you mean by "Plano West"...are you referring to the western half of Plano, or you only want neighborhoods that feed into Plano West High School? The parts of Richardson in Collin County in 75080 are zoned to the Plano school district and they go to Jasper or Shelton, which feed into Plano West. I don't remember if they ONLY go to one or the other or both. I live in the Richardson High School zone which despite what rankings on random websites say is an excellent school. There's not much difference between it and J.J. Pearce on paper. It has a larger number of low income students and as much as I hate to say it, they are the cohort who is responsible for RHS's slightly lower test scores and rankings.

Living in McKinney would limit your options, professionally-speaking, unless you want to drive an hour into Dallas and an hour back every day. You could work in Plano or Frisco but you'd be paying tolls to do it. McKinney is far. Really far. That suits some people, but it doesn't suit everyone. That shiny new house and shopping center start to lose their luster when you are sitting in your car in bumper to bumper traffic instead of enjoying time at home with family. Just saying.

Now, getting back to Plano West. You could find a house that feeds to that school in your price range, but for what you want you are priced out of west Plano itself. You'll have to look in other parts of Plano and/or Richardson. If you want a single story house with a pool, you'll find more of that in Richardson. From about the 80s onward, new builds here tend to be mainly 2 stories with small yards. Builds in the last 20 years are much more likely to be in HOA neighborhoods which in your price range have tiny plots and a community pool.

Good luck.
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Old 11-30-2013, 02:43 PM
 
Location: NYC
16,061 posts, read 26,663,961 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013 View Post
Definitely NOT "hell-bent" on McKinney. I'm actually "hell-bent" on Plano West. Our budget for Plano West would be $350-$375. Hubs wants to spend less and we did like McKinney when we visited. I've just done less research about McKinney and wanted to know more about the schools.

I'm not sure what a hellish commute is in Dallas...I commuted to NYC from Long Island and THAT is a hellish commute. As I said previously, I will not be working right away.

Does anyone know if the HS's give tours?
We moved from the east coast to Allen over the summer. Thrilled with the schools here. That said, whe. People say a hellish commute, it is. Dallas can be just as awful as the NYC area.
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Old 11-30-2013, 02:49 PM
 
26 posts, read 101,554 times
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How is Allen? Friends who live in Plano told us to check it out, however on paper the Allen schools just don't compare. Our friend did say they are putting a ton of money into the schools...not sure what that means....
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Old 11-30-2013, 03:30 PM
 
1,783 posts, read 2,558,221 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
Call them and ask. Probably.

McKinney schools are not as well regarded here as some other public school systems (Plano, Coppell, Park Cities, and yes, Richardson).

I don't know what you mean by "Plano West"...are you referring to the western half of Plano, or you only want neighborhoods that feed into Plano West High School? The parts of Richardson in Collin County in 75080 are zoned to the Plano school district and they go to Jasper or Shelton, which feed into Plano West. I don't remember if they ONLY go to one or the other or both. I live in the Richardson High School zone which despite what rankings on random websites say is an excellent school. There's not much difference between it and J.J. Pearce on paper. It has a larger number of low income students and as much as I hate to say it, they are the cohort who is responsible for RHS's slightly lower test scores and rankings.

Living in McKinney would limit your options, professionally-speaking, unless you want to drive an hour into Dallas and an hour back every day. You could work in Plano or Frisco but you'd be paying tolls to do it. McKinney is far. Really far. That suits some people, but it doesn't suit everyone. That shiny new house and shopping center start to lose their luster when you are sitting in your car in bumper to bumper traffic instead of enjoying time at home with family. Just saying.

Now, getting back to Plano West. You could find a house that feeds to that school in your price range, but for what you want you are priced out of west Plano itself. You'll have to look in other parts of Plano and/or Richardson. If you want a single story house with a pool, you'll find more of that in Richardson. From about the 80s onward, new builds here tend to be mainly 2 stories with small yards. Builds in the last 20 years are much more likely to be in HOA neighborhoods which in your price range have tiny plots and a community pool.

Good luck.
Commute times between the northern half of Plano and Allen north of Exchange Pkwy compared to McKinney are not going to be a large difference. Frisco isn't much different either considering they share a large common border. This is just for another frame of reference. School rankings are readily available, but I do not have a dog in that hunt to speak of personal experience.

Richardson is going to be the closest, but many people do not want an older type of home that covers a large portion of the city. I certainly do not want to be fixing older home infrastructure on a regular basis.
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Old 11-30-2013, 03:36 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,154,575 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013 View Post
How is Allen? Friends who live in Plano told us to check it out, however on paper the Allen schools just don't compare. Our friend did say they are putting a ton of money into the schools...not sure what that means....
Allen schools are actually stronger than McKinney's. To rank the Collin County schools, it's Plano, then Allen, then McKinney and Frisco's schools are mixed together at the bottom.

The big "con" in Allen is it's a single high school district and the high school is HUGE. Something like 4000-4500 students in grades 9-12.

The Allen area is nice; looks a lot like north Plano / Frisco in terms of housing. It's about 15 minutes closer "in" than McKinney. Has tons of retail; all of the shopping centers along Stacey Road that I mentioned in my first post in this thread. The housing is definitely newer / more affordable than West Plano.

The hard thing to find anywhere is going to be the 1-story house that you want AND a bigger lot. You're going to be hard pressed to satisfy either of those requirements in a newer house.
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Old 11-30-2013, 04:20 PM
 
111 posts, read 217,752 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013 View Post
How is Allen? Friends who live in Plano told us to check it out, however on paper the Allen schools just don't compare. Our friend did say they are putting a ton of money into the schools...not sure what that means....
Allen schools have really gotten better. My friend is a teacher in Plano and her kids just switched to Allen schools from West Plano.. She said they are challenged more in Allen then they were in Plano. She was hell bent on staying in Plano but now she is happy they moved to Allen.

I would say stay away from Plano East. I went there and there is no way I would send my kids there.. Allen High is 10th thru 12th. Allens graduating class last year was smaller than Plano East.
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