Moving from Chicago to Dallas Area... Need Advice (Plano, Allen: apartments, rentals)

[gocubs418]

Hello,

My Fiancee and I are making a life decision and moving from the terrible state of Illinois (South burbs of Chicago) to beautiful Texas. I am interviewing in Feb for a job in Frisco,TX. We are younger (going on 25), have no kids and no plans for 2-3 years, and should make combined wages up 100k+.

If I get the job in Feb, I will probably have until end of March to get down there. We would want to rent for a while until we can scope out the houses and areas we like. If I don't get the job, we are positively moving down there within 6 months.

Can anyone name some good areas with rental houses/townhouses (preferably sub 1000/m)?

Since we would want to buy a newer home, HUGE lot, swimming pool, etc. I would estimate with our salary somewhere in the range of $400-500k. Where are the premier locations? Giant lots, minimum amounts of nosy/annoying neighbors, and EXCELLENT public/private (Catholic if possible) schools.
Moderator cut: per request

Trying to plan ahead to stay on top.

Very excited to move to Texas. ( Try living in Chicago for the 24 years and you will understand the hate for the state I have, not to mention the demographics)

[RonnieinDallas]

I think you'll love Frisco! Almost the entire city is new construction, it will be near your new job, and your budget will get you a very nice home. The only downside to Frisco would be the lot sizes. Most of the lots are pretty small, so Prosper may be a good place to search also.

There's really nice apartments in the Legacy area of Plano that may be in your budget while your settling in. It's always good to rent before making a big commitment on a house. Legacy is really close to the business parks in Frisco Hwy 121 (Sam Rayburn Tollway) and the North Dallas Tollway. There's also nice rentals around Stonebriar mall in Frisco, and around their Main St. You may even be able to find a small house for rent, but you'd need to increase your budget by a few $100.

[gocubs418]

Originally Posted by RonnieinDallas

I think you'll love Frisco! Almost the entire city is new construction, it will be near your new job, and your budget will get you a very nice home. The only downside to Frisco would be the lot sizes. Most of the lots are pretty small, so Prosper may be a good place to search also.

There's really nice apartments in the Legacy area of Plano that may be in your budget while your settling in. It's always good to rent before making a big commitment on a house. Legacy is really close to the business parks in Frisco Hwy 121 (Sam Rayburn Tollway) and the North Dallas Tollway. There's also nice rentals around Stonebriar mall in Frisco, and around their Main St. You may even be able to find a small house for rent, but you'd need to increase your budget by a few $100.

Thank you for the post. My Fiancee is a recent nursing graduate so we need to stay somewhat close to job opportunities for her. I dont want to have a 5 minute hike to work, then she has to drive 1 hr. So places in the middle will work as well.

We found townhouses in Grapevine (Dove Creek) I think. How are they?

Also, from what I am reading, West Plano is the place to be?

[RonnieinDallas]

Originally Posted by gocubs418

Thank you for the post. My Fiancee is a recent nursing graduate so we need to stay somewhat close to job opportunities for her. I dont want to have a 5 minute hike to work, then she has to drive 1 hr. So places in the middle will work as well.

We found townhouses in Grapevine (Dove Creek) I think. How are they?

There's good hospitals in Plano, and north Dallas. Keep in mind Frisco is only accessible by toll roads, and there are lots of tolls between Grapevine and Frisco.

[gocubs418]

Originally Posted by RonnieinDallas

There's good hospitals in Plano, and north Dallas. Keep in mind Frisco is only accessible by toll roads, and there are lots of tolls between Grapevine and Frisco.

Great to hear...hopefully my interview goes well... High of 14 degrees up here today.

[ChristieP]

You say you want a "huge lot" then you ask about townhomes. Which do you want?

The townhomes at Dove Creek are in a lousy location on a one way service road of a busy freeway. Not my cup of tea...

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by gocubs418

Oh sorry, its not clear to out of towners why there is a downside to Chicago:

Overpopulated, dirty, Democratic, high taxes, high property taxes, state income tax, high gas prices, bad transit system, terrible highways, long commutes, TERRIBLE weather, extremely high home values, low amount of land, high crime in certain areas... Race comes no where near this list of why I am moving.

Just to inform an out of towner about Dallas...

The CITY of Dallas learns pretty democaratic
We're not small. Not over populated, but you'd think different during rush hour.
What is a transit system?
You REALLY want to talk about long commutes? Do you know just how large the DFW metroplex is?
I wouldn't say Chicago has worse weather that Dallas at all. It has worse winters for sure, but the hail storms, tornado's, and brutal summers here are nothing to sneeze at.
There is not a lot of open land here unless you want to live way out.
Dallas as well has high crime areas, but I do think Chicago takes the cake on that one.

Now on another note, I love the hell out of this city and wouldn't move to Chicago over Dallas. Now a nice beach or somewhere in the mountains would be a totally different story.

[synchronicity]

Relo from Chicago here. As pointed out above, if you think Chicago's transit system is bad, DFW's is practically nonexistent. Chicago's toll roads are few and tolls (AFTER the 6-% increase a few years ago) average about 5 cents/mile, DFW's toll roads are numerous and average about triple that with even higher rates for the "managed toll" lanes that are coming/have arrived on several major thoroughfares.

Weather here is warmer so you avoid the snow and cold, but the thunderstorms here make the ones in Chicago look like mild showers, and the hail here is frequent and damaging. Property tax rates here are about even with suburban cook county (which are higher than in the City) and homeowner's insurance is much more expensive here.

Driving commutes here are "better" than CHicagoland, but that's kind of damning with faint praise. Gas is cheaper but I drive much more, so my actual spending on gas is increased from Chi.

There are definite advantages to living in Texas, most of which are well known - no state income tax and dramatically cheaper housing usually headline the list. Texas overall is more conservative than Illinois, which attracts many people and would appear to be a positive for you. As for "low amount of land", most of suburban DFW is new construction which means houses are on much smaller lots compared to similar size homes in Chicago.

Not that it was on your list, but DFW schools tend to have lower standardized test scores than their analogs in Chicagoland. That said, the "cheaper housing" may allow you to live in a slightly better area here than there, which may make that a wash.

The food/restaurant scene in Dallas is pretty good for a US city, but nowhere near Chicago's.

I lived in Chicago for well over 30 years, however Dallas is the 5th metro area I've lived in so I've got a decent grounding in good and bad bits of multiple areas, not just Chicagoland vs. the Metroplex. I suspect you'll like DFW more than I do, but don't come down expecting it to be perfection. There are bits you'll love but bits that will fall short of the idealized image you likely have.

[dallasboi]

Yall just dont give DART any credit...Its the largest light rail system in the U.S...No its not heavy rail but it takes you everywhere you need to go..and about to go directly to DFW airport this year. Everybody loves to downplay Dallas on everything.....ugh....it gets old.

[TrueDat]

OP, you might also look at Allen or The Colony.

Dallasboi, you should like this:
Dallas: Bigger Than Ever - YouTube