Brand new to this site...and Dallas / Fort Worth! NEED ADVICE! (Arlington: spring break, new home)

[beaches0907]

We are from St. Louis and it looks like my husband's company is moving us to Grand Prairie for a new job opportunity. We have 4 and 6 yr old kids, so first and foremost, our concern is what area is best for raising them. In doing a little reading on Trip Advisor, it sounds like maybe Frisco, Flower Mound, or Coppell have great school districts/neighborhoods. I'm not really sure what the commute to Grand Prairie will be like for my husband from those areas. If we make this move, we will be doing it before the next school year starts; so safety and finding the right school for my kids is top priority. We are your typical suburban, "soccer mom", Presbyterian family, looking for a safe, welcoming community. Moving our family to a new state is so far out of my comfort zone, it's not even funny! So, I'm freaking out, just a little. ha ha

Another thing I was curious about, where schools are concerned, is what the school year calendar is like. Currently my kids get a week off in Oct for Fall Break, a couple weeks off for Christmas, and a 2 week Spring Break in March...plus the other normal holidays throughout the year. I'm curious if the schools in your area are structured the same way.

Our house here in StL is $250K = $2K/mo. We'd like to stay in the $250-$300K price range (and still have a 4 bdrm home). We have no idea how the cost of living in Dallas / Fort Worth compares to our area. And here's a silly question...do houses in your area have basements? We took a quick look on Realtor.com last night, and it didn't look like any of the homes we saw had basements. Just curious if that's a rare feature in Texas.

[jennifw]

A few things I can help with.
- You don't want to commute to Grand Prairie from Coppell, Frisco or Flower Mound. Your husband would be facing hours in the car each way and possibly very expensive tolls. I would focus my search on Grand Prairie, Mansfield or Arlington. (maybe some others will chime in)

- The public school calendar is a bit different here. We usually start the last week of August. No significant break until Thanksgiving, where a lot of schools are out for the entire week. 2 weeks at Christmas, and a 1-week Spring Break in early/mid-March. (a lot of districts here are on break next week - March 10-15) Other normal holidays like Labor day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day.

- Very few basements. You might find a few that have them, but the majority don't.

Good luck with your move!

[TurtleCreek80]

Welcome to the DFW area! You will probably want to look in the southern suburbs of DFW to minimize the commute times. Frisco & the other northern burbs you mentioned would be a 60-90 minute drive each way and involving costly tollroads. Don't worry, even though many of the relocatees on this forum are focused on the northern suburbs, there are hundreds of great neighborhoods and schools on the south side of the metroplex as well.

I would recommend looking into:
1. Arlington - the neighborhoods and schools that ultimately feed into Arlington Martin High School. These are mostly south of I-20 and a super easy drive to Grand Prairie.

2.Cedar Hill - a beautiful & hilly neighborhood on the banks of Joe Pool Lake.

3. Mansfield- I know less about this area b/c it's a FW suburb but it is easily commutable to GP and has housing in your price range.

All would work well for your budget and the size of home you are seeking, as well as being great suburbs for families.

The school year runs from approx the week prior to Labor Day through the week of Memorial Day. There are two main breaks: 2 weeks at Christmas time and 1 week in mid-March for spring break. Additionally, the day before and after Thanksgiving are also holidays for most districts. You'll also have another 5-7ish holidays and teacher in-service during the year when kids are off.

Also- regarding your 4 year old, he/she MUST turn 5 before September 1 to enroll in kindergarten in the state of Texas.

Basements are incredibly expensive to build in Texas due to our shallow dirt so you will likely not find any in homes under the $2-3M range. Even then, they are pretty rare.

[beaches0907]

Thank you so much for the responses so far! I had no idea the commute would be that ugly from the Northern burbs of the area. We're no strangers to traffic and commutes around St. Louis, but anything more than 45 mins would be a bit much. For some reason I thought I saw somewhere that Arlington isn't the safest area, but I'm probably wrong. I'll start checking those areas out online, until we can get there in person to look around.

That's nice that school doesn't start until the end of Aug. I guess that's why we get that Fall Break here. Our school starts around Aug 5 every year. And we just had our 9th snow day of the school year on Monday, so it looks like they'll be going until about June 2. (Sick of this winter!)

[nawvtanzi09]

I can vouch for Mansfield - commute to Grand Prairie would be decent (20 - 30 mins max). The schools are pretty good (I went to Mansfield High) and its still growing. Your price range would get you a decent size house in this area.

I know First Texas Homes has a new community in that area and would be in your price range if your looking for a new home. My parents have lived in a First Texas home in Mansfield for over 10+ years and really have had no issues.

Good luck on the move and wish your family all the best.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by beaches0907

Thank you so much for the responses so far! I had no idea the commute would be that ugly from the Northern burbs of the area. We're no strangers to traffic and commutes around St. Louis, but anything more than 45 mins would be a bit much. For some reason I thought I saw somewhere that Arlington isn't the safest area, but I'm probably wrong. I'll start checking those areas out online, until we can get there in person to look around.

That's nice that school doesn't start until the end of Aug. I guess that's why we get that Fall Break here. Our school starts around Aug 5 every year. And we just had our 9th snow day of the school year on Monday, so it looks like they'll be going until about June 2. (Sick of this winter!)

Arlington is HUGE!! The land mass covers 100 square miles so there are nicer parts and not-so-nice parts. You have absolutely nothing to worry about in the parts of Arlington that were recommended.

[faceoff007]

Which part of Grand Prairie will you be driving to? If you decide on Mansfield then 'Mira Lagos' may be in your price range !!

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by beaches0907

Thank you so much for the responses so far! I had no idea the commute would be that ugly from the Northern burbs of the area. We're no strangers to traffic and commutes around St. Louis, but anything more than 45 mins would be a bit much.

In population, the DFW area is the 5th largest metro area in the nation (if one considers "the Bay Area" as one metro rather than two). So if you're thinking size and commute, DFW is far more akin to Chicago than to St. Louis.

Beyond that you're getting great advice from posters here. TC80 in particular knows her stuff.

[beaches0907]

It looks like the office is in the very middle of 183 (Airport Fwy) and I-30. Close to Mike Lewis Park.

[Rakin]

Much of southern GP is in Mansfield ISD (Grand Peninsula area) or anywhere in Mansfield.

The cities you mention are way too far north.