Eager and moving to Dallas (Plano, Allen: low income, appointed, crime rate)

[sumanitha]

[quote=nkodream;2253536] I will check out the stats online...Thanks!

Which site do you check? It will help me also to search there. I am also in the process of moving to Dallas soon.

Thanks

[nkodream]

I have just looked into Rockwall slightly...seems to be you get a lot of house and land for the money...how is the area around the town eg. shopping, newer vs. older, high school? I have been to Dallas a bunch of times, but apparently not enough!!!

I am looking into Castlehills area too...just want to be near newer shopping and good schools. Will also check out Fairview...Thanks!

Originally Posted by nsumner

I would also recommend Rockwall and especially Heath. It is very close to lake ray hubbard. One of the most beautiful lakes around here. Lots of executives live here. Schools are really good too. Castle Hills is a nice centrally located community. What didn't you like about it?

Another area is Fairview.

I would recommend that you make a trip and visit. This great metroplex is over 3500 square miles and there is something for everyone. The possibilities are endless.

[nkodream]

We are considering Highland and University Park areas...our budget is $600-1.2 or so if we look in the Park Cities area. I notice that Highland Park High is highly sought after...is it public or magnet? I also found houses in the White High School area, but was not so certain about the school. We are coming from a smaller middle-upper class town that is predominantly caucasian so this is untreaded territory, but remain confident we will love it! In Flowermound, we looked in Bridlewood and feel it is a great area, but maybe a little far to commute. I like the small town, safe feeling and it has lots of trees! Looked in Plano but felt it was overrated....all the houses needed gutting!

Originally Posted by nativeDallasite

If you can afford to send your kids to private school, why not look in Dallas itself? The houses are more than five minutes old, though.

If you could tell us your budget it might help us narrow down some options. If you want upscale, I wouldn't look at Flower Mound. I've been there and it doesn't meet my definition of upscale.

And the Park Cities are very expensive. If you'd have to stretch far to afford them, I wouldn't bother. Try looking in West Plano; it's sort of like HP, but with fewer trees and lower prices.

[nkodream]

I googled city /neighborhood comparisons and am checking all the demographics of each city. Then I went on realtor.com just to get an idea of the houses that are available at certain price points. I'm also checking out the school comparisons/choices for the area, etc..Lots of work!


[quote=sumanitha;2254951]

Originally Posted by nkodream

I will check out the stats online...Thanks!

Which site do you check? It will help me also to search there. I am also in the process of moving to Dallas soon.

Thanks

[galore]

I'd check out Preston Hollow. Also, you can find new homes with trees within a few miles of your husband's workplace. Like Lake Forest on Forest Lane, a medium-high end subdivision, or there is a Sharif-Munir place on Preston north of Spring Valley.
There are also pockets of new homes in Preston Hollow.

The commute to Rockwall is borderline acceptable. My SO commuted from Firewheel to 635/DNT for 6 years and it was at times unbearable.

[nkodream]

It sounds like the area is definitely one to check out...I did see that Castlehills won community of the year in 2006 in the Dallas area; I also like the fact that it's a master-planned community. Big question...is it gated?

[nkodream]

Is Preston Hollow a city or neighborhood? I'll check it out in reference to location in the metroplex...How far would you say the commute is from Rockwall? My husband goes in at 6:00 am and leaves at 6:00pm?

[nkodream]

Splendid...maybe I can bring my own trees...and fish....I really like the idea of Castlehills, I hope I like it as much as I think I will....

[nkodream]

Thank you for your suggestion...I'm going to look into Murphy. What drew you to the town?

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

I'm going to suggest Murphy. It has it's share of young families but also a healthy mix of ages. It's also one of the fastest growing cities in the area and is on the verge of some very exciting retail development.

Murphy Community Info

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by nkodream

We are considering Highland and University Park areas...our budget is $600-1.2 or so if we look in the Park Cities area. I notice that Highland Park High is highly sought after...is it public or magnet? I also found houses in the White High School area, but was not so certain about the school. We are coming from a smaller middle-upper class town that is predominantly caucasian so this is untreaded territory, but remain confident we will love it! In Flowermound, we looked in Bridlewood and feel it is a great area, but maybe a little far to commute. I like the small town, safe feeling and it has lots of trees! Looked in Plano but felt it was overrated....all the houses needed gutting!

The new McMansions being built in north Dallas would be out of your price range for sure; the ones on my parents' street are all in the 1.3-1.6 million range.

Park Cities schools are public.

If you think the houses in Plano need "gutting", I can't see you being happy with the W.T. White area. Most of the area around there seems to be older ranch homes built in the 60s and 70s with a few pockets of very expensive real estate. W.T. White is probably the best overall non-magnet public high school in the DISD, but when you look at the competition you'll realize that's not saying much. White is probably also the whitest high school in Dallas, but it's still less than 50% white. The neighborhood around my alma mater, Hillcrest, is much nicer but the school seems to have lost support from local parents and seems to be sliding downhill rather rapidly. That part of town is known as Preston Hollow and it seems most parents go private.

I'm not sure where in Plano you looked, but there are plenty of lovely homes in west Plano, many of them built in the last decade and close to some of the nicer shopping centers in that part of town. Plus, if you think Plano interiors are out-of-date, I'm not sure you'll want to see what you can afford in the Park Cities.

I think HP is possibly out of your price range but smaller, older houses in UP definitely are a possibility. However, the smaller cottages on larger lots are squarely in teardown territory, meaning you could be surrounded by much larger, much more expensive houses which will drive up your property taxes which will probably already be high. Smaller houses on smaller lots seem to be popular as leases/rentals. However, if you think you'll be most comfortable in a very white affluent area, the Park Cities are probably a good choice for you. Plano is more diverse and less affluent overall, but west Plano rivals the Park Cities in snobbery. The Park Cities are rather snobbish and exclusive and have a reputation for being racist, though I'm sure hamiltonpl would disagree with me.

http://www.briggs-freeman.com/default.asp

This site has a lot of properties for sale in the Park Cities; it should give you an idea of what you could afford there.

Best of luck.