moving from Minnesota to North Dallas suburbs. (Carrollton, Howe: extended stay, real estate)

[Chagen77]

I have an opportunity to transfer to Carrollton. My wife is an elementary teacher who will need to find a teaching job and I have two boys 7 and 9. We are fairly socially liberal people who's family income will be around $80,000 when my wife gets employment. Any tips for areas to look for housing? The problem of scorching humid summers may be a shock but leaving long frigid winters will be nice...any thoughts on that or anything would be appreciated.

[WorldKlas]

look in communities zoned to Hebron High School. That will be a good commute and has fine schools. Here the school districts don't always follow city limits. There are plenty of local real estate websites that allow you to search by the name of a school.

[GBCommenter]

A former Minnesotan here with a year plus of Texas now, so feeling perhaps I can speak a bit to your situation?

You don't give a lot of insight to what you are seeking in housing or neighborhood, so be sure to expand on what you're seeking to get the most useful answers. About all I pull from your post is:

1) getting away from frigid winters - absolutely understandable. After a lifetime of MN winters, I do not foresee returning to it. What is viewed as "bad winter" is minimal compared to MN (and, to be fair, there were a few days the temp here dipped to low 20's/upper teens at night in an area not much equipped for such, but little snow/ice - certainly little compared to MN) . If you handled MN, you'll handle this, other than dealing with drivers that may not be used to driving in snow/ice...

The hot is hot - and the big difference is it doesn't seem to cool down at night like in MN (especially in July and August). That said, I will always take 100F over -10F. 100F is 20-30 degrees above "perfect" 75F. -10F is 80-90 below "perfect". You can still eat outdoors in 95F, no way in hell you will in -10F. Anyway, where you live in DFW is fairly irrelevant as far as temperature...it is all the same until you get well outside the concrete of the city.

2) You mention being "socially liberal" but no detail and that is pretty much extent of your information. Being a former Minnesotan, I can bluntly ask - is that "Minnesota Nice" passive aggressive way of saying "we don't want to live around conservatives"?

For the record and FWIW, I am fairly conservative (though more libertarian conservative as opposed to neo-con conservative).

If you are seeking liberal neighborhood and that is priority I would lean to Dallas proper. Relatively speaking, it will be more liberal. However, I wouldn't expect inner city Minneapolis liberal with the possible exception of Deep Ellum (too far away from Carrollton). Don't be surprised even in Dallas if you have a cool reception to the idea of unionization and don't be upset when you see billboards for gun shows.

Don't expect much in the way of Democratic lawn signs in election season outside of some neighborhoods in Dallas proper. In a recent primary election for a variety of offices (mostly Legislature), you would be hard-pressed to find Democratic ads for candidates - basically same or more so than Republicans running for Minneapolis City Council/Legislature seats in Minneapolis.

That said, my (and others) overriding advice irrespective of politics is find housing near work. Traffic can be a total bear and you definitely don't want long drives on highways if you can avoid it. If you were in Minneapolis/St. Paul, imagine post-snowstorm driving every rush hour on some highways. My advice is a "cool neighborhood" isn't worth it if you're spending 60-90 minutes in a car one way everyday.

As far as Carrollton itself, nothing inherently wrong with it - though I find it fairly nondescript suburban. Perhaps a somewhat "Eagan feel", other than maybe not as much shopping or park land, and perhaps not quite as affluent?

Again, let us know if you have other priorities for more insight on neighborhoods...

[Chagen77]

I will post a better reply later but just a quick one here...when saying "socially liberal" I just meant I have trouble with gay bashing, racial prejudice, and religious intolerance and the like. I would consider myself libertarian more than Democrat or Republican. I live in a conservative area of rural Minnesota and that stuff can really get under my skin. However I own a bar so biting my tongue has become more second nature than I'd like since I would be staring at an empty bar if I argued every point I disagreed with. Thanks for your posts. I will elaborate further later...

[stephwin]

Originally Posted by Chagen77

I will post a better reply later but just a quick one here...when saying "socially liberal" I just meant I have trouble with gay bashing, racial prejudice, and religious intolerance and the like. I would consider myself libertarian more than Democrat or Republican. I live in a conservative area of rural Minnesota and that stuff can really get under my skin. However I own a bar so biting my tongue has become more second nature than I'd like since I would be staring at an empty bar if I argued every point I disagreed with. Thanks for your posts. I will elaborate further later...

I don't think you'll find much of the bolded, even in the far flung suburbs. Some cities/areas are more open-minded than others, but I've never heard anyone make any negative comments and I live in the northern burbs. My husband and I are not the same race, and I've never had issues.

[orangecat1]

Fourth grade teacher here. This teaching market is fairly tight, unless your wife has a specialty, such as bilingual, special ed. or high school math.

Be prepared for tough traffic throughout the metroplex. She should be prepared to drive a significant distance, no matter where you end up moving.

One hidden place to look for a job is in the charter schools. Charter schools have been in existence in Texas since about 1998, and are still mostly unknown to the vast majority of the population, even college kids who are graduating with education degrees.

There is a pretty good teacher placement agency that can help your wife find a teaching job.-maybe more than one. They charge 10% of her first year's salary. If you are dependent upon her employment as a teacher this year, you will need to contact an agency to get a job, unless she has a serious speciality.

The good news for teachers is the starting salary. I've seen as low as 43k in charter schools to as high as 51k for ISDs, for 0 years experience.

Oh, and stay away from DISD. If you google DISD talk, you will find out all of the crazy stuff they've got going on there.

[orangecat1]

and also, don't forget to buy some tolltags!!!!

[GBCommenter]

Good to hear you elaborate a bit on what you are more referring on the "socially liberal" aspect. I would agree that it is fairly unlikely you will find much/any overt racial statements, etc. along the lines you are mentioning.

Let us know more of what you are seeking for home, neighborhood, etc. I am certain many will still tell you to do what you can to minimize the normal drive to work. Usually most on this forum are recommended to find job first and then home. When I arrived, I stayed in an extended stay hotel for a month until I felt out the area and what I would like - especially in terms of drive to work.

And, yes...get a tolltag when you get here...all toll roads are automated so you should get the tag on the car. Alternately, your plate is recorded and invoices you but charges about twice the "tag amount".

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Chagen77

I have an opportunity to transfer to Carrollton. My wife is an elementary teacher who will need to find a teaching job and I have two boys 7 and 9. We are fairly socially liberal people who's family income will be around $80,000 when my wife gets employment. Any tips for areas to look for housing? The problem of scorching humid summers may be a shock but leaving long frigid winters will be nice...any thoughts on that or anything would be appreciated.

If I were you, I'd try to find something centrally located within a reasonable commuting distance to Carrollton. What another poster said about teaching being tight is correct; it's a tight market out there. A lot of degreed professionals thought teaching would be a good "fallback" option and some districts have even laid off teachers in this economy. A friend of mine with a master's degree subbed for two years before finding a full-time teaching position. Your wife may have to "settle" for a while and take any teaching job she can find. Also, it's a pretty bad time of year to be looking for a teaching job!

I don't know what you mean by "socially liberal"...not going to try to read between those lines, but you should be aware that Texas is still a red state. That being said, even conservatives here don't usually say offensive things about minorities or religion in mixed company or around people they don't know. If they know you're not of a similar mindset, they will usually just not bring it up rather than try to argue with you. (That being said, they expect you to extend the same courtesy to them and not browbeat them about their own personal views.)

There are a lot of socially liberal people here. Almost anywhere you find young families, you'll find like-minded people. Younger people tend to be more liberal. That's a broad generalization of course, but they're more likely to be liberal than older people.

[Chagen77]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I don't know what you mean by "socially liberal"...not going to try to read between those lines, but you should be aware that Texas is still a red state. That being said, even conservatives here don't usually say offensive things about minorities or religion in mixed company or around people they don't know. If they know you're not of a similar mindset, they will usually just not bring it up rather than try to argue with you. (That being said, they expect you to extend the same courtesy to them and not browbeat them about their own personal views.)
.

Perfect No need to read between the lines on my "socially liberal" comment I am socially tolerant(?) and like those around me to be the same...does that make more sense? I don't try to argue or change people's views at all and I avoid political and religious discussions with all but my closest friends( well since I quit drinking anyway) The word "liberal" suggested political stances and that wasn't my intention.