Relocating From The UK to Dallas (Fort Worth, Corpus Christi: to rent, car insurance, condo)

[Simmsd]

Hi,

I will be relocating out to Dallas with work from the UK, and am looking for some help finding the best place to live

Firstly and most importantly I need to know where the best schools are? I have 2 children aged 7 and 5, and ideally would like to live close to the school.

I will be working in central Dallas (Reunion Boulevard) I have been told Allen, Lewisville, Plano and Rockwall all have very good schools.

1. Is this true? if so which is the best?
2. How far/long would the commute be for me? plus what would be my travel options (Car, Train.....)?
3. What kind/size of property would I be able to rent for upto $2000 per month.
4. Roughly how much would a family of 4 need to budget for each month for the usual utility bills (gas,electric, TV, Internet, phone, car insurance, waste, insurance...) is there such thing as council tax in the US?

and finally if anyone has any other usefull information that you think would be relevent for a newbie Brit when moving to the US.


Cheers in advance!!!!!

[aceplace]

Simmsd, welcome to DFW.

In general, the schools in the newer suburbs are better in the sense that the parents of the students are richer and the children belong to a more prosperous social class. And the school is oriented towards that. Somehow, children of the middle class do better in school than the children of the poor. Other than that, it would be hard to say.

BTW, there is no such thing as a "council" in the way you understand it in your country. There are different levels of government, and each of them enacts some degree of taxes assessed according to the value of your house. If you are an owner, you pay the tax directly, and if you rent, the landlord will use a portion of the rent to pay the tax. The state of Texas does not exact a property tax, but the county, the city, a school district, etc., will all have their pound of flesh.

Dallas-Fort Worth is much like greater London, a large population center of 6 million, with dozens of smaller municipalities, what you would call boroughs. They are legally and financially independent. The various school systems often coincide with the municipal boundaries, but not always.

If you will work on Reunion Boulevard, then you have many options for public rail transit. Both the Red and Blue rail lines converge on that location, as does the TRE commuter rail line from the west. It would be advantageous for you to live close enough to a rail station to drive to a parking lot and ride the train to work. I know you will probably laugh, but we are complaining here about gasoline costing $3 per gallon. Plano is within the public transit system, and Allen is drivable to public transit. Rockwall and Lewisville are not accessible to transit, and the commute to central Dallas would be irritating on the freeway, what you call a "motorway".

The utilities you mention would cost several hundred dollars in the aggregate, but gasoline and electricity would obviously depend on where you are and how far you drive.

[texahoan]

I'm relocating in a couple of weeks and can only share with you what I know from my experience.

We'll be living in Rockwall, which would be 30-45 minutes depending on traffic.

$2,000 could get you plenty of house in Rockwall (we're spending $1,200 and got 2,000 sq ft, 3 bedroom/2 bath in a nice newer neighborhood).

Rockwall city utilities are very cheap, and from what I have read on this site, much cheaper than many areas in Dallas County, I estimate that water/sewer/trash will be around $50/month depending on our water usage.

Our electric bill is an unknown but at 1,500 killowatt hours/month we'll be in the $200/month range. I anticipate this to be on the low end, especially with the hot summers.

Schools weren't something we payed a ton of attention to since we don't have kids yet.

[CurrentlyinSanAntonio]

Originally Posted by aceplace

I know you will probably laugh, but we are complaining here about gasoline costing $3 per gallon.

The difference with gas here and in the UK are the distances. Everything here is more spread out. So yes, fuel is cheaper here but you will driver more miles than you would there. For example it is about 1100 miles from the West Texas border to the East border. It's about 380 miles to Corpus Christi. So you still end up spending an awful lot of money of fuel.

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by texahoan

I'm relocating in a couple of weeks and can only share with you what I know from my experience.

We'll be living in Rockwall, which would be 30-45 minutes depending on traffic.

$2,000 could get you plenty of house in Rockwall (we're spending $1,200 and got 2,000 sq ft, 3 bedroom/2 bath in a nice newer neighborhood).

Rockwall city utilities are very cheap, and from what I have read on this site, much cheaper than many areas in Dallas County, I estimate that water/sewer/trash will be around $50/month depending on our water usage.

Our electric bill is an unknown but at 1,500 killowatt hours/month we'll be in the $200/month range. I anticipate this to be on the low end, especially with the hot summers.

Schools weren't something we payed a ton of attention to since we don't have kids yet.

Rockwall Schools are some of the best... There is lots of shopping, dining and entertainment around here.

Will you be coming for a visit?

[backtotx]

SIMMSD:

Just to let you know that we are also from the UK and moved from there to Illinois recently. However in July/August we will be moving to DFW. We used to live there back in 2000-2002 and have lived in the US off and on since 1993. Any help you need on the differences between UK/USA just let me know. We have four kids from 4 up to 13. You can send a private email if you like. You didn't say when you were moving over, if it is soon then you will be able to get used to the weather before it gets hot hot hot.

[rebs]

Hi,

I hope you don't mind me joining in, we are in a similar situation.

My husband has an offer to move over to Dallas from the UK and we're just working on budgets and so on to decide if we want to take the offer.

We have a 10 year old son, so I'm also interested in schools. At the moment, we are considering Plano or Frisco as potential areas.

One thing I would like to know - do US schools have a long summer vacation like in the UK? I'm considering moving over with my son at the end of the summer term here (start of July) and it would be useful to know we had a few weeks before he would need to start school.

Thanks!

[backtotx]

The schools over here tend to finish at the end of May and then resume at the end of August so you would have a few weeks to get settled in. Again if you want more specialised info from a UK point please feel free to send me a direct message.

[Lakewooder]

If you are working downtown, the nearest and best schools in the city are in the East Dallas/MStreets/Lakewood area - specifically Stonewall Jackson and Lakewood Elementary. You will be able to get downtown (most likely by car but you could take DART Rail from Mockingbird Station) in about 10 minutes.

I don't think you would find an hour or two commute (each way) from one of the suburbs very pleasant.

[stouchstone]

hello there! Is this a new trend for those of you from the UK to make the move to Dallas? Are you interested in a "back garden" (yard..he..hee)? you mentioned renting, are you wanting to rent specifically and if so, a home, condo, townhouse, apt.? There are lots of good schools here, but you will need to look at a school ratings guide to know which ones are the good ones. Moderator cut: solicitating