Moving to Dallas and cannot find a safe neighborhood (Irving: violent crime, houses)

[mikestrong]

I have a friend that lives in uptown and I have been there many times. I never felt anything but safe, and he has never said he has had a issue.
I have another friend that lives in a highrise downtown. Pays about 1500 a month. He has never had any issues either.
You can live in the suburbs and still not feel safe.

[ChristieP]

Another question: you have a 4.5 year old who is going to be starting school soon. Are you willing to pay for private schools, or do you want good public schools? If it's the latter, you aren't going to want to live very close to UTSW.

[Danbo1957]

We've addressed this before. Considering your budget, do not live in Dallas. Live in one of the northwest or north suburbs outside of 635, and commute in. And welcome to UTSW.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

We've addressed this before. Considering your budget, do not live in Dallas. Live in one of the northwest or north suburbs outside of 635, and commute in. And welcome to UTSW.

You've addressed this before? How? The dude has ONE post. How do you know his budget? He didn't even mention it.

[Danbo1957]

We addressed housing issues for those working at UTSW on other City-Data threads.

Budget mentioned "number 5." in the opening post; guessing that he's not looking at Highland Park.

[Rakin]

I predict OP is a one hit wonder who will not be back to read these responses.

[WorldKlas]

Royal Lane/Irving extremely safe. That's where La Villeta is and North Hills School.

[MurphyPl1]

Originally Posted by Rakin

I predict OP is a one hit wonder who will not be back to read these responses.

I think he's hiding in his closet.

[bpollen]

Looks like you're not coming back to read or respond to responses.

But anyway....working downtown is perfectly safe. I worked downtown for 25 years. The DART rail goes downtown and drops off at convenient locations. I wouldn't walk down a dark street there at 10:00 at night or anything, just like any large city downtown (except New York, which is always open and brightly lit!). There's a tollroad (get a tolltag), for easy access to downtown. But if you all live close enough, she can avoid the cost of the tollroad.

I used to live in apartments years ago on Cedar Springs. A crime ridden area. During the couple of years I lived there, I had two break-in attempts, and one guy trying to schmooze his way in ("can I come in and use your phone?).

Generally, that area has more crime than areas still close to UTSW. BUT if you live in a gated community, it should be fine. The problem is the child. I don't know anything about safety in a child playing outside, if that's what kids do these days.

Irving is a good suberb, if you can find something there.

Far down Cedar Springs, past where I lived, is an area called Oak Lawn. It has crime, for sure, but is filled with little homes and homeowners. It's also a gay area. Because it's mixed heavily with homeowners, the crime is less. A lot of people safely live in Oak Lawn.

I'm not overly familiar with Maple, since all I know about it is that it's commercial. My first impression is to stay away from Maple.

Is there any way you can get recommendations from others who work at utsw? There's your answer. Get names of places where some of them stay and feel safe.

I don't live far from UTSW...in a house. Nice area. Even so, we have crime here. Crime is everywhere, esp in large cities, and esp within the "loop." I live in a nice area, but as is typical with large cities, just a few blocks away is an hispanic area where a lot of illegal immigrants live. Some of them are criminals, of course, and come to my area to steal. I've lived in my house for 22 years, though, and the only crime I've had was my lawn mower was stolen when I inadvertently left it out front overnight.

I'd say that having several recent crime incidents in an area is normal. Nothing to be concerned about. Unless of course those crimes were homicide or burglar of residence, which rise to a different level than stealing hubcaps.

Dallas has a much lower crime rate than a lot of large cities, like Baton Rouge and Houston. Crime is not a huge issue here, except in some pockets. I don't know who scared you about Dallas, or if you're just not used to big cities. But Dallas is safe, compared to many other large cities. If you want to live and work in a large city, that is part of it.

I'd stay away from Mape. Someone mentioned two ritzy areas (Highland Park and University Park). That was a joke. Those places are where some of the wealthiest people in the country live. They wouldn't have apartments for med students.

[mSooner]

Is there any way you can get recommendations from others who work at utsw? There's your answer. Get names of places where some of them stay and feel safe.

I can tell you right now, this is where med students/residents tend to live because my husband has been/is both at UTSW!

Single/Married with no kids:

Around UTSW: 5225 Maple, the newer (within 6 years) complex on Medical District Drive over by Kroger, private rentals in the area (townhomes), the complex owned by UTSW, and Inwood on the Park

Other areas of Dallas: The Village/M-Streets/Lakewood/Uptown/Oak Lawn

Married w/ kids:

East Dallas (M-Streets/Lakewood/Lake Highlands), Irving/Las Colinas/Valley Ranch/Coppell

Sure, there are some exceptions, but that covers the majority of the popular areas.