Working in North Plano but want to live south of NW HWY (Houston: apartments, house)

[houstontodallas]

My husband and I are finally moving back to Dallas! He will be working in North Plano (off the tollway & 121) but we want to live close to our families who are in Highland Park and Bishop Arts. Since we have kids we would like good public schools. Does anyone know how bad traffic is driving toward the suburbs during rush hour? Lakewood, M Streets and Winnetka Heights are on our short list but I need to get some advice on which would have the shortest commute for my husband.

[toddsby]

Originally Posted by houstontodallas

My husband and I are finally moving back to Dallas! He will be working in North Plano (off the tollway & 121) but we want to live close to our families who are in Highland Park and Bishop Arts. Since we have kids we would like good public schools. Does anyone know how bad traffic is driving toward the suburbs during rush hour? Lakewood, M Streets and Winnetka Heights are on our short list but I need to get some advice on which would have the shortest commute for my husband.

We currently live in the Village Apartments off 75/Lovers Ln and that commute is going to be brutal. From me it's a 35 minute drive with no traffic. The drive's so bad I swore to never purchase anything from Ikea again (after doing it twice in a week because of a return). It would be even worse to Winnetka Heights. We're talking over an hour easy with traffic.

If I were in your shoes I'd be looking closer to North Tollway in Dallas. What price range are you looking at? I know there are some pretty older neighborhoods with good schools near walnut hill and north tollway.

[houstontodallas]

Originally Posted by toddsby

We currently live in the Village Apartments off 75/Lovers Ln and that commute is going to be brutal. From me it's a 35 minute with no traffic. The drive's so bad I swore to never purchase anything from Ikea again (after doing it twice in a week because of a return). It would be even worse to Winnetka Heights.

If I were in your shoes I'd be looking closer to North Tollway in Dallas. What price range are you looking at? I know there are some pretty older neighborhoods with good schools near walnut hill and north tollway.

Oooff!

DH currently drives 90 minutes EACH WAY from our Houston suburb to the Galleria so anything under an hour sounds good to him =)

We would love to stay around $400k.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by houstontodallas

My husband and I are finally moving back to Dallas! He will be working in North Plano (off the tollway & 121) but we want to live close to our families who are in Highland Park and Bishop Arts. Since we have kids we would like good public schools. Does anyone know how bad traffic is driving toward the suburbs during rush hour? Lakewood, M Streets and Winnetka Heights are on our short list but I need to get some advice on which would have the shortest commute for my husband.

I work near you and live in Dallas. You ABSOLUTELY CANNOT live in Lakewood or Winnetka Heights and have a good commute. You're talking 50-60 min AM, 75-90 min PM. I briefly lived near Mockingbird and Abrams and literally could not take it....and that was over 5 years ago. Traffic is SO much worse now.

M Streets is IFFY, at best. It will cut about 10 minutes off the drivetime from deep Lakewood.

I would encourage you to expand your search to south of LBJ, not south of Northwest Highway. If you cannot afford HPISD, you won't be living south of Northwest Highway. You need to stay as close to the Tollroad as possible. My recommendation is to look in the Withers Elementary zone in 75229/75220 - roughly bordered by Inwood/ Marsh/ Merrell/ Forrest and close to Marsh dipping south of Walnut Hill into parts of Midway Hollow. Withers is a great school with a lot of neighborhood support and involvement. If it means anything, an HPHS classmate of mine who is a PhD sends her kids there and is really happy. Withers feeds into WT White HS, which like Woodrow, is a higher performing neighborhood HS. Dealey Montessori magnet is also in the Preston/Royal area should your kids be able to get in. Another suggestion is to slash the housing budget and do private schools as there are many great ones in North Dallas. The commute from Royal is about 15-20 minutes AM and about 30 minutes (5pm depart) or 20 minutes (6:15pm or later depart).

[lakeside15]

A budget of $400k won't get you into Lakewood but may get you a small, entry level house in the M Streets (go with Stonewall Jackson elementary over Lee). M Streets/Lakewood would be a 45-60 minute commute. Mornings are not bad but the evening will be tough and every once in a while it could take 90+ minutes.


Lake Highlands and Richardson may be better options. If you wanted to live in Dallas with an easier commute, then somewhere near the tollway, south of 635 would be a good option. The problem is, in my opinion, that there are no good public schools in Dallas except for Lakewood/Stonewall Jackson and the magnet high schools.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I work near you and live in Dallas. You ABSOLUTELY CANNOT live in Lakewood or Winnetka Heights and have a good commute. You're talking 50-60 min AM, 75-90 min PM. I briefly lived near Mockingbird and Abrams and literally could not take it....and that was over 5 years ago. Traffic is SO much worse now.

M Streets is IFFY, at best. It will cut about 10 minutes off the drivetime from deep Lakewood.

I would encourage you to expand your search to south of LBJ, not south of Northwest Highway. If you cannot afford HPISD, you won't be living south of Northwest Highway. You need to stay as close to the Tollroad as possible. My recommendation is to look in the Withers Elementary zone in 75229/75220 - roughly bordered by Inwood/ Marsh/ Merrell/ Forrest and close to Marsh dipping south of Walnut Hill into parts of Midway Hollow. Withers is a great school with a lot of neighborhood support and involvement. If it means anything, an HPHS classmate of mine who is a PhD sends her kids there and is really happy. Withers feeds into WT White HS, which like Woodrow, is a higher performing neighborhood HS. Dealey Montessori magnet is also in the Preston/Royal area should your kids be able to get in. Another suggestion is to slash the housing budget and do private schools as there are many great ones in North Dallas. The commute from Royal is about 15-20 minutes AM and about 30 minutes (5pm depart) or 20 minutes (6:15pm or later depart).

I know someone who lives at the south butt end of White Rock Lake and works in Plano off 75; his commute is at least an hour each way.

I agree with your advice re: Midway Hollow. Lakewood's a swing and a miss unless the OP wants to change jobs.

[WorldKlas]

Suck it up buttercup and move to McKinney or Plano. Do your family a favor and let Dad spend time with his kids. The schools are good in the N. Burbs. I think McKinney has some historic areas.

[houstontodallas]

Expanding our search area and budget are definitely options. We are at the beginning stages of planning & not moving for several months so the advice here is much appreciated!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by lakeside15

A budget of $400k won't get you into Lakewood but may get you a small, entry level house in the M Streets (go with Stonewall Jackson elementary over Lee). M Streets/Lakewood would be a 45-60 minute commute. Mornings are not bad but the evening will be tough and every once in a while it could take 90+ minutes.


Lake Highlands and Richardson may be better options. If you wanted to live in Dallas with an easier commute, then somewhere near the tollway, south of 635 would be a good option. The problem is, in my opinion, that there are no good public schools in Dallas except for Lakewood/Stonewall Jackson and the magnet high schools.

1. Lake Highlands is also about 60+ minutes each way. Have coworkers who live there.

2. Withers is equally as good as Lakewood and Stonewall Jackson. There are only 6 DISD elementary schools that achieved a perfect 5 star achievement rating from the TEA and Withers is right there on the list with them. Using DISD's own rating scale measuring school effectiveness, Lakewood and Withers both make the top 10, while Jackson is 11 (still great but not such in a class of its own as your post states).

[lakeside15]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

1. Lake Highlands is also about 60+ minutes each way. Have coworkers who live there.

2. Withers is equally as good as Lakewood and Stonewall Jackson. There are only 6 DISD elementary schools that achieved a perfect 5 star achievement rating from the TEA and Withers is right there on the list with them. Using DISD's own rating scale measuring school effectiveness, Lakewood and Withers both make the top 10, while Jackson is 11 (still great but not such in a class of its own as your post states).

Withers has 65% of its students economically disadvantaged and 40% ESL per the TEA. Nearly all schools in DISD have at least these numbers or higher, with the exception of Lakewood (10%/2.9%) and Stonewall (23%/6.5%). Lakewood and Stonewall also score higher on the TEA performance indices and standardized tests.


A nice area to live, but I would not send my kids to Withers, as its another victim of DISD zoning.