Early 30's Canadians to Carrolton / Farmers Branch? (Dallas, Carrollton: fit in, real estate)

[VOK]

My wife may have an opportunity to transfer to Addison within the next 18 months, and we have begun to research the North Dallas real estate landscape.

We currently live in Calgary, AB and are excited at the prospect of significantly upgrading our squarefootage (currently own a 800 square foot townhouse near downtown valued at 300K).

We have identified the cities of Farmers Branch and Carrolton as being the best fit in terms of budget (love to stay under 200K) and relative ease of access to all that the Metroplex has to offer, but - obviously - we have little knowledge of these areas (we are hoping to fly down in June to check it all out).

I have read the threads that have to do with these areas, but the infomation in most is well over a year old now, and I'm wondering if anything has changed (DART station, development, etc.).

We are a couple in our early 30's who may have a baby in the next 2 years; we like the urban lifestyle we currently have (good restaurants, pubs, good local food markets, used vinyl record stores) but are also looking forward to a bit more of a suburban backyard bbq type thing in the near future.

Do Carrolton and/or Farmers Branch sound like they would be a good fit? Should we be looking elsewhere (McKinny, for example, would be way too far out)? Any info that could be provided would be great.

[Grainraiser]

I think Carrollton would be a prefect fit. I would have a little more surburban feel than urban but there are enough places off Beltline that would keep you happy. I do not know anything about Farmers Branch but I would select Carrollton over them. If your coming to Dallas in June be ready for some real heat. Coming from north of the border your gonna be in for quite a shock when the 100+ degree weather hits you in the face.

[VOK]

looking forward to the 100 degree weather

[KBilly]

If you live that kind of life in near downtown Calgary, I assume that you walk a lot. And drive quickly to places where you can walk -- Eau Claire/Princes's Island/downtown/Beltline/Kensington/Mount Royal/17th Ave, etc. If you live in Carrolton or FB you will not be able to ever do that. Not even close.

You will be forever driving to experience urban Dallas. Those areas come nowhere close to urban Dallas. Think of living in Huntington Hills and fighting traffic to downtown Calgary as an analogy. Would you want that in a brand new city?

Do not buy right away. I would suggest renting for a year and figuring out where you want to live. Rent a place somewhere inside Loop12, in the Village, off of Greenville, or near Uptown or in even up in Addison Circle. Then decide. Good luck.

(Take this from a former 17 year resident of Calgary, who has been here since '94.)

[sonshinelife]

I have a friend and her husband who are from Europe. Both are very excited about the DART Rail system that will be coming through Carrollton. They said there will be townhomes as part of the project. They are both very Urban and are currently living suburb. They feel this will offer them that urban feel yet allow them to raise their family in a suburb area. I dont' know full details but am sure you could find out by going to the DART rail website or maybe even the Carrollton City website.

[VOK]

KBilly: thanks for the info, very helpful to have someone who knows both cities provide some feedback

[murzila]

Did you guys move here yet?

We are Europeans, used to urban living. Just moved from Boston, MA. The first place we lived in was Uptown Dallas. If we had the capability to buy property there we'd do it right away. Everywhere else is a burb, but we found one of the best locations to live and go anywhere major for 15 minutes is Farmers Branch. Suburb but location, location, location and if you keep buzy, you won't miss Calgary painfully. But it is different. Good luck and cheers,

Maggie

[CMDallas]

Originally Posted by VOK

looking forward to the 100 degree weather

When it hit 90, it'll feel like 100...
The weather is only bad for 2 or 3 months...maybe 4...PS: the Worst month is August, right now it's pretty nice.
But for you, the weather should be nice most of the time...