Commute to Allen - better from McKinney or Richardson? Home searching... (Dallas: apartments, condos)

[Peachtree36]

Hi guys,

We are once again getting ready to move to Dallas, this time for a nice job in Allen.

On our scouting trip last summer we found Richardson very lovely and are excited that my husband's new company would be pretty close to it. I am concerned, however, as I have been reading that traffic on the 75 freeway is pretty bad.

We also found that McKinney is close to Allen; it is closer than Richardson. We did not get to visit there, but have been reading about the nice town square and festivals and historic neighborhoods.

I am trying to figure out the area in which to focus our home search. We are hoping to find a walk-able neighborhood where people like to sit on their porches and kids play outside on bikes. Big trees are wonderful too, and I love old houses but am willing to let that go if there are newer neighborhoods conducive to walking. (Rxmom wrote about a nice example in Arlington, thank you again for that!)

If there are any areas like this around Allen, i would be open to checking them out. I'm a little leery of 'volume built' newer suburbs, say from the 1980's and newer, as they seem more tailored for folks who are not home as much.

McKinney and Richardson seem like they would offer the nicest cozy neighborhoods within a 30 minute commute but I am curious what you all think.

Our budget would be about 250K to buy and we are open to fixer-uppers. Is McKinney also more affordable than Richardson? The market in the latter is hopping these days. It looks like there are some nice older homes up in McKinney within the 250K range...

Also, our kids are 6 and 3 and currently home-schooled but I am interested in the schools as well.

Any help is appreciated!

[Katana49]

You're better off being in McKinney.

McKinney is adjacent to Allen, for Richardson, you have to pass through Plano to get to Allen, and Plano's traffic only gets worse every year. However, I think you should be able to find something within your budget that is actually in Allen, is there some reason why you are not looking there?

[TheOverdog]

You have few options. I'm not sure they've built any single family attached in Allen's 'walkable town square' area called Watters Creek. It's actually very nice but I think it's all apartments and maybe some condos. Most single family neighborhoods in Allen and McKinney aren't really walkable to anywhere, they are nice neighborhoods but almost all set up for driving. McKinney has a historic square - it might be to your liking. They are close enough together (McKinney's downtown) and Allen (not geographically very large) that the commute would be fine. You can check Richardson also. It's a reverse commute (everyone is going south in the morning to Richardson and Dallas and you would be going north), so I think traffic would be fine.

[trogdor76]

I live and work in Allen... used to commute here from Keller which was no fun, but it definitely got me familiar with the main roads around here. From my experience, I would never count on 75 being a smooth commute. The "reverse commute" thing really doesn't apply anymore... heading south on 75 into Plano/Richardson during PM rush hour is fine some days but can be terrible. So I would get as close as possible as your budget allows but definitely check into school quality, crime, etc.

In your price range there are options in McKinney and Plano, and also Allen on the east side of 75. MAYBE Wylie/Sachse, which would be back roads but a slightly longer drive (20-30 minutes). Just looking at Zillow, ff you could stretch your budget to $300K or so that will open up a lot more options, including parts of Frisco.

[Ralph_Kirk]

You are likely to find more housing options in your price range in Richardson than McKinney. As has been mentioned, your commute to Allen would be against the flow and thus a bit easier.

In truth, the actual differences will be extremely route-variable based on where you would actually live in each community to the job. One house in either community might put you on a perfectly serene route to work (75 is not the only option). What that means is: Don't pre-empt either place. Look at houses in either community and actually examine the specific route that house gives you.

[Texanbylove]

I would recommend Allen, Mckinney and Frisco for newer communities and increasingly good school district's.. Richardson schools are going down in standards...

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

OP doesn't want new houses. I think many would disagree that Richardson schools are going down. OP, remember in TX the ISD does NOT match the city boundaries so be very careful the house you like has the ISD you want.

[stephwin]

Originally Posted by Peachtree36

It looks like there are some nice older homes up in McKinney within the 250K range...

Also, our kids are 6 and 3 and currently home-schooled but I am interested in the schools as well.

Are you talking about the ones that are typically east of 75? While McKinney schools are generally regarded as good on this board, keep in mind that individual schools within each ISD perform better or worse than others. For example, there is a cute little house on Camellia Lane (active contingent) well within your budget. The elementary school, Burks, is 79.5% economically disadvantaged. Compare that to CT Eddins Elementary school, also McKinney ISD, that is only 6.4% economically disadvantaged.

[Saintmarks]

There are so many other ways of getting from McKinney to Allen without getting on 75 that I would vote for it too. Yes, a Richardson commute would be reverse, so not near as bad as living in Allen and going to Richardson, but McKinney is a great place. Great variety of housing, not near as cookie cutter in feel as other areas.

[speedyg]

As far as living in Allen, the biggest negative in my book is the school district. It's not terrible, but it isn't the best but has the highest taxes in the county.

Richardson has a very good school district as does Plano which parts of Richardson are in. I'm not up on McKinney's.

You might want to look at Parker, Lucas and Fairview. They are all next door to Allen without needing to hit the highway.
Some of the older areas might be in your price range and may be more the style of house you are looking for. The biggest problem will be that these are large lot areas and land prices are skyrocketing.

I'm going to throw in a little of a dark horse. Don't exclude the eastern part of Plano.

I would pick Richardson over McKinney if it was me but that is personal bias because I went to school in Richardson and know it better.