Richardson or Allen? (Plano, Van, Oak Point: real estate, house, buyer)

[movetohouston2018]

Thanks all for your input.


Lots more for me to research re Allen/Richardson/Plano. We plan to visit for 3 days in mid June so that should finally help us solidify our plans/choices.


Re: the cut off dates for kindergarten, I just found something called kindergarten acceleration in all 3 ISDs so will research more about this too.

[Debsi]

Originally Posted by DFWUser1

(1) Your statement on commute is contradicting. You said "Richardson to Plano is a reverse commute, so probably a little better than Allen to Plano." And immediately said "Legacy is in North Plano so closer to Allen" - so, those two statements contradict. The fact is all these towns are so close and if you cross a street you are in a different town. Example Custer and 121 divides all 4 towns McKinney, Plano, Frisco & Allen. So, cannot generalize and say Plano is closer OR Allen is closer or Frisco is closer etc.

(2) You said Both Richardson ISD and Plano ISD have good reputations. So does Allen ISD. Also, There are good and not so good schools in ALL ISD's. Do you know how many low ranking schools exists in Plano, Richardson, Frisco, Allen, McKinney or any other town? There are. Not all schools are top raking or not all schools are low performing.

When OP is looking for diverse, average to good academics - ALL nearby towns nearby serves the purpose - Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney in Collin and other surrouding counties. Not just Plano & Richardson.

So bottom line need to be specific and not generalize towns for commute and schools. Otherwise, I know few people who made decisions without inquiring specific schools tied to the home, get carried away by town names and ended up with wrong schools or wrong commutes.

1) I don't believe you don't already know this, but a reverse commute means less people are going in a given direction. Sometimes that means a longer distance can be traveled in a shorter time.

2) I never said Allen ISD didn't have a good reputation or that they couldn't be happy there. I am neither obligated nor required to mention every single school district or city that might meet the poster's needs. I made an answer I hoped would be helpful to the OP, knowing that other posters would give them advice about other areas.

Plano and Richardson ISD's are more ethnically diverse districts than Allen. I looked up the numbers before making my post.

Now please climb on to somebody else's back. I am starting to remember why I stopped reading the Dallas forum.

[DFWUser1]

Originally Posted by movetohouston2018

Thanks all for your input.


Lots more for me to research re Allen/Richardson/Plano. We plan to visit for 3 days in mid June so that should finally help us solidify our plans/choices.


Re: the cut off dates for kindergarten, I just found something called kindergarten acceleration in all 3 ISDs so will research more about this too.

Yes, visiting and personally looking at all surrounding areas, specific schools data, rankings, amenities, shopping etc. overall look and feel of the neighborhoods is what will help.

[dhakaia]

Like some others have mentioned... seriously look at north-central Plano. When you consider the overall package a city can offer... consisting of schools, city services, diversity, proximity to major job centers etc... Plano is supremely unrivaled (no offense to Richardson, where I lived for 10 years or Allen).

Couple of houses in Plano 75025, that are within 15 min of Legacy West... AND fit your budget:


https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...5_M84901-86020

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...5_M77970-40713

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by dhakaia

Like some others have mentioned... seriously look at north-central Plano. When you consider the overall package a city can offer... consisting of schools, city services, diversity, proximity to major job centers etc... Plano is supremely unrivaled (no offense to Richardson, where I lived for 10 years or Allen).

Couple of houses in Plano 75025, that are within 15 min of Legacy West... AND fit your budget:


https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...5_M84901-86020

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...5_M77970-40713

These homes are really good value for the money.

[Treasurevalley92]

As already suggested, I would start with Plano.

Personally I would pick Richardson over Allen. Not only is it less generic and boring looking, but it's also alot more diverse and is better located for doing stuff in Dallas. Allen is just on the wrong side of Plano location wise and lacks the charms of McKinney.

That said I have a coworker from Allen (Born and Raised for 50 years) who loves it there to the point where he is willing to live there and commute to our office in Irving (which seems crazy to me lol).

[PlanoGirl]

There are good options in all three cities (Allen, Plano, Richardson), so I'd check out all three and see what speaks to you.

As far a kindergarten, you CAN test into kindergarten early, but your child has to perform at a 3rd grade level (across the board) to make it in. So it is VERY difficult. Looking into a transitional Kindergarten program (available at many private preschools) is probably the best route for you.

Kindergarten Acceleration is to skip Kinder and go straight to 1st grade. So, it wouldn't be an option for you this coming school year (as age-wise, your child won't even qualify for Kinder yet), but you could try it the following year, if you wanted your child to go straight to 1st grade.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by movetohouston2018

- I have a kid born on September 25 who would be starting Kindergarten this September in NJ where we are moving from as the cut off date is October 1. Is it possible to do any exam in Richardson or Allen ISD that would enable them to get into Kindergarten this Fall rather than wait another full year in private pre-kindergarten?

https://www.pisd.edu/Page/441

https://www.pisd.edu/Page/1329

You can call Plano ISD and ask if he starts KG in NJ and comes as a transfer, will he be eligible to enroll for KG? Age restriction is Texas rule so all districts follow it, you'll hear same answer from every district.

[biafra4life]

I’m not sure why everyone is calling Plano a no brainer. At the $300K price point Plano is going to be brutal. The OP should be prepared for bidding wars and having to pay considerably over asking price. To be honest that is probably going to be the case for Allen, Richardson and McKinney. Better advice for the OP would be to expand the locations to cities further out that offer better options, either that or increase the budget

[NP78]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

I’m not sure why everyone is calling Plano a no brainer. At the $300K price point Plano is going to be brutal. The OP should be prepared for bidding wars and having to pay considerably over asking price. To be honest that is probably going to be the case for Allen, Richardson and McKinney. Better advice for the OP would be to expand the locations to cities further out that offer better options, either that or increase the budget

Disagree here. I am not an expert on the Plano housing market, but a quick search shows tons of homes under 300k. All within Plano ISD and many of them quite nice.