looking for small towns

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by markinnh

Yes my budget is 160k tops water front property is something my wife would like but its not a deal breaker. I understand Texas is not the same it was 20 years ago. We could go higher but we would rather not have the higher payments if possible. I would like at least close to half an acre cause we have two large dogs. I am not sure what diverse means in this case either But if your saying our mixed marriage is ok there then that's cool. I can go to a VA clinic most times but I have to see an actual neurologist often so that is why the VA hospital statement. Not really interested in Oklahoma, Mark

I wrote the post with the diverse statement to indicate your ethnicity mix would be a good fit for Lancaster.

[Stevehanrahan41]

Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9

What's that supposed to mean? "Diverse" is about as poorly defined a word as you could hope to find.

As strange as it might sound, I think he and his wife might find places they liked in Oklahoma.

Lancaster is around %73 Black
17% Latino
8% White

It’s hardly a diverse community. And it’s not changing either. Lancaster is rough.

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by Stevehanrahan41

Lancaster is around %73 Black
17% Latino
8% White

It’s hardly a diverse community. And it’s not changing either. Lancaster is rough.

Since the blanket statements and community bashing have found their way into this discussion, I want to address the issue. From the moment Lancaster was mentioned, you have singled it out for extra scrutiny just to prove that it isn't diverse in your opinion. WorldKlas provided a explanation of why she mentioned Lancaster in the first place, yet her post wasn't acknowledged. Anyone who posts in this forum should know it isn't uncommon to see neighborhoods and suburbs labeled as "diverse" at one time or another, even when a single racial/ethnic group forms a majority of the overall population. In the suburbs of southwest Dallas County, African-Americans are the largest group with a slight majority overall. The area isn't hyper-segregated, however, and people belonging to other racial/ethnic groups are present in each of these communities in substantial numbers. In other parts of DFW, cities with demographic percentages similar to Lancaster, but a differing distribution of racial/ethnic groups are often considered "diverse" as well, and we rarely see threads for those areas drifting away from the original topic and descending into page-long disputes over diversity status.

The racial/ethnic percentage figures you listed for Lancaster are slightly off and neither this website or the latest survey estimates Census Bureau's estimates confirm those figures. In the past, we've had members who would post inaccurate demographic figures for the southern suburbs to mislead others, even when given proof. I'm not accusing you of doing this or trying to be nitpicky. I just wanted to provide an explanation.

The truth is there probably isn't anything in the city of Lancaster that would meet the OPs criteria given the current housing market conditions, their budget, and preference for a small town. The penalty for merely being suggested in this discussion is a growing suburb of 39,000 residents living in dozens of different neighborhoods/subdivisions over a 30 square mile area being written off in its entirety as "rough." This has happened to every seen every sizable suburb south of Dallas at some point over the 11 years I've been posting in this forum and I'll never understand the logic behind it. Its even more frustrating when you know where the nice, well-kept, and safe neighborhoods are based on first-hand knowledge gained simply from being a longtime resident of a particular area.

[Acntx]

Hello markinnh,

There is a large, lightly populated unincorporated area of Dallas County located south/east of Lancaster, north of Red Oak, northwest of Ferris, and west of Wilmer where properties are located along two-lane roads and homes sit on larger lots. They have Lancaster addresses and lie within Lancaster's extraterritorial jurisdiction, but aren't part of the city. There might be something in the area that could satisfy some or your desired criteria. The area is quiet and safe. If you ultimately decide to focus on the Dallas area, I would recommend giving that area a look with the caveat that there will likely be increased development in the near future based on its location. Other than that, you will likely have to go further out into Ellis or some of the surrounding counties.

[frisco19542]

Easy move east on I-30 to Hopkins county. You can buy 4 acres for $70k in Sulphur Springs just south of town and buy a double wide and be well under the $160k budget.

Land is still cheap around sulphur springs and it located on I-30 so it is only about hour east of Dallas. The area real estate hasn’t gone up and prices are like there were in Dallas before they went up because no one from California is there yet.

Also sulphur springs is very diverse lots of Different ethnicity there. You would be surprised how many Dutch immigrants and others immigrants live in the area from Europe who moved there when it was the Dairy Farm capital. Generally speaking people are open minded in the area unlike other rural areas.