Prosperous Black Family Moving to Dallas (Plano, Irving: high school, live, zoned)

[Chi2Dallas89]

Originally Posted by DAX_

Can someone explain to me why mesquite isn't a good option? Its no more than 20-25 minutes from the galleria and the city has a big black population, and according to current trends black people will become the second largest group in mesquite this decade.

The wealthiest zip code in mesquite also has more black people than it has any other group

@DAX_ There's not a single home for sale over 500K in Mesquite. OP says he's looking for homes in the million-dollar range. Mesquite is also declining, just as Garland is. It's not an ideal place to live for someone in OP's tax bracket.

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by DAX_

Can someone explain to me why mesquite isn't a good option? Its no more than 20-25 minutes from the galleria and the city has a big black population, and according to current trends black people will become the second largest group in mesquite this decade.

The wealthiest zip code in mesquite also has more black people than it has any other group

Its not attractive to upper middle class professionals. In DFW, its really economic status first above ethnicity in how people come together. I do agree that any ethnic group finds much comfort/easier sharing “among their own” but again, economic status comes first in DFW. Mesquite’s schools are not high performing. Its a very average town with a high demographic of blue collar/middle class houses. There are nice neighborhoods but not a high volume of premium neighborhoods as found in West Plano or North Dallas. The OP’s kids would find plenty of other kids to hang with but not most of equal economic status.

[Smokemiah]

Worldklas, thanks for that clarification. I think for us it is not status that's driving our search, but the ability to show our kids much more diversity than they currently see and to see AA's living a different kind of life than they see here. In my current city, AA = poor/working class, generally speaking. Our suburbs are 92-95% white and often 1-2% black. Those are areas with the best schools and the nicest housing.

My wife and I have found that we often have to choose between the comfort that you mentioned that comes "among our own" and the awkward feeling that part of our world (private school or where we vacation or the kind of restaurants we frequent) is alien to our AA community and we often feel the need to defend it.

As 2 people that grew up in poor/working class neighborhoods, we get it, but we'd prefer not to live in as starkly divided a world as we do here if we have a choice.

[Smokemiah]

BTW, Chi2Dallas89 etc al, thx!

[WorldKlas]

https://affluentblacksofdallas.com/s...professionals/

Looks like this group tries to network

[Aggielina]

I live in 75248, also called Prestonwood. This neighborhood would rock for your commute. Your budget might be a bit north of the most expensive homes I typically see for sale, though. Good schools, and depending on your particular school chosen, it can be fairly diverse. But, I can only think of a handful of AA professionals I personally have met who live in the area, but of course I'm just one person. There's one AA family at our school that is very accomplished, and the mom actually grew up here and her parents still live here, happily it seems. I've witnessed a lot of comingling of races and religions in social activities, at least those that involve the children. I don't think you'd feel uncomfortable.

I also think West Plano would be an excellent option too. Personally, if I could afford a $1M+ home AND private school, I would be looking at Bluffview. It's close to Love Field and I think it's a beautiful neighborhood.

[texstout]

Not a sure fire option, but Dallas has great magnet schools. We pulled our kids out of a local private school when they were admitted to a 4th-8th grade gifted/talented DISD magnet school which we love. It pulls from all over Dallas and includes a good, diverse representation. I know several Hugh-income AA families that attend (along with many families that I don’t know their income, but probably span the spectrum).

[TheOverdog]

Allen wouldn't be a great commute to Addison, but it's almost 10% AA, and generally affluent. Irving would be an option too, almost 15% AA, and if you pick the right area it's nice enough.

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Allen wouldn't be a great commute to Addison, but it's almost 10% AA, and generally affluent. Irving would be an option too, almost 15% AA, and if you pick the right area it's nice enough.

Irving is served by 3 separate school districts, with the west side of Valley Ranch being served by the high-ranking Coppell ISD with many professional families of color. However those families are Desi/Indian not AA. The 15% AA population in Irving largely attends the ISD, which has some good schools but not many. The affluent areas of Irving are served by MacArthur HS, which is not a top rated school.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by Smokemiah

Worldklas, thanks for that clarification. I think for us it is not status that's driving our search, but the ability to show our kids much more diversity than they currently see and to see AA's living a different kind of life than they see here. In my current city, AA = poor/working class, generally speaking. Our suburbs are 92-95% white and often 1-2% black. Those are areas with the best schools and the nicest housing.

My wife and I have found that we often have to choose between the comfort that you mentioned that comes "among our own" and the awkward feeling that part of our world (private school or where we vacation or the kind of restaurants we frequent) is alien to our AA community and we often feel the need to defend it.

As 2 people that grew up in poor/working class neighborhoods, we get it, but we'd prefer not to live in as starkly divided a world as we do here if we have a choice.

In the areas of Dallas people are suggesting you'll definitely see a significant amount of middle class to affluent AA families out and about. Even if the AA percentage is a tad bit below the national average (14%) there's other ethnic groups concentrated in those areas as well. My sister and her family lives in Carrollton which has a 9.79% percentage of AA's. They're more upper middle class but mingle with plenty of affluent AA families in the surrounding areas. It's a different environment than the city your in now.

With that said, DFW has a reputation of having a underwhelming Black cultural experience compared to cities of similar size. IMO I think that's kind of overexaggerated. People usually compare DFW due to it's size to cities like D.C./ Atlanta/Houston and act as if DFW Black professional social scene is equivalent to that of a city like Austin. But if you take DFW as is it has a lot to offer and punches above a lot of popular cities that get by solely on legacy instead of their current state.