Las Colinas neighborhood information! (Dallas, Plano: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[dharub]

We are new to the DFW area and currently looking to buy a house in Plano.It's been a challenge finding homes in Plano according to our liking.So we are considering expanding our search.We have a budget of 600-650K for homes that might need work. Last week we were visiting the Las Colinas area and drove around some of the neighborhoods and found the University Hills area very interesting especially elevations of some of the houses.The properties seem dated but we are ok with fixer uppers. The schools zoned for this area seem to have bad ratings( Good schools are important to us as we have a middle schooler).

The main questions I have are

1.Is university hills a good area in terms of friendly neighbors, safety etc?

2.Are there any other similar communities in Las Colinas or even Valley ranch?

3. During my research I came across couple Charter schools especially one is Uplift North Hill and the other named Great Hearts. Looking for experiences/opinions on either of the schools. We might be open to this option but want to see if we can get any more information.
Anybody have any experience moving a middle schooler. Is there a huge waitlist for middle school?

TIA for all the replies.

[tcualum]

You forgot the most important info. Where is work and what's your budget? Most of the established charter schools have lotteries. If you miss the window for entering your child's name in the lottery you're out of luck. Even then you might not get a spot. We applied for a charter school lottery and didn't succeed in getting a spot.

[dharub]

Thanks for your reply! We work remotely so location is not an issue. The budget we are thinking right now is ideally in the 650K range for a 5bed/3 bath with a pool.We are not necessarily looking into an updated property if its going to be hard to find in that budget. I am planning to call the schools. one of them that I have mentioned seem to be open and other one is closed for the lottery. Assuming we end up lucky with the lottery, do you have any suggestions on the neighborhoods?

[dfwtransplant27]

If looking in the Las Colinas area, recommend neighborhoods in North Irving as this is closer to restaurants and amenities that may be of interest to your family. These are the desired neighborhoods you may want to look at: La Villita (beautiful lake and mediterrean roof homes), Riverside Village (green space and landscaped), Villas at the Studios (smaller), Escena (mediterrean roof), Terraces at Las Colinas, and if you budget allow, Lakes of Las Colinas. Most, if not all of these, are in the 75039 zip code, located off Riverside Drive.

Charter schools to look into: Uplift NorthHills, Great Hearts, Coppell Classical Academy, and Universal Academy. Uplift lottery has already happened for the next school year but it's worth looking into the others.

[ChristieP]

If you work remotely, and location isn't a concern, there are lots of other areas to consider besides Las Colinas and Plano.

Are you looking for an Indian community with Indian grocery stores and Indian restaurants?

[dharub]

Originally Posted by dfwtransplant27

If looking in the Las Colinas area, recommend neighborhoods in North Irving as this is closer to restaurants and amenities that may be of interest to your family. These are the desired neighborhoods you may want to look at: La Villita (beautiful lake and mediterrean roof homes), Riverside Village (green space and landscaped), Villas at the Studios (smaller), Escena (mediterrean roof), Terraces at Las Colinas, and if you budget allow, Lakes of Las Colinas. Most, if not all of these, are in the 75039 zip code, located off Riverside Drive.

Charter schools to look into: Uplift NorthHills, Great Hearts, Coppell Classical Academy, and Universal Academy. Uplift lottery has already happened for the next school year but it's worth looking into the others.

Thank you so much. This is really helpful!

[dharub]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

If you work remotely, and location isn't a concern, there are lots of other areas to consider besides Las Colinas and Plano.

Are you looking for an Indian community with Indian grocery stores and Indian restaurants?

No! Let me know if you have other recommendations.

[DFW_FTW]

Foundation , Foundation , Foundation.

Get a structural engineer to bless the house first during the option period.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by dharub

No! Let me know if you have other recommendations.

The reason I asked about the Indian community is that Las Colinas has a large Indian community, and many people seek to live there because of it.
And yes, as the previous poster mentioned, Las Colinas is notorious for bad foundation problems due to shifting soil in the area.

Other great places to live in your budget with great public schools:
Grapevine, Colleyville, Euless (north of Mid-Cities Blvd) all share the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD which is very highly-regarded. Tarrant County taxes are also slightly less than Dallas County.
Richardson is also very good.

[DALLASMOM3289]

coppell
nice neibourhood with great schools