Relocating: Plano or Allen or Frisco (Dallas, Richardson: house, established neighborhood, buy)

[Grainraiser]

I always looked at Allen & Frisco as extensions of Plano. They pretty much exist because of the rapid growth of Plano. I really can't see how you could go wrong with either as long as the commute is not a issue.

[da jammer]

Originally Posted by DFWfuture

Hi all,

We are relocating to the DFW area in August and have zeroed in on 3 choices of Plano, Allen or Frisco.

Reasons for Plano:
1. Wife wants a short commute and expects to find many CPA-IT type opportunities.
2. Well-known school district (one kid is in elementary and one kid is in middle school).
3. Older, established area with many restaurants, shopping locations (2 Costcos to boot!) and other services.

Unsure of: how good the houses built in 90s will turn out to be for their styling and options

Reasons for Allen, Frisco:
1. Brand new houses which we can build the way we want.
2. Still close to Plano for work

Unsure of: schools, traffic commute

We plan to live in an apartment for a 3-6 months period and see what we like. Also look at houses in Plano in August and see if we can move in immediately and avoid moving into an apartment altogether.

Questions:
1. Is the housing market down in Plano too and is August a good time to buy there (considering school begins last week of August)? We are looking for a house in the $300K-375K range.
2. How do you compare the schools in Plano to schools in Allen/Frisco?
3. How do you compare the housing in Plano to housing in Allen/Frisco?

Thanks in Advance!

just in case anyone lost track of what the original topic was all about....

From here on out let's stay on topic please. Thanks folks.

[RE Diva]

American Legends builds some BEAUTIFUL homes in Castle Hills. They are all decked out standard and the floor plans were just recently drawn by former Highland Homes architects. They are very now and current and just make sense. You know - none of the powder bath off the dining nook kind of thing. They'd be in your price range. There is also multi-purpose space within the community where there are shops, office space and living space.

They've also put a lot of money into the community to help bring in new schools. There are now elem. and middle schools on the campus and they are very highly rated.

Happy to help,
T. Hayley

[Terri Rijos]

I am a native Texan and a Realtor for 15 years. I live in Plano as I knew our stepson would be moving in with us, so schools important. My husband works in Richardson along I-75. So, two good reasons for where we purchased. You'll have a lot of good choices in your price range. Are schools important, or more so the commute? Moderator cut: real estate agent solicitations are not allowed per site ToS

[DFWfuture]

Terri,

Schools are more important than commute. After reviewing the school ratings in the Plano district, we would like to be in a house that feeds into Jasper High and Plano Senior High and with exemplary (or recognized) elementary and middle schools. We plan to live in our new house long enough to experience all the school grade levels!

[Big G]

That's a good choice for you - great schools in that area, and many of the neighborhoods in that area are in your target price range.

I agree with your assessment that Jasper is the best HS in Plano.

I'm pretty sure all the elementaries and middle schools in the Jasper zone are exemplary. The only one I'd stay away from is Skaggs - just too darn big!

Parts of Jasper feed into Plano West instead of Plano Sr. The Plano ISD is building a 6th high school in the eastern part of the district, so there will be significant boundary changes in about 2-3 years. I wouldn't be surprised to see all of Jasper feed into Plano West in the coming years.

[compSciGuy]

Originally Posted by DFWfuture

Terri,

Schools are more important than commute. After reviewing the school ratings in the Plano district, we would like to be in a house that feeds into Jasper High and Plano Senior High and with exemplary (or recognized) elementary and middle schools. We plan to live in our new house long enough to experience all the school grade levels!

Are you Asian? Most of the schools feeding into Jasper are where it seems lots of Asians cluster (more so for the schools that feed into Plano Senior versus Plano West).

Originally Posted by Big G

That's a good choice for you - great schools in that area, and many of the neighborhoods in that area are in your target price range.

I agree with your assessment that Jasper is the best HS in Plano.

I'm pretty sure all the elementaries and middle schools in the Jasper zone are exemplary. The only one I'd stay away from is Skaggs - just too darn big!

Parts of Jasper feed into Plano West instead of Plano Sr. The Plano ISD is building a 6th high school in the eastern part of the district, so there will be significant boundary changes in about 2-3 years. I wouldn't be surprised to see all of Jasper feed into Plano West in the coming years.

Looking at the stats, I noticed that Skaggs had by far the largest Asian population (over 60% of the student body). From an academic perspective I have no problem with that ... It's mainly whether or not I personally want to strain my budget more to pay for a school that's 60% Asian as opposed to one that's only 30-40% Asian. My budget is less than DFWFuture.

[DFWfuture]

Originally Posted by compSciGuy

Are you Asian? Most of the schools feeding into Jasper are where it seems lots of Asians cluster (more so for the schools that feed into Plano Senior versus Plano West).

I mentioned Jasper only because that is only high school rated as "recognized" in the Plano district.

We are an Indian couple. We were in Flower Mound for long, and at one stage, my elder kid was the only non-white in her whole class (all sections)! So going to Plano will be a big contrasting change. I do not intend to start any race-related war here! My wife had commute issues in Flower Mound and that is what we are looking to resolve without letting go on the quality of schools.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by compSciGuy

Are you Asian? Most of the schools feeding into Jasper are where it seems lots of Asians cluster (more so for the schools that feed into Plano Senior versus Plano West).
Looking at the stats, I noticed that Skaggs had by far the largest Asian population (over 60% of the student body). From an academic perspective I have no problem with that ... It's mainly whether or not I personally want to strain my budget more to pay for a school that's 60% Asian as opposed to one that's only 30-40% Asian. My budget is less than DFWFuture.

Well, I didn't want to open yet another can of racial worms on this thread. But yes, Skaggs is a majority-Asian school - mostly Chinese.

On the plus side, student behavior is not a problem at that school. On the minus side, parent involvement at the school isn't as high as at most other PISD elementaries (a fair number of the mothers have very limited English skills), and the Asians and non-Asians don't "mix" as much as at other schools, since both sides have a critical mass. As an Indian, your kid might be frozen out - not Chinese, not white.

It's a bizarre situation, and, as far as I know, one that only occurs at Skaggs.

Honestly, throughout the PISD, the curriculum and teacher quality is pretty much the same. Skaggs kids are richer than Saigling or Carlisle kids, so the social environment will be different, but the education is going to be almost identical. So you really don't need to bust your budget to get into School A vs. School B.

[Plano87]

Look at the website GreatSchools.net and research the schools for the various neighborhoods you're interested in. They list the demographics of each school and other interesting stats.

In your price range there are some subdivisions in West Plano that might be good options, especially a few along Midway between Spring Creek & Park or east of Preston between Park & Spring Creek. This would be in the 75093 zip code, which is the primary zip code for West Plano. The Dallas Morning News did a study profiling all of the zip codes in the Dallas Metroplex and 75093 had one of the highest incomes and lowest crime rates.

There is new construction in Plano, but other than townhomes it is all over 400K. There is a Grand Homes neighborhood with new construction at Ohio & McDermott in North Plano that is from the 300's.

As other posters have said, Allen and Frisco both border parts of Plano, but I would recommend west Allen (75013) if you're considering that.