Best areas of Cedar Hill? (Dallas, Grand Prairie: houses, neighborhoods, buyers)

[southern living]

Originally Posted by rosscountry

How did you come up with 60% AA?

from the districts web site

[southern living]

the best school districts (based strictly on the stats) on this side of town is duncanville and midlothian.

though most will claim midlothian is better than duncanville for the same reason they believe red oak is better than say, cedar hill

[vorsprung]

Have you been inside Permenter? I have. The bathrooms reek of urine, the toilets often don't work, there is generally a bad odor throughout the school, and the classrooms, walls, desks etc really show their age. Paint flaking off everywhere, torn and dirty carpeting etc. The whole schools just seem run down and dirty. Go to the newer Coleman MS and then check out Permenter. Its quite a striking difference.

You're correct on the Intermediate schools regarding 5th and 6th grade. My mistake. Wilson is fairly new and well kept the others are in the same league as Permenter. Regardless of what a website shows you, you don't get the full picture unless you spend some time inside the buildings.

Im sure they took the photos for the "virtual tour" during a school holiday and made sure everything was **** and span. I can tell you that it never looks nearly that good when school is in session.

Originally Posted by Acntx

The "older" middle school is W.S. Permenter, which opened in 1989.
Virtual Tour of the school

It doesn't look like it is falling apart.

The district's three intermediate schools are fifth and sixth grade campuses, not sixth grade only. Which campuses do you consider "run-down"?

Joe Wilson Intermediate

West Intermediate

Beltline Intermediate

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by vorsprung

If you are planning on living in southern Dallas County, I would look at De Soto and Duncanville, although I have no experience with those communities, or schools. If you are willing to drive a little further, look into Mansfield (Tarrant county, west of the area), or the northern suburbs if you can deal with the commute, but that may be a bit much. personally, if I had kids and schools were at the top of my priority list, I would live in the northern suburbs and learn to live with the commute.

It seems like every time someone inquires about a southern suburb, it isn't long before there are posts trying to steer them to the northern suburbs. The OPs husband is working in the area and it has already been proven that there are good elementary schools and safe neighborhoods in Cedar Hill for their children to attend. There is also the private school option as well. We really need to focus on what is in the best interest for this family who've requested our help. For them, the northern suburbs would mean a long work commute and higher home prices. There is also no guarantee that the elementary schools are going to be better than those in Cedar Hill.

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

I would love to meet this person and shake their hand! I always tell my clients before considering anything south of I30 to think long and hard about how long they plan on living there. The resale in the southern cities is horrible and has been for the past 3 or so years. If you're going to be there long-term, more power to you as current resale doesn't effect you just yet, but I highly recommend looking at the school information before making any decisions.

So you are proud of making broad generalizations about an area that includes multiple neighborhoods, not to mention a number of cities? Are you also inferring that everything north of I-30 is safe?

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

They are usually the higher class ones that have money, but their kids can still act ghetto sometimes.

Kids are going to be kids no matter what race or class.

(For clarification, my following comment is general and not directed at Metro Matt)
Just because the southern suburbs have a significant number of Black residents doesn't automatically mean that these places are "ghettoes". Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, and Lancaster shouldn't be considered as such. They are diverse, majority middle-class communities with growing populations. A lot of the new residents have incomes equal to or higher than those moving out. Nice neighborhoods outnumber those that aren't in all four cities. As with any area, crime occurs, but none should be considered "unsafe". It is so frustrating to hear people who have never lived in this area or moved away years ago make negative and untrue perception-driven comments about the communities which we choose to call home.

I grew up in DeSoto and lived there for a little over 16 years. We stayed in a small apartment during that period. The community was and still is a great place for families. We moved to Lancaster in 2006 and the same can be said about it. My brother goes to Lancaster High School and regardless of what people say, we know that is a safe campus with great facilities and state-of-the-art features that would match just about any other in the Metroplex. He walks home each day without incident to a neighborhood of generally well-kept homes. In neither place have we ever heard gun shots in the distance, witnessed or been the victims of violent crime, or felt the need to move for safety reasons. What I am trying to say is that life in the southern suburbs is really not that much different than those in other parts of the Dallas area.

[vorsprung]

Originally Posted by Acntx

It seems like every time someone inquires about a southern suburb, it isn't long before there are posts trying to steer them to the northern suburbs. The OPs husband is working in the area and it has already been proven that there are good elementary schools and safe neighborhoods in Cedar Hill for their children to attend. There is also the private school option as well. We really need to focus on what is in the best interest for this family who've requested our help. For them, the northern suburbs would mean a long work commute and higher home prices. There is also no guarantee that the elementary schools are going to be better than those in Cedar Hill.

For the record, Im not trying to steer them away. I did mention that CH does have some nice neighborhoods and a decent quality of life there. Regarding the schools though, I am merely sharing my experiences. I have worked in CH and schools in the northern suburbs. Even if the elementary schools are great, the upper level schools are not.

I do wish to help them, and I am being honest when I say I feel that the CH public schools (I have not spoken for the private schools) are sub-par compared to wealthier areas. I also find that student and parent attitudes and involvement are often disappointing. I say this based on my own personal and professional experience, not out of any sort of personal bias.

Although I personally wouldn't live in CH, it seems safe enough to me, and has a growing amount of commercial and residential development.

[southern living]

"Kids are going to be kids no matter what race or class. "

thats so true ACNTX! My caucasian son thinks its the height of coolness to sag. Even though i hate it and i make him pull up his pants everytime, i suspect he goes right back to sagging when im out of sight.

little does he know that 15 or so years ago, i used to sag (even though i grew up in Africa). anybody who is in their 30s probably remembers kriss/kross..."i missed the bus!"


VORSPRUNG:"I do wish to help them, and I am being honest when I say I feel that the CH public schools (I have not spoken for the private schools) are sub-par compared to wealthier areas."

Most people will be surprised to find out that south western burbs arent doing too bad. cedar hill,desoto e.t.c. according to money magazine have comparable median incomes with cities such as lewisville and carrolton. Its certainly no "cesspool"

I have been to waterford oaks elem, joe wilson, high pointe, permenter...all of them were clean and well run. My son attended waterford oaks.

I know TAKS data has its limitations as far as figuring out if a school is good, but its the only objective way of doing it. otherwise, we resort to he said/ she said.

the numbers are not biased. Can somebody tell me why they think red oak is better than cedar hill?...or duncanville? the data certainly does not support this concusion. I hate to say it, but im convinced its because these schools have a large minority population.

i want to be carefull and mention that i am NOT in any way crying racism. I just think a minority teenager with sagging pants and an askew hat on his head scares most people who cant relate to that. 99.9% of these kids are harmless

[rosscountry]

We will all get a good laugh in a few years when we look back at what has been posted on this forum when Far North Dallas is overcrowded and busy and people will be leaving for a better quality of life in the newer southern Dallas/Tarranty County- away from all of the construction and traffic.

How overcrowded will it get? When we are calling the TX motor speedway the center point of the metroplex we'll be #1 in the worst traffic in the US---just speculation from someone I know in the concrete business.

Back to the OP- IMO anywhere along Joe Pool Lake is the best area of Cedar Hill. Best views, best lifestyle (If you like the outdoors)-southern charm

[FalconheadWest]

Originally Posted by Acntx

So you are proud of making broad generalizations about an area that includes multiple neighborhoods, not to mention a number of cities? Are you also inferring that everything north of I-30 is safe?

Did I say anything about "safe"? I said resale is bad. I get listings in Cedar Hill all the time from home owners moving out of the area, and investors getting rid of their inventory in the area, and the days on the market are LONG and the prices we're selling the houses for are equal to or less than what they paid. I said RESALE is bad, and said nothing about safety. You must be worried about the safety in that area if that's what was on your brain.

[southern living]

except for certain pockets in the metroplex, length of days in the market has gone up in almost all areas because of the rise in foreclosures. This is true everywhere and not unique to cedar hill.

Clearly, their are more people moving in than moving out as pop. has gone up and median income has gone up (according to money magazine). People are voting with their feet. This would never happen if the place had bad schools or was unsafe

despite continued negative perception,due mostly to ignorance, the fact is the area is BOOMING. why? because anybody who actually comes out and checks the place out for themselves and sees what it is about like what they see.

again, population is up, and median income has risen. as per money magazine, median income in cedar hill is comparable to lewisville, carrolton e.t.c. cedar hill has just gotten better and better. If you are interested in SW burbs, check them out for yourself

[Grainraiser]

Checking it out for yourself is always the best thing to do. Check out a neighborhood on the weekends and the weekdays. Your eyes will never lie to you. One size does not fit all and everyone has different preferences so just because you would not pick a certain area does not mean it's not perfect for someone else. I gave my opinion to the OP based on what they wanted not what I think they should do. I suggest others do the same.