Highland Park Affordable? (Dallas, Coppell, University Park: apartments, rentals, condos)

[singmom111]

Hi - my husband is being transferred to the Dallas area and as far as I can tell the only exceptional H.S. is Highland Park. I've been reading that it's particularly expensive to live there. Can students transfer into the H.S. or do we need to move into that specific area. I'm looking for a predominantly white area with little crime, we currently spend $1800 monthly on rent for a 5 bedroom house. Is there anything like that there? Also, is the humidity really bad & do you get tornadoes? Thanks very much!

[Spree]

One must reside within the school district boundaries to attend Highland Park schools. The cities of University Park and Highland Park are in the same school district. It's a very pricey area, 3 or 4 bed/2 bathroom houses will run atleast 800k to 1 mil starting price for about 2000 sq. feet of house (estimate) on a small lot. Plug in the zip codes of 75225 (University Park) or 75205 (Highland Park) into realtor.com and that let you see what houses cost.

There are rentals to be found - houses, townhomes, condos and some apartments. If you need 5 bedrooms I'm afraid you might not find anything in your budget.

I don't find the humidity that bad, it does get hot here in the summer. If you are moving from a dry climate you will notice the humidity. In the spring, thunderstorms roll through but tornadoes are rare in Dallas.

[dogblitz]

Highland Park is the epitome of wealth in Dallas... probably one of the richest areas in the nation...
The school is second to none; crime is non existent; it is an ideallic setting, an oasis in the desert so to speak... however, I don't think you could rent an outhouse in HP for $1800 per month. Lot costs in HP start at about 3 million; sister city University Park, maybe 1 mil for the dirt...houses on the west side of tollway are cheaper (in UP) but probably start at 800K for maybe 1800 sq feet. The richest of the rich live in HP.... good luck.

[Kootr]

Originally Posted by dogblitz

Highland Park is the epitome of wealth in Dallas... probably one of the richest areas in the nation...
The school is second to none; crime is non existent; it is an ideallic setting, an oasis in the desert so to speak... however, I don't think you could rent an outhouse in HP for $1800 per month. Lot costs in HP start at about 3 million; sister city University Park, maybe 1 mil for the dirt...houses on the west side of tollway are cheaper (in UP) but probably start at 800K for maybe 1800 sq feet. The richest of the rich live in HP.... good luck.

That pretty much says it all!

[FarNorthDallas]

And there are areas of University Park and Highland Park that are not zoned for the Highland Park school district and those places are a tad cheaper. They will be in Dallas ISD (school district).

There are other good schools in the area, by the way.

[nsumner]

Highland Park and affordable is an oxymoron.

There are many other school districts with excellent high schools such as Coppell in your price range. You may want to explore those as well.

Naima

[rosscountry]

Originally Posted by Spree

One must reside within the school district boundaries to attend Highland Park schools. The cities of University Park and Highland Park are in the same school district. It's a very pricey area, 3 or 4 bed/2 bathroom houses will run atleast 800k to 1 mil starting price for about 2000 sq. feet of house (estimate) on a small lot. Plug in the zip codes of 75225 (University Park) or 75205 (Highland Park) into realtor.com and that let you see what houses cost.

There are rentals to be found - houses, townhomes, condos and some apartments. If you need 5 bedrooms I'm afraid you might not find anything in your budget.

I don't find the humidity that bad, it does get hot here in the summer. If you are moving from a dry climate you will notice the humidity. In the spring, thunderstorms roll through but tornadoes are rare in Dallas.

my bud lives in hp and his house appraised at 500k...
the point is you have to be lucky to find a vacant home and a landlord that isnt paying a ton for mortgage.... but be optomistic as they are out there

[loves2read]

affordable is in the pocketbook of the beholder...
some people can certainly afford to live in Highland Park--most people can't...
there are places that probably rent for that amount---but not a 5 bedroom house...

most ISDs don't have "exemplary" rated high schools because of the clientel they serve--the greater the number of students in the student body, the more variety, the more diluted the top scoring students' into the general melting pot--which makes almost any good high school get a rating of acceptable...
but there are schools are offer great educational choices within even an average rated school--the question is will most students take advantage of them...
frankly few do...

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by singmom111

Hi - my husband is being transferred to the Dallas area and as far as I can tell the only exceptional H.S. is Highland Park.

See:

America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com


Showing 1 to 7 of 7 Schools in Dallas, TX from 2008« PREV | NEXT » PAST
YEARS RANK SCHOOL LOCATION STATE INDEX SUBS. LUNCH E&E
2 Talented and Gifted Dallas Texas 15.953 31 79.1
4 Science/Engineering Magnet Dallas Texas 10.245 50.9 101
15 Highland Park Dallas Texas 6.035 0 65.1
131 White Dallas Texas 3.3 70 17.5
526 Woodrow Wilson Dallas Texas 1.986 54 22.6
547 Hillcrest Dallas Texas 1.956 52.8 21.2
1094 Lake Highlands Dallas Texas 1.307 33.9 25.9

[Big G]

Originally Posted by loves2read

most ISDs don't have "exemplary" rated high schools because of the clientel they serve--the greater the number of students in the student body, the more variety, the more diluted the top scoring students' into the general melting pot--which makes almost any good high school get a rating of acceptable...

Well, um, no. You're correct that most high schools get jobbed by the TAKS ranking system, but it's because of the method used.

To get an exemplary rating, you have to have exemplary score levels for EACH sub-group (black, Hispanic, low-income, maybe a couple others). So, you might have a school of 2000 kids with, say, 80 low-income kids. If 8 of those kids can't pass the TAKS, there goes the rating for the entire school.

Highland Park doesn't have to worry about this, because they don't have any low-income kids, and they don't have enough blacks for them to be counted as a sub-group for TAKS purposes.