Why is South and East Dallas suburbs Houses so much cheaper than North Dallas suburbs? (Garland: crime, appliances)

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by DaveG99

that Augusta St link you posted looks like a nice place in Lancaster from the pictures. But the gas station/covenient store on the corner of Houston School Road and Pleasant run rd right next to that neighborhood is REALLY ghetto. I actually stopped there once for gas and it is your typical bars on the windows dont go there at night type of place.

The fact is the northern suburbs are the more desirable place to live. The prices are lower in the southern suburbs for a reason. Yeah the southern suburbs have just as nice houses for less money. But what you paying for in the northern suburbs is the location of the houses. Brick and mortar costs the same all over the metro plex but the land the houses sit on is much different.

A perfect example of that "I am better than you" attitude that I have been introduced to since I began posting on city-data over a year ago. Look, I know you had a single experience and want to judge an entire community based on that. I'm sure there isn't a single convenience store in Plano that isn't beautiful. Is your city a ghetto because a man was killed there a few days ago? No, it isn't. Just because one building or intersection isn't immaculate in Lancaster does not mean that this entire city is bad or a ghetto!

[Korel]

I haven't read any previous posts on this thread but my fast answer is "Location". The matra in the real estate business is "Location - Location - Location" The northern areas are of higher demand which equates a higher price. I grew up in Pleasant Grove (Grove Rat of the 1960s) and it was a great place to live. I still have friends who have never left the Grove and continue to enjoy living there.

[Racole]

Location is not the most important factor for me anymore when buying a house. I bought my first house in AR in one of the prestigious areas with a good school system. When I was ready to move a year ago the house did not sell. Not even for what I owe on the house. Now I am renting it out.

When I moved to TX I decided to move to a place that I really enjoy. I moved to Cedar Hill. I love the diversity in my neighborhood. My next door neighbors are white, my other neighbors are black, the family across the street are Hispanic, and their next door neigbhors are Asian. My husband and I have a six figure income. I am highly educated as well as my husband. My neighbors are great and are highly educated. There is a shopping mall in walking distance from my house. My drive to work is only 30 min. My husband's drive is 15 min. Although I could afford a more expensive home, my house was bought for $39 sqft and I enjoy all the extra money I can put away in savings. I am truly loving it. The home is not cheaply built. I enjoy the custom made cabinets, granite counter tops, ceramic tile floor, media room, game room, j-swing garage, trees on my lawn, spiral staircase, and quiet cul-de-sac.

I really like living in the southern suburbs it is not as congested as the northen suburbs. I do not have much expreience with Mesquite.

[tx50220]

Statistics are one thing. And there my be a difference. Going to see for yourself is something else. Not everybody will want to live where the stats are. One thing the southern sector has, up north doesn't have is scenery. Trees, hills, -natures way of making itself look nice. Sure, there are bad places everywhere. Folks need to search for themselves.

[Grainraiser]

The Northern burbs have more jobs so the cost of living is going to be higher. The per capita income is much higher the northern burbs. This fuels the schools since these kids come form Those are simple facts. Being more diserable is a subjective opinion. If I could afford to live anywhere in the Dallas it would not be in the Northern burbs. I would base my decision on the commute times it takes to get to my job downtown. I'm 40 minutes away right now and it's taking a toll on me. I would live in the city itself so that I can spend more time with my family. There is no perfect place to live in the DFW area. There are always compromises when to you choose. What is important to one person is not important to another. Everybody has to find there slice of heaven.

[Korel]

Hey Grainraiser, to quote you, "The per capita income is much higher the northern burbs" is the reason I moved north from SE Dallas. After we finished school, my friends and I were visiting and I began to notice that the guys who moved north (Richardson, n. Dallas, Plano) all made more money than us who continued to live south of I-30. This was like 1973. So as soon as I could, I moved to n. Dallas and it worked! I started making twice the money I was making working in the Grove. Go figure?

[Grainraiser]

Well Korel I would disagree with you on this one. There was plenty affluence in Southern portion of Dallas in 1973. This is the time white flight left Oak Cliff and began to move to Duncanville. Lancaster and Cedar Hill was small towns not surburbs during this time. Plano certainly was not considered affluent at this time. North Dallas, Lake Highlands and Richardson is were all the money was back then. No one lived in the burbs back then. A real shift started in the early 80's. More companies moved to the northern reaches of Dallas and Plano exploded. Frisco, McKinney and Allen grew because Plano was busting at the seams. If you look at the 1973 high school year books of schools like Carter & Kimball you will see the faces of affluent white students. The northern burbs did not become trendy until the early to mid 80's. I went to Skyline in Pleasant Grove during the late 70's/ early 80's. The Grove at that time was a community of mostly hardworking blue collar workers with a healthy population of white collar workers. I was nothing like it is today.

[DaveG99]

Originally Posted by Acntx

A perfect example of that "I am better than you" attitude that I have been introduced to since I began posting on city-data over a year ago. Look, I know you had a single experience and want to judge an entire community based on that. I'm sure there isn't a single convenience store in Plano that isn't beautiful. Is your city a ghetto because a man was killed there a few days ago? No, it isn't. Just because one building or intersection isn't immaculate in Lancaster does not mean that this entire city is bad or a ghetto!

I dont think Im better than anyone. I just think where I choose to live is better than the southern suburbs. And I've been down there more than one time. I travel around the entire metroplex for work.

[southern living]

Originally Posted by DaveG99

I dont think Im better than anyone.

Your past racially charged comments (most of which had to be deleted) allready gave us insight to your motivation. you have no credibility in this discussion

[southern living]

Originally Posted by Racole

Location is not the most important factor for me anymore when buying a house. I bought my first house in AR in one of the prestigious areas with a good school system. When I was ready to move a year ago the house did not sell. Not even for what I owe on the house. Now I am renting it out.

When I moved to TX I decided to move to a place that I really enjoy. I moved to Cedar Hill. I love the diversity in my neighborhood. My next door neighbors are white, my other neighbors are black, the family across the street are Hispanic, and their next door neigbhors are Asian. My husband and I have a six figure income. I am highly educated as well as my husband. My neighbors are great and are highly educated. There is a shopping mall in walking distance from my house. My drive to work is only 30 min. My husband's drive is 15 min. Although I could afford a more expensive home, my house was bought for $39 sqft and I enjoy all the extra money I can put away in savings. I am truly loving it. The home is not cheaply built. I enjoy the custom made cabinets, granite counter tops, ceramic tile floor, media room, game room, j-swing garage, trees on my lawn, spiral staircase, and quiet cul-de-sac.

I really like living in the southern suburbs it is not as congested as the northen suburbs. I do not have much expreience with Mesquite.

you are right.
There is an eliticism that permeates most northern attitudes. They are convinced that they are somehow better than the rest of us because they live in the current "it" community, or live in the bigger house or drive a newer car e.t.c. This snobbery has been alluded to by others as "keeping up with the joneses" syndrome

I chose to live in the cedar hill. bought my house for (gasp) 130K and was able to put down 40K. My mortgage payment is so low that when we decided to home school my daughter, my wife was able to quit without impacting our lifestyle.

the way i see it, there are different values between the northern residents and southern residents. Notice how so much energy has been spent on convincing us that they are better and that the rest of us live in "ghettos"

to each his own