Are hoods overrated? (Dallas, Plano, Mesquite: apartments, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[MaryS80]

Honestly there are a lot of people who consider an area ghetto because the area is not predominately white, or simply because it is not the latest greatest thing, and also because the houses are not hulking monstrosities. Someone recently made a post with the list of the top areas with the most violent crime. Generally speaking areas with a high density of low rent apartment have the higher crime rates. There are plenty house in the $80k-150k range that are in safe neighborhoods. They won't be brand news homes, nor will they be overly large. At the same time you won't hear gunfire, see hookers, or witness drug deals in the street. There will be a mix of older empty nesters, young immigrant families, and blue collar workers. Quite often those people will be friendly, will talk with you, and you will know many of your neighbors names.


Yes Dallas has its ghettos, but nearly as many as some people believe.

[FarNorthDallas]

You can get a house in Richardson for $100,000 - west of Central Expressway in the JJ Pearce and Richardson High School attendance zones.

[kdogg817]

Originally Posted by MaryS80

Honestly there are a lot of people who consider an area ghetto because the area is not predominately white, or simply because it is not the latest greatest thing, and also because the houses are not hulking monstrosities. Someone recently made a post with the list of the top areas with the most violent crime. Generally speaking areas with a high density of low rent apartment have the higher crime rates. There are plenty house in the $80k-150k range that are in safe neighborhoods. They won't be brand news homes, nor will they be overly large. At the same time you won't hear gunfire, see hookers, or witness drug deals in the street. There will be a mix of older empty nesters, young immigrant families, and blue collar workers. Quite often those people will be friendly, will talk with you, and you will know many of your neighbors names.


Yes Dallas has its ghettos, but nearly as many as some people believe.

Your statement is very true and valid. Its funny how natives try to push everyone to suburbs as if the inner city is just a slum and to be truthful everywhere these days are dangerous. The most beautiful areas with the big bag yard, big trees, and nice mature homes are in the inner city.
Yes Dallas has its ghettos, but nearly as many as some people believe.

[Bostonian08]

Originally Posted by Lutalo

Thanks for the information its been useful. Still everything is relative to ones comfort zone. I haven been to Dallas in about ten years, back when I lived in Killeen. What I dont understand is that on these realestate sites you have what appear to be large spacious maintained homes, which are cheap, in what many consider to be horrible areas.

One thing that "Bostonian08" may relate to, is that up here in the North East, bad neighborhoods look bad. I live in the second 'cheapest/poorest/ghetto' whatever term you want to use, section of Lowell MA. This winter sucks and I want to head back towards Texas and I've always liked Dallas.

I haven't been here long enough to be an authority on South Dallas etc, but I've driven through a few times. Some areas are as nasty as Lawrence, some are actually cuter than Plano. It's like Dorchester. There's spots of niceness and spots of horror. My guess is you can do ok there, but you need to know where you're going before you bet the farm on it.

Here's a quick link to give you some idea.
Analyze Dallas

I would suggest you rent down here for a while and do detailed research to see what works best for you. Then invest when you find the right thing.

I never thought of Lowell as being all that bad - not even the worst part of it. There's definitely some parts of South Dallas that looks worse to me than anywhere I ever saw in Lowell. And yes I agree, the winter up there sucks.

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by kdogg817

Your statement is very true and valid. Its funny how natives try to push everyone to suburbs as if the inner city is just a slum and to be truthful everywhere these days are dangerous. The most beautiful areas with the big bag yard, big trees, and nice mature homes are in the inner city.
Yes Dallas has its ghettos, but nearly as many as some people believe.

Maybe there are some natives who promote the suburbs, but I doubt that they are doing so because they think that most of inner-city Dallas is a slum. It is probably because they recognize that housing is much cheaper in the suburbs than in many desirable inner-city areas. They may also be promoting the suburbs because of the school districts.

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by Bostonian08

I haven't been here long enough to be an authority on South Dallas etc, but I've driven through a few times. Some areas are as nasty as Lawrence, some are actually cuter than Plano. It's like Dorchester. There's spots of niceness and spots of horror. My guess is you can do ok there, but you need to know where you're going before you bet the farm on it.

The southern half of Dallas (everything below I-30) encompasses a huge amount of land and it is not possible to generalize about when it comes to crime or demographics (although some people on this forum do just that without regard for the evidence). Southwest Dallas (commonly referred to by many as Oak Cliff), in particular, is an extremely diverse area. There are rich neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods and everything in between. According to Dallas Police Dept. crime statistics, division 400 (SW Dallas) had less crime in 2007 than division 200 (NE Dallas). That contradicts a lot of stereotypes, especially when you consider that the SW district covers a much larger area than the NE district. As for SE Dallas, that's another story altogether.

BTW, where does one go in Plano to find "cute" housing? That's something that Oak Cliff has a lot of, but I never thought of Plano that way.

[Grainraiser]

Make no mistake that much of inner city Dallas is horrible. This is just a proven fact. The nicer areas come with a hefty price tag. This is the reason why most of the middle class move to the surburbs. You get alot more house for the dollar. I would love to live in inner city Dallas but $150k is not going to get me much of a house in a decent neighborhood. I could find a decent house for this price but it would be located in a community full of retirees and the house would be older than 40 years. For the most part the inner city is made up of the poor and the upper middle class or above. There just is not much for the solid middle class folks.

[pepper131]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

I could find a decent house for this price but it would be located in a community full of retirees and the house would be older than 40 years. For the most part the inner city is made up of the poor and the upper middle class or above. There just is not much for the solid middle class folks.

This exactly describes my neighborhood in the 75228 zip code. It's interesting, really. It's mostly all retirees and when a house goes on the market, it gets snatched up by a young couple. One of the lastest couples who moved in were renting on lower Greenville and they bought a small mid-century style house.

I am surrounded by widows - two across the street and one on each side of me - I don't mind at all. And then we have the opposite...lots of moms out walking with their babies.

[Lutalo]

Thanks, the 75228 zip seemed to be the most bang for the buck for my 'ghetto tolerance'... Now is there a rule about how far south of I-30 one should go as far as living is concerned?

[DaveG99]

Originally Posted by Lutalo

Thanks, the 75228 zip seemed to be the most bang for the buck for my 'ghetto tolerance'... Now is there a rule about how far south of I-30 one should go as far as living is concerned?

If your going to live south of I30 on the east side of DFW you better go atleast 15-20 miles south of the interstate!

I used to live in the 75226 zip code. I had a loft in DeepEllum. You can get a nice 800sf apartment there for about $850 a month. You can buy a small loft the same size for about $150k. But for 150k you can get a decent house in the suburbs. The house I am living in is about $145k and its in a pretty nice part of Plano just North of Legacy on Alma. It was built back in the 80's but has been fully remodled 2 years ago. I have 1 million dollar houses within a mile of where I live off of bethany. You definetly get more bang for your buck in the suburbs.