West Plano or West Allen? (Dallas, Richardson: power lines, renting, house)

[Firecracker13]

We currently live in Richardson in a 3000 sq ft house with a pool within walking distance of parks, school, tennis courts, & a football field. The elementary here is exemplary. We have 3 boys age 5 and under (plus my husband's 3 older kids who only come over occasionally). We are having to move to scale down in price. We have narrowed our decision to a house in Plano in Wellington Run near Spring Creek between Coit & Preston or a house in Allen in the Suncreek subdivision (off Alma between Hedgecoxe & McDermott). The house in Plano is move-in ready but has a small yard & no community pool, however, we love Plano Sports Authority which is nearby and Plano has some wonderful facilities with pools. The house backs up to a big greenbelt though so we could use that for the kids to play in since the yard is small. The house is somewhat close to power lines though and has been on the market a long time so we're worried about resell.

The Allen house is beautiful and probably worth more but has been occupied by a long time smoker and smells horrible. It also needs some updating but would be a stunner if we could get it at the right price so we could paint/replace carpet to get the smoke smell out. The Plano elementary is Gulledge & the Allen elementary is Norton. My 5 year old starts kindergarten and has moderate/severe ADHD so I wondered which school would be best. We're not worried about commute - mainly just better neighborhood, amenities for the kids and schools. Any thoughts on which would be best?

[txgolfer130]

W. Plano, no question.

[Big G]

Forget everything else - you'll never get that cigarette smell out.

[compSciGuy]

Are you renting the house in Richardson? I think I know where you're looking in Plano, and while the schools are good I wouldn't want my kids so close to the powerline. If I were in your shoes I would keep looking.

[Bird Lover]

We saw a beautiful underpriced house that sinked of cigarettes in Allen. Were going to buy it but were concerned about the smell. Thought it would be a huge amount of work to get the smell out. I have asthma and two burds so I decided not to get it. You may be signing up for a nightmare of a job to get that smell out. Maybe you should look further.

Bird Lover

[WestPlanoDude]

Gulledge is rated 10/10 on GreatSchools... it feeds into Robinson MS which is 10, which feeds into Jasper HS (10) and Jasper feeds into Plano West (10). No doubt the schools are better in that area you are looking at.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by Big G

Forget everything else - you'll never get that cigarette smell out.

Exactly. Paint alone will not do it. If the person smoked heavily for a long time, the nicotine in the drywall will even seep through paint, so you'd need to replace all of the drywall. GROSS!!!

[socketz]

Norton is an excellent Elementary school as well.

However, I tend to prefer the overall experience of living close to the North Dallas tollway as opposed to living near the 75. Allen is nice, but personally I like West Plano. Also note that some consider West Plano west of Preston, not west of Coit.

As for cigarette smoke smell, if you replace the carpet, paint and have the hvac ducts professionally cleaned, it should not be an issue. BUT....these things cost money. So factor that into the cost.

[scyogi]

Let's just add ....................ONE MORE REASON NOT TO SMOKE!

[WillyNorgate]

Hi.
Saw your thread and wanted to ask: We are moving to Dallas from New Zealand and having never been to Dallas, we have heard Richardson is nice but that's all hearsay to us. We have two boys under 6 so want good schooling and have seen Bowie school has good results. So can I please ask what are really good suburbs to look to move to, and as a general rule what areas should we stay away from? Would be very grateful your view having lived in Richardson?
Many thanks J