Lewisville, Farmer's Branch, McKinney, & Plano (Dallas, Irving: low income, for sale, 2009)

[amandaLMT]

So many of have offered great info on DFW communities, and I could use your help!
My husband is making a career change to law enforcement (which I fully support). We have a 21 month old and one on the way. We are looking at relocating to one of the following: Lewisville, FB, McKinney, or Plano (wherever he is hired).
We are looking for a community that is family friendly, good elementary schools (public &/or private), not too "cookie-cutter", and has the "hometown" feel w/ city conveniences.
We would be living and working in the same city, so commutes are not an issue. I am a Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in orthopedic/corrective bodywork.

Can anyone provide some guidance/advice?

Thank you!
Amanda

[GoPadge]

You can check www.greatschools.net for information on schools. I will tell you that Lewisville, Frisco and Plano ISDs are better rated than the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. The last time I checked the local PD's Plano's paid among the best, but I don't have stats at hand. Most city's websites list their budgets online which will give you average salaries. Some list starting pay on their recruiting pages.

[socketz]

Plano, Frisco and Mckinney all rank pretty well with regards to schools.

I've heard mixed feelong regarding Lewisille schools, but there are excellent schools within Lewisville.

I think most here will agree that Carrollton-Farmers Branch is not one of the better districts.

[Embraer]

School wise all are the same...Plano West and Plano Senior are slightly above the rest.

Plano police are the best paid. Not just in the city but in all of North Texas. It is something around 50k for first year pay However they are required to have a 4 year college degree to even apply.

As far as I know Plano receives many applicants. I'm not too sure about the salaries of the other departments, but they are pretty much all the same. Crime wise is also fairly the same, with the east side of Plano probably being the worst of the bunch for crime. Mainly things like auto theft, larceny, and assaults.

Now for the home town feel, I'm not too sure what you mean by that. Do you want a place that is more like a small town or more like an urban center? McKinney would be your small town place. Actually it is a bit too country for me. But that may be what you are looking for.

Carrollton would be the more city like, but even that is only relatively speaking. Right next to Carrollton is the Addison area which is very nice and has a vibrant lifestyle perfect for families and young singles.

Plano is more for those who enjoy the suburban lifestyle. Most people there don't get out too much, if you know what I mean. They get out to places like the movies, chain restaurants, work, school functions...you get the idea. Many like to raise a bubble around themselves and never step outside of it. And that bubble usually ends a few blocks from their homes.

Other than that Plano is nice. All the major streets are parallel and perpendicular to eachother so its hard to get lost. East Plano is served by highway 75 while West Plano has the North Dallas Tollway. Central Plano along with West and East are all served by the George Bush Turnpike. N Dallas Tollway and GB Turnpike are tolls, and you will easily spend $40 in 2 weeks if you have to use those roads daily like I do.

I'm not too familiar with Lewisville. But I can tell you this: much of it is either near or on Lewisville lake. They have a decent commercial district with malls and shops...Plano and Carrollton are much better in that category however.

Also, just from driving around Lewisville I notice that many parts are low income areas. Sure, there are your typical middle class parts. But I'm talking about just driving through every now and then you can't help but notice that there is quite a bit of poor areas in Lewisville.

A good measure for things like that is per capita income...and I will break them down for you

Lewisville: $24,703

Plano: $36,514

Carrollton: $26,746

Farmers Branch: $24,921

McKinney: $28,185

Addison: $38,606

Hope that helps!

[socketz]

Here's a better picture of Mckinney:
http://www.bridgestreetmckinney.com/marketprofile.pdf

It's consistently ranked in the top 1 or 2 fastest growing cities in America. Over 40% growth rate projected between now and the end of 2009.

I wouldn't go as far to say it's country (upscale rural is the term I coin), but the density of commercial shopping is no wear near that of Plano and Frisco, and that's intentional. most folks in Mckinney are proud to say they can run over to Frisco in 15-20mins, shop, then return to a serene environment.

However, with that said, there is alot of upscale shopping planned for the area around Craig's Ranch right off the 121 (~10 miles from Stonebriar). That area will one day be Central Plano and Mckinney's own Stonebriar (not as large though).

I would call Mckinney and Frisco 'up and coming' areas that within a span of 5-7 years will be mostly built out.

As for Plano, love it, today. 5 years ago, I'm sure people called it 'Country' and 'Way out there' as well - the cycle here appears to be periods of 10 years, bar any unforeseen economic hardships (like what happened to Stonebridge in the 80s, it then came back and rebuilt but much more upscale than what was planned originally). Plano is built out with a few exceptions (Kings Ridge, new 400k Condos on Preston/Parker, Some overpriced Drees homes in the Center, etc.) and at the peak of the appreciation curve in my opinion. Really nice place to live (and eat out, man it's hard to resist here - you can get fat!) nonetheless and homes sell quickly on the west side between Preston and Midway(midway is the cutoff for PISD). In the center, there are some really nice family areas as well such as Russell Creek. The far east side is not desirable at all in my opinion and is suffering from much of the 'crime creep' from Dallas proper that other areas out east are experiencing (such as Richardson where I work). But none of these areas are anything close to 'dangerous'.

It is also where the build up of Plano began, so like all other areas in Dallas, they start with tiny little inexpensive homes (i.e. attact buyers and build a tax base) and gradually work their way up to really nice upscale ones as the build out completes. Over time, the initial areas built just lose most of their charm. Another cycle here that is pretty predictable. The one nice side affect of buying in the older areas is that the inexpensive homes are typically on larger lots. Alot of folks like that aspect.

I have a couple of friends in Carrolton (both have lived there over 15 years) and both of them want out. Mom has described this area in great detail in other posts - you should read these posts as she grew up there and knows firsthand. Essentially to me it seems Carrolton is 'yesterday's' suburban promiseland and it has since been somewhat neglected. Schools, services, crime, stagnant home prices. However, as the commute north gets tougher, I believe alot of these older areas will eventually backfill and regenerate much the way areas around uptown are regenerating now.

I know nothing of Lewisville other than homes in Frisco/Plano that reside in the Lewisville school district go at discounts compared to ones that do not. Lewisville is home to Fox and Jacobs master piece, the 'Colony', so I think that's where the real bad rap comes in (Little Elm is another area that gives it a marginal rap).....there are also alot of really nice areas in Lewisville as well, such as Flower Mound.

Again, I can't say it enough, you need to research alot before you buy here. I know alot of people have made money in the DFW market, but all of them carefully choose where they lived. In the same zip code you can have a development that's red hot and sells in weeks and another that is stagnant. It's just real important to do you homework and avoid painting entire areas with one brush.

Places like Mckinney are mammouth in size and one house on the West side near Frisco may be over 12 miles from another house on the older east side of mckinney. To paint the entire area with one brush would prove to be a huge mistake. Plano the same thing. For instance, not all schools in Plano are great, there are bad ones. mckinney too. But then there are excellent ones that help give the entire district a good name.

[momof2dfw]

First I'll take away from what some of the others have said as it is not accurate at all. Carrollton - shops???? WHERE!?!?!?!?! There is NOTHING in Carrollton. Small towns in east or west Texas have more choices for shopping and restaurants than Carrollton does and has EVER had. McKinney - Country? LOL!!! McKinney is so NOT "Country". While it once upon a time was a small town that is the county seat for Collin County and had more farms it is NOT that way today. Not even close. Richardson - specifically East Richardson. If your talking the central area of Richardson around Belt Line and 75 then yes it is a bit older but the FAR east side of Richardson out around Renner and 190 is NOT "old" at all. Most of the homes out there were built in the last 15 years and are still holding their value and desire. Okay, here is a rundown.

Lewisville - Home of the "Fightin Farmers". Well they used to be . All that has changed. Most of Lewisville is built out except for the areas that are in other cities but the Lewisville ISD. Lewisville Lake (known as Lake Dallas for us few natives ) is on the north side of the city. This lake can be VERY crowded on holidays and weekends. Schools are pretty good and always have been you just don't hear their name in the news all the time as they are more lowkey as they always have been. Housing, again most of Lewisville is built out but you can find newer homes on the fringes of town. Avoid The Colony (drive thru and make sure to hit all sides of this place to get the real picture of the place. Don't forget to look for the purple house w/ the limo out front and you can only guess what kind of business used to operate there ). Highland Village is north of Lewisville and some homes are close to the lake. Nice area. Flower Mound uses the Lewisville ISD.

Farmer's Branch - Older north suburb of Dallas (zipcode 75234, I can't forget that one). You can find older sprawling brick ranch homes on large lots. Or you can find the much older very small frame home and everything in between. Brookhaven Country Club has some nice older homes. Schools are in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. Kids get bused in from a part of Irving that goes to these CFBISD. These kids are in gov't assisted apartments in the Valley Ranch, Iriving area. Not much for shopping and restaurants IN FB but close to a lot of others.

McKinney - growing suburb north of Dallas. Commute to downtown Dallas is a killer. It can be very congested w/ traffic at all times of day. Lots of building going on all over McKinney. Just be careful here and make sure you don't buy in an area that has been hit w/ foreclosures from "investors" trying to artificially inflate the market. The developers are not limiting the number of homes an "investor" can buy and how long they must live in them before putting them up for rent so there are also areas that have been hit w/ this problem. If your wanting to avoid the "cookie cutter" homes this is NOT the place. Only if you can buy in the few areas that are strictly custom homes will you find an area of non cookie cutter homes and these areas are being built in. Schools - I'm not hip on the schools here. My sister teaches here and she refuses to put her child in the schools here. They plan on getting out before that time. It all looks good on paper and the school district does the hardsell to have this "GREAT" school system but there are problems underneath. Many here will deny it but there are some huge problems going on as the recent cheerleader scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. Shopping and restaurants are coming in all over town. Downtown McKinney has some cute shops but I know places in other areas of the metroplex that sell the same stuff for 1/2 the price (it is that hardsell again to make people think they have to come shop downtown McKinney). Good selection of restaurants.

Plano - HUGE suburb of Dallas, has been for over 15-20 years. It did not just get built up in the last 5-10 years, lol. Now 25-30 years ago it was "out there" . You can find a house in every price range in Plano. Not too many brand new areas being built in Plano but there are a few. You can find older ranch homes, smaller older frame houses, subdivision cookie cutter homes all over. Very congested especially from Ave K aka Plano Rd on the east side (just east of 75-Central Expwy) to the west side. All of west Plano is congested at any time of day. Shopping centers abound in Plano - omy do they. Schools - another one of those areas that you should not believe everything you read on sites like greatschools. The high schools (3 in all) are HUGE. Graduating classes are over 1000 students. In Texas the top 10% of graduates are automatically accepted into the state colleges and universities. With this large of a senior class it really makes it cut throat to get in that top 10%. There are a large number of students that do not participate in any form of extra-curriculiar activities as they spend their hours after school at places like Sylvan and Kumon just to be the top in the class.

Carrollton - SURE! I have a house for sale in Carrollton. Want to buy it???? Please. PRETTY PLEASE!!! Then my parents can finally get out of there and move to a better area NOT in Carrollton. Way back in the day (and I'm talking in the early 70's to the very early 80's) Carrollton was pretty good. Never ever had a lot of shopping or restaurants and never will. Carrollton was supposed to get the new mall that was planned for that side of the metroplex but their idiotic city council was being their typical horses rear and lost it to Lewisville (Vista Ridge). As I said in another post if you want all of your extended family to move here w/ you and don't have room in the house for them just slap a metal storage building in the backyard and put a window a/c unit in and your set. It can cover the entire backyard if you need that large of one. Need even more room? Take the overhead garage door off and slap up some sheets of plywood and you've got enough room for another 10 people. I'm not kidding about this as I can take you to a house just like this in North Carrollton and they ran water to the driveway and set their washing machines in the drive. Streets and alleys are in BAD shape and they are NOT active in fixing any of it. Schools - once they were good but I can not say that any more.

[Embraer]

Its hard to get a word in here in the Dallas forums when there are resident experts that can't ever be contriticted.

I said McKinney is too country for me

Yes, it still has a country/conservative flavor about it. Maybe its because it is only now developing thanks to Allen and Frisco. Maybe its intentional. Either way, McKinney is the pickup/country music/belt buckle/texas accent center of the Northern suburbs.

As for Carrollton, I said there is entertainment nearby. Particularly in Addison. Ever heard of the Galleria mall? How about all the shops of Addison along Midway and Beltline? Or the fact that Downtown Dallas is 15 minutes away? Stonebriar mall is 10 minutes away, and the shops of Willow Bend are right around the corner.

All that and more is not entertainment? Sure, Carrollton proper may have nothing more than chain restaurants....but who other than those people I reffered to earlier who live in a bubble don't ever leave the street they live on?

I live here in the Addison area but am constantly in Frisco, Plano, Downtown, SMU area, Uptown, Allen, Irving,Carrollton etc... in addition to enjoying Addison and N Dallas itself.

A person who lives in Carrollton will have easy access to all the shops and entertainment provied by Addison, SMU, Uptown, and West Plano. A person who live in all those other areas like McKinney will not have such easy access.

That is my point. And its a fact. Then again, the truth in matters like these varies from person to person.

Some people who enjoy the more laid back country lifestyle will say that McKinney is wonderful and has a multitude of things to do. Of course to them that could mean they enjoy shopping for antiques in McKinney's downtown that looks like its from the 1920s. It could also mean that they can drive 20 minutes to Collin Creek Mall for a day. For me that is not entertainment, but rather isolation. For others that would be ideal.

It all depends on what a person likes and enjoys.

McKinney does have probably the cheapest movie theater in town. Sure, the theaters aren't the prettiest but where else can you watch the latest releases for only $5??

I reccomend coming down and taking a look at these places for yourself. Like I said, one person's paradise is another's hell.

Before I bought my current house I had people telling me to buy a house out in Murphy or Fairview. They kept telling me how nice it is out there, and how close I would be to everything!

FYI: Murphy and Fairview is pretty much out in the country, away from everything. They are a minimum of 20 minutes from Plano, the nearest city. All the houses, while beautiful, are isolated from eachother by large exapnses of land. I need more human contact then that. I need more city then that. For me I would never live in a place like those cities. For others that is what they want.

It all comes down to the individual. A 20 minute drive to entertainment may be a short drive to one group. While to the other group-the one I'm a part of- that is a long drive and unacceptable.

[momof2dfw]

"I'm not too familiar with Lewisville. But I can tell you this: much of it is either near or on Lewisville lake. They have a decent commercial district with malls and shops...Plano and Carrollton are much better in that category however. "

Umm, that does not say that Carrollton is close to lots of areas w/ shopping or whatever. I have been to the Galleria MANY times, remember when it was built and all of the changes it has gone thru. Chain restaurants IN Carrollton? WHERE? Okay there is a Chili's but that is about it. And I have not seen anyone in McKinney wearing boots and a belt buckle in YEARS. I'm not talking the "fancy" haute coutre western boots that are sold at some of the places on the square but rather working cowboy boots that have actually stepped foot in a pasture. LOL!!! Or "Texas accent" capital, hahahahaha. That IS funny considering that most of the people that live there were not born in Texas. LOL!!! I don't want to get in a pissin match with you or anyone else on here and I've never said I was the "resident expert". LOL!!! Take a deep breath and relax and everything will be just fine. But I want you to pull out a map and tell me how in the world Murphy can be 20 minutes FROM Plano when they border each other on the east side? Sure it can be 20 minutes from Murphy to get to the far west side of Plano to Willow Bend Mall. LOL!!! Your crackin me up.

[amandaLMT]

I really appreciate all the info! You all are great!

I wanted to clarify some things in order to help us all out. My husband and I have researched almost every p.d. in the metroplex. He meets the degree requirements, so we narrowed it down to the ones that intrigued us the most. We spent a weekend in the area further narrowing down the list according to what we saw, general cost of living, etc. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see FB, McKinney, and Plano. (It seems like we saw everyhting else though!).

He is currently employed with the USDA, and we are stationed in a town of 2500 people in west TX.
>We both are wanting more career opportunities, education opportunities for our kids, and more fun things to do.
We are looking for a community that offers all this, and yet isn't too fast paced.

I guess the most important factor for now is cost of living. According to the demographic web sites, the median household income for FB, Lewisville, McKinney, and Plano is $54,700; $54,800; $63,400; and $78,700 respectively. The starting pay for these dept.s is $46k, $47k, $42k, and $48k respectively.
>Based on some rough figures, our housing budget will be a max of $150k. Can we find good neighborhoods on this starting budget?

***After double checking previous posts on this thread and different demographic sites, I am confused as to what is a true picture of c.o.l.! HELP! LOL***

Again, I really appreciate your help!

~Amanda

[socketz]

Embraer,

Don't get upset. You have to remember that when you read something posted to a forum, you may not be reading it the way the poster intended.

For me, I am so used to defending the burbs in both the San Diego and Dallas forums, that I may come off the wrong way because I 'feel' like I'm on the defensive. Others here probably feel the same way when they defend whatever it is that they feel strongly about.

I think what's really cool about this forum is that with a few exceptions, nobody attacks one another. Alot of the forums I have visited in the past operate in this fashion, and they quickly become full of flame wars with posters declaring e-war on one another.

You input/perception is definitely appreciated.