Carrollton (Plano, Lewisville, Allen: 2010, renting, homes)

[redman421]

We are moving to the area in the next couple of months. My wife will be working at Childrens Hospital. We are leaning towards renting in Carrollton for the first year. Anybody have thoughts on the town...pros/cons...are there other towns that somebody may suggest? Our child isn't of school age yet, so that isn't a top consideration. We are looking for total quality of life with a suburban feel comming from a big NE City....thanks in advance

[bookworm2768]

Do a search on the forum for previous threads regarding carrollton. It is an older slightly more run down suburb than the flashier and wealthier Plano, Frisco, Allen burbs. Where are you moving from? That may affect very much what you mean by suburban feeling.
If you want a newer, more planned cleaner looking burb you probably won't like carrollton. The homes are older here; many are dark brick with small lots and very high fences. Schools and parks are good and it is not as crowded as the other suburbs. I would highly recommend yhat you visit first.

[LQQKOUT]

Come visit first, I would recommend Farmers Branch or even Addison up the tollway if your centralizing in that area. However there is a lot of nice areas in and around Children's. I would stay away from anything passed 190 since it seems you don't want a big commute.
There is many nice cities in the metroplex that could met your needs.

[nmnita]

Carrollton isn't quite as nice as it was 20 years ago, but most of it, certainly is not run down. Depending on your price range, there are many areas you could consider. Certainly Carrollton does offer a good quality of life for a family, so does Coppell, but it is much pricier. Plano is another great location, again on the high side..I certainly would not suggest Farmers Branch over Carrollton. Like Carrollton, some of Farmers Branch is very nice, but much of it is really getting run down.

As for a commute, much will depend on the time of day your wife will be on the road.
Nita

[donnaaries]

Carrollton is a big suburb. It's about the same age as Plano. There are older parts in Carrollton (south of 190) just like older southeast Plano. Newer neighborhoods are north of 190, with upscale neighborhoods in the far northern part (along Hebron Pkwy), most of which are in Lewisville ISD. Basically, you can go nicer and newer but it'll add to your commute.

[donnaaries]

For commuting to Children's Hospital, I would keep in mind the DART (rail) Green Line that's scheduled to open in 2010 that will connect Carrollton directly to the Medical Center Area.

[theloneranger]

Carrollton is a pretty big suburb, over 100k IIRC, so you might want to narrow the search down. In Carrollton, the farther north you go the nicer it gets. In Farmers Branch, which is directly south of Carrollton, the farther south you go the nicer it gets. RL Turner isn't such a nice school anymore, so you may want to avoid living in it's residential zone. Newman Smith and Creekview are much nicer, as is Hebron, which serves the far north of Carrollton.