Commute from Plano to SMU? (Dallas, Richardson: 2009, buying a house, neighborhood)

[The Principal Chair]

How long does the morning and evening commute take from Plano to SMU? Is the 75 better/worse/same as the Tollway?

Is Richardson as nice to live as Plano for a family with young children? What are the main differences?

Any other recommended communities for commuting to SMU that aren't as expensive as the Park Cities?

Thank you!

[BigDGeek]

Richardson like any other city has good and bad areas. I am in the process of buying a house in an older part of Richardson so I am biased.

My house is in the Heights Park neighborhood where the houses are mainly smaller (less than 2k sq ft) and were built in the mid to late 1950s. That neighborhood is becoming popular with young families and the local elementary school's "exemplary" rating bears that out. The nearby high school, Richardson High School, does not have the best reputation but I think it is an underrated school. It serves a population that is not as affluent as the population that attends Pearce so I think there is an element of snobbery at work.

The RISD is not as highly rated as Plano's ISD but Richardson has more of the types of problems (and students) that drag down the DISD. But that also makes it a much more interesting place to live.

FYI the parts of Richardson that are in Collin County are zoned to Plano schools. The parts of Richardson that are in Dallas County are zoned to Richardson schools.

I do not know what your budget is so I cannot really recommend other areas. I could say "Preston Hollow" but if your budget is $250k it is not realistic to look there.

P.S. only Californians call it "the 75."

[FarNorthDallas]

Plano to SMU is doable for the most part. North Plano might be a stretch. SMU sits along 75 so it's the closer (and cheaper) way to get to SMU. The tollway would be faster except you might have to wait in line at Mockingbird to exit and then you have to make your way over to SMU once off the tollway. That may make the trip longer.

The Richardson district up in that area is pretty good. There are quite a few exemplary elementary schools in these parts - Brentfield, Bowie, Prestonwood, Spring Creek, Mohawk, Prairie Creek, Canyon Creek and more. The two high schools are Pearce and Richardson. They are 4 year schools. Plano splits their high schools into high schools of 9-10 and senior highs of 11-12 and their schools are bigger than the Richardson schools just in general. I live in this area. An SMU coach lives near me. Ya know, you can get to SMU from this area just going up Hillcrest or Preston, which is sometimes faster if there is a wreck on the freeway.

You also have the option of Lake Highlands.

[nmnita]

I would say it is doable but there may be better choices. Richardson district like FarNorthDallas said, has some good areas, but if it were me and I wanted a really good family enviorment I think I would choose Plano. Of course this depends on the true burb life is for you. Richardson is older so you would get a little different life style probably.

Nita

[The Principal Chair]

Guilty as charged, BigD...that's pretty impressive!

Thanks for replies. So does "doable" mean ~30? I'd ideally like to keep the commute under 20 min, but 30 min would be acceptable.

Thanks!

[Grainraiser]

Like someone else stated you should take a look at Lake Highlands. I has a Richardson feel and is much closer than Plano or Richardson.

[Lakewooder]

A lot of SMU faculty, staff and students live in 75206 and 75214. Just east of the campus - it can be expensive but there are a variety of homes. The best values are the 1950s and early 60s ranch-style homes which are more in 75214 just north and south of Mockingbird Lane. It's about 5-7 minutes from those, depending on how you hit about three traffic lights. Try to get in one of these attendance zones (both are Blue-Ribbon Elementaries):

http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/school...newall2009.pdf

http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/school...kewood2009.pdf

LH is also a good suggestion and sooo much closer than Plano.

[FarNorthDallas]

Plano to SMU in typical rush hour times would not be 20 minutes. On a Sunday morning it might be. It would be 30-45 min with no wrecks. But could be 60 minutes or more if there is a problem of some kind. Course it depends on what part of Plano. Plano is big.

If your commute is 15 miles, it would be longer than my commute of 14 miles, which is Far North Dallas area to downtown Dallas either on 75 or the tollway and my commute at it's shortest is 25 minutes and the longest has been 1 hour and 45 minutes which was last week on the tollway in the morning. Tonight I left downtown at 5:15 and got home at 6:30. Your commute would be shifted up a bit - SMU to Plano, but the miles and direction are similar.

So the moral of my story is don't give yourself too much of a commute, even if the number of miles doesn't sound like that much. When you are commuting north - which is where the primary growth of the city is - the traffic volume is very heavy.

[The Principal Chair]

Thanks everyone. Plano does sound like a daunting commute. Will have to explore some of these other areas.

[Grainraiser]

To be far thousand's of people make the commute from Plano/Frisco everyday. It really boils down to what kind of commute your willing to take on.