Moving with child to Dallas (Plano, Irving: apartment complexes, for rent, low crime)

[Cur10us]

Hi,

I will be moving soon to Dallas to do a postdoc at UT Southwestern. I am looking for a place with a nice elementary school (one 7 years old SHY girl) but that is not going to be too expensive (renting). I thought about Coppell or Carrollton before but now I am getting scared with all the talk about trafic. Would someone have suggestions?

ANd, how hard is to find houses for rent? I read about communities but not about single family houses

Thank you all

[kaykay]

It shouldn't be difficult for you to find a house to rent. This would involve a commute but that may be a trade-off you are going to have to make if you want good school system, safe etc. AND affordable. Maybe some other people will have some other suggestions which would meet your criteria, but the place that comes to my mind for you to check out would be Richardson, Tx. Would be family-friendly, decent school system,affordable, low crime rate etc. (Maybe I'm wrong but Coppell seems too far out for you. I don't personally know much about Carrollton, but some people that have posted on this forum have said Carrollton has kind of gone down and they didn't really recommend living there anymore.) Wishing you the best in your move-

[Lakewooder]

I would look in the Stonewall Jackson Elementary attendance zone in the MStreet area of Dallas. You will find some small apartment complexes, cottages, duplexes and four-plexes to rent...but the majority of the students are from the charming but now quite expensive Tudor homes. However, the school is small and there is a good mix. Also there is a program for deaf students there so everyone learns sign language.

Look at the dallasnews.com and craigslist classifieds for Lakewood or East Dallas.

[sonshinelife]

Valley Ranch Area in Irving (located off 635 and MacArthur near Las Colinas) is also an area to consider. Carrollton schools and Coppell schools cover this area. Both school systems are highly respected.

Carrollton is nice if you get into the northern areas that are on the borders of Lewisville and Plano. Schools are great in the northern areas especially. Carrollton and Lewisville are both located off I35 and Plano is located close to Dallas North Tollway system.

[Cur10us]

Thank you all! I will take a look at all your suggestions.

[jekutz]

My husband just took a job on at UT Southwestern and will be starting soon. We have narrowed our search to Coppell. We have 4 small kids and it was super important to be in a good school district (I am a former 1st grade teacher and super neurotic when it comes to schools). The schools in Coppell are top notch. We have several friends who live there and they also like the small town atmosphere Coppell has to offer. One thing to consider is Coppell is bordered by three major highways so there are lots of options to getting down to the medical center. Several of the doctors my husband will be working with live in Las Colinas (most of their kids grown), a few in Coppell and some even as far out as Southlake and Keller. Overall when we asked where we thought would be a great place to live Coppell came back as not too bad commute and great schools, great community. Another of his associates is in Plano. They love it there, but even though he is physically closer to the med center he said he can sit in traffic 45 minutes some days (not sure how typical that is). Anyway good luck on your search.

[Cur10us]

Both schools look very interesting but I was wondering... At Lakewood you can get a spot because you live in the area. Is that the same for Stonewall? When I Move to the attendance zone I garanty a place for my child there as well?

Thank you all for the answers so far

[Lakewooder]

Yep no problem getting into Stonewall if you live in the district. The wait lists are for transfers.