Allen, Tx: East vs. West (Richardson: subdivision, where to live, zip code)

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by rolltide87

30 miles from downtown has never been prestigious, really? In that case, forget Allen; I just hope the citizens of Frisco & Southlake don't see this.

I live in Frisco and yes, I saw it! I definitely agree that Frisco and Southlake are not prestigious areas, just average. There are some higher-end, nicer areas in both of them though. Southlake is the closer one out of the 2 to being prestigious. The only areas that I consider to be "prestigious" are the Park Cities and Preston Hollow. I grew up and lived in the most prestigious area of NYC and also lived in the most prestigious area of LA when I lived out there for 2 years, so I know how to judge an area on how prestigious it is.

Also, I just have to point this out as I feel your comment was not said in a nice way towards those areas. Southlake(city center) to downtown Dallas is 27.5 miles and Frisco(city center) to downtown Dallas is 28.6 miles. From my house in Stonebriar(Southwest Frisco) to downtown Dallas is 24.2 miles. So are any of those 2 areas 30 miles from downtown? No, but yes, they are close.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by $DFW8$

I live in Frisco and yes, I saw it! I definitely agree that Frisco and Southlake are not prestigious areas, just average. There are some higher-end, nicer areas in both of them though. Southlake is the closer one out of the 2 to being prestigious. The only areas that I consider to be "prestigious" are the Park Cities and Preston Hollow. I grew up and lived in the most prestigious area of NYC and also lived in the most prestigious area of LA when I lived out there for 2 years, so I know how to judge an area on how prestigious it is.

Also, I just have to point this out as I feel your comment was not said in a nice way towards those areas. Southlake(city center) to downtown Dallas is 27.5 miles and Frisco(city center) to downtown Dallas is 28.6 miles. From my house in Stonebriar(Southwest Frisco) to downtown Dallas is 24.2 miles. So are any of those 2 areas 30 miles from downtown? No, but yes, they are close.

Frisco is the very definition of a middle class suburb.

Whether Soutlake is prestigious really depends on your definition of prestigious. If prestigious means a big new house and cash, then Southlake may very well be prestigious. However, under traditional definitions, Southlake is way too new money to be prestigious. Don't fret, though--70 years ago the money in HP was new too!

[rolltide87]

Originally Posted by $DFW8$

I live in Frisco and yes, I saw it! I definitely agree that Frisco and Southlake are not prestigious areas, just average. There are some higher-end, nicer areas in both of them though. Southlake is the closer one out of the 2 to being prestigious. The only areas that I consider to be "prestigious" are the Park Cities and Preston Hollow. I grew up and lived in the most prestigious area of NYC and also lived in the most prestigious area of LA when I lived out there for 2 years, so I know how to judge an area on how prestigious it is.

Also, I just have to point this out as I feel your comment was not said in a nice way towards those areas. Southlake(city center) to downtown Dallas is 27.5 miles and Frisco(city center) to downtown Dallas is 28.6 miles. From my house in Stonebriar(Southwest Frisco) to downtown Dallas is 24.2 miles. So are any of those 2 areas 30 miles from downtown? No, but yes, they are close.

Yeah, the comment was sort of made in jest to emphasize that many posters from both Southlake and Frisco are just as defensive of their "higher-end" subdivisions as I am of the ones here in west Allen. And yeah, obviously they aren't exactly 30 miles, and this is just conjecture, but I'm pretty sure the person who initially made the 30 miles comment wasn't on Mapquest providing an exact distance; rather, they were using it as a general metric to refer to more far-flung suburban communities.

[rolltide87]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

Frisco is the very definition of a middle class suburb.

Whether Soutlake is prestigious really depends on your definition of prestigious. If prestigious means a big new house and cash, then Southlake may very well be prestigious. However, under traditional definitions, Southlake is way too new money to be prestigious. Don't fret, though--70 years ago the money in HP was new too!

New money? That's pretty amusing, considering the garish new homes in the Park Cities & Preston Hollow look pretty similar to the ones that you claim are so pervasive out here in the sticks.

Furthermore, who the hell is the arbiter of what's "truly prestigious?" Initially you claimed it was absurd to argue which side of Allen is more prestigious, but this tongue-in-cheek discussion about new money, old money & how HP is mecca is making even that seem slightly more rational.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by rolltide87

New money? That's pretty amusing, considering the garish new homes in the Park Cities & Preston Hollow look pretty similar to the ones that you claim are so pervasive out here in the sticks.

Furthermore, who the hell is the arbiter of what's "truly prestigious?" Initially you claimed it was absurd to argue which side of Allen is more prestigious, but this tongue-in-cheek discussion about new money, old money & how HP is mecca is making even that seem slightly more rational.

I agree the garish new homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow look similar--I'm not in favor. They definitely aren't in the majority in the Park Cities. They sadly are in Preston Hollow now, but there are still some older homes left. I'm not opposed to new building, just teardowns to build gaudy new homes.

I didn't mention a single thing about HP being mecca--you're putting words in my mouth. I prefer Preston Hollow and Lakewood to Park Cities--they are classy areas without the overbearing nature of Highland Park.

[rolltide87]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

I agree the garish new homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow look similar--I'm not in favor. They definitely aren't in the majority in the Park Cities. They sadly are in Preston Hollow now, but there are still some older homes left. I'm not opposed to new building, just teardowns to build gaudy new homes.

I didn't mention a single thing about HP being mecca--you're putting words in my mouth. I prefer Preston Hollow and Lakewood to Park Cities--they are classy areas without the overbearing nature of Highland Park.

Well, I'm glad you're living in an area you enjoy. Obviously Allen, Frisco, west Plano are not ideal choices for everyone.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by compSciGuy

Where are kids being coached for the PSAT? I knew lots of kids that practiced for the SAT, but not for the PSAT. Actually, when I was younger and at a school with a high number of National Merit Semifinalists, ... all those people that I knew that were National Merit were those that may have done some self preparation, but had no external coaching.

Originally Posted by bricor

20 years ago, people were probably saying the same thing about Plano, Frisco and Southlake.

Originally Posted by jobert

East Allen is not immune because east Plano will expand. The last trip I took to Bob Woodruff park looked like a giant pinata filled with children exploded. There are nice areas immediately around the park, but east Plano has turned worse over the last decade and there is a good amount of land between it and East Allen that's just asking to be filled up with crappy apts up and down Allen Heights Parkway from east Plano.

- and yes, 30 miles from downtown has never been "prestigious" unless you own a 100+ acre ranch.

Originally Posted by theloneranger

I agree the garish new homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow look similar--I'm not in favor. They definitely aren't in the majority in the Park Cities. They sadly are in Preston Hollow now, but there are still some older homes left. I'm not opposed to new building, just teardowns to build gaudy new homes.

I didn't mention a single thing about HP being mecca--you're putting words in my mouth. I prefer Preston Hollow and Lakewood to Park Cities--they are classy areas without the overbearing nature of Highland Park.

The garish homes in Preston Hollow, i.e. the McMansions, kind of came into the area about 20 years ago. The area south of Walnut Hill, east of Hillcrest, west of Preston, and north of Royal (where I grew up) is Preston Hollow "proper" and the housing stock there has changed almost 100% since 1985. The neighborhoods further west and north have begun their metamorphosis in the last 5 years or so.

However Preston Hollow still was a prestigious area and to my knowledge always has been. Otherwise these people would not pay $1m to $1.5m for a house that in Frisco or Allen would cost a fraction of that amount. If you are willing to pay $1.5 million for a house that in west Allen would cost $600,000 then clearly you feel that the area is prestigious enough to warrant paying over double the price.

Personally I hate the new houses in Preston Hollow.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

The area south of Walnut Hill, east of Hillcrest, west of Preston, and north of Royal (where I grew up) is Preston Hollow "proper"

according to your boundaries, this area would cover about 5,510,071,000 km²

[tyanger]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

... Otherwise these people would not pay $1m to $1.5m for a house that in Frisco or Allen would cost a fraction of that amount. If you are willing to pay $1.5 million for a house that in west Allen would cost $600,000 then clearly you feel that the area is prestigious enough to warrant paying over double the price....

Some areas will always have more perceived 'prestige' than others, but I don't believe that it can be the sole reason for the price difference between area A and area B. Most of the price differential is going to be a matter of supply and demand (and I think it's more due to supply than demand, but the two are closely related). Even in Texas there's a finite amount of land, and as cities are built out eventually you run out of land for truly new construction - so the prices goes up. There are also a lot more reasons why people choose to live in one area over others besides 'prestige' - personally I like to live close to where I work, so living inside 635 was never even a remote consideration (It may suprise some people, but there are actually job opportunities outside of 635) and the decision honestly had absolutely nothing/nada/zilch to do with 'prestige'

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by tyanger

Some areas will always have more perceived 'prestige' than others, but I don't believe that it can be the sole reason for the price difference between area A and area B. Most of the price differential is going to be a matter of supply and demand (and I think it's more due to supply than demand, but the two are closely related). Even in Texas there's a finite amount of land, and as cities are built out eventually you run out of land for truly new construction - so the prices goes up. There are also a lot more reasons why people choose to live in one area over others besides 'prestige' - personally I like to live close to where I work, so living inside 635 was never even a remote consideration (It may suprise some people, but there are actually job opportunities outside of 635) and the decision honestly had absolutely nothing/nada/zilch to do with 'prestige'

That is you, but plenty of other people live in Preston Hollow who do not work nearby. They live there because they want to live in Preston Hollow and have that nice 75230 zip code.