Coppell to Dallas VA (Garland, Lewisville: to rent, home, neighborhoods)

[ashar1]

Starting job at Dallas VA in Lancaster. I have done the research on Coppell and looks like it would be a great place to raise a family. I am willing to travel 30-45 minutes to work. Would Coppell take longer? Any input on other areas with good schools and decent driving distances would be appreciated .

[FarNorthDallas]

Would you be working regular rush hour times or would you be working off hours? Coppell to downtown regular rush hour traffic is an hour according to one of my co-workers, 45 minutes on a good day. You would be continuing on through town into south Dallas, so add 15 minutes maybe?

[Acntx]

Hi. We get quite a few posts from people who are going to work at the VA Medical Center. Since I have never been to Coppell, I couldn't give you accurate commute time on my own. I did, however, enter your information into Google Maps and it listed three potential routes from Coppell to the VA. The quickest route was estimated to take 38 minutes (55 minutes in traffic). The second was 43 minutes (1 hour 20 minutes in traffic) and the third was 44 minutes.

If you would answer a few of the following questions, the posters on this forum would be better able to assist you.

Are you looking to rent or buy?
What is your price range?
What grade(s) are your child(ren) in? Are there any unique school programs, such as gifted/talented, special education, AP, IB, etc. that you would like a school to offer?
Besides good schools, what other amenities are you looking for in a city or particular neighborhood?

By the way, I also wanted to let you know that the VA Medical Center is in Dallas. It is located on Lancaster Road, but the city of Lancaster is situated approximately ten miles south of the VA. There is a notable difference between the two areas when it comes to home quality, safety, and neighborhood desirability. You should be fine working at the VA, but be advised that the surrounding area is not the best.

[nmnita]

It may be a little longer than you are accustom to, but the city itself is a wonderful place to raise a family, you are right.

Nita

[Grainraiser]

What you really need to take into account is what time do you have to be at work. The commute from Coppell to Downtown is a killer if done during rush hour. If you do it after rush hr you could certainly meet your commute time. My brother lives in Lewisville (next burb over from Coppell) and worked at a elementary school that is very close to the VA. He had to be at work at 7:30 and his commute time was a 1hr 15 minutes. During non rush hour you could cut this in half. Coppell is a great area with good schools. Knowing your budget would help with some more specfic advice but if your looking for a neighborhood similar to Coppell but a easier commute I would consider Rockwall and the Firewheel area of Garland. Taking 635 to I-20 is pretty much traffic free regardless of the time of day.

[renlouis]

I commuted from Lewisville to the VA for a year. I left at 6 am and started work at 7 am. It was about a 50 minute commute at that time of day. I left at 4 pm and was usually home before 5 pm - if I got out of there late (closer to 4:30), it took about an hour and 15 minutes. If I left at 5 pm it was a very bad day and would take about an hour and a half. Coppell would be about 15 minutes less I would think.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by ashar1

Starting job at Dallas VA in Lancaster. I have done the research on Coppell and looks like it would be a great place to raise a family. I am willing to travel 30-45 minutes to work. Would Coppell take longer? Any input on other areas with good schools and decent driving distances would be appreciated .

Coppell to Lancaster would be a killer commute unless you timed your morning/afternoon drives pretty precisely. Wait another 10 minutes to leave, and you could potentially tack another 20-30 minutes onto the drive.

Why not check out some of the areas south of the Trinity River? I have heard nothing but good things about Cedar Hill, and it has a lot more shopping/entertainment options than it used to. Or, if you wanted to stay in Dallas itself, you could check out the gorgeous neighborhoods in Kessler Park (northern Oak Cliff).

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Coppell to Lancaster would be a killer commute unless you timed your morning/afternoon drives pretty precisely. Wait another 10 minutes to leave, and you could potentially tack another 20-30 minutes onto the drive.

Why not check out some of the areas south of the Trinity River? I have heard nothing but good things about Cedar Hill, and it has a lot more shopping/entertainment options than it used to. Or, if you wanted to stay in Dallas itself, you could check out the gorgeous neighborhoods in Kessler Park (northern Oak Cliff).

Probably because he has said he is looking for a family community. Oak CLiff has a lot to offer, Coppell has great schools and more to offer families.

Nita

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Probably because he has said he is looking for a family community. Oak CLiff has a lot to offer, Coppell has great schools and more to offer families.

Nita

Coppell has OK schools...a little overrated, I think. I do not see that it has anything to offer families other than a nice park and lots of chain restaurants. Cedar Hill has those too.

[Acntx]

I didn't mention other communities since the OP seemed to be set on Coppell, but depending on price range and other factors, nice neighborhoods with good schools do exist in the southern suburbs as well.