moving to dallas need help !!!!! (Mesquite, DeSoto: middle-class, fit in, real estate)

[steve1282]

I'm moving to Dallas from Boston and have some ?'s. I'm a 28 single male and will be working at the VA hospital. I'll make around 45k a year. I want to rent for a little bit before I buy a house (to make sure I fit in). I've been looking at aparments in the village such as the gates and bluffs. Alot of people say stay out of south Dallas is Lancaster and Desoto bad areas? The apartments I'm looking at seem to be near Highland park is that going to be a bad commute? I'd like to keep it under 45min if possible. Any suggestions on better places to live. What are the bad areas to stay out of by name if you could please. I've also been looking around mesquite hows that area? Any other info anyone could give me on the best places to live plus meet people will be great.

[pepper131]

Since you know you want to rent for a little while, why don't you make your commute easier by living in North Oak Cliff? Good Space has some unique, historic properties.

[FarNorthDallas]

The VA is located in a not so good part of town, so it's good you are not looking in that immediate area.

Mesquite is an older mostly blue collar suburb with affordable housing.

The Village is an established apartment complex community that has been long known for being a place for singles.

Singles with more money to spend live in Uptown.

North Oak Cliff is a nice area, mostly Hispanic, pretty, has character.

DeSoto and Lancaster are mostly African-American areas, affordable.

When you start looking at buying a house on 45k you might look at Lancaster, Crandall because your money will go further, and maybe Mesquite or Forney.

[Acntx]

Hi.

We regularly get inquiries from people planning to work at the VA. While it is true that the neighborhoods surrounding the VA aren't the best, there are decent options only a little further out. Before going on, I wanted to make a recommendation. If you are just looking for a nice place to live, then I'd advise you took in both Dallas and the suburban communities you mentioned. However, if you are looking for an area with nightlife and an active singles scene, I'd suggest narrowing your search to certain areas within the city of Dallas like Uptown, Downtown, and North Oak Cliff.

Lancaster and DeSoto are mostly middle-class suburbs that border the city of Dallas to the south. I currently live in Lancaster and prior to that, I lived in DeSoto. They aren't bad or unsafe places to live. In the over twenty years that I have spent living in both communities, I have never felt that my safety or security was threatened. The same is true for relatives of mine who live in this area as well. Regarding apartments, both cities have nice complexes that might be suitable to you. There are several apartment complexes in Lancaster, but the two nicest in my opinion are Creekwood Place and Rolling Hills Place. They are both well maintained and are situated near the retail businesses that lie along either side of the Interstate 35E corridor. Over the past few years, several newer apartment complexes have been built in DeSoto. Two of them, DeSoto Ranch and Huntington Ridge, are located on South Polk Street. The third, DeSoto Town Center Apartments, are located at the intersection of Hampton Road and Pleasant Run Road. They were developed as part of the city's first mixed-use project. Some of the older complexes are worth looking into as well. Both cities are well within your desired commute range. In fact, it is possible to commute from Lancaster without using any interstate highways. State Highway 342 (known as Dallas Avenue in Lancaster and Lancaster Road in Dallas) runs alongside the VA and is also one of Lancaster's main north-south routes. Mesquite is a much larger city than DeSoto or Lancaster, but it has areas that are worth looking into as well. There are posters on this forum who can give you more detailed information about Mesquite than I can, however.

I hope this helps and if you have any more questions, just let me know and I will try to be of further assistance.

Welcome to Texas!

[steve1282]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

The VA is located in a not so good part of town, so it's good you are not looking in that immediate area.

Mesquite is an older mostly blue collar suburb with affordable housing.

The Village is an established apartment complex community that has been long known for being a place for singles.

Singles with more money to spend live in Uptown.

North Oak Cliff is a nice area, mostly Hispanic, pretty, has character.

DeSoto and Lancaster are mostly African-American areas, affordable.

When you start looking at buying a house on 45k you might look at Lancaster, Crandall because your money will go further, and maybe Mesquite or Forney.

Not to sound rude or anything but being white if I move to south Dallas is it diverse or mostly one race I just dont want to feel like the odd man out. Boston has its areas that are diverse, mostly white, mostly black, and such is dallas the same way or different.

[Squirl]

Diverse! Lots of beautiful homes! I am anglo and would live there happily .... just not a convenient location for me. These areas don't have highly ranked school districts, however, and that does have an impact on real estate prices. (Except for North Oak Cliff, which holds value quite well and has among the higher price per square foot $$'s in nicer neighborhoods), so you will get alot of house for your money in Cedar Hill, Desoto, Lancaster, Red Oak.....

[pepper131]

Very diverse in Oak Cliff; inlcuding North Oak Cliff (Kessler Park, Stevens Park, Winnekta Heights, ...white, black, hispanic, gay, lesbian, retired folks, young families, singles.

You can look through the photos on this neighborhood assoc pages to see:
Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association

And you can see neighbors improving their area.
Streetsblog.net » In Dallas, a Community Transforms a Street

[Peterotica]

For one single guy in his twenties, stick with the M street areas, uptown, or Kessler Park/Bishop Arts area of Oak Cliff. Addison could work too, but it's pretty far North.

Don't move out to the burbs, you'll get depressed. I lived in the Village (the meadow) when I graduated from college, and while it's a bit of a right of passage for the young ones, I'd say look past it if you're 28. Seems like all the douches from the burbs and all of the community college kids from podunk towns move to the village. It's a real melting pot, and I had fun but I could only do it for 9 months. It's like a constant ragefest when you're living in the village.

Oak Cliff is nice but a bit far from stuff if you're used to being in the mstreets or uptown, and the area is peppered hardcore with some shaddyyyyy areas, but often times when I'm in Oak Cliff I forget I'm in Dallas.

Oh, and if you're a gay guy you may want to check out the cedar springs/maple area. This butts right up against uptown/mstreets/highland park.

Really, anywhere within the vicinity of HP is going to be really nice.

Mesquite is on the East side of Dallas and is meh. It's nice because you're situated between White Rock and Lake Ray Hubbard, but the areas are nothing special compared to the cosmopolitan living of Mstreets/Uptown/Oak CLiff.

I know Dallas and it's surrounding areas like the back of my hand bc I cycle everywhere almost exclusively.

[Lakewooder]

Try 75206. M-Streets, apartments/condos just south of the Village along E. University (Sandhurst, Amesbury, Danbury, etc - near DART stations) Lower Greenville, Henderson Avenue, Vickery Place, Cochran Heights, Belmont or Knoxbridge Apartments East Dallas, are search keywords. There are many unique properties with charcater including single family homes, duplexes, fourplexes, very small apartment complexes from the 20s and 30s along with new towhomes and apartments and condos.

Or just go to The Old Monk or Capitol Pubs and hang out and ask around...

[Peterotica]

Hhaha you'll probably see me there.

OP, bring your bike and I'll show you everyplace you need to know in Dallas.