Researching places to live in greater DFW area (Dallas, Garland: real estate, houses)

[skids929]

Hello everyone, new to the forums, long-time lurker.

We're considering a relocation to the area, in the beginning stages of our research. Have a family of 3 (under the age of three) living in the MA now. Looking for a better lifestyle overall, wife may have an opportunity to keep her current job at same salary (may be working out of Richardson).

We haven't had a chance to visit yet, I may come down soon on my own since it is impossible for all of us to come together. I am trying to make sure I spend my time there efficiently, and narrowed my interests to two general areas of the metroplex. The areas in and around Southlake, and the areas in and around Frisco. We like Southlake are alot, have family that relocated there about a year ago, but it seems you get less for your money. Most of the Towns that we seem interested in are listed below:

Prosper (like this town alot, just not sure about commute)
Frisco
Allen
McKinney
Flower Mound
Southlake
Kellar
Trophy Club
Colleyville

Let me know the things I should be taking into consideration for these towns and overall. Would love to hear from anyone who moved from the Northeast.

Thanks!

[momof2dfw]

If your going to be working in Richardson then why not live in Richardson. It is a very nice area w/ good schools and very family friendly.

The commute from many of the places you have listed will be long and will be more time away from the family for your wife.

[skids929]

Great suggestion..Actually I started my search there, but then started to feel like it might not have a suburban feel to it. Maybe I am wrong. Is the housing stock older? Or is there are choice of old and new? Seems like there is judging by the real estate listings.

[FL70]

We chose Frisco. Prosper is nice, but is far from Richardson and is going to boom in the next 10 years. Estimates are that it will go from 10,000 to 60,000 by 2020.

I'd say minimize commute time.

FYI - we relocated from mid-Atlantic and love it here. People are friendly and life runs at a slower pace.

[skids929]

Thanks FL70..How long would you estimate the commute from Frisco to Richardson, normal traffic, during the work week, in the the AM.

[momof2dfw]

Richardson is one of the older "inner ring" suburbs but there are newer housing developments. If you look to the far east part of Richardson out Renner Rd you will find newer homes and wide open spaces, great parks, etc. Older areas of Richardson do very well and are still very desirable. Canyon Creek is a very nice area to be in as is Richardson Heights. Houses in Canyon Creek will run higher than those in Heights. Then there is the area of Richardson up north just south of 190 along Campbell between Coit and Preston that is very nice. All of Richardson is a pretty good bet on the real estate front. Most of the areas mentioned the houses if they are good don't last long on the market IF and WHEN they come up. There is not a lot of turnover of housing as people tend to put down roots there and make it their home. It is very family friendly.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by skids929

Thanks FL70..How long would you estimate the commute from Frisco to Richardson, normal traffic, during the work week, in the the AM.

That is going to depend on where in Richardson. Do you have a general idea of the vicinity of the job location in Richardson? It is a pretty big area and if she is working out on the far east side of Richardson a commute from Frisco could be a good hour. If she is going to be working closer to the west side then it will still be a pain because of all of the traffic coming out of Frisco.

You mentioned McKinney. My sister lives there. Let me just say that her husband had two locations to pick from to office out of: Sherman or Richardson. While Richardson is closer mile wise it was a much longer commute because of the high volume of traffic. It was a lot quicker for him to get to Sherman than Richardson from McKinney. Plus he was going against the traffic.

[FL70]

Originally Posted by skids929

Thanks FL70..How long would you estimate the commute from Frisco to Richardson, normal traffic, during the work week, in the the AM.

1. I work from home, so I'm not going to be a good barometer of traffic times.

2. Frisco is pretty spread out. So it all really depends on where in Frisco to where in Richardson.

That said, the Dallas Tollway and new Bush 'beltway' should generally improve the commute.

[skids929]

Thanks for the perspective, very helpful. My wife will probably be remote most of the time as well. It will be me who will have to find work, in either Dallas or Richardson and most likely have a commute to deal with. I don't completely object to a little drive for the right house, town, neighborhood, schools, but nothing greater than 45 minutes. These towns don't seem to far from a mileage standpoint, Frisco is only about 22 miles from Richardson, so it's nice to hear from people on the ground who have driven these roads.

Currently we live about an hour and 15 minutes out of Boston, my wife works in a suburb of Boston has a commute over an hour, I work about 35 miles from my office with a 45 minute commute.

[momof2dfw]

If you do not know where you are going to be working then I'd stay a lot closer in. Richardson is actually a very good location to have access to the Metroplex and if you ended up in Downtown Dallas.

While it may only be 22 miles from one point in Frisco to another point in Richardson you may be much further than that and it is going to be a long commute. I'm in Garland but only 2 miles from Richardson right off of Hwy 190 (aka George Bush Turnpike) and to get to Frisco just to the point right at the tollroad and Hwy 121 it can take 25-30 minutes WITHOUT traffic and that is if everything is moving and no one in the way. And only 2 lights to deal with in that. That is not going to be normal at all. I only have 1 light to deal with to get on 190 and no school zones. Change that scenario to a house in Frisco that is going to have multiple lights to deal w/ that are going to be heavily congested to just GET to the tollroad. The tollraod is going to be backed up all the way until she gets to 190. It will thin out a bit on 190 until she gets closer to 75/Central Expwy then it will be a massive backup again for all of the people trying to get onto 75 South. Unless her job was on the west side of Richardson. Richardson is 28.6 square miles so there is a lot of ground to cover there as well so knowing which part of Richardson she is going to be in can make a huge difference.