Moving To Fort Worth From Chicago... Questions?? (Dallas, Arlington: section 8, apartments)

[singlemomsrock]

Hi Everyone!!

I am SUPER excited to be moving to the Fort Worth Area sometime in late November/early December. I am a 32 year old single Mom of 3 boys - they will be 15, 11 and 8 by the time we move. I am moving from Chicago to be near my sisters (one already lives in Keller and the other is moving there in September. I know this is gonna be a tad long, but if someone could be so kind to just give me a little advice, I'd really appreciate it!!

I just have a couple questions for my soon-to-be DFW neighbors..

How do you all like living in the Fort Worth area??? Likes? Dislikes?

Im tossed between getting a large apartment (with pool, clubhouse, etc..) or a single family home... what would you consider to be the smartest decision? Any recommendations on apartments?

What are some of the best areas to raise kids that is not TOO expensive (rent maybe no more than $1000 a month)? I am not a big city person. I personally like the more laid back kind of lifestyle and friendly NORMAL people.. not high-class hoity-toity people (Im moving away from one of those neighborhoods!!)

What are some of the best schools - elementary, middle and highschool?? I know this is gonna sound funny, but someone told me that some of the schools don't have homework.. they get an hour at the end of the school day to complete work.. is that true in some cases?? I thought it was a little strange but thought I would ask...

I do have tons of questions so if anyone would like to help me out, I would really really appreciate it!!!

Thanks so much!
Melissa

[loves2read]

you need to consider where your job is
Tarrant county is BIG--if you get job in Dallas you probably don't want to live in Keller--mega commute
there is no public tranportation in Tarrant county except in FTW city limits and one rail line TRE that goes from FTW downtown with three stops into downtown Dallas--not that convenient

how many bedrooms are you wanting--how large an apt-
you are going to have trouble getting 3 bedroom apt for 1K a mo as well as a house in pretty much any "nice" location in Tarrant side...and in that price range I don't think you have to worry about the "high class" people
1K a month is average probably...

and some 2 bedrooms in nice complexes can be 1200
some complexes don't have 3 bedroom apts--don't want to have larger families or lots of roommates
some apts that DO have 3 bedroom apts take Section 8 renters and some people don't want to rent in Section 8 complex

you can check out any ISD's rating at the TEA web site
most districts are Acceptable--some are Recognized--maybe on Coppell is Exemplary as a district

[ChristieP]

I agree with L2R: you need to know where you will be working before you can decide where to live. You don't want an hour commute!

$1k isn't going to go far renting a house in a good neighborhood, either. If you could do $1200, you would get a lot better house, neighborhood and schools.

[h152cc2]

I'd agree with both ChristieP and loves2read, you need to figure out where to work first! In fact, you should probably be trying to get a game plan going on finding a job before you move down here.

I'd rent an apartment for sure first... it will be hard to rent a home for < $1200/mo.

[Squirl]

Sure hope you don't have to work for the first year! Boys your kids' ages are just about too old for daycare and can get into a mess of trouble in a new neighborhood; especially an apartment community with people who are often not yet deeply rooted into the community. Beware. I know its none of my business but I've BTDT..... the results/impact to your kids' lives is not pretty.

[singlemomsrock]

Wow... maybe now I am not so excited! Between, you all telling me that I really can't find a NICE place under $1000 in a decent neighborhood and telling me I shouldn't work for at least a year because my kids can cause trouble in a new neighborhood really makes one think.... That is interesting though because my sister is a single mom to 3 kids as well (same age as mine) and she said moving down there was the best thing that ever happened to her. This is all very interesting!!

You know though.. some parents these days just don't care what their kids do... and that is just sad. I am blessed to have 3 amazing boys (that actually listen, pretty much for the most part)and just because I am a single Mom doesn't mean I am just going to let them get away with stuff. But I really do appreciate your concerns on the kids! I ASKED AND YOU ALL DELIVERED!! I DO APPRECIATE IT THOUGH!!

So, of every 3 bedroom apartment I have seen ( I have seen quite a few) in every area that is about $900 (with a realtor) is not in a good neighborhood??? There must be A LOT of bad areas. They seemed all really nice though... Arlington, Fortworth, North Richland Hills, etc.. WHAT EXACTLY MAKES THEM BAD AREAS TO YOU ALL???

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by singlemomsrock

So, of every 3 bedroom apartment I have seen ( I have seen quite a few) in every area that is about $900 (with a realtor) is not in a good neighborhood??? There must be A LOT of bad areas. They seemed all really nice though... Arlington, Fortworth, North Richland Hills, etc.. WHAT EXACTLY MAKES THEM BAD AREAS TO YOU ALL???

WHERE in those cities? Arlington and Fort Worth are HUGE, and NRH has a lot of different parts.

I based my opinion on our former rental house in Grapevine which was $975 a month. It was a small house, but we had excellent schools.

[lamersk]

I would say your best bet would be somewhere in the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. There are some cheaper parts to live in that provide great schools as well as a pretty safe environment.

[expatChicagoan]

My family relocated from Chicago to the Keller area (we are actually in Heritage, which is Fort Worth, but Keller ISD), last June.

We had *absolutely* no problems with our son (age 10) settling in. I think that comment about not wanting to work for a year after the move is ridiculous.

I can't give you much advice about apartment rental, as we bought a home, but wanted to encourage you to come on down to the area - I have not had a moment's regret since moving down here.

[5stones]

North Richland Hills is Birdville ISD (for the most part, some is Keller ISD) and it is overall a nice town and a good solid school district. You should be able to find a small house or apt in your range. Some areas are older and a bit "tired" and have some crime. But all in all fine.

The Grapevine area is another place with an excellant school system and a great town with tons to do and it's in a good location. If you can find a 3 bedroom here in your range I would encourage you to seriously consider it. There are some not so great apts near the HS.... but nothing horrible. It's bad by Grapvine standards and they are pretty high.

Keller the town might have some older homes that are off 1709 and bear creek pky that are in your rnage for rent. most will be smaller and older but MOST of the area is pretty well kept and crime is fairly low. Another neighborhood to look at would be the ones off of North Tarrant both West Bersey Ranch (?) and Bersey Ranch(?)
There are duplexes by the HS off of Pate Orr as well. A little run down and has some crime but not "violent crime" theft, some drugs, vandelism etc...

For Keller ISD but in NW Ft Worth you have good schools and quite a bit of Apartments to search, they are building like crazy out there and some brand new complexes are out west of 377. I would look at ones that are zoned for Central HS out there, (or maybe even the new Timbercreek HS) Central has a great staff and they are a solid school. For homes you can probably find something in the woodland springs area for rent. Woodland Springs MS is going through a rough patch, so I would steer clear if you can.

Can't tell you about Arlington, it is big and has some rough areas that you may not want to live in esp as a single mom. It also has some nice established areas etc... schools don't have the best preformance record on paper.

Give some exact addresses and we will be able to help you out a bit more with the good the bad and the ugly!

I think that comment about not wanting to work for a year after the move is ridiculous.

I do too expat! In a perfect world, yes it would be ideal to be home when your kids are...but the world I live in is not ideal and we do what we can with what we have.

OP is moving here to make things better for her boys, if you can't help with facts and info for her then just don't post.