Just moved to South Arlington, not impressed. (Houston, Fort Worth: for sale, rental)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My family just moved to South Arlington, and to say the least, I'm not to happy. I had to make a quick decision and rent a home without even seeing it except for the pictures posted on the internet. We moved from a small community North of Houston that had a lot of pride, great schools, and community involvement. I looked into Keller and Colleyville, those communities seem a little too "wealthy" for me. Where is the happy medium?
I think that area of South Arlington/South Grand Prairie/Mansfield is pretty underrated. A lot of nice homes/businesses and the GP areas are especially nice with the hills and Joe Pool Lake. The schools are good, too. It's a nice area IMO. What did you not like about it?
For my family, the "happy medium" was found in the mid-cities area of Tarrant County (that includes Colleyville and Keller). We live in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area. North Richland Hills is also visually appealing (to me) - outside of being tied to HWY 820 (big down side - for me). I don't think that "status anxiety" is terribly high in the towns I've mentioned. I personally love Colleyville, but was concerned about my family being comfortable in a community where the range of incomes may have a high end significantly above ours - especially w/ the stay-at-home mom set - a clique that my wife would be joining. As such, Southlake wasn't even a consideration..., but that's another topic altogether.
Back to Arlington: I think the Interlochen neighborhood in North Arlington is nice and other areas of N. Arlington - north of HWY 30 near Green Oaks Blvd - have appeal. Older more settled areas are more appealing to me than areas overrun with new construction, though. I say enjoy the process of looking around. That's the most enjoyable part. You'll eventually find something/someplace that meets your mind's eye image of what you are looking for. Good luck.
-Eric
Last edited by Eric S; 08-16-2011 at 11:58 AM..
Reason: Didn't mention where we live, exactly.
I live is SW Arlington and parts of it are nice but has gone down alot over the past 10 years. I feel Mansfield is a better area, there are more 'newer' neighborhoods but it is not that different from Arlington. I would look into Keller again if I were you. There are some 'wealthy' areas but not all is like that. Like someone els said interlochin in north Arlington is nice but an older area and around it is not so nice.
without anything specific to go by that you made your judgement on it would be foolish for anyone to offer you other suggestions
you don't give neighborhood/location, price point or anything that explains why you are unhappy---
saying South Arlington is not enough--there are many neighborhoods (good and not so good) in that area
Some people say South Arlington when they mean Mansfield or Rendon, Dalworthington Gardens, or Grand Prairie--
and if you considered the location in South Arlington there must be reasons why you were willing to rent it--proximity to work/freeways or something elese--
people would not usually take a house in just any location unless it met some of the priorities they had on their list...
Your complaint is your only post and it seems almost designed to stir up controversy between the "wealthy" areas of Keller and Colleyville vs the "unwealthy" (by comparison) South Arlington--
there are many areas in Keller with variety in home pricing and lots of homes for rent--
If you had checked a site like Realtor.com that offers rental properties as well as those for sale you would have seen a wide variety of areas in the Metroplex--
and there are other factors beyond priceyness of the neighborhood that factors into people's choices
Unless you are going to break your lease and move, you are there for a year--the term of most leases--
take some time and read some prior posts about any area in the Metroplex--
most of them are covered
you can read what people think and get suggestions for areas
but with no price point, no target for commute time, no info about whether or not schools are a priority--your question is not really asking for specifics--just kind of a general bashing of communities
Our family has lived in SW Arlington for almost 3 years, and love it here. Good schools, friendly people, so convenient to everything. We get a little more rain and a little less bad weather (ice, tornadoes) than the folks at the north end of the Metroplex. Pretty much anything I could ever need or want is within a 10 minute drive, and I can be in downtown FW in 20 minutes. Traffic along I20 is not as bad as along 360, I30 or the other freeways. Even in the heart of rush hour, slow and go is as bad as it usually gets.
We're looking into getting a bigger place, and can move anywhere in DFW since we work from home, but hope to stay in SW Arlington. I'm curious as to what you don't like.
I grew up in Southwest Arlington and now live here with my husband and 4 kids. We are actually considering moving to Keller area or the Kingwood (Houston) area within the next year. I am currently a stay at home mom and my husband works from home so we can move easily. We are here because most of my family lives here and we enjoy seeing one another. My kids go to one of the better known public elementary schools and I also have two in a preschool in Mansfield.
What I like about living in Southwest Arlington is the trees in my older established neighborhood, the closeness to shopping, highways, and restaurants, theme parks etc... However, I feel my neighborhood is going downhill somewhat. I notice more and more people not taking care of their homes/yards. The areas east of my neighborhood are somewhat ghetto and I wouldn't even go near the Walmart that's 2 minutes from my house. Many of the kids in my neighborhood go to private schools which makes it hard if you want a strong community feel. If Arlington schools were better, there wouldn't be so many looking into private alternatives. Actually, that is one of the major reasons we are considering leaving. The schools are important to us, and we feel other areas offer more than Arlington does.
If you list the reasons you're unhappy and a price range your looking at I'll try to help. If I was looking in southwest Arlington I would go near Lake Arlington and stay west of Cooper Street.
We have also considered Mansfield, but worry it will end up like Arlington over time since it sits in between Arlington and Grand Prairie.
Our family has lived in SW Arlington for almost 3 years, and love it here. Good schools, friendly people, so convenient to everything. We get a little more rain and a little less bad weather (ice, tornadoes) than the folks at the north end of the Metroplex. Pretty much anything I could ever need or want is within a 10 minute drive, and I can be in downtown FW in 20 minutes. Traffic along I20 is not as bad as along 360, I30 or the other freeways. Even in the heart of rush hour, slow and go is as bad as it usually gets.
We're looking into getting a bigger place, and can move anywhere in DFW since we work from home, but hope to stay in SW Arlington. I'm curious as to what you don't like.
I totally agree. I live in SW Arlington and I've lived in this house since it was built in 1978. I like my neighbors, the schools, the easy access to I20 and Fort Worth. Everything I need is close by.
I've lived in Arlington since 1973. I moved to SouthWest Arlington in 1977. That area is better described as just "West" Arlington these days (by Lake Arlington golf course). At the time I moved here, Martin H.S. was just a field and Arkansas Lane was pretty much the southern border of anything worth seeing.
After all these years, I've finally decided that my neighborhood is noticeably on the decline and it's time to move. I've been looking in the SW area (Martin HS area) and Mansfield (Legacy HS area) and am really struggling. I have kids at Martin who of course feel like their lives will be forever ruined if they are forced into a different high school. For that reason, I am making a concerted effort to find something in the Martin area, but for the same money, I can find my dream home in Mansfield.
Does any one on this forum have an opinion on projected home values in SW Arlington over the next few years? I don't want to spend a lot of money to live in the Martin area only to lose money when it's time to sell it. I'm leaning toward Mansfield at this point, but hear plenty of re-zoning and tax horror stories from there that give me pause.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
