Advice on nice areas to live in (Dallas, San Antonio: apartment complexes, rental)

[BSL63087]

We are looking at moving to the DFW area, maybe within a year or two. We obviously don't have jobs lined up yet but will most likely want to work somewhere towards the Ft. Worth side than on the Dallas side. Irving is a possibility.

We visited the area in April and found that we liked the Arlington area best. We like sports and the idea of living near the two stadiums sounds great. We thought it looked like a nice area that was generally safe and a pretty nice place to live. The people on here have told me otherwise. They claim that Arlington is a traffic filled, congested, crime infested craphole. I don't know if they are just fans of a different area in the metroplex and just like to bash Arlington or if they have had bad experiences there or if it is all really true. We were only there for 5 days so maybe we didn't see how it truely is. The area around the stadiums seemed nice and we were considering looking at some of the apartment complexes that are in that area--within 5 miles or so. A lot of it would depend on where we ended up working though but that is where we would have wanted to live.

Most people who tend to hate on Arlington give you all of the negatives, no positives, and also don't give you any other places that are better in that area other than "There are much better places than Arlington."

So with that said, what are some alternatives if Arlington is so bad? Or is it really not as bad as they describe and what we saw is really what it is? Below is a map with a box around it that represents where we would like to live. We would like to work and live within that box if possible which I think is very doable. What are some of the best places to live in that area? We will likely rent for awhile and our ideal range is $600-$800 and want 2 BR in a relatively newer decent complex that is safe to live in and not have to worry about having thug types around. Keller, Grapevine, and Colleyville look pretty nice but may have longer commutes unless we found jobs in those areas.

[The Texan]

Arlington is not a bad area. Some parts of the city are better off than others, and I'd particularly recommend the southeast side of Arlington.

If not Arlington, try Pantego and Dalworthington Gardens. These two small towns are in the middle of Arlington -- they're enclaves. They are very nice areas with much to offer, and each has only about 2,200 people.

For more information, go to:

Pantego: Pantego, TX - Official Website

Dalworthington Gardens: City of Dalworthington Gardens, Texas

[BSL63087]

Thanks, it's nice to hear some I guess un-biased information. I don't know what it is but for some reason Arlington seems like it gets a bad rap on here. We only saw some parts of it-- mainly the area around the stadium and also the area around the Parks Mall which seemed pretty nice to me. I'm not sure what the deal is with some people if they had a bad experience with it or are bitter that the Cowboys Stadium went to Arlington or what but by listening to them you'd think there were gangs walking the streets outside of a Rangers game. Sure, a place of 400,000 isn't going to be free of traffic or any crime but overall I'd say it's not that bad at all.

Thanks again for those suggestions.

[loves2read]

my son and his fiancee live in Carrolton right now and rent a one bd/study apt in a complex that is about 15 yrs old--they pay right at 800 a mo plus their electric--I think complex pays water--theirs is complex where car windows are broken for theft purposes, domestic disturbance calls are pretty common, and most people are country-red-neck-hickish...loud and combative...(check their accents--they are not from NYC or Calif--they are home grown for the most part)--they chose that complex because of where they worked when they leased....they have both changed jobs since then...

They are moving to Lewisville area and hoping to find better quality neighbors w/o paying too much more in rent but think that when you are looking below 1000 a mo for apt that most of the similar clientel are going to be problem more than positive...there is no screening for who are nice guys who really aren't any problems--it is more like--are you a sex offender and do you have the deposits---
so not sure that in your price range you are "guaranteed" any place that does not have a certain amount of "thuggish" behavior just because of who falls into that segment of the rental population--not that everyone in that segment is a problem--my son and his fiancee aren't--but there is at least a 5050 split from what they have seen after living in several apartments in Denton/Dallas/Grapevine area in past 6 years...

regarding apartments in Dalworthington Gardens I don't think there are any--almost all residential housing...

[ag925]

From this morning's Star-Telegram (newspaper):

Fort Worth-Arlington is priciest for Texas Families-- Getting by in Fort Worth and Arlington would cost a family of four about $46,000, and that's just for the bare necessities. No going to the movies. No eating out. No building a nest egg.

If your employer doesn't help with insurance premiums, the cost could go even higher.

The Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin released estimates Thursday of how much families need to get by in 27 Texas metropolitan areas. The Fort Worth-Arlington area was the most expensive.

The article goes on to explain that the high costs associated with the area were driven by high basic costs, including housing, child care, and taxes.

These are the figures given for what a family of four would need to get by in metropolitan areas of the state:

Brownsville/Harlingen: $29,981.

Dallas/Plano/Irving: $43,723

Fort Worth/Arlington: $45,769

San Antonio: $40,826

Sherman/Denison: $38,697

Wichita Falls: $33,505

Using the same criteria as the newspaper article, I calculated a few other metro areas:

Abilene: $32,674

Austin/Round Rock: $43,641

Tyler: $36,274

The CPPP.org report allows readers to plug in different scenarios to calculate expenses. Choices include single adult, 2 adults, one adult and 1 (or more) child, etc. Also, just to reiterate, the above figures are based on the assumption that the household has employer contributions towards health insurance. There is an option to calculate expenses if the household has to absorb the entire cost of health insurance. (I truly wonder if this is even close to accurate, as our own health insurance out-of-pocket expense increased over $700/month this year. Yes, that's correct. Our contribution towards our health insurance jumped $8,400+ per year. No changes. Same coverage. No health issues. Insurance is through a major telecom company my husband has been with for 31 years.)

For anyone who would like to peruse the report and do their own calculations, the website is Center for Public Policy Priorities

Hope this is helpful.

[BSL63087]

Originally Posted by loves2read

my son and his fiancee live in Carrolton right now and rent a one bd/study apt in a complex that is about 15 yrs old--they pay right at 800 a mo plus their electric--I think complex pays water--theirs is complex where car windows are broken for theft purposes, domestic disturbance calls are pretty common, and most people are country-red-neck-hickish...loud and combative...(check their accents--they are not from NYC or Calif--they are home grown for the most part)--they chose that complex because of where they worked when they leased....they have both changed jobs since then...

They are moving to Lewisville area and hoping to find better quality neighbors w/o paying too much more in rent but think that when you are looking below 1000 a mo for apt that most of the similar clientel are going to be problem more than positive...there is no screening for who are nice guys who really aren't any problems--it is more like--are you a sex offender and do you have the deposits---
so not sure that in your price range you are "guaranteed" any place that does not have a certain amount of "thuggish" behavior just because of who falls into that segment of the rental population--not that everyone in that segment is a problem--my son and his fiancee aren't--but there is at least a 5050 split from what they have seen after living in several apartments in Denton/Dallas/Grapevine area in past 6 years...

regarding apartments in Dalworthington Gardens I don't think there are any--almost all residential housing...

Wow, that isn't very encouraging

We would want to rent at first just to get going and maybe buy a house after a year or two but I always heard of Carrolton and Grapevine as being pretty nice safe areas. It's pretty sad really that you can't just live your life without worrying about your own neighbors breaking into your car or apartment or whatever.

[loves2read]

big article in FTW paper today about the same crisis of affordable housing and standard of living that the other poster referenced--I think all housing in DFW metroplex is expensive, especially if you want something that is quality management and safe...our utility costs are higher than smaller towns in other areas, cost of transportation is high because most people have to have their own cars--insurance, gasoline/maintenance, payments--food is high either to eat out or in groceries...

if I were looking to come to TX I would first see what my marketable skills are and try to find the best fit for those skills in a smaller market...San Antonio is more expensive than what that example is, I think, My sister lives north of there and teaches at a Catholic school--San Antonio is not a cheap town...
maybe something like Tyler (although we have friends who live there who tell us homes in Tyler are more expensive than here in DFW)

[BSL63087]

I think this is becoming a nationwide problem. Costs of everything continue to gradually go up while in many cases salaries do not. The US dollar is losing its value. The middle class average Joe has a hard time keeping up and ends up basically having to live around thugs and crime because decent housing in a decent neighborhood with normal people is starting to be too expensive. I'm seeing this a little bit right here in southern Indiana too. I remember as a younger kid 10-12 years ago the neighborhood my grandma lived in was a nice middle class area with friendly people and a pretty good area. Now it's slowly but surely turning into a worse neighborhood with beat up thug mobiles and punk kids hanging around causing trouble.

I'm definitly no expert but it just seems like that's what's happening. The neighborhood I grew up in is now loaded with thugs. I wouldn't even walk through it alone anymore. The schools in the area are now full of knucklehead kids, for example, last week, two kids in like the 5th grade were arrested because they ran out of the back area of the school thinking they were slick trying to ditch school and ran to a nearby Target store... The police were called and these kids were running from the police and finally ended up being caught... all because they couldn't wait until 2:30 to get out of school.

It just seems like things are getting worse everywhere you look. I see it here and you hear about it in every city's forum on here and it seems like a nationwide problem. You've either got plenty of disposable income to be able to live in a nice area or you're struggling to get by on the average $40,000 income and living around all of these crazy people on top of it.