New job downtown, thinking of Mansfield residence? (Arlington: foreclosures, house)

[artforall]

My husband may be obtaining work in Ft. Worth by Sundance Square.

With 2 small children, we were looking at schools in the Mansfield area. We like a community that has the feel of a smaller town.

Any opinions or information about :
the commute from Mansfield to Sundance Square?
the Mansfield schools or better options?
the gas drills we see all over Mansfield?
the house value depreciation we see in some areas of Mansfield (is it just part of the nationwide trend or was it more specific to Mansfield for some reason?)

We would appreciate any information or opinions on Mansfield or other areas that may better suit us.
Thank you!

[loves2read]

price is always a concern
w/o price hard to say what area would be workable

15 yrs ago Mansfield ISD was pretty well regarded as the "cutting edge" district--don't think it has lived up to that promise
Mansfield did see higher numbers of foreclosures several years back--it was overbuilt--
many people find that Mansfield lacks lot of amenities like shopping/nicer restaurants that they wind up driving into Arlington to have

the drive from Mansfield to downtown is about 25-30 min--someone who works with my husband lives in the Mansfield National development and makes the commute

the E/W sides of Mansfield are sort of different
west side more rural, more open bar ditches, more utilities above ground--