Any opinions on River Bend in East Fort Worth (Arlington: for sale, real estate)

[Aporkalypse]

I'm going to work in Arlington and wanted to be closer to Ft Worth but can't live in Arlington Heights or the TCU area because of commute times. My wife and I found River Bend Estates and liked the area because it is scenic with lots of trees, parks, etc around it and it's basically less than 10 min from downtown Ft Worth. I realize it's not convenient to shopping and restaurants not in downtown (well, I guess NE Mall area isn't far) because East Ft Worth isn't the place to be.

Anybody live there or have any opinions?

[hypocore]

That area is built on an old lowland area that I believe they have cleared up so that they haven't had any flooding, but it would still be a concern to me. You would have to travel for most things and depending on what you are comfortable with, shopping at the Albertsons and Kroger nearby isn't ideal.


If schools are important that might be a big factor. Part of River Bend is in the Birdville ISD which feeds in to Richland Elementary and Richland Middle, neither are great schools......and part is in the Fort Worth ISD. I'm not sure which elementary that would be, but it would feed into Eastern Hills, which is a hard school.

[loves2read]

we looked at that neighborhood several years ago when we first started house search-- my husband works just n of Sundance Sq and thought the commute would be great--
but after driving around the area we though there was not any up-side to buying there
from watching MLS over the past 3 or so years I know there have been frequent foreclosures there when across the metroplex there were very few other homes in that price range going to foreclosure...which also was a negative to us...

since part of that borders the Trinity River I would also have some concerns about flooding because of all the construction/re-design going on on Trinity River part of FTW--I guess I am overly pessimistic but if there is something off with the planning/construction people downstream might have problems ...
the FTW ISD part is zoned for Eastern Hills HS and that is rated unacceptable by TEA--that is a no-go zone as far as I am concerned
whether it is just perception or there is reality--think you would really need more specific info and a definite long-term intent if you buy there--selling would be a real hardship...
even if there is not crime inside the development because of the security--think that general area has higher crime stats than areas in Mid-Cities or other areas with similarly priced homes in Colleyville or Keller

there are some parts of Arlington with the same "look"---trees, more variety in terrain--schools might again be an issue--but Arlington has pretty good retail/restaurant/park situation

[Aporkalypse]

Thanks for your replies.

As I said I am only looking at private schools, so schools aren't an issue. It would be easy for us to go to St John the Apostle and Nolan Catholic from there and alternatively All Saints or FW Country Day are way easier from there than Arlington. I can't live in West Ft Worth and work at Arlington Memorial very easily.

I like North Arlington, it's just pretty devoid of houses in that range that are "good deals" right now. Colleyville and Keller are too far. I like Southlake but again, too far. The benefit of this would be that we could work and do things in North Arlington but still be close to down

I am a bit nervous about flooding. It's clear they built a new levee that is very high for this reason and the opposite bank is low and it would flood that way first. Has it been topped yet by a flood? That area seems low and prone to flooding. Did that area flood a lot before the new levee was built?

Resale could be a problem in that area. I hadn't thought about that.

[loves2read]

If that area has a problem selling homes (and it does) then RESALE will still be an issue -- even if the market picks up in a year or two--that area is not going to be relocated
the homes are not the problem--it is the location...and frankly getting to St John the Apostle and then to Arlington would be a PITA if only one person was doing the carpooling...

[Aporkalypse]

I drive to Arlington, wife drives the kid to school. She doesn't work.

There really aren't a lot of houses for sale right now in River Bend, particularly at the middle to upper end. It just seems like a niche that a lot of buyers might not like and a lot of these are custom homes still occupied by the original owners.

[hypocore]

That whole area used to be swamp type lowlands, so it was mostly covered in water anyway. They indeed have done a great deal of work to protect it and I don't believe it has flooded at all since they've built all those homes. Having said that, there also hasn't been a time to really test it either and that's what would worry me. Being as low as it is and right on the branch of the river, all it would take would be one prolonged bought of heavy rain to test it and I'd just as soon not take that chance...but that's just me. haha

As far as getting to St Johns...that would actually be pretty easy. Handley Ederville to Hwy 10 then left on 10 to the first street on the right - Popplewell (take it to avoid the 2 different school zones on Norton which actually ends up facing St Johns) Then you can cut through on a couple of different streets to get to Glenview or go on to Grapevine Hwy/Blvd 26 and go the short distance to Glenview.

Mornings would take longer than afternoons potentially due to the train traffic at Handley/121. That can be avoided if you check the schedule to see when it's likely to be the heaviest. Right now the train arrives and leaves somewhere around 7:45ish and 7:55ish. So if St Johns still starts at 8 AM and you leave around 7:30 you will miss most of the traffic.

Nolan of course is the opposite direction, however that may mean you have a student who would be driving themselves, so you don't have to worry about getting to both schools. Maybe. haha

I'd hate to drive to Arlington Memorial though...with all the construction going on due to the new Cowboy's football stadium added to the UTA normal traffic just begs for traffic delays.

[loves2read]

actually the big rains/floods we had about 3-4 yrs ago were probably as bad as most people thought it could get and not float away--I think we had rain (heavy rain) every day for like a month--I could not walk in my backyard on solid ground--you just sunk in the top inches of the yard--
there was flooding in Haltom City area and north of 820 around Fossile Creek and the John T white area across the freeway from that subdivision--guess to some extent the area east/south of freeway is lower than west/north side

maybe I am over-reacting--but I would worry about what happens when they start dredging the Trinity in FTW--what that will do to flow of water downstream...

and you need to talk to real estate agent who is familiar with that area--if the number of homes has dropped it is because the foreclosures finally got low enough for people to buy--question is--who bought them...rental properties or owner occupies...
maybe you are right about some homes being originally homeowners
you can check that info on the Tarrant Appraisal District site
just put in subdivision name and check different addresses--tedious but you can see how many homes are owned by realty groups--how often they have been sold--if it was a foreclosed property at any time...

[loves2read]

something else--when all that flooding happened and people homes were utterly destroyed and some people were killed--LOTS of complaints about flood zones...and overflow due to construction in past 10 or so years--run-off from large concreted areas like subdivisions/plants/roads--where there was inadequate drainage planning--sometimes because what one city built ran off on another city's land/homes/watershed...
anyway...FEMA has done a reassessment of flood zones in this area
and I think some areas that were NOT in a floor plane in the past might be in one now--FEMA has just not announced when it will take effect...the plattes are done however...

would contact the city of fort worth planning/zoning/engineering dept and see if someone will give you the time of day and explain if that will be happening to this area...

I talked to the city engineer for Hurst when we were buying our current home because I was worried about grading/floor plane--even though this lot is not in current flood plane--it starts right outside the fence basically--where the developer did not own the land and was not building it up out of flood plane....
OK---have you actually been to see any of those homes in person or just doing an MLS search?--
I am going to PM you what I think after looking at each one of those houses on MLS and checking TAD data

and what parks are you referring to that are close to this subdivison?
ARC Park and Gateway Park in FTW would not be where I would choose to take family outing

[Aporkalypse]

Looked at some homes in River Bend, prices there are very good for what you get. Also looked in North Arlington, prices are relatively high, Interlochen, and Eastchase/Waterchase area. We also looked at some homes in South Arlington and DWG and I wasn't all that excited about them.

FWIW you don't have to have flood insurance in River Bend, the levee there is so high all of Richland Hills would flood before it did. Actually, apparently some of the homes that didnt' sell were the ones backing up to the levee, which was considered a negative.

Gateway is supposed to be totally redone into a really nice and extravagant park in the near future. Has crime in the park been a problem in the past?