Fort Worth from Maryland - Where to Live? (Houston, Dallas: real estate, apartment) - City-Data Forum

jrburke99 · 03-04-2008, 02:26 PM

Hi! My wife and I will be moving to the Fort Worth area real soon at the beginning of April. We are moving out all the way from Maryland, so we are both scared and nervous. We have been to Texas a couple times, and we really liked Austin (Round Rock) and South of Houston (League City). We saw Fort Worth a little, and spent some time in the stockyards, but we were not too impressed with what we saw in terms of houses and neighborhoods. It seemed a bit barren compared to Round Rock or League City. It seems to have more concrete and less trees, if that makes sense...

So I'm looking for some reassurance. I'm transferring within Lockheed Martin to the Fort Worth facility. We are going to be living in a furnished apartment for 2 months while we go house hunting. Our 2 choices right now are the Ridges of Benbrook (Summit on the Ridge and Clover on the Ridge) and The Retreat at Fossil Creek. Any advice on either of these properties or locations?

So then we will be house hunting. We will want to live in an area where my commute to Lockheed is not too terrible (so probably not Arlington or anything to the East of the city), and also within a 20 minute rush-hour commute from most of the downtown area so my wife can find a nice job close by. I think we looked at a place at Eagle Mountain Lake, and then we drove into the heart of the city, but it seemed to take like 30 minutes at least to get there without traffic. Am I crazy? So any suggestions on nice areas to live in? We want a peaceful environment, preferrably with lots of trees and parks, but with a grocery store and gas station and such right around the corner.

Thanks for any help and advice in advanced!!!

5stones · 03-05-2008, 07:39 AM

how much do you want to spend on housing? Do you have kids? schools important?
Southlake is very nice but a bit pricey. It has more trees and few small,hills.
The climate here is drier than around Austin (hill country) and outside of Houston (coastal) SO you aren't going to get deep forests etc... This time of year it's brown...most of the lawn are dormat, The trees are begining to bud out etc....

Keller also has some hills trees etc... we have a few prople in out neighborhood that work for Lockheed so I don't think the commute would be too bad.

Trophy Club is nice also and has trees and hills.

Fossile ridge area is not my favorite... it seems pretty high density with lots and housing and commercial all thrown together.

Benbrook to the south is very pretty and has some different terrain and trees.

Aledo is a bit out west but I really like the trees and the bluffs etc...

jrburke99 · 03-05-2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5stones

how much do you want to spend on housing? Do you have kids? schools important?

Trophy Club is nice also and has trees and hills.

Looking to spend under $200k. No kids, so schools are not really important, though a nearby High School with a good football team might be fun!

Where is Trophy Club? Is there a website perhaps?

We are hoping to find a nice community with its own pool, biking trails, trees, etc.

39CHEVY · 03-05-2008, 09:09 AM

I also used to live in MD (Towson), I currently work at LMT, and I now live
very close to Eagle Mountain Lake. My commute is 11 miles and about 20 minutes and I can elect to take all backroads for a relaxing ride. It does take 30 min into F.W. if you hit the lights - 20 min if you miss them. I am NW Fort Worth near Azle border. PM if you have some more questions.

beowulf7 · 03-05-2008, 09:25 AM

I also live in NW FW. It'd be about a 17-20 min. drive from there to LM/JRB area. If you want trees, then look at buying in an older community/subdivision. All of the new divisions are "barren" as you observed, with a "starter tree" in each yard that won't look impressive for another decade or 2.

I'd recommend staying within Tarrant County, given the rising price of gas, etc. Trophy Club is a bit of a hike - about 45 min. Arlington is the farthest I'd recommend commuting from. If you want more open space, check out Haslet - but that's also a long commute (~40 min.).

BTW, I'm originally from NJ, not far from MD, so I'm familiar w/ the culture shock you will have when you move out to TX.

5stones · 03-05-2008, 09:31 AM

Trophy club is north on 377 and 114 west of Southlake. It's a planned communtiy and has Tennis, pools etc... it may be a bit futher than you want. We REALLY liked it, just couldn't find the "right house for us". It doesn't have a HS now but it's being built and should open next year. I'd say they will have a good sports program. (It's in North west ISD, so re-sale for schools is very good)

***NOT AFFLIATED with this property in any way. not a relator etc....
Ebby Halliday REALTORS | 3 Round Rock | Dallas Real Estate | DFW Homes | Fort Worth Real Estate (http://www.ebby.com/details/-2500338.html - broken link) found this one that reminds me a bit of MD/VA. it's listed at 175k
(not advertising...just giving the OP an idea of housing prices!)
I don't know what your commute time would be ...I am guessing around 30-40 minutes.

EAgle mtn area is very pretty.
Lake worth is nice too and has shopping/resturants etc... all close by (loooks like the HS has a very nice stadium as well!)

TOPO map google of the areas. (I use msn maps and pick hybred) It give you a good idea of terrain etc... I used this feature when looking at houses, plug in the address and you can see where the house sits (busy road, super walmart in your back yard etc...)

since you don't have kids school is super important, but just check to make sure it's not a declining school district.

jrburke99 · 03-05-2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beowulf7

I'm originally from NJ, not far from MD, so I'm familiar w/ the culture shock you will have when you move out to TX.

Hmmmmm....Culture shock how? In a bad way? From what we have experienced, everyone is much nicer and friendlier in Texas. So that's a really good thing.

beowulf7 · 03-05-2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrburke99

Hmmmmm....Culture shock how? In a bad way? From what we have experienced, everyone is much nicer and friendlier in Texas. So that's a really good thing.

No, not in a bad way, but just realize things are different down here. The people, the accents, the weather, the scenery, the proximity to other large cities, etc. The are pros and cons in living in TX vs. the northeast.

John Shaft · 03-06-2008, 04:46 PM

Look at the west side and south west side of Ft Worth proper as well. There are some really nice areas there--may get beyond $200K price range, but you could look at bordering areas to those nicer areas. Like the greater Ridglea area, or places around Hulen south of TCU...should be relatively easy commutes to Lockheed AND downtown. But IIRC there are hit and miss neighborhoods out there.

grapevinegirls · 03-17-2008, 09:30 PM

Hi! We moved to Grapevine from Torrance, California (suburb of Los Angeles) and we love Grapevine! It has a great downtown but with lots of amenities. . . shopping, tons of restaurants, great schools, nice homes w/reasonable prices, low crime rate, etc. I would definitely recommend this area to someone else!

Good luck with the house shopping!