Physician Looking for Moving/Location Advice (Austin, Fort Worth: HOA, homes, buy)

[cgpilot12]

Hey guys! I’m also posting this in the Austin forum.

I’m finishing up my residency and we are looking to move to Texas after a rather extensive job search across the country. My wife was born in north Texas and now has family in Waco too. The three Texas jobs that I am most interested in are with a groups in Waco, Denton, and Fort Worth. I am from TN and we are also considering a group in Murfreesboro for full disclosure.

My wife and I love Texas and know that it would be a great place to raise our kids. I grew up on a cattle ranch in TN and would ideally like a place were we can buy 20-100 acres to have some livestock. I also don’t want to live right in a big city and would prefer the countryside or nice suburbs. I enjoy hunting, fishing, aviation, and working outside). We would like a place with good private schools bit we are also considering homeschooling. Fishing a good church home is also important to us and I know Texas has lots of good options in that regard.

If you have some good advice for us I am all ears! Would you lean toward one of those areas over the other? I’m mostly interested in family-friendliness, economic well-being, Opportunities to engage in hobbies, land to ranch/build our home, good sense of community.

The areas that we have looked at in each:
Waco: Woodway, China Spring, Crawford
Fort Worrh: Aledo, Weatherford, Decatur, Southlake
Denton: Flower Mound, Sanger, Argyle, Krum, Decatur (here too)

Thanks in advance!

[bmlx]

Originally Posted by cgpilot12

The areas that we have looked at in each:
Waco: Woodway, China Spring, Crawford
Fort Worrh: Aledo, Weatherford, Decatur, Southlake
Denton: Flower Mound, Sanger, Argyle, Krum, Decatur (here too)

I'm going to mainly speak for the Fort Worth area here as I have less knowledge of the Denton area and very little understanding of the Waco area.


I'll start off by talking about Southlake. As you are likely aware, this is a very nice suburb with great public schools, though as a suburb it doesn't seem to fit your ideal lifestyle preferences. You will find many professionals living there, though if you are not going to be using the public schools (Carroll ISD), paying the premium to live in Southlake will probably not be worth it since the schools are part of the reason why families live in Southlake; very few people here actually use private schools since the public schools are so good. If you want an excellent education for your children without having to use a private school, then Southlake is a top choice if you are willing to sacrifice the rural lifestyle you desire. If you will be commuting to Fort Worth, keep in mind that the drive can be brutal due to heavy traffic.



There is a still lot of rural land around the Aledo area, though the public schools there are also in demand and the area is quickly changing to becoming more suburban in a few places, especially in the vicinity of Aledo proper and the I-20 and I-30 corridors. Compared with Southlake, Aledo seems to be a good compromise between suburban and rural in that you get some of the benefits of a suburban area (namely proximity to a major city and good public schools) where a rural lifestyle is possible; but as you might expect, paying the public school premium is a thing in the Aledo area as well. Living in the Aledo area, you would also be somewhat well-positioned relative to the better private school options in Fort Worth (All Saints Episcopal School, Fort Worth Country Day, Trinity Valley School) as well, though those private schools can be somewhat of a drive. Keep in mind that FWCD and Trinity Valley are non-sectarian but are considered the most prestigious in Fort Worth.


Weatherford is a bit further out but you could find rural land on the outskirts of the city without having to worry about being in an in-demand public school district, though good private school options will be fewer here unless you will be using the private schools in Fort Worth. Same can be said for Decatur, though driving from Decatur to Fort Worth will be quite a far drive (and you may still hit traffic once 287 merges into 35W); Decatur to Denton may be somewhat viable though.

[tcualum]

FWCD and TVS aren't religious schools.

As for Fort Worth, where will your job be? Some of those choices can lead to unpleasant commutes. Also, what is your housing budget? When you consider the housing budget you also need to factor in property taxes and possibly HOA dues because those can be quite expensive.

[bmlx]

And with respect to religious private schools I would also look into Southwest Christian School as well. I was aware that a Christian school might be important to you, though I did mention the non-religious schools due to the prestige factor; though All Saints is a Christian school it seems less conservative due to its Episcopalian affiliation. Aside from the two non-sectarian schools I mentioned most other private schools in the area do tend to have a religious component (though there are a couple more non-sectarian schools as well).

[k2rider]

What happened to moving to Alaska?