Living in Burleson (Mansfield, Cleburne, Rendon: co-op, houses, neighborhoods)

[Journey507]

So I posted a couple days ago that my husband got a job in Cleburne, which another thread (not me) calls a spooky and uncomfortable and unfriendly town. So I don't think I want to love there.
I was thinking Burleson or Mansfield (I was thinking Crowley). I wanted to know what particular part of town you think is best and has good schools and families. My daughter is in special education for the time-being in pre-k until she is caught up so I really want a decent school where a lot of parents and the PTA/PTO are involved.
My husband has gone for his interview and saw there is a Target and Best Buy and Starbucks and basically all the "amenities" I would like a town I live in to have; so that's a plus.
I don't mind the small town, nice and SAFE parks and walking distance to areas with shops, coffee houses or the supermarket that are charming. Anything like that there?
I am totally moving to an area of the US I have never even visited so I'm at a loss. Been to "The South," mid-Atlantic, New England and mid west but I guess this is the "west" or South West?"

[lonestar2007]

I've lived in Burleson for almost 18 years. It's not a bad place to live, I'm just not used to all the growth. There is an old town section, in the spring the city puts on concerts every Friday night. It a bring your lawn chair and they have the stage set up, it's free and really nice. They have some class acts and really spend a lot of money doing this.

There's a lot of nice homes in and around Burleson. Brown's Mountain is one, Reba McEntire has a home there. Quite a few new schools and building more. The high school is pretty new and very nice. If the football stadium were just a little bit bigger a pro team could use it. Up on I35 there is just about every restrauant you would ever want to eat at, Super Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Penny's, Kohl's, you name it, we got it. I believe Burleson beats out all the surrounding towns hands down. Mansfield also has good schools, but the school taxes will eat you alive.

[TexasMama]

Hi there! Hope I am not too late. I love the entire Burleson/Mansfield area. Don't know much about Crowley. IMO, Mansfield schools are much better, but like someone else said, the taxes will eat you alive. So what I did was buy a house in Burleson (outside city limits), but we are in the Mansfield school district. Sure it takes 10-15 minutes to get anywhere, but we love it here.

[kazoo-corn]

I spent a week house hunting in Mansfield. I know the schools are highly praised, but the congestion reminded me of a Detroit suburb. Burelson had a nice feel when I drove through on a whim. For all you that are local, what do you think of the are.

I am looking for an elementary school that is not as large as Mansfield. I visited Tipps, the have 1200 children in elementary!

The houses look great and close to stores, but far enough away.

I am coming from the Great white north of Michigan, where most of the neighborhoods have 1/2 an acre on each lot.

This will all be a shift for our family and it is hard to research remotely.

I am working on plannning another trip.

[Eric S]

I too am new to the area. I have looked at a number of homes in Burleson, but only in the area just south of Rendon and just west of Mansfield - mostly as an alternative to Mansfield. There are some nice large homes and nice large lots out that way. The areas that I have visited are far from "finished," though. They frighten me a little because of the lack of city services and the need for privately owned septic systems. I know that Mansfield schools are held in high regard and have only looked in those areas close to Mansfield, not over in Burleson "proper" east of Hwy-35.

Right now I am considering moving in a more urban direction to the north for a more "finished" community with decent proximity to DFW airport. I don't think that the more fully developed areas hold as many surprises for the future as the newly developed farmland to the south.

Again, I have looked at some beautiful homes in the area of east Burleson, but am personally more inclined to the amenities of city living. I must admit, though, that the wide open spaces are quite inviting down there.

-Eric

[lonestar2007]

It's all up to the individual preferences, but as to the issues with septic tanks vs city sewage, here are some thoughts. The septic systems that are installed now are deemed superior to those of past. My home is 14 years old now, has a septic system and we've never had a bit of trouble with it. I live 6-7 miles east of Burleson. There is a weekly trash pick-up service (for a fee, of course) that runs every Wednesday. Check the school taxes and you will see the BISD is far lessor than MISD. I might be a little biased, I've lived on septic systems, co-op water, co-op electric most all of my life, but the only problem ever was with an old septic system that was older than dirt. It had clay tiles for lateral lines (this tells you how old the system was) and these clay tiles began to crumble. They do not use these anymore.

[kazoo-corn]

Septic systems and lack of cable or amenities do not scare me. Where I am at now we have that. High speed internet would be nice, but comfort in my surroundings and schools that my children will not disappear into a crowd are key.
My interpretation has been that the burleson houses had a bit more land and were not as densely packed as Mansfield.

[dfwjennifer]

In my opinion, Burleson or Mansfield would be the better choices. Crowley is very "iffy" in my opinion, for many reasons....you can search the history on this board and see rather interesting discussions from people who actually live in crowley.