Bonham and Paris Texas? (Dallas, Victoria: relocating, jobs, medical)

[4wainwrights]

greetings!
we're considering relocating to texas to be closer to our families in nm. and co.
we are looking for:
-good schools
-lots of green and trees
-historic homes 1930s or before
-friendly folks
-a nice park
-low crime
-and how would i word this... we're not looking for a town of phd holders. however, we want an area where h.s. is not necessarilly the end of the education road. we're currently living in a small town where kids, as a general population, don't have plans to go to college.

do you know where in texas would be great for us?

i know that dallas is bonham and paris' closest big city relative.

thanks!!
amy

[robinhood]

I live between Bonham and Paris and even though Dallas is a place we go when shopping for something special like a wedding dress, most of our shopping needs are met in Paris or Sherman. Sherman is about a 30 minute drive form Bonham. Sherman is really growing. Places we used to go to Dallas for are now in Sherman(like Academy Sports,Kohl's,Ross,TJ Maxx, Best Buy,Target, Lowe's, Chuck E Cheese, Panera Bakery, Texas Roadhouse, Red Lobster, Cheddar's, and many more). We enjoy small-town rural living, with all the modern comforts of the city by being close to Paris and Sherman. Medical needs can also be met in Paris or Sherman. Both cities have specialists in almost any kind of area you could think of. Of course they usually send extremely serious cases to Dallas. There are several pretty small towns in between Paris and Bonham that have beautiful country surrounding them. The best school in that area would be in Dodd City. There are several websites that you can check out school performances on and Dodd City ranks 9th out of a top score of 10. I don't live in Dodd City, but I transfer my children there for school. Many graduates of Dodd City, Honey Grove, Sam Rayburn, and Ector continue their education in college. In fact I know Dodd City has many juniors and seniors taking college courses through video-conferencing. If you have any specific questions, I'll try my best to answer and if I don't know, I'll find out for you. I think you'll be pleased with this area.

[4wainwrights]

robinhood,
i really appreciate all of your info. and your offer for more. i'm thinking and i'm sure i'll be asking for more help down the road. (: thanks again!
amy

[robinhood]

I noticed from another post you made that you are interested in old houses. Honey Grove has many beautiful old Victorian style homes. Some are restored and ready to live in, and there are some waiting to be restored. There used to be pictures of some of them on the Bertha Voyer Memorial Library website. I'm not sure of the web address, but you could google it.

[tchrmom]

I grew up in Honey Grove (btween Paris and Bonham). If you want a small town that is safe, everyone knows you, you will ALWAYS know what your kids are up to, and you want to be very involved in the community, this is a great place to live. But, the poverty level in any of these small towns in very high, and not a ton of kids leave to go to school after HS. The schools in HG are good...very good teachers in the HS. It's all about the mentality of the parents and their push to get their kids out in the world and go to college. It's not really about the town itself. It's a great place to raise a family and I wish there were more jobs in which my husband and I could live there and raise our girls. Plus, if you have some money to spend, you could have a really beautiful home, because the cost of living is so cheap.

[tchrmom]

Another personal opinion....if you are going to be moving out that way, steer clear of Paris and stick to a small town. Paris schools are BAD, and the town is HORRIBLE. I would stick closer to a town near Bonham, Sherman...the drive to Dallas is not that bad from those places. Paris has nothing to offer--no restaurants, or shopping to speak of. EXTREMELY high levels of poverty as well.

[robinhood]

There may be an elevated number of students in the school system on free and reduced lunches, I'm not sure about their information, but when I look at the town, it doesn't appear to be poverty stricken as you said. Sure there are areas that aren't nice looking(as with any town), but there are many well-off families living in Honey Grove. Just driving through a person can see money spent. There are many new brick homes, and one part of town has expanded to Highway 82 with brand-new homes. Also, every senior I know that has graduated over the past few years has continued on to college. I'm not sure about the percent of total students that go to college, but I go to church in Honey Grove and know quite a few of the teenagers. There may be some statistics that suggest a high poverty rate, in fact I've heard that the whole Fannin County has a high poverty rate, but I've lived in this county my whole life and I've never felt swarmed by poverty.

[4wainwrights]

greetings once again (:
i dind't realize there were any new responses here (: thanks for all of the info. and opinions. i am so thankful for this board! i'll keep a closer eye to see if there are any other gracious offers of advice! --amy