Small/Old House in Lakewood VS. Big/New House in Plano (Richardson: how much, buy)

[pepper131]

Originally Posted by ijgreenberg

We recently bought a lovely 2600 sq' home in Forest Hills for under 250K (YES, we got very lucky!) after renting for about a year in NW Richardson near the Plano border. My wife and I are from the west and east coasts respectively, and we really struggled with the aesthetics of Richardson. The shopping was extremely convenient, and the community was very safe with many nice people, but we felt pretty uninspired (even a bit depressed) by the feel/look of our surroundings. Our son, who loves reading, technology and does very well in school, soldiered through the local Richardson, highly rated elementary, which felt like a mono culture–the main emphasis being on "fitting in"–with very little diversity. It really saddened us to see his passion for learning continue to dampen as he adapted, essentially with his focus on blending in.

Moving to Forest Hills has completely revitalized us all, and we feel as if we have moved to a different city (even state!) I drive home and think what a beautiful place (not just a beautiful part of Dallas ;-) We haven't met too many folks yet, but already know some neighbors who are ethnically diverse, same sex partners who have been very open and welcoming to us. I work west of Lakewood and the commute is also an enormous improvement.

I have nothing against Richardson and Plano, and I know some people really enjoy these communities (including some of my work colleagues), but if visual aesthetics and nature are important to you, I would keep looking around Whiterock Lake (Lakewood, Lake Highlands, Casa Linda, Little Forest Hills, etc). You can find homes for under 300k, with decent bones (ours just needed cosmetic work).

Good Luck!

Welcome to the area! We're across Lakeland in Casa Linda Forest (the best kept secret in Dallas!!).

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by ijgreenberg

We recently bought a lovely 2600 sq' home in Forest Hills for under 250K (YES, we got very lucky!) after renting for about a year in NW Richardson near the Plano border. My wife and I are from the west and east coasts respectively, and we really struggled with the aesthetics of Richardson. The shopping was extremely convenient, and the community was very safe with many nice people, but we felt pretty uninspired (even a bit depressed) by the feel/look of our surroundings. Our son, who loves reading, technology and does very well in school, soldiered through the local Richardson, highly rated elementary, which felt like a mono culture–the main emphasis being on "fitting in"–with very little diversity. It really saddened us to see his passion for learning continue to dampen as he adapted, essentially with his focus on blending in.

That doesn't sound anything like the Richardson I live in. Let me guess...you lived up in FND in the RISD or you lived near Coit and Campbell north of Campbell?

It's a different universe down here on Belt Line. And the local elementary school here is about 1/3 white, 1/3 black, 1/3 Hispanic. No "monoculture" here.

[Lakewooder]

Ryan that's Wilson Middle School, not to be confused with "THE SHRINE" (a.k.a. WWHS) Right?

No I didn't really trot out my full treatment because I thought some people might be sick of me and I was giving them a holiday.

No other area can beat us on aesthetics, friendlieness, laid-back atmosphere, architecture, parks etc.. So I will go with a mercenary reason: You probably have the best chance of making money on your home buying in Lakewood. Many reasons have been mentioned but here's one you may not know - DISD has selected the Woodrow feeder system as the one which will offer IB Diploma Programme, IB MYP and PYP. The IB Diploma Programme is a pretty sure bet for approval (we are one of four Texas candidate schools and we are in the top 2% for AP already with Newsweek and top 5% for ACT rankings) and some of the feeder schools will be applying for PYP and MYP in April. Even if you don't adore a smaller home and it needs some work it's still probably worth a lot of money just for the land - tear-downs are starting up again - see today's DMN.

Also did you see this city-data poll ?

View Poll Results: Pick Your Ideal Place to Live
Dallas-Downtown/Core 6 11.54%
Dallas-Lakewood 17 32.69%
Dallas-Park Cities 7 13.46%
Farmers Branch 0 0%
Flower Mound 2 3.85%
Frisco 0 0%
Garland 0 0%
McKinney 1 1.92%
Mesquite 0 0%
Plano 6 11.54%
Richardson 1 1.92%
Rowlett 4 7.69%
Southlake 2 3.85%
Other

[Prince Mongo]

Programme? That's pretty pretentious.

[5stones]

I would pick Lakewood, hands down. The architecture, the trees, the lake, the people, the restaurants, the Lakewood Country Club. Why make that awful communte down 75 or Tollroad and then all the way across town to Lakewood?

Time at home verses time in traffic...quality of life.

The OP doesn't say anything about family size. So yes 300k is a slim budget for Lakewood, but there are other neighborhoods close by that are cheaper.
If the OP has no children or 1 baby/toddler then why would an hour commute each way sound good for a "big" house?
Time with your family is important and time away from them makes No-one happy. (trust me I've lived with a spouse who had an 1hour+ commute for 2 years...he missed alot and was always in bad mood when he got home!)

Now...if you have 3-4 older kids and teenagers then a 2000sqft house might get cramped etc...and garage space would become prime... so then I'd say Lakewood would be out of your budget and everyone cramped into a 3 bedroom house might not be relaxing!!

So tell us more about your family situation etc....

[Lakewooder]

Check the areas just north and south of Mockingbird around Abrams - streets such as Woodcrest, Lange, Saratoga, Ravendale, Ellsworth, Winton, Anita, Kenwood, Dalewood, Sudbury, Surf, Blessing, Rockaway, Patrick, Westbrook, Vada - plus the 'college streets' in University Terrace off Fisher - Bennington, Clemson, Haverford, Wake Forest, Lehigh ...all of these homes are around 2,000 square feet usually 3/2/2 and extremely well built - and in Stonewall or Lakewood schools.. excellent value for the area. If you are more into a fixer-upper historical I would suggest Junius Heights Historic District. You might even find something in Hollywood Heights or the afore-mentioned C streets in that range. They are more likely to have less in the bathroom and bedrooms but maybe even a higher potential for appreciation.

I had to drive from Spring Valley and the Tollway back to Lakewood in the rain Wed. afternoon. I nearly pulled my hair out and used every word in and out of the book..I don't see how people can do that every day..

[jennifw]

Another vote for Lakewood.

We moved here 6 years ago after living in two "mega-houses" in the suburbs of Houston. Did we downsize square footage wise? Yep - from 4,000 sf to about 2200. Did we super-size our lives by living in Lakewood? Absolutely. I can't imagine living anywhere else -- love my street, love being able to walk to the lake, minutes from the Arboretum and miles and miles away from a Chili's on every corner (nothing agains Chili's, but in Houston, there seemed to be one on every corner).

The East side of the lake might be more in your price range. I think finding something in "Lakewood" proper might be tough, but those homes are out there.

Good luck.

[Grainraiser]

I really boils down to personal preference. There is no right or wrong answer. I have lived in the burbs for 14 years and long for the day when I can afford to move inside the loop. I getting pretty tired of watching neighbors come and go. I want a neighborhood like the one I grew up in were I made lifelong friendships and still go visit the original homeowners 30 years later. The sense of community in Lakewood will always outshine any burb in the DFW area IMHO.

[dgz]

Originally Posted by gooddal

Lakewood, for now. Plano just doesn't have enough trees for me since it is built on land that were once cotton farms. But the folks up there are planting trees like crazy and in a generation or so there won't be much difference once Plano geets "treed-in." Just look at old photos of the Park Cities. When Armstrong Ave. was built the now-famous Christmas tree was only a scraggly little oak - anmd the only tree for miles around!

Yes, Plano has been getting more heavily treed lately. It's great! I just moved to Murphy from Plano (to get a larger lot size) and now I'm missing the trees. I hope that Murphy starts some kind of tree planting program similar to what Richardson did this year.

[Lakewooder]

Random-Generating Reasons to Live in Lakewood Machine reason number 237:




Was walking along the parade route before the event and ran into my classmate's parents and a neighbor (in the middle) - they've lived in their house on Tokalon since 1964. This was their 45th Lakewood 4th of July Parade.