Which Dallas neighborhood best for us? (Austin, Richardson: apartments, condo, townhome)

[moxie23]

My family is probably moving to Dallas from Austin in the next year so that we can be closer to family. We love our neighborhood in Austin - lots of mature trees, larger lots, houses with character, pedestrian friendly, walking distance to locally-owned shops, restaurants, etc. We also enjoy the greenspace and hike and bike trails that Austin offers. As we search for neighborhoods in Dallas to consider, we keep coming across Lakewood and M Streets as an area that would suit us well - it seems to offer what we currently enjoy about our neighborhood in Austin plus proximity to White Rock Lake.

What other neighborhoods in Dallas would be a good fit? (What is the other side of White Rock Lake like - near the Arboretum?) We would like to buy a house for $350k or less.

Thanks!

[Lisa_from_Debary]

My niece lives in Highland Park, lots of mature trees, very nice, when your there you can forget your in the middle of a large city...not sure about the prices though...its pretty posh. My neice lives in a condo there, not one of the HUGE older homes.

[hamiltonpl]

You can't buy a piece of the sidewalk in Highland Park for $350k. An empty lot next to my Dad's house in the Park Cities just sold for $700k. On the other side of his house, people wanted to buy the house for $1.5 million, tear it down and build over it, so that lot value was basically $1.5 million.

You're not getting into the Park Cities for $350k.

Lakewood and the M-Streets would be the best areas for you. No doubt about it. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or Lakewooder.

[vseale]

The area near the Arboretum is Little Forest Hills. It is walking distance to the Casa Linda Shopping Center. It's a beautiful older neighborhood and one of the hotspots to check out for Christmas lights.

[momof2dfw]

The areas named are the best for what your looking for. The only other place I'd recommend would be Lake Highlands. There is one HUGE area they are getting ready to tear down older apartments and retail and totaly redevelop into more of an urban living/shopping area. If you found something really close to that in LH it might work. You just would not be w/in walking distance to White Rock Lake.

The Park Cities, for a lil over $500K you can possibly find an old duplex or townhome that is no bigger than about 1000 sq ft. The key word there is "possibly".

[moxie23]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

The areas named are the best for what your looking for. The only other place I'd recommend would be Lake Highlands. There is one HUGE area they are getting ready to tear down older apartments and retail and totaly redevelop into more of an urban living/shopping area. If you found something really close to that in LH it might work. You just would not be w/in walking distance to White Rock Lake.

The Park Cities, for a lil over $500K you can possibly find an old duplex or townhome that is no bigger than about 1000 sq ft. The key word there is "possibly".

We know that Park Cities are out. They were never in for us considering the expense! Ha!

Around where is the area in Lake Highlands that the new development will be? We'll need to consider all options.

Thanks! All of you are a tremendous help to us out-of-towners!

[Lakewooder]

What kind of home would you like? There are many options in the Lakewood area from Prairie to Craftsman Bungalow to English Tudor to Italianate to Mediterranean/Spanish to Ranchers of Austin Stone and Brick and many transitional styles along with the new mega-homes being built all over.

Lakewood Heights (between Skillman and Abrams) was always described as "Austin-like" but unfortunately they were unable to get any conservation or zoning ordinace to stop the McMansions before they began to dominate - now it's too late. I would say the "Austin-like" designation is moving over to Junius Heights Historic District as we have received many refugees from Lakewood Heights. Little Forest Hills is similarly described - it's sort of on the other side of the lake. There's also an area called Peninsula over there that might fit the bill.

I would say from your price range you might want to consider one of the 40s-60s ranch homes in the northern parts of Lakewood near Mockingbird. Most all those are in Stonewall Jackson or Lakewood Elementary. Also further south there are the "C" streets south of Gaston next to Lakewood Country Club. A few McMansions there and I'm not sure that they were ever able to get any protection. But there are some really charming homes on Clayton and Casa Loma which might fit the bill. South of that is Hollywood Heights HSMNA Home Page , a great Tudor area with a real neighborhood feel (and it's a little less than the M-Streets) - it's also in Lakewood Elementary.

Peruse this thread - I was trying to make it a one-stop information font: //www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...-lakewood.html

[turnbun]

If you are looking for a bit more bang for your buck (more house, etc.) than you can get in Lakewood for your budget, I would also suggest Lake Highlands. We looked in Lakewood, M Streets, etc., but needed more space than we could get for our $450k budget, so we went a bit further out to Lake Highlands and found a beautiful, completely remodeled house on a big lot with mature trees and a pool for less than $350k. The neighborhood is great -- people out all day and evening walking, chatting, kids running around, playing ball, etc. The elementary school we are zoned to is excellent as well (LH is in Richardson ISD).

I lived in SoCo in Austin for quite some time and miss it terribly. Lakewood (and the areas around Lakewood) and the M Streets would be your best bet for that Austin feel, but for more bang for the buck, you can't beat Lake Highlands. I think the property values in LH will really take off soon, too. There are a lot of younger families moving in from the 'burbs because they are sick of the traffic and being so far from the city.

[moxie23]

Thanks for the rec for LH from a former Austinite! I've heard that there are good parts of LH and not so good parts of LH. Any particular section you recommend? I'm trying to narrow down our driving tour...

Thanks!

[lizziemcdoogal]

Don't move! As a former Austinite that grew up in Dallas and is in Dallas again looking to get out!

As far as cities compare, Austin totally rocks and kicks Dallas' butt. But, if you must move, check out Little Forest Hills (similar to Hyde Park in Austin) The M streets are Ok too, but lotsa traffic and ultra urbanized all around M streets. Little Forest Hills and Forest Hills have many mature trees and access to Arboretum and White Rock Lake. However, Forest Hills is getting loaded with what they call Mc Mansions....but there are still alotta great people and trees and such there

Good luck! I am a single parent that moved back to Dallas to be near family so I empathize. You can be happy here, but don't expect that amount of greenery in Dallas that you find in Austin....although the lake and arboretum are lovely.



quote=moxie23;965256]My family is probably moving to Dallas from Austin in the next year so that we can be closer to family. We love our neighborhood in Austin - lots of mature trees, larger lots, houses with character, pedestrian friendly, walking distance to locally-owned shops, restaurants, etc. We also enjoy the greenspace and hike and bike trails that Austin offers. As we search for neighborhoods in Dallas to consider, we keep coming across Lakewood and M Streets as an area that would suit us well - it seems to offer what we currently enjoy about our neighborhood in Austin plus proximity to White Rock Lake.

What other neighborhoods in Dallas would be a good fit? (What is the other side of White Rock Lake like - near the Arboretum?) We would like to buy a house for $350k or less.

Thanks![/quote]