Where to live if you work in S. Dallas (El Paso: how much, new home)

[Grainraiser]

It's hard to answer the OP's questions without knowing some additional information. Price range would help greatly. This could eliminate many cities. Please provide more information in order to get a better answer.

[Tilldill]

Thank you soooo much for the help!

[Tilldill]

Our budget 250,000-300,0000. I like Mansfield but are there any freeways to take for commute to South Dallas and south east? Schools good there? I have a 3rd grader and 2 yr old. Parks and gym are important to me. We are from Amarillo so smaller town feel is what we like

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Tilldill

Our budget 250,000-300,0000. I like Mansfield but are there any freeways to take for commute to South Dallas and south east? Schools good there? I have a 3rd grader and 2 yr old. Parks and gym are important to me. We are from Amarillo so smaller town feel is what we like

Mansfield sounds like a good place for your budget & "small town" feel critera. Schools there are good:11 schools are Exemplary, 22 are Recognized, 4 are only rated Acceptable (Summit HS, Harmon Elem, Holt Elem, Icenhower Middle, & an Alt Ed School) - so avoid homes zoned to those 4 acceptable schools and you should be fine.

As for highways to get to South/Southeast Dallas, do you know the boundaries of your territory? It's hard to answer because South/Southeast Dallas is a HUUUUGE area and it makes a difference if you mean the south/southeast parts of the City of Dallas or the south/southeast suburbs towns (ie, is Waxahachie in your territory? Lancaster? Seagoville? )

If you use Google Maps to look at Mansfield, you'll see that it's very close to 360 and 287. You can use 360 to go north to hit I-20, which cuts straight through the very southernmost tip of the city of Dallas and keeps going east towards Terrell/ Canton, etc. You can also take 287 to 67 and go north if suburbs like Cedar Hill, Desoto, & Duncanville are in your territory. 287 south will take you to Waxahachie and onto Ennis & Corsicana if your territory goes that far south.

[Grainraiser]

Have you ever considered Lakewood. The commute would not be bad and you would be right in the heart of the city. They have great community based schools also. Sunnyvale should also be on your list. Great schools but go in knowing they district is very, very small. You would have a reverse commute which would help a great deal.

[Tilldill]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

First of all, you CANNOT live in Collin County. That is just crazy!! Especially if you are in sales and will be driving around all day anyways, the last thing you need is a 2-3 hour total commute per day. Depending on where exactly (east or west of I-35/downtown Dallas) your south of I-20 territory is, I would look at the following areas:

Southeast of Dallas- check out Sunnyvale and Forney....both newer suburbs with good schools and close to Rockwall for shopping malls, Lake Ray Hubard, etc. About 20 minutes (non-rush hour) into downtown Dallas via I-30/US80 if you want to have date night, take the kids to the zoo or a museum, etc. Easy access to I-20 via 635.

Southwest of Dallas- check out Cedar Hill and Mansfield for good communities with good schools and retail. Both are close to Joe Pool Lake and Cedar Hill State Park for outdoor activities. 20 minutes from downtown Dallas via US67. Cedar Hill has a beautiful relatively new outdoor shopping center that the developers did a GREAT job with....kind of like a more scenic Shops at Fairview or Firewheel. Uptown Village at Cedar Hill - Home

Please toss Midlothian off the list. Whether the schools are ok or not, it is a DISGUSTING small town whose main industry is cement/concrete. There are HUGE (like as big as a 20-story building) cement factories you can see from every point in town and they emit all kinds of pollutants into the air there.

As far as schools,
Cedar Hill- 3 schools are Exemplary (Cedar Hill Collegiate HS, Bray Elem, Waterford Oaks Elem), 7 are Recognized (2nd Highest Rating), 4 are only rated Acceptable (Cedar Hill HS, 9th Grade Center, Belt Line Intermediate, Lakeridge Elem)- so try to look for homes in the Exemplary & Recognized school feeders for Elem & Middle school.
Mansfield- 11 schools are Exemplary, 22 are Recognized, 4 are only rated Acceptable (Summit HS, Harmon Elem, Holt Elem, Icenhower Middle, & an Alt Ed School) - so avoid homes zoned to those schools.
Forney - 8 schools (all Elems except Smith & Blackburn & 1 Middle School- Warren) are rated Exemplary. The other 5 schools in the district are all Recognized.
Sunnyvale - all 3 schools (Elem, Middle, HS) are rated Exemplary.

As far as diversity,
Cedar Hill: Black 46%, White 33%, Hispanic 17% Asian 3% Other 1%
Mansfield: White 66%, Hispanic 15%, Black 13% Asian 4% Other 2.5%
Forney: White 81%, Hispanic 10%, Black 7% Other <1%
Sunnyvale: White 87%, Asian 5%, Hispanic 5% Black 3% Other <2%

As far as HH income, Forney & Cedar Hill both hover between $65-70k. Mansfield at $81k. Sunnyvale is highest at $95k.

THank you turtlecreek80. Yes territory is as far east as Terrell. He does have Mesquite, Sunnyvale,Forney. He also has Desoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill. He goes south all they to Waxahachie and Ennis. Is Rockwall out of question? Do you still think MAnsfield. Again, my brother lives in Frisco and I only know North Dallas.

[Lynn411]

Are you looking to purchase ? What is lender qualify you for which can govern what area of town? Do you have a office OR home office ? Which could govern area of town ? Are you searching to rent? Recommend work with an Realtor who can interview determine more particulars assist in narrowing your search.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Tilldill

THank you turtlecreek80. Yes territory is as far east as Terrell. He does have Mesquite, Sunnyvale,Forney. He also has Desoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill. He goes south all they to Waxahachie and Ennis. Is Rockwall out of question? Do you still think MAnsfield. Again, my brother lives in Frisco and I only know North Dallas.

In that case, Mansfield is a good 10-20 miles west of your "core" territory....probably want to pass.

Sunnyvale is a great area- have friends who live there and love it. Small but excellent school district with new state-of-the-art facilities. Puts you in the heart of your territory.

Rockwall is great, too, a lot bigger than Sunnyvale, but that brings more close shopping & entertainment options. In Sunnyvale, you'd be driving into Rockwall or Mesquite (which is closer than Rockwall) a lot for errands. Schools are very good and living close to the lake (Ray Hubbard) is great! Rockwall is more on the northern end of your territory, about 15 miles north of Sunnyvale and pretty far from I-20.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Lynn411

Are you looking to purchase ? What is lender qualify you for which can govern what area of town? Do you have a office OR home office ? Which could govern area of town ? Are you searching to rent? Recommend work with an Realtor who can interview determine more particulars assist in narrowing your search.

Lynn411- Do you even read your posts? They don't make any sense....it's like your just stringing together sentence fragments filled with realtor jargon?!

[HOAPRESIDENT]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Lynn411- Do you even read your posts? They don't make any sense....it's like your just stringing together sentence fragments filled with realtor jargon?!

I don't think English is her first language. And if it is... yikes!