Just moved to Plano? Still not sure why people have a problem with it. (Dallas: apartments, houses)

[tx2010]

I just relocated to Plano a few weeks ago from Philadelphia, and so far things are good. I feel like I am getting a lot for my money as far as my apartment is concerned. Plus, I have easy access to 121, shopping, and feel safe. The other day I was talking to one of my friends, who now lives in Austin, and she seemed to have a huge problem with Plano, and kept suggestion Addison. She used to live there, but other than that, no explanation about why I should have chosen to live there.

What is the big deal? Can someone please fill me in on why people have a problem with this area? Could it be that I am from the East Coast where everyone kind of minds their own business, so I have not noticed something?

P.S. I have learned that Uptown and Knox-Henderson are great areas if you are single, however they seemed to be a little more expensive as far as apartments go. I got a 1 year old 1 bedroom with a covered parking spot, and a washer dryer for $706. Yes, it is north of the city, but it is not like I live in another state.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

[nsumner]

Welcome to Texas! I think the comments you heard from the people that don't like or didn't suggest Plano is because it's not really popular for single people who like nightlife. It's more of a family area. You must be by the Shops at Legacy. That's a huge hang out for young single professionals. I personally don't know anyone who has a problem with Plano.

Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself.

Naima

[Metro Matt]

Plano is a nice suburb of Dallas. Its divided into two distinct areas...Plano East (Old Plano) & Plano West (New Plano). The Dallas North Tollway is roughly the dividing line between the two.

The only problem I seem to have with Plano is its almost too sterile looking in a way. Yep I said it. Everything is so pristine & orderly there its quite shocking really when you compare it with other close by areas like North Dallas, Carrolton, Richardson, etc.

[steve1282]

Originally Posted by tx2010

I just relocated to Plano a few weeks ago from Philadelphia, and so far things are good. I feel like I am getting a lot for my money as far as my apartment is concerned. Plus, I have easy access to 121, shopping, and feel safe. The other day I was talking to one of my friends, who now lives in Austin, and she seemed to have a huge problem with Plano, and kept suggestion Addison. She used to live there, but other than that, no explanation about why I should have chosen to live there.

What is the big deal? Can someone please fill me in on why people have a problem with this area? Could it be that I am from the East Coast where everyone kind of minds their own business, so I have not noticed something?

P.S. I have learned that Uptown and Knox-Henderson are great areas if you are single, however they seemed to be a little more expensive as far as apartments go. I got a 1 year old 1 bedroom with a covered parking spot, and a washer dryer for $706. Yes, it is north of the city, but it is not like I live in another state.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

I just moved here from Boston. I bought a house in rowlett but I heard the same thing about plano thats why I stayed away. I can never find knox henderson Ive been to uptown to hang out but where is knox henderson?

[dallas90210]

Plano is a fine city. Its got good schools and good housing. Be glad that you are there, and not living in Wilmer Hutchins, White Settlement or South Dallas. You made a good choice.

I saw a guy once raving on a newspaper messageboard that he despised those people who live in those $200k houses in Plano. LOL!!! I think that guy was more jealous than anything.

[DaveG99]

Nothing wrong with Plano. I like it and will continue to live here. I might end up moving to Allen though when I buy a home this year.

[jimithing78]

Originally Posted by tx2010

I just relocated to Plano a few weeks ago from Philadelphia, and so far things are good. I feel like I am getting a lot for my money as far as my apartment is concerned. Plus, I have easy access to 121, shopping, and feel safe. The other day I was talking to one of my friends, who now lives in Austin, and she seemed to have a huge problem with Plano, and kept suggestion Addison. She used to live there, but other than that, no explanation about why I should have chosen to live there.

What is the big deal? Can someone please fill me in on why people have a problem with this area? Could it be that I am from the East Coast where everyone kind of minds their own business, so I have not noticed something?

P.S. I have learned that Uptown and Knox-Henderson are great areas if you are single, however they seemed to be a little more expensive as far as apartments go. I got a 1 year old 1 bedroom with a covered parking spot, and a washer dryer for $706. Yes, it is north of the city, but it is not like I live in another state.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

You're not crazy, there's nothing wrong with Plano. The people who don't like Plano usually don't know anything about Plano or are Dallasites who think that anything outside of 635 is an suburban wasteland. Most of the Dallasites that have this opinion are part of the problem with Dallas these days - discussion for another time I guess.

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Plano East (Old Plano) & Plano West (New Plano). The Dallas North Tollway is roughly the dividing line between the two.

Not to nitpick but if you use the DNT as the imaginary dividing line you'd be left with almost nothing on the west side. Most people would say that Coit or Preston would be a better road to use. But I don't think most people that live in Plano consciously drive around thinking that they're in West Plano, Central Plano or East Plano. The only time this comes into play, IMO, is when talking about feeder schools and high schools.

Originally Posted by steve1282

I just moved here from Boston. I bought a house in rowlett but I heard the same thing about plano thats why I stayed away. I can never find knox henderson Ive been to uptown to hang out but where is knox henderson?

I dunno why you would pick Rowlett if the things you heard about Plano were bad. Seems strange. Did you work with a Realtor? Or drive around Plano at all? Anyways, Knox-Henderson is on 75 North of downtown and south of Highland Park. There's a single exit for it and if you go West you'll be on Knox and if you go East you'll be on Henderson. Here's a link to the general vicinity.

dallas, tx - Google Maps

In my opinion it's not worth the drive in from Rowlett on a regular basis but I guess if you want to explore the city you could check it out.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by jimithing78

I dunno why you would pick Rowlett if the things you heard about Plano were bad. Seems strange. Did you work with a Realtor? Or drive around Plano at all? Anyways, Knox-Henderson is on 75 North of downtown and south of Highland Park. There's a single exit for it and if you go West you'll be on Knox and if you go East you'll be on Henderson. Here's a link to the general vicinity.

Not to nitpick....but it's East of Highland Park. HP's southern borders extends to Wycliff.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Plano is a nice suburb of Dallas. Its divided into two distinct areas...Plano East (Old Plano) & Plano West (New Plano). The Dallas North Tollway is roughly the dividing line between the two.

The only problem I seem to have with Plano is its almost too sterile looking in a way. Yep I said it. Everything is so pristine & orderly there its quite shocking really when you compare it with other close by areas like North Dallas, Carrolton, Richardson, etc.

No lie. Just drive down Preston and you can see how sterile Plano is. It's a nice city, but seems to be more for families and not singles.

Originally Posted by DaveG99

Nothing wrong with Plano. I like it and will continue to live here. I might end up moving to Allen though when I buy a home this year.

Yeah, I'd take Allen over Plano, too.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by tx2010

I just relocated to Plano a few weeks ago from Philadelphia, and so far things are good. I feel like I am getting a lot for my money as far as my apartment is concerned. Plus, I have easy access to 121, shopping, and feel safe. The other day I was talking to one of my friends, who now lives in Austin, and she seemed to have a huge problem with Plano, and kept suggestion Addison. She used to live there, but other than that, no explanation about why I should have chosen to live there.

What is the big deal? Can someone please fill me in on why people have a problem with this area? Could it be that I am from the East Coast where everyone kind of minds their own business, so I have not noticed something?

P.S. I have learned that Uptown and Knox-Henderson are great areas if you are single, however they seemed to be a little more expensive as far as apartments go. I got a 1 year old 1 bedroom with a covered parking spot, and a washer dryer for $706. Yes, it is north of the city, but it is not like I live in another state.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

If you are relatively young (under 40) and single, Plano isn't the first place most people would pick - mainly because it's a fairly family-centered suburb with good schools and it's fairly far (20 miles-ish) from the more fun nightlife areas like Uptown, Knox-Henderson, downtown, Deep Ellum, and Bishop Arts District.

But as you already figured out, if you want to pay $700/mo for a brand new apartment, you've officially been priced out of all of those fun hip nightlife areas I mentioned above.

If you like it and you're happy there, good for you. I suspect as you make more friends in Dallas, you'll find yourself driving "into town" more and more, to the point where you may decide you want to live closer in, too.