Frisco and Plano....which is better? (Houston, Dallas: renting, buying, movie theater)

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by skids929

The ripple effect will slow over the next 50 years..Eventually the growth has to slow because the distance to the places to work (to make real money) will be too great. Look at Manhattan. One word-DENSE. People endure 2 hour commutes to get in there, then realize they are insane and move to places like DFW. Eventually the city will hit capacity, for now it's the new Promise land for East and West Coasters alike.

Help us please!!

Been hearing that for the longest time, too, and it'd be true if the jobs weren't moving north with the people. When Dallas can do better at keeping companies in Dallas, the sprawl will slow down as well.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

They'll be affordable middle class housing, basically the Garlands, Irvings, and Mesquites of the future, with the disadvantage of a less central location.

Don't think for one second that Stonebriar Mall is any snazzier than Town East Mall in Mesquite was when it opened 25ish years ago.

The Garlands and Irvings of the future? that's the kiss of death to newbies...how many threads on here relate to out of towners wishing to move to any of those cities? And how many messages of scorn and outright contempt have been expressed towards those cities just recently on these threads?

Again I say they dont have any corporate hqs or industrial areas...the term 'affordable' housing generally means low cost, so kiss goodbye property taxes...far flung locations that arent really convenient to anything, with all the upwardly mobile families fleeing to Prosper and points north retail will probably move along with them (see willow bend vs stonebriar) so really what's left to keep these towns vibrant during their cougar years when the newcomers are chasing the next hot thing around? I say not much.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by Big G

Yes, PISD has a significantly larger Asian population than the other districts, and there is a disproportional number of Asians among the PISD NMSF kids.
This topic came up a couple of years ago. I took the Plano Senior NMSF list for that year and used the surnames to estimate Asian/Non-Asian background. The net result was that, even if you tossed out every single kid with an Indian or Chinese surname, Plano Senior STILL had more NMSF kids on a percentage basis than Frisco schools.

As an asian honors/ap student who went to Plano high schools and won a national merit scholarship, I can tell you that a lot of asians have white sounding last names...so you might be on to something there.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

Plano has become quite stable and a big success story for a once little, sprawling suburb being overrun by transplants.

That is truly evidenced by the fact that there is a HUGE percentage of home owners who bought around the same time my parents did (late 80s) who are still here...which is why it was hard for my wife and I to buy a house - very low inventory and turnover in the exact neighborhoods we wanted.

[PlanoGirl]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Ding! Ding! Ding! Magic words- not demographics, not parents, not incomes......CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE. It's EXEPCTED at Plano ISD and that same culture has not been replicated in any other CoCo ISD thus far. It is a rare thing and something that will 1) keep the district strong for years to come- in spite of budget cuts or other obstacles and 2) keep property values strong even as the housing stock "ages" as a pp mentioned.

Agree about the 'culture of excellence', though I feel that the change in demographics of Plano over the last 10-15 years (i.e. large increase in Asian population) has greatly contributed to that. When you have a (ethnic) culture that expects such high performance of their children...the other kids better step up their game too or they'll be shut out. Nothing wrong with that...it can be a great thing, actually. It just doesn't work for everyone. My brother, for example, was a product of the Plano school system...and it completely failed him (not that that was the only reason he didn't succeed, of course...just that the mentality of the district wasn't a good match for him).

[stan4]

Turtle makes an excellent point. The fact is that success breeds success. Once you start doing really well and you create a reputation for doing really well, you kind of pressure yourself in to always doing really well...better and better, in fact.

Plano Senior High was the kind of place where I cared about my studies a. because that is my parents' culture and b. because MY FRIENDS cared about their studies.

Ha ha...that's so funny...when I was on the academic decathlon team, we had to do an impromptu speech on how 'success breeds success.'

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

When these people pick up and leave and the new transients move in 5-10 miles down the road, Frisco's population isn't going to fall back down to 20,000 people with a bunch of boarded up houses. Frisco, for better or worse, has become a large community and is here to stay.

Oh, I'm not saying Frisco will shrink and disappear. It just isn't likely that it will continue to be the "hot" suburb unless it has a scarce aspect to drive demand- like the prime central land-locked location of the Park Cities/ Richardson/ North Dallas / Coppell or a top ranked school district like Coppell/ Plano/ Southlake/ Coppell/ HPISD- or preferably both location and schools!

Without one of those driving forces, once Frisco is built out and not new anymore, it will likely become the next Garland/ Mesquite/ Irving/ etc.

[adixyz]

I am assuming "academics" and not "sports" is the basis to define "culture of excellence". I agree Plano schools performance is far better than Frisco. I lived in Plano in 2001 and recollect the parents frenzy over putting their kids into maths & science programs (specially maths). Its like more of a competition among parents than their children.
I rate Plano schools as one of the top school district in DFW, BUT what baffles me is if there is a culture of excellence and strong focus on academics, except NMSF numbers I haven't seen Plano schools winning regional/ state level competitions in Maths & Science. Check the results for UIL in Maths & Science for 5A, Annual Calculus Super Bowl competition by UT Arlington, Academic Decathalon or TMSCA (Texas Maths & Science Coaches association) for the last few years. There are other schools in DFW or Houston who have outperformed Plano schools in Maths & Science.To me it appears that this "culture of excellence" is focused among certain groups and specific programs.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Oh, I'm not saying Frisco will shrink and disappear. It just isn't likely that it will continue to be the "hot" suburb unless it has a scarce aspect to drive demand- like the prime central land-locked location of the Park Cities/ Richardson/ North Dallas / Coppell or a top ranked school district like Coppell/ Plano/ Southlake/ Coppell/ HPISD- or preferably both location and schools!

Without one of those driving forces, once Frisco is built out and not new anymore, it will likely become the next Garland/ Mesquite/ Irving/ etc.

I agree; Frisco doesn't seem to have much going for it except for the age of its housing stock and the availability of undeveloped land.

I continue to be amazed and impressed at how Richardson is revitalizing itself and changing with the times. I think it was the Frisco of the 1950s.

[MurphyPl1]

Richardson has done an excellent job trying to stay ahead of the aging problem. They have the benefit of not tossing all their eggs into one basket and have developed multiple areas around town so there isn't a "good side/bad side" but offer jobs and housing reasonably close together.

Add in a strong police presence and strict code enforcement and that nips a lot of problems in the bud.

I hear a lot of people in my community compare us to Plano as in "well Plano has/does ..." Honestly, if our city were to follow the lead of any of our neighbors, I'm really most in favor of Richardson. They aren't perfect. But I love the commitment to parks and trees and community aesthetics and schools and community events.