Urban living around Plano, Allen, Frisco or Mckinney (Dallas, Irving: apartments, HOA)

[asklepian]

We will be relocating from Seattle to Dallas this summer and looking to get some suggestions on good urban living apartment options in and around Plano, Allen, Frisco or Mckinney.

In our previous visit to Dallas, we really liked Lofts at Watters Creek apartments (Home). Would be great if someone can suggest similar apartments or neighbourhoods (will lookup rent.com) which are surrouded by great places to eat.

I will be working out of Las Colinas, so we may even consider options north of Las Colinas.

Thanks in advance.

[TurtleCreek80]

Urban living and Collin County don't belong in the same sentence. Outside of the Shops @ Legacy in north Plano, commercial & residential don't co-exist. And even Shops @ Legacy fails IMO since there aren't any "everyday" commercial shops there like a grocery store, dry cleaners, pharmacy/ drug store, inexpensive restaurants, etc. It's all fairly high end and not things you'd use daily.

PS- commute to Las Colinas from McKinney or Allen is suicidal. If you want urban living and work in las Colinas, why aren't you looking at the real urban neighborhoods in Dallas which are a 15
-25 minute commute to Las Colinas?

[HOAPRESIDENT]

Originally Posted by asklepian

We will be relocating from Seattle to Dallas this summer and looking to get some suggestions on good urban living apartment options in and around Plano, Allen, Frisco or Mckinney.

In our previous visit to Dallas, we really liked Lofts at Watters Creek apartments (Home). Would be great if someone can suggest similar apartments or neighbourhoods (will lookup rent.com) which are surrouded by great places to eat.

I will be working out of Las Colinas, so we may even consider options north of Las Colinas.

Thanks in advance.

Dear Sir or Madam,
That's the craziest #%$@ I've ever read. There is absolutely no rational person who would 1) look in Collin County [Allen Frisco McKinney] for "urban living;" 2) commute from McKinney to Las Colinas. Staying Seattle and commuting by plane would make more sense. Seriously.

Why are you avoiding the much closer Dallas urban areas, which are actually urban (and sparkling clean compared to Seattle)?

Sincerely,
Everybody

[PlanoGirl]

Based on the fact that the OP visit Watters Creek and really liked it, I would say he/she may be looking for of a "new urban" environment than true urbanism.....ie, suburban living that still provides walkability to shops, restaurants, entertainment,etc. There are precious few of these. Watters Creek, IMO, is one of the very best...trumps Shops at Legacy because of the grocery store and linkage to great hike and bike trails. However, part of the advantage of urban or even "new urban" living is the idea that you can live closer to your work too...thereby dramatically reducing your commute. Las Colinas is NO WHERE NEAR Allen....that commute would truly be a beating. Shops at Legacy would put you a bit closer, but still a long way. Why not true looking in or just around Los Colinas itself? There may be similar developments in the area others can suggest (I am not very familiar). Or, as TC and HOA suggest, look in the true urban neighborhoods of Dallas. There are some great ones!!!

[BigDGeek]

What everyone else said. Commuting from CoCo to Las Colinas would be a recipe for misery.

[ChristieP]

If the OP has at least $400k to spend and wants a "new urban" environment, look at the Brownstones at Southlake Town Square. The commute to Las Colinas would be about 20-25 minutes.

[asklepian]

Ok! I should have mentioned this before ... To give more details about us, we are a young couple with no kids but a lot of extended family living around Plano & Allen area. I personally prefer staying close to our family than my place of work.

Looking at the responses so far, we are fine expanding our search to places north of Las Colinas but not too far away from Colin county (say within 30 mins drive).

If you are familiar with Seattle area, something like Kirkland waterfront fits our bill (http://www.explorekirkland.com/)

And thanks a lot for your quick responses.

[ChristieP]

The problem is that you will be driving to work 5 days a week, so if you spend an hour in the car each way, that is 10 hours of commuting time per week that you could be spending with your wife, working out, etc, instead of sitting in the car, burning gas and running up tolls on the PGBT. To each his own, but we usually reocmmend living closer to your work and visiting friends/family on the weekends.

Most people really do not have a concept of how HUGE the DFW metro area really is until they get here and spend a few hours sitting in traffic...

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Urban living and Collin County don't belong in the same sentence. Outside of the Shops @ Legacy in north Plano, commercial & residential don't co-exist. And even Shops @ Legacy fails IMO since there aren't any "everyday" commercial shops there like a grocery store, dry cleaners, pharmacy/ drug store, inexpensive restaurants, etc. It's all fairly high end and not things you'd use daily.

Thats not true. Downtown Plano has lots of commercial and residential places. Downtown Plano is actually very nice. Lots of bars and a couple of clubs, apartments and condos right there, and the downtown Plano DART stop is right there. Haggard Park is really nice as well. Its all right there. The nice thing is that Downtown Plano seems to attract all different kinds of people from young kids to middle aged to older residents.

However, I wouldnt suggest Collin county if youre working in Irving.

[5stones]

Like ChristyP said... live closer to work. You will not be seeing family everyday, but will be driving (gas$$$) to work everyday.

Southlake Towncenter if you have $$$
Las Colinas itself
What about downtown Addison? haven't seen it mentioned
futherest I'd go is Plano..Legacy would be very nice