Why Homes in the Exurbs Aren't Built to Last (Houston: middle-class, buying)

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Many if not most people move to Lakewood because they are looking to raise a family here. It's an established neighborhood where you can have lifetime friendships. There is not a high turnover. Where else can you have people who graduated 25-30 years apart on Facebook with "47 mutual friends"?

There are many, many professional, well-educated, affluent people raising families in the "inner city," living there because they enjoy the character, community, vibrancy, and culture.

With all due respect, Lakewood doesn't represent the inner-city, it represents a few square miles. Most people don't move to the Cedars, Fair Park, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Oak Lawn, and so-on to raise families. And as great as Lakewood is, the schools have gone through their ups and downs as well.

I spent plenty of my time growing up in the suburbs, and my neighborhood had plenty of character and a great sense of community. My wife and I both have PLENTY of lifelong friends as well. That is hardly something exclusive to neighborhoods like lakewood.

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

With all due respect, Lakewood doesn't represent the inner-city, it represents a few square miles. Most people don't move to the Cedars, Fair Park, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Oak Lawn, and so-on to raise families. And as great as Lakewood is, the schools have gone through their ups and downs as well.

I spent plenty of my time growing up in the suburbs, and my neighborhood had plenty of character and a great sense of community. My wife and I both have PLENTY of lifelong friends as well. That is hardly something exclusive to neighborhoods like lakewood.

Maybe not but apparently they aren't your neighbors as mine are... it keeps you on your toes when you know somebody's mother may be watching you!

[Ramona72]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

With all due respect, Lakewood doesn't represent the inner-city, it represents a few square miles. Most people don't move to the Cedars, Fair Park, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Oak Lawn, and so-on to raise families.

What exactly is the "inner city" then? The poster was talking about how people move to the suburbs to raise families. Lakewood is not a suburb. Neither is the M-streets, Casa Linda, Forest Hills, Little Forest Hills, Junius Heights, Kessler Park and Oak Cliff, Oak Lawn, Henderson, more neighborhoods I don't even know the names of -- all places where professionals DO live and raise families.

Just because you can't imagine it doesn't mean they're not there. I've been surprised how many young families I've met who live in these urban areas, many of them "transitional" neighborhoods. Are they your typical suburban families? No, they're probably not. Many are creative, adventurous, artistic types. Having children does not mean you have to move to ticky-tacky suburbia and start eating at Chili's, even if that's what many people assume they must do.

[dallas90210]

That is the truth, Clarenence. Lakewood is one small area of Dallas.

I am ALL over Dallas on a regular basis...far more than most people who sit on their little islands and pretend how great the city of a whole really is, when it is not.

Objectively - it is 80-90% very poor. Poverty breeds crime and bad schools unfortunately. It's not about race anymore...that ended with the prior generation...now the flight to the newer & nicer suburbs is about avoiding the extreme poverty, crime and bad schools.

- South Dallas between 175 & 35 - ultra ghetto, and ultra poor. Enough said.
- Southwest Dallas between 35 & 30 - in my opinion the nicest of the poorer or very old areas of Dallas, and it's a haven if you are hispanic or prefer the same sex (Kessler Park). In general the schools rank bad, and there is still plenty of poverty in this area.
- West Dallas between 30 and 35 - very poor & very ghetto. Like all parts of Dallas, it has it's somewhat decent areas (that hotel west of downtown is pretty cool, as is the art community near it, but that's about it).
- North Dallas between 35 and 75 - probably the more wealthy area of Dallas, when you factor in Uptown, Oaklawn and Preston Hollow. However vast swaths of Northwest Dallas are still nasty, poor & run down. The Park Cities are excluded from this area...as they are not part of Dallas.
- Northeast / East Dallas between 75 and 30 - pockets of this area like Lakewood, the M-Streets, etc are decent, and somewhat expensive, but still you're just a skip and a hop away from lots of poor & crummy neighborhoods. Just look at those 10000+ apartment units near Park Lane and 75, just across from the most primo mall in the Metroplex. There are many run down & crumbhole areas in old East Dallas. Oh, and many areas off Forest Lane, NW Hwy and such in NE Dallas are bad too...among many more.
- Southeast Dallas between 30 and 175 - overall, a very poor & rundown area, but economically better than South Dallas but not as good as Southwest Dallas. I envision this area will be the next "comeback area" economically, somewhat like Southwest Dallas.
- Downtown - the Bishop Arts district, Deep Ellum, downtown proper, etc are nice or "decent", but downtown is full of homeless people...and the schools are horrendous.

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

With all due respect, Lakewood doesn't represent the inner-city, it represents a few square miles. Most people don't move to the Cedars, Fair Park, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Oak Lawn, and so-on to raise families. And as great as Lakewood is, the schools have gone through their ups and downs as well.

I spent plenty of my time growing up in the suburbs, and my neighborhood had plenty of character and a great sense of community. My wife and I both have PLENTY of lifelong friends as well. That is hardly something exclusive to neighborhoods like lakewood.

[dallas90210]

Someone can send their kids to poor, ghetto, crummy schools if the want to.

And if someone lives in the city of Dallas...they're doing it.

More power to them.

Originally Posted by Ramona72

What exactly is the "inner city" then? The poster was talking about how people move to the suburbs to raise families. Lakewood is not a suburb. Neither is the M-streets, Casa Linda, Forest Hills, Little Forest Hills, Junius Heights, Kessler Park and Oak Cliff, Oak Lawn, Henderson, more neighborhoods I don't even know the names of -- all places where professionals DO live and raise families.

Just because you can't imagine it doesn't mean they're not there. I've been surprised how many young families I've met who live in these urban areas, many of them "transitional" neighborhoods. Are they your typical suburban families? No, they're probably not. Many are creative, adventurous, artistic types. Having children does not mean you have to move to ticky-tacky suburbia and start eating at Chili's, even if that's what many people assume they must do.

[Ramona72]

Originally Posted by dallas90210

Someone can send their kids to poor, ghetto, crummy schools if the want to.

And if someone lives in the city of Dallas...they're doing it.

More power to them.

Are you seriously this ignorant? You think Townview TAG and SEM are poor crummy ghetto schools? Travis? Woodrow? Stonewall, Lakewood, Hexter? Dealey Montessori? You're pure fool if you do.

[dallas90210]

Dallas has a few good ones, but many, many, many bad ones.

Saying a child molester is great because he treats people nicely does not make him great.

Saying a bank robber is great because he is the first person in his family to graduate from college does not make him great.

Having a few great schools and many, many, many bad schools does not make the district as a whole or on average great.

Originally Posted by Ramona72

Are you seriously this ignorant? You think Townview TAG and SEM are poor crummy ghetto schools? Travis? Woodrow? Stonewall, Lakewood, Hexter? Dealey Montessori? You're pure fool if you do.

[Ramona72]

Originally Posted by dallas90210

Dallas has a few good ones, but many, many, many bad ones.

Saying a child molester is great because he treats people nicely does not make him great.

Saying a bank robber is great because he is the first person in his family to graduate from college does not make him great.

Having a few great schools and many, many, many bad schools does not make the district as a whole or on average great.

That's not what you said. You said if people live in Dallas they are sending their kids to crummy poor ghetto schools. So, now you want to clarify? Oops, well, you didn't mean ALL of them?

[dallas90210]

Odds are your kids will go to a bad school if you live in Dallas, considering they have to go through the elementary, junior high and high schools. Usually not all of those schools are great in one particular area. And even if the school's test scores are high, odds are the school will be full of poverty stricken kids ... since this is Dallas we're talking about.

If that's what you want to expose your kids to, or if that's all you can afford, well that's too bad.

Originally Posted by Ramona72

That's not what you said. You said if people live in Dallas they are sending their kids to crummy poor ghetto schools. So, now you want to clarify? Oops, well, you didn't mean ALL of them?

[Ramona72]

Originally Posted by dallas90210

Odds are your kids will go to a bad school if you live in Dallas, considering they have to go through the elementary, junior high and high schools. Usually not all of those schools are great in one particular area. And even if the school's test scores are high, odds are the school will be full of poverty stricken kids ... since this is Dallas we're talking about.

If that's what you want to expose your kids to, or if that's all you can afford, well that's too bad.

I think you're just a troll at this point, but my kids are going and have gone to an exemplary Blue Ribbon school and magnets rated among the best in the nation ... all within the crummy city of Dallas. Yes, that's actually exactly what I want to expose my kids to. Don't be jealous.