Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Agreed,getmeoutofhere. Highland Village is pleasant yet a bit out of the way.We have friends that went to a church there and did not love the drive on 35 .
Yeah, it's unpleasant. But it has a lot going for it. House values are pretty stable, and it's not a bad place to live. I would definitely recommend it to OP if it's convenient to work.
But I drive every day to Dallas and it sucks just a little bit.
OK, I have your answer!! I know this entire area like the back of my hand, and have since the 80's. All the way from the Oklahoma border to south Dallas. My answer for you is FRISCO! It's perfectly located with all the main road veins near (being the North Dallas Tollway, 121, George W Bush, and hwy75 aka Central Expressway).
I currently live in Frisco, have for 5 years now, but I lived in Plano in the 80's-I've seen the growth, lived through the construction, and generally just know what's up. I also have a 5 year old in kindergarten and I've done the research on the schools EXTENSIVELY as I am very hard to please. The schools you want are Pink/Griffin/Wakeland. Frisco really does have the best schools (check out schooldigger.com and greatschools.org) and like I said, I've narrowed the exact neighborhood down for you. However, Frisco does have an open policy with their schools meaning you can send your kids to any elementary, as long as it's under capacity. I would also suggest a real estate website for you to do your home searching with also, and that's EbbyHalliday.com, go to advanced search, and go from there. You can even search for homes for sale in specific elementary school pulls, which helps alot. Frisco has a fabulous athletic center, or the FAC, it's got all the stores you could want for everyday shopping, and people come for miles to our IKEA.
Frisco has all the community events you would expect a great suburb to have, like the Frisco Football League (FFL) Daddy/Daughter and Mother/Son dances, parks everywhere, great doctors (you don't have to drive to the big city to get that like some suburbs) The DallasFC stadium is in Frisco, The Dallas Stars rink, and the Frisco Rough Riders stadium-and all the amenities keep the property taxes a tiny bit lower than Prosper or McKinney. Texas has high property tax, btw, and costly neighborhood associations. I could write a novel.......message me if you have any questions. Good luck!
Yeah...most people on here will not agree with this and list valid reasons.
OP, you are best off waiting, figuring out the job, and then choosing a location from there. It will make your life easier. Anything now is wasted research.
I agree with others here. Depends on where the hubby's job is. Figure that out and then decide where you want to live. If you need to be here quicker than that, rent for 6 months close to hubby's work (just for his convenience) and spend the weekends house hunting (and of course, house hunt online too).
I moved from NorCal to Wylie in Nov 09 and have a 25 mile commute each way to work which I don't mind at all. Wylie is a great place, but even I wouldn't be in Wylie if the commute was 50 miles each way, even though Wylie is one of, if not, THE cheapest place to buy a house in Verizon FIOS (Verizon's Fiber to the premises internet/TV that was our #1 priority we were looking for when we moved here) territory.
Thanks to all that took the time to tell me a bit more about the areas that I was curious about. I appreciate it very much! We are ultimately going to hold off until we know where my husband will be working. I can say, though, we are leaning towards moving to Lucas/Fairview area and he will be centering his job search to those areas or to the surrounding area(s). Thanks again!!
Thanks to all that took the time to tell me a bit more about the areas that I was curious about. I appreciate it very much! We are ultimately going to hold off until we know where my husband will be working. I can say, though, we are leaning towards moving to Lucas/Fairview area and he will be centering his job search to those areas or to the surrounding area(s). Thanks again!!
Lucas and Fairview are great, especially Lucas in terms of being able to get land if you want that. Good luck and keep us posted!
Wylie and Prosper are on the fringe of the Dallas suburbs. They have new homes at reasonable prices and schools that are competitive. Shopping for Prosper is mostly in Frisco, ten minutes south. Wylie would be Firewheel Mall, probably 15 minutes south.
Job location is the critical issue for your commute, but many take the longer commute to get the most house for the money.
I agree that job location will play a big factor in your decision. We live in Wylie and my husband has a 15-20 minute commute to work in Richardson. Definitely not the norm in Dallas. We love Wylie and the surrounding area. It has the small town feel that we wanted for our kids with accessibility to the city for events, museums, etc. We live in a nice community with trees, hills and plenty to do. While our kids are not in the school system yet, we have heard good things about it.
Thanks to all that took the time to tell me a bit more about the areas that I was curious about. I appreciate it very much! We are ultimately going to hold off until we know where my husband will be working. I can say, though, we are leaning towards moving to Lucas/Fairview area and he will be centering his job search to those areas or to the surrounding area(s). Thanks again!!
Would you like to take over our place -- in Lucas?
Turns out the schools (Lovejoy ISD) are rather crappy, so we have done 5 months here and are ready to bail. If you would like to take over our lease, you can see if you like it better than it turned out for us.
Finding work around here . . . may be another matter.
Mostly just horses and poop.
But if you would like to consider our place, PM me.
I moved my family to DFW area from Ft Myers FL in June 2010, we first got here we signed a 6 month lease in Allen, TX, just north of Plano, I have 2 kids in Elementary and 1 at the time in middle. We had heard lots of great reviews about the "exemplary" schools in Allen, my 2 youngest had to go to Roundtree elementary due to our home address and to be short & direct it was the worst & hardest decision that we had to "live" with, just know, that ALL the schools in any particular school district are ran differently completely dependent on the Principals vision. (If interested I can PM you all the obstacles we came upon). Fast forward to 6 months later when are lease was up, We had been wanting to move to Wylie, TX, heard lots of great things about the schools and the convenience to food, restaurants, schools, and housing cost were much more affordable. Now we live in Wylie & LOVE IT!! Been here for 11 months and absolutely love it. My 2 youngest goto Whitt Elementary & it couldn't be any more of a perfect fit, they love it, my wife is involved and loves it. Good luck on you decision to TX.
You are doing the right thing by collecting information on different suburbs.Where you will be working should play a huge role in your decision to pick a spot to buy a house.The metroplex is HUGE.To most people a 20 -30 minute commute time is fine,an hour plus is rough.There are many great options for you in DFW....
Highland Village- Established older suburb far north west of Dallas.Somewhat hilly in certain parts,population about 18,000.Strong sense of community.Highland shores is a great older subdivision.The city has made fantastic zoning decisions and it shows.Part of Lewisville isd ( not a great ISD overall ,but parts of it are great ) Highland Village has older sections and newer.No apartments.It is off of 35 ,not the most pleasant drive.A good place to spend about $300,000 if the location works for you
Wylie- Growing suburb north east of Dallas,blue collar crowd,not accesible quickly from major highways.If your price range was under $150,000 it would be a perfectly nice place to live.
Prosper- We live in Prosper and can offer alot of information.When we moved here we looked at about 10 suburbs after narrowing down where we needed the location to be. Our price range was under $500,00 .Our must list was....
- Decent size lots throughout the whole city,not a crammed feeling in the neighborhoods
- A city that had strong zoning practices and valued tax payers
- An area that was somewhat hilly,pleasant topography
- Great school district,tollway access,high median home values
- No back alley ways
Our top choices were Southlake and Prosper. Southlake is a suburb of Fort Worth west of Dallas.We work in the Plano area and did not want the drive.Prosper was the next best thing. Southlake starts at about $320,000 ,Prosper about $230,000.We built brand new and choose everything in our house including the lot it was built on.It was the best thing we ever did.Energy efficiency is a huge plus to building new.We also had nothing to update or change.We got exactly what we wanted and the builder was outstanding to work with. Some information on Prosper.....
- The town is strict with zoning. There are 2 apartment complexes on the outskirts that appear to have been" grandfathered in".Future and current zoning looks on point.Lot sizes are kept large.Taxes are reasonable ,about 2.4 %.Retail is and will be put in the right areas and green space is preserved.The town has held out for a long time and been very picky about what they will allow in.Areas like Denton,Frisco and Mc Kinney have grown much faster ( and they are going to be or already are alot bigger in population,build out estimates are much higher ).Prosper is making alot of solid decisions to protect residents investments.
- The gates of Prosper by Jerry Jones is set to start construction in 2012.It looks unbelievable ( google it ).The town voted to start moving ahead with this in April 2011.It is i n the agenda notes from the last meeting viewable online.It is in the agenda notes for the meeting on October 25 th next week 9 development and financing agreement between the town of Prosper and Blue Star) Jerry Jones ,owner of the cowboys is behind Blue Star Land.
- The new Frisco Costco just opened today and is a 5 minute drive from Prosper.
- Although far from Dallas,Prosper will be right off the new tollway extension and has some amazing natural terrain.A Bears Brook golf course by Jack Nicklaus is slated to develop
- Prosper had a 25 percent population growth this past year.The houses are already priced high on huge lots.Besides for Glenbrooke there are no subdivisions doing new builds under $200,000.Prosper has the highest median home values in Colin County
- Prosper is a unique mix of new suburbia,small old town that has the potential to hold charm.It is somewhat hilly and reminds me of certain parts of Austin.The trees and hills are pleasant.There are no "alley way " neighborhoods in Prosper.In many DFW suburbs there are. We did not like them,you might.
- Prosper built an impressive high school.Prosper High School cost
$113.5 million to build. It is 590,000-square-feet complete with a medical tech lab, a
restaurant-worthy kitchen, a greenhouse, a broadcast studio and an indoor
football practice facility.The School Board passed a $750 million bond package and used the funds for: upgrades to the existing football stadium, a new elementary school, a new middle school, upgrades to the two previously existing elementary schools, a new transportation facility, a new Agriculture/Small Animal Facility, and the brand-new (opened 2009-2010 school year) state-Of-The-Art High School.
- We have been very impressed with Prosper ISD.The district has literally exploded in growth and it has been handled well. The town has a tremendous sense of pride.I like the fact that the isd keeps the same mascot throughout every grade. At football games there are 2 sets of cheerleaders the high school and the elementary school.The Prosper simple green P sticker is displayed on the majority of cars I see driving around in the city limits.The town is very supportive of everything the kids do.
*Here are some great Prosper subdivisions in your price range.You could do a new build in all but Stone Creek.You could also buy a pre existing home....
Willow Ridge
Cedar Ridge
La Cima
Gentle Creek ( golf community )
Greenspoint
Saddle Creek
Stone creek ( smaller subdivision,built out ,very nice,many trees)
The best way to get a feel for the areas here in DFW will be to take a drive thru each.Make a must list and narrow it down from there.If you need to have access to the tollway and be north of Dallas I think Prosper is the best option in your price range.If you need to be north west of Dallas, Highland Village could work.
Could you please tell me which builder you used since you were happy w/them? Thanks
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You pay for location and schools
