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.
FWIW, even among the newer houses/burbs, I've noticed a huge difference between many "custom" homes and the..er, "non-custom" ones (so much so that I sit up and take notice when a listing mentions "custom house").
Give Coppell/Plano/etc. time, and some houses will endure, others will be replaced, trees will mature, etc., and eventually they'll have their own charm and character, while brand new 'burbs will sprout up that will be Living In Generica.
Even mature trees can't make the pinky-brown brick that is synonymous with 80-90's Coppell and Plano construction look better. You'd have to bulldoze entire neighborhoods to build architectural character and charm. It's important to note that architectural character/charm is NOT the same thing as community spirit or appeal. There are many neighborhoods in Plano and Coppell that are a great evironment to raise a family; the neighborhoods just happen to be physically unappealing or even ugly.
Even mature trees can't make the pinky-brown brick that is synonymous with 80-90's Coppell and Plano construction look better. You'd have to bulldoze entire neighborhoods to build architectural character and charm. It's important to note that architectural character/charm is NOT the same thing as community spirit or appeal. There are many neighborhoods in Plano and Coppell that are a great evironment to raise a family; the neighborhoods just happen to be physically unappealing or even ugly.
Turtle is not being snobbish at all.That is accurate.Plano and Coppell both have many safe,family occupied neighborhoods ,but many are starting to show their age.We passed on a typical 1990 something Plano house and built our own.Updating was the last hung I waned to be bothered with.
No, snobbish would be saying Coppell and Plano are horrible places to live because most homes are ugly/dated. What I said was that they are great places to live - great schools, city-run facilities like parks & rec centers, lots of neighborhood spirit, etc.
Some houses/neighborhoods are beautiful, classic, and architecturally significant- homes built by trained architects, not mass builders.HP & Lakewood are two such places (minus the bad 80's teardowns that are ugly red brick boxes). One can find many types of architecture in these areas- Tudors, Craftsman, Colonials, Spanish Eclectic, Texas Modern, a few Cape Cods, Mid Century Modern, French, and Modern. Architects like Anton Korn, Hal Thompson, Frank Welch, Bud Oglesby, Charles Dilbeck, Clifford Hutsell, etc made their mark on these communities. Current working architects like Dallas' Russell Buchanan and Lionel Morrison, along with internationally renowned architects like Antoine Predock, continue to make their mark on these communities- distinguishing them significantly from even the nicer builder's custom homes in Coppell or West Plano. It's not necessarily a money thing either-> For the same total price, one could build an architect designed modern home in HP/ Lakewood or a custom faux Tuscan mansion in Willowbend or Starwood.
For the most part, Coppell and Plano have very very few architect designed homes and little architectural variety.
Even mature trees can't make the pinky-brown brick that is synonymous with 80-90's Coppell and Plano construction look better. You'd have to bulldoze entire neighborhoods to build architectural character and charm. the neighborhoods just happen to be physically unappealing or even ugly.
This is your opinion only. Having spent a good portion of my life in Plano, living in a custom home in West Plano, there are a LOT of homes that are not "cookie cutter" and look great even after 20 years.
On the flip side of your opinion, there are plenty of people who would balk at paying $1mil for a 3000sq/ft house just because of a Park cities address, and could see their money stretch a LOT farther in Plano, while buying a much newer home with newer features.
Case in point, you already gave the OP a listing that doesn't even include a garage, and it costs $895k??? For that kind of money, I'd expect a 3 car attached garage at the least!
Some students go to private school 1-8 and then directly to Woodrow Wilson High - especially those at Zion and St. Thomas Aquinas - the tie between St. Thomas and Woodrow is so tight that WWHS has fundraisers in their church hall. In any case most would agree that Lakewood Elementary (Blue Ribbon, Exemplary) News and http://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX0...kewood2011.pdf is one of the top in the state, if not the nation. There is even a huge early-childhood PTA organized around it - see: LECPTA Home
The LECPTA just finished its 35th annual home tour/festival/party at Lakewood Country Club which raises money for Lakewood, Long Middle School and Woodrow Wilson High. Last year it raised over $140,000. I haven't heard the figures from this year but they had 475 volunteers, which is more than last year.
Woodrow Wilson High School see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow...(Dallas,_Texas) was certified as an IB World School last spring after a three-year application process. As a candidate school in 2010-11, it was able to offer Pre-IB in the ninth grade. J. L. Long Middle School J L Long Middle School PTA > Home (http://www.jllong.com/Home/tabid/3294/Default.aspx - broken link) has been chosen as a candidate school for IB MYP (Middle Years Programme) and as such it is now using the curriculum. It also offers Mandarin.
The secondary schools are especially strong in performing arts (known particularly for their musicals) and sports - Woodrow is in the top ten for the best athletic program out of 70 area 4-A high schools (Dallas Morning News). Long's Math and Science team is renowned; Woodrow's mock trial team is celebrated and was invited to Harvard a couple of years ago. Woodrow offers 22 Advanced Placement and 8 dual-credit classes. It has been on the Newsweek and is now on the Washington Post top high schools in America list. It also received the ACT college readiness award about one year ago. A study by The Dallas Morning News showed it was one of 20 North Texas high schools that 'exceeds expectations' for college readiness.
Woodrow just had a group of Russian students visit this fall and a group of French students last spring. They also have an on-going relationship with a German school which sometimes sends groups and a Spanish school which sends teachers. There were 10 exchange students in the last graduating class of 288. They were from China, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Thailand and two from Sweden.
The secondary schools are very diverse economically and racially. They are not like the student populations in some of the suburbs discussed here - there is a dropout problem and many students are not college material, however the senior class college-accepted rate (after dropouts) has been 88 and 90% the last two years. Lakewood Elementary is not as diverse (about 70% anglo/white) but much more so than the Park Cities.
The Woodrow foundation is working to implement IB PYP in a few of the elementaries - I cannot say if Lakewood will be one of them. The current principal doesn't see the need. Neighboring (and stellar) Stonewall Jackson Elementary has expressed an interest.
The Lakewood area is about ten minutes or less from downtown and also the trendier areas of Uptown and TurtleCreek / Oak Lawn. It is also close to Southern Methodist University (some of SMU property is in the WWHS attendance zone http://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX0...Wilson2011.pdf). Some faculty/staff and students live in the area. If you need to go to DFW airport, it's about 30 minutes via Woodall Rodgers/Stemmons I-35 or Northwest Highway / Loop 12 to 183 if you don't go at rush hour. Love Field is about 15 - 20 minutes and will be offering non-stop travel to many national destinations when the Wright Amendment is lifted in 2014.
No, snobbish would be saying Coppell and Plano are horrible places to live because most homes are ugly/dated. What I said was that they are great places to live - great schools, city-run facilities like parks & rec centers, lots of neighborhood spirit, etc.
Some houses/neighborhoods are beautiful, classic, and architecturally significant- homes built by trained architects, not mass builders.HP & Lakewood are two such places (minus the bad 80's teardowns that are ugly red brick boxes). One can find many types of architecture in these areas- Tudors, Craftsman, Colonials, Spanish Eclectic, Texas Modern, a few Cape Cods, Mid Century Modern, French, and Modern. Architects like Anton Korn, Hal Thompson, Frank Welch, Bud Oglesby, Charles Dilbeck, Clifford Hutsell, etc made their mark on these communities. Current working architects like Dallas' Russell Buchanan and Lionel Morrison, along with internationally renowned architects like Antoine Predock, continue to make their mark on these communities- distinguishing them significantly from even the nicer builder's custom homes in Coppell or West Plano. It's not necessarily a money thing either-> For the same total price, one could build an architect designed modern home in HP/ Lakewood or a custom faux Tuscan mansion in Willowbend or Starwood.
For the most part, Coppell and Plano have very very few architect designed homes and little architectural variety.
But, what will likely happen OVER TIME is that the "nicer custom homes" will stick around and the boring ones will be modified or torn down/replaced. At one time I'm sure at least parts of the Park Cities had homes that were considered "ugly" or "common" (albeit nicer) by most people. The big difference is that huge amounts of Coppell and West Plano were built in one swell foop, so the "architectural variety" is nonexistent over large areas.
I feel like I'm almost defending Generica here (god help me!), but no neighborhoods spring from the ground as gems of architectural wonder. It takes time to cull out the unpleasant spots, for the harsh edges to wear off new construction and for variety to bloom. Highland Park has had over 90 years to mature from its original "master planned community" roots (1910-1920 version) to encompass the myriad styles of homes it has today.
But, what will likely happen OVER TIME is that the "nicer custom homes" will stick around and the boring ones will be modified or torn down/replaced. At one time I'm sure at least parts of the Park Cities had homes that were considered "ugly" or "common" (albeit nicer) by most people. The big difference is that huge amounts of Coppell and West Plano were built in one swell foop, so the "architectural variety" is nonexistent over large areas.
I feel like I'm almost defending Generica here (god help me!), but no neighborhoods spring from the ground as gems of architectural wonder. It takes time to cull out the unpleasant spots, for the harsh edges to wear off new construction and for variety to bloom. Highland Park has had over 90 years to mature from its original "master planned community" roots (1910-1920 version) to encompass the myriad styles of homes it has today.
This is true. Also helping out the Park Cities is that there are few, if any, building restrictions. (Which is how a house like the Workman house was able to be built and **** off all the neighbors.)
Newer suburbs have a lot more restrictions at first. I can't even put up an 8ft fence without getting approved for it first, much less build an eclectic house on my lot.
Highland Park has had over 90 years to mature from its original "master planned community" roots (1910-1920 version) to encompass the myriad styles of homes it has today.
Actually, HP was about 100% built out by the 1940's (30 years from start to completion) and most of UP was built between 1930-1955. 30 years is roughly the same amount of time it took Coppell to built out and about the same time span of Plano's big building boom (late 70's-early 2000's). So it's not a time thing. The teardowns didn't add character to UP/HP, the original development laid the foundation for it. You can't expect generica, USA to morph into a character-filled suburb if the intent wasn't there to begin with.
The 1915 home in HP or the 1945 home in UP looked "current" when they were new and look classic/timeless today.
The 1983 home in Coppell / Plano that looked "current" then looks awfully outdated now. Homes didn't use that pinky-brown brick before the late 70's and haven't used it since the mid 90's. It was just an unfortunate era for new homes and it happened to be when most of these two suburbs were built.
Case in point, you already gave the OP a listing that doesn't even include a garage, and it costs $895k??? For that kind of money, I'd expect a 3 car attached garage at the least!
That's funny. For $895k, I'd rather have HPISD schools and UP's concierge-qualify city services than a 3 car attached garage.
So would the people who are buying this home. I couldn't find it on related.com because it's already under contract after a week on the market. A 75x170 lot with a well-maintained center hall plan traditional 4-br home is an absolute STEAL in the Park Cities.
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.
