Preston Hollow v. HPISD for Young Family (Dallas, Mustang: home, private schools)

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Actually, taxes on a $500k home in Coppell run over $12k a year and taxes on a $1M HPISD home are $16k (vs $24k for a $1M home in Coppell). Coppell has some of the highest property tax rates around, plus less attractive homestead exemptions (20% county, 5% city, 0% ISD) vs HPISD's full 20% exemption across all three buckets.

Coppell's property taxes are among the highest in DFW! Thanks for the comparison to HP. I know they are also nearly double what we pay in Grapevine, too.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Actually, that's not true. It's a 15-20 minute drive in rush hour, depending on if they get on at Mockingbird or Northwest Hwy.

Its a bit longer than that in the morning and longer in the evening. I did this for a week last fall and it was 35 minutes from the time I left Royal/Preston to the time I parked off Legacy/Parkwood. Coming back was a mixed bag.

Plus, this couple had an aversion to turrets which will knock out most of Coppell and Plano's housing stock

LOL. And the tear-downs in PC too...

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Its a bit longer than that in the morning and longer in the evening. I did this for a week last fall and it was 35 minutes from the time I left Royal/Preston to the time I parked off Legacy/Parkwood. Coming back was a mixed bag

I've been doing that leg of my commute for the last 8 years- from both Mockingbird and NW hwy exits. Trust me- barring a wreck, it's 15-20 minutes every morning. Evening is about 10 min longer if one leaves Legacy between 5-6pm but with a departure before or after that window, it goes back to 15-20 minutes.

This info could be neither here nor there considering we don't know where OP's husband's office is.

[SVTRay]

Basically: Park Cities of you plan on enrolling your children in public schools and PH if you plan on sending them to private schools. The bulk of kids in the Park Cities attended HPISD as well as play a lot of their sports together through the Park Cities YMCA. PH sends a lot of their children to private schools. This means you're limited to the social circle that revolves around your chosen private school.

Anyhow, I'll add more as time permits.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Its a bit longer than that in the morning and longer in the evening. I did this for a week last fall and it was 35 minutes from the time I left Royal/Preston to the time I parked off Legacy/Parkwood. Coming back was a mixed bag..

FWIW, this morning I got on at NW Hwy @ 8:01 and exited Legacy at 8:14. Parked and walking into my office by 8:17. Tollroad was even a bit bottlenecked between NW Hwy & Royal as it's been lately.

Add in the 5 min it takes to get from a UP home to Tollroad and you've got a 21 minute / 16-17 mile door-to-desk commute in a major metro area. You really can't beat the reverse commute via DNT.

[HockDad]

I think it really depends on what fits your family best and what is going to make you happy. I think that your income and your ability to school your children may make a difference.

I have lived in both and I have three kids. I started in Park Cities, but moved to Preston Hollow when it became obvious that I was not going to use the Park Cities Schools. I will point out some of the differences (from my point of view) and let you decide which works best for your family. Also, big picture, you really can't wrong with either one.

Houses. There is little doubt that you are going to get a much nicer house, for the money, in PH. For example, there is a house on Purdue that is 4,300 square feet that is for sale for $1,250,000.00. Purdue is a highly congested street and the lots are 50 foot lots. The house is 4 bedrooms, needs pretty significant remodeling, and has no backyard besides a tiny pool. In short, there is absolutely nothing speacial about that house, but the price. In Preston Hollow, you will get a larger newer house with more backyard for that kind of money.

Community Feel. I totally agree with the Park Cities backers. When I lived in the PC, we saw our neighbors all of the time and the kids played on the front lawns (because there are small backyards). I miss seeing the kids all of the time in front of the house, but don't really mind having the neighbors right on top of us.

Schools. I view the Pack Cities schools as equal to ESD. That is just my opinion. That puts then significantly below St. Marks, Hockaday, Greenhill, Jesuit and UA. But, they are free and have a community feel. The private school parents form their own community around their private schools. Also, there is a reason why numerous park cities' families send their kids to private schools. The schools are better able to tailor a learning program for an individual student's needs.

Friends. We have made wonderful friends with our kids' friends parrents. If we lived in the park cities, I am sure the same would have happened. Our kids also have no problem making friends, but there are more play dates since the kids are spread all over north dallas.

[Bypass13]

I think with 4 children and a commute to Legacy takes PH out of the equation. You can pick HP, UP or WP. There are really nice custom homes on big lots to pick from if you have a PC/PH budget. Tollway is a stone throw away so you easily drop your kids off to Grandma's, have fun in the city and pick them up on your way back, sleep in late as your work would be minutes away.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Bypass13

I think with 4 children and a commute to Legacy takes PH out of the equation. You can pick HP, UP or WP. There are really nice custom homes on big lots to pick from if you have a PC/PH budget. Tollway is a stone throw away so you easily drop your kids off to Grandma's, have fun in the city and pick them up on your way back, sleep in late as your work would be minutes away.

I think you need to look at a map.

[BigDGeek]

Just remember if you're in that part of north Dallas, you can't get on the DNT northbound at Forest.

Why, I have no idea. It's a PITA.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by HockDad

Community Feel. I totally agree with the Park Cities backers. When I lived in the PC, we saw our neighbors all of the time and the kids played on the front lawns (because there are small backyards). I miss seeing the kids all of the time in front of the house, but don't really mind having the neighbors right on top of us.

Schools. I view the Pack Cities schools as equal to ESD. That is just my opinion. That puts then significantly below St. Marks, Hockaday, Greenhill, Jesuit and UA. But, they are free and have a community feel. The private school parents form their own community around their private schools. Also, there is a reason why numerous park cities' families send their kids to private schools. The schools are better able to tailor a learning program for an individual student's needs.

Friends. We have made wonderful friends with our kids' friends parrents. If we lived in the park cities, I am sure the same would have happened. Our kids also have no problem making friends, but there are more play dates since the kids are spread all over north dallas.

Good info

I'm new to the area and can only commit on my experiences. FYI: I'm not trying to imply these things happen in Dallas, my home town can be very Pretentious.

Private schools do in fact build their social community groups around the school and in my experience, the parents can be very cliquish. Our son has spent most of his time enrolled in private schools and everyone had their own group or click. This put a limit on friends, play dates, and parties. I haven't experienced anything close with our child attending HPISD. Everyone welcomes everyone with arms open. Our son is constantly asking or being asked for a play dates. I go to pick up our son at school and leave with three boys instead...all wired and ready to play. Another thing I love about the PC community is when you run across other groups, their not standoffish. Just last night we ran across a group and the kids came running up asking if our son could play before I could even put my truck in park. I wasn't able to join the parents inside due to a food allergy but we talked afterwards. The groups back home where completely standoffish and wouldn't even acknowledge you at times.