McKinney or Prosper? (Dallas, Austin, Plano: houses, neighborhoods, movies)

[mrstsh2004]

Hello again everyone,

Well, after checking out the west side of DFW, we are now exploring Collin County. We drove around Frisco and weren't wowed by what we saw. Granted, we were just driving randomly, but I was really expecting more.

So, what about McKinney and Prosper? How do they differ each other? Are they that different from Frisco? Can someone give me a vibe in each place? I read that McKinney ranks high in "Best Places to Live" and the downtown is vibrant, but what makes this so? Prosper seems to be up and coming as well. Not sure if one city outpaces the other in terms of growth rate and what that means for schools. Can anyone speak to McKinney's policy of sending kids out of their neighborhood school to balance out enrollment? Any info on the elementary schools in both ISDs is appreciated as well.

I know that these school districts don't rank as high as Plano or Coppell or Flower Mound. I know the houses are cookie cutter by some standards. I know it's a long way from the city center via toll roads, etc. We have factored all of that into our decision and still feel like we need to see for ourselves.

Should we look at Parker or Murphy? We'll be making another househunting trip in a few weeks. What do we need to see of Collin County while we're there in DFW?

Feel free to DM me if you prefer.

Thank you!

[ObamneyI]

Murphy and Parker have Plano schools so you should definitely check them out.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Prosper is just too far out for my taste. McKinney is almost as far out but has much more of a "town" feel and is much older in many parts. Depends on your budget if you can afford the houses in the established areas or have to go new and raw.

[stephwin]

In one of your other posts you mention needing to be within one hour of DFW or Love. No one could pay me enough to live in Prosper or McKinney if I needed to use the airport on a regular basis!

Talk about massive traffic and expensive tolls. Just not worth it honestly. Parker and Murphy aren't any better.

Stick to Grapevine or Flower Mound.

[txgolfer130]

McKinney is a city of more than 135,000 with more than enough shopping and dining places to go around. Prosper has just over 10,000, and....well Jerry Jones has bought land out there. McKinney is much more organized and was rated as the #2 place to live by Money magazine. McKinney, TX - Best Places to Live - Money Magazine

School wise, McKinney is up there with Allen and better than Frisco, but does lag behind Plano (which is 2.5x the size) in terms of outright scores, but not by much. The elementary's in MISD are excellent of which there are 20 vs. 6 for prosper. As far as the busing for middle school, there doesn't seem to be a problem as it's only for middle school and the same kids that went to elementary together will still go to middle school together.

As a family we have loved living in McKinney for the neighborhoods, the schools, the family feel (wife still can't get over kids being able to leave bikes and scooters unlocked at the stores, schools, and movies) and the over all feel of life here. Downtown McKinney has really taken off, w/ all of the older Victorian and older homes being remodeled and the new business' popping up. The annual 4th fireworks shows, the Halloween downtown parades and of course Octoberfest. McKinney to us has an smaller Austin vibe with much better traffic and not so "weird".

I think you'll enjoy your visit.

[CREW747]

Some quick Prosper info....

- Estimated buildout population,roughly 66,000 residents.Current population near 15,000.
- Overall large lot sizes,nothing less than a quarter acre
- Master planned Town.Everything is very new.Some people like that
.while others do not.
- A decent amount of trees and rolling hills
- Prosper plans on remaining a town that mostly consists of residential single family homes.Prosper will never have the retail or lot sizes of Frisco,the zoning is different
- Prosper schools are currently sought after.Prosper is to new to earn a Carroll or Coppell reputation. I predict Prosper ISD will thrive as the population increases.


The cities of Mc Kinney and Frisco will eventually build out at close to 250,000 people.Prosper is comparable to a mid size towns like Flower Mound.Same zoning and demographics.

We love Prosper and built new.Love the schools,and everything about the Town.Easy access to Preston and The tollway,great location for us.Houses in Prosper start at about $250,000.If your price range is below 250,000,Mc Kinney specifically Stonebridge Ranch would be a great choice.We know many people who love living in Stonebridge Ranch,Frisco and Prosper,really comes down to specifics like price,lot size and feel of the area.All 3 differ slightly.

[Saintmarks]

Crew and TXgolfer both have good posts. I live in McKinney, work in Frisco and go to church in Prosper, so have a good feel for all three. Personally I prefer McKinney because of its lack of being so cookie cutterish. The older town has a great feel, the newer part, primarily because of the huge Stonebridge Ranch is landscaped and laid out so much better than similar neighborhoods in Frisco and Plano.

Our kids have thrived in the McKinney ISD. My son was in the first graduating class of McKinney Boyd, the third (and newest high school), my 2nd was the first to go all four years and my final two are 11th and 9th grades currently. Great schools.

Prosper still has a rural feel, but that will change in years to come. The fact that it will build out at 60k vs. 250k for Frisco and McKinney matters little in my mind because they all three merge together and willl seem seamless at one point in the future. Much like you can't really tell when you go south from Plano to Richardson to Dallas today. Prosper's zoning will give it a different feel as CREW mentions, should maintain a more rural feel.

But McKinney's historic square and nearby historic homes along with its great park system (continuously expanding and more on the books) plus the excellent design of Stonebridge Ranch make it the most interesting of all north Dallas burbs, MHO of course.

[PlanoGirl]

I'll second a lot of what txgolfer and Saintmarks say. There is just something about the feel of Mckinney that we found lacking the the other nearby burbs. But I can see that that "feel" just might not do it for other people. Unfortunately, I don't have time tonight to go into all the things I love (and even the few things I don't) about Mckinney, but if you click on my name, and go down to "Find all posts..." you can dig through my many many posts on this fair city

FYI...hubby says it takes 40-45 minutes to get to DFW from our place, and we are pretty far west Mckinney. Maybe a bit more with heavy traffic. It's pretty smooth sailing all the way down 121 no matter what time of day, until you get right by the airport, then traffic can suck, no matter where you originated. Anyway, that's still a good chunk of time so if you are traveling every week I would look for an area closer in.

[MckinneyOwnr]

I'd also put McKinney above Prosper, primarily due to location and amenities.

OP, you didn't tell us your budget, that will really help for us to give you advice on the best areas. My wife and I live in West McKinney, and are very happy with our choice. At our budget level, homes are not cookie cutter, nor is the neighborhood where we live.

We looked at a few homes in Prosper, but it was simply too far of a drive for my wife to go to work. In McKinney, it is still far, but we live very close to 121 so it's not too bad for her.

We probably looked at about 15-20 houses in Frisco. We found a few we liked, but you'll hear from most people on here that the lots are smaller and the houses very close together. It's true. Neighborhoods tended to feel cramped to me compared to McKinney. A positive of Frisco is that it has far more retail than McKinney does, however, since it's so close by it wasn't really a factor for us.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by PlanoGirl

FYI...hubby says it takes 40-45 minutes to get to DFW from our place, and we are pretty far west Mckinney. Maybe a bit more with heavy traffic. It's pretty smooth sailing all the way down 121 no matter what time of day, until you get right by the airport, then traffic can suck, no matter where you originated.

Oops, meant to comment on travel time to the airport in my first post. It takes us 35 min from Hardin and Eldorado area, driving about 75 most of the way. I think the longest it's ever taken us was about 50 min with bad traffic.