Where to live when job is in Plano? (Austin, Garland: apartment, lease)

[MountainPharmD]

Gee...how about Plano?

[USA_Mom]

My kids don't or didn't have pressure about clothes in Frisco or Plano school districts really, except for my daughter in kindergarten. That was pretty funny. About 2nd grade she went shopping with her own money (she had $200-300 for her birthday) and insisted on going to the Limited Too! and other stores that normally we don't go to because of price. When she realized what the pricing was, she dealt with it (again she was in 2nd grade at the time a little primadonna) differently. She told people there was no way she was going to spend $40-50 on ONE PIECE OF CLOTHING such as a shirt and she hasn't really changed since then (she's in 4th now). She has her own interesting sense of style (lol mom) but she's pretty secure with it.

There are materialistic people everywhere unfortunately. But I think by 8th grade if you have laid a pretty good foundation, it won't be an issue because she probably won't choose to be friends with people who are only interested in surface issues. At least my 10th grade son isn't and I am hoping the other 2 are the same...so far so good with the older 2. My youngest is a 6-year-old boy and wants EVERYONE to be his friend.

[momof2dfw]

LOL USAMOM. When we took our girls shopping to NorthPark the week before school started my oldest cracked me up. Our oldest is in the 7th grade and she wanted to go shopping w/ friends instead of us. BUT, she wanted to go to a mall that had Abercrombie (oh boo-hoo, Firewheel does not have that, big woop). While standing at the register in A&F I looked at her and said, "you know if you had gone w/ friends to shop you would not have even gotten HALF the stuff you have today. First I would not give you that much cash and second I would NOT give you a credit card." She never complained one bit about it. I took her in the Juicy boutique just to look. She came out about screaming to her dad, "THEY WANT $75 FOR A T-SHIRT!" LOL!!!!


We had the same experience as you at about the same age when she had money to buy something of her own. She wanted to buy HERSELF something special to wear for Christmas and her birthday (a few days later ). We went to Collin Creek and she found an outfit at Limited Too but I made her look at the price tags. Told her, "let's look around a bit more first". Went to Foley's and found something and checked the price. Went to Dillard's and found something and checked the price. Went to Mervyn's and same story. Then we went to The Childrens Place. She found an outfit she LOVED! Checked the price and lo and behold she would have money LEFT OVER! She still looks at price tags to this day and freaks out like she did over the Juicy Couture t-shirt (hehehehehe).

She also does not have a cellphone but uses mine when she is w/ me to text friends. One friend told her she was "lame" for using her moms phone. She told them she did not care as her mom was NOT going to buy her one. Gotta love it. OH, this is a hoot. Recently at school a friens cellphone went off so it got confiscated. The kids MOTHER had called to tell the kid they would bring them lunch. My daughter said that if HER mother called (me) and she answered the phone that I would be HIGH TAILING it up to the school and she would be in BIG TROUBLE! I'm just glad that not ALL of her friends have a cellphone and we all tell them that when they bring it up. My typical response is, "who are you going to call? You are either at school, home, church or school function. Or with another adult that I know how to get ahold of and they know how to contact me. I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!"

[USA_Mom]

As an off topic I don't get the need for a child to have a cell phone at school or functions especially. Now we do lend ours to our 15-year-old when he's at practice or something (sometimes usually a friend has one) so he can call when he's ready to come home. But my daughter did ask for one. I did give her one. Our nonfunctioning one I believe it was last August (2006). She didn't ask for cell service I think now that she realizes (1) you can't use them at school and (2) it isn't just the cost of a cell phone but a monthly bill, her thrifty side kicked in.

Dawn sorry for changing the subject. I think Plano would be a good choice for y'all or even McKinney if he ends up in Sherman. Right now we're in Allen.

[DawnW25]

Originally Posted by mysterymachinebl

You might try northern sections of Dallas or Richardson. I live in central/east Dallas and drive to the Spring Creek & Tollway area and it takes me about 35-40 minutes either way taking the back roads, so it wouldn't be a bad drive really since he'd be going against traffic.

Thanks, mysterymachine! Does this mean we could live in places like Lakewood or Highland Park, which I've been hearing so many good things about? I'm really flexible about where we live as long as I have trees, a house with rooms big enough for what I have (mostly a room big enough for my exercise equipment, which I use regularly, believe it or not ), and great schools and shopping nearby.

Dawn

[DawnW25]

Thanks, momof2dfw! I'm writing down all the areas you mention. I think our problem is going to be too many choices . That's not a bad thing. I love exploring new neighborhoods and going to open houses and just the whole process of finding a great place to live. When we were in Austin it seemed like we ran out of options pretty quickly. It was SO expensive when we were there! (1997-2000)

I've found so many houses I want on the Ebby Halliday site. I told my husband we have to move NOW, but TI wants him here to help close out the plant. He will get a large chunk of change for doing that, so I guess it's worth it.

My daughter wears some pretty outlandish clothing combinations, too, so I know what you mean...LOL.

I just can't wait to get out there! I haven't been this excited about a move in a long time (we've moved a lot).

Thanks again,

Dawn

[DawnW25]

Thanks, unexpected, Pintea, KayKay, FarNorthDallas, MountainPharmD, and USA_Mom.

From reading more on here, I gather Plano isn't quite the "snoburb" I had heard. I just didn't want my daughter going through what I went through in school--"Where did you get THOSE shoes?" You get the idea. I see a lot of nice homes in Plano with big trees and nice yards. There's definitely a lot to be said for living near your work! We've never been able to do that before.

Thanks again!

Dawn

[average_joe]

You'd do fine with Plano, Allen, or Mckinney, or any of the surrounding areas. I live/d in Mckinney and had martial arts classes in Plano on Spring Creek. I drove right past TI and the travel time was about 15-20 minutes max. I also used to work at TI and went to the Texins gym at Spring Creek all the time.
Joe

[RichResident]

Originally Posted by DawnW25

My husband's company, Texas Instruments, may relocate him to their Spring Creek location, which is on Chase Oaks Blvd. between High Point Park Athletic Fields and the 75 in Plano. The other option is Sherman, but I've posted about that and gotten plenty of good info for that location.

Where would be a good place to live so the commute would be easy? I'm concerned about Plano because some have said it lacks character and also I don't want my daughter having to have the right clothes or she's made fun of. I grew up with that and it was really stressful.

Richardson is good choice especially if you rent first. Someone said "Allen, Frisco, or McKinney" but If I understand the social parameters in your post, those have the same problems you wanted to avoid in Plano. In fact, in those places those things you would want to avoid would be worse. Your kids are going to get weird social pressures anyway. Its going to be slightly different in different places. People who tell you that your kids aren't going to get that pressure or their kids don't get those pressures in Plano, or anywhere are, in all likelihood, kidding themselves. The tight "uppity" social pressures are more prevalent those places like Plano, Allen, etc but they are going to be everywhere to some extent.

The fact is if you rent first in Richardson you can look around and see what you like. It may be that Sherman or up that way is a good choice but its quite a haul to make that commitment right off the bat. You could always choose it after a year or you may decide Plano is not so bad.

RichResident.

[bookworm2768]

Congratulations on the upcoming move. We moved here in October and live just west of Plano in Carrollton. Carrollton is an older more established neigborhood with a huge system of parks and greenbelts. The houses tend to be older and you don't get the cookie cutter feel. Frankly, I think Plano is just gorgeous. I guess we used to live in a cookie cutter neighborhood and I like the feel of a newer home There are plenty of well established neighborhoods and the schools are good too. If it weren't for a specific program we need at CFBISD I'd buy our home in Plano! I haven't heard of it being an extraordinarily snobbish area. Frankly, you'll have your snobs in every school, no matter where you go.
Also, we came down for a couple of visits before deciding where to rent (we're renting for half a year until we decide where to buy) and I would highly recommend it. There are plenty of crummy areas in DFW and driving around is the best way to figure out where you may want to live. Good luck!