Moving to Dallas area, what's best? (Fort Worth, Plano: apartments, for rent, credit)

[BelindaVal]

We're moving from Southern California, but still undecided about where to settle exactly. I would like a city with a diverse population, nice, affordable housing in a nice area and good schools. We want a public elementary school with a relatively small number of students, where teachers can spend enough one-on-one time with each child (leaning towards a charter school). We'll rent for 6 months to a year before buying a house. We've heard nice things about Plano, Carrollton, McKinney, and other nearby cities. Can anyone recommend cities that might fit these needs or a good school? Can anyone tell me about Vista Academy in Carrollton? If it helps, my husband and I are both self-employed but it wouldn't hurt to be close to an area with job opportunities, not a deal-breaker though. Thanks in advance!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

What is your budget?

[Grainraiser]

Need more info like your budget. Do you want a newer home or one with character. Would you prefer a urban enviroment or suburban life. More information please.

[ChristieP]

What kind of job opportunities? There are jobs and employers all over DFW...
As others have asked, we also need to know your budget.

[BelindaVal]

Oops, we want to pay $700 to $1,000 for rent, 2 bd/2ba. Eventually, we'd like to buy a 4bd/2ba house for up to 300K. As for job opportunities, I'm a technical writer; I don't know how the job market is for this field. Thanks for your help.

[ChristieP]

That rent budget is too low unless you are willing to look at apartments. It takes at least $1500, and preferably $2000, to rent a home in DFW. 2/2 homes are very uncommon here. Most are 3/2 or larger.

You need to find a job before you decide where to live. DFW is HUGE and commutes here can be notoriously long. For example, you don't want to live in Fort Worth and commute to Richardson every day!

[BelindaVal]

We'll be renting an apartment. We're both self-employed at the moment so we can live anywhere, the schools and diverse population are more important factors. I mentioned the job opportunities because I might want a change in the future but it's not crucial right now. Thanks.

[Sushi cake]

Carrollton or Richardson can put you in a rather central position and both have apartments within your budget.

[BelindaVal]

Thanks, Sushi Cake. The schools feature greatly in our decision to move. The school system in California is getting progressively worse. My children are transferring from a school with an average of 26 students in each class, and this was the best school in the district two years ago. Since education in Texas is highly rated, is there a noticeable difference between public and private schools? and between charter and regular public schools?

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by BelindaVal

Thanks, Sushi Cake. The schools feature greatly in our decision to move. The school system in California is getting progressively worse. My children are transferring from a school with an average of 26 students in each class, and this was the best school in the district two years ago. Since education in Texas is highly rated, is there a noticeable difference between public and private schools? and between charter and regular public schools?

Hmm. Interesting comparison between Cali and Texas schools. California has more top notch public universities than any other state, even accounting for it's large population. As for K-12, Texas typically ranks about 25-30th on the national scale (taking into account measures like dropout rate, % of students going onto college, and SAT/ACT scores). California's K-12 schools are typically in the top 5 out of 50 states. So overall, Texas' public education is worse than California's.

There are some fabulous public schools in Texas- and a few of the top state districts/ schoola are located in DFW. These schools typically tend to be in more expensive neighborhoods like Highland Park ISD, Southlake Carroll ISD, Coppell ISD, Flower Mound schools in Lewisville ISD, and Plano ISD. Of those, Plano is the only one where you will find significant amounts of housing at $300k & below. They won't be brand new homes for $300k so keep your Texas expectations in check. Also, property taxes fund the majority of public education in Texas and are NOT cheap. Plan to pay approx 2-3% of your home's value in annual taxes - ie, $6000-9000 EACH YEAR on that $300k home.

Classroom size is state mandated. The max in K-4 is 22 students and the max in 5-12 is around 35. Overcrowded schools can get waivers approved to exceed the class size max if needed. It is NOT uncommon to see elementary school classes in the 25-30 student range at popular schools. Public education funding is a gigantic mess in Texas. Research the "Robin Hood" funding act for all the gory details.

As far as public vs private vs charter, yes, there is a huge difference between the elite private schools and even the top publics. A top public school may have 3-4% of senior class making National Merit Semi-Finalist (based on PSAT/SAT scores), whereas the top private schools have 15-25% of their senior classes making the cut. National average is .5% of class, to give you a comparison. There are about 8-10 elite private high schools and about 15 elite K-8 schools in the DFW area, the majority located in the city of Dallas or Fort Worth. Then, there are a ton more private schools which are no better than their local publics and tend to appeal to families wanting a private religious-based school (Catholic, Baptist, etc). Class sizes will be MUCH smaller in private schools vs public schools; some of the top private schools have 2 teachers per classroom in some of the lower grades.

I don't know a lot about charter schools except that the top ones are a crapshoot to get into (all lottery based; not merit or application based). Northern Hills Prep in Irving is the top area charter. There are a bunch of for-profit type charter schools that are always in the press for mis-management of funds, nepotism amongst owners & administration, or not being accredited so do your research carefully and extensively if going the charter route.