Relocating to Dallas from Boston Area (Arlington, Plano: for sale, to rent, condo)

[Dana02072]

We are thinking about relocating to the Dallas area from a suburb of Boston. My husband will be in Dallas at one of his two offices, one is at Comerica Bank Tower
1717 Main Street. And the other on 12404 Park Central Drive. I have been doing a lot of reading up on the area, but wanted to get some advice on where we should look into living. My husband would love to keep the commute down to about 30 mins. We have 2 kids one will start Kindergarten and the other will be in 2nd grade. We are looking for amazing schools. We'd love to be in a neighborhood in the suburbs that has a small town feel. But with shopping and restaurants near by. I think we may rent first to be sure we love where we choose, but we'd most likely buy in 6-12mos after we get there. It would be great if we could get it right the first time to avoid switching schools, but that's a chance we'll have to take. We would love to stay in the home buying price of $300 or under (the property taxes are higher in TX). If anyone could give suggestions that would be great!! Thanks for the help!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Dana02072

We are thinking about relocating to the Dallas area from a suburb of Boston. My husband will be in Dallas at one of his two offices, one is at Comerica Bank Tower
1717 Main Street. And the other on 12404 Park Central Drive. I have been doing a lot of reading up on the area, but wanted to get some advice on where we should look into living. My husband would love to keep the commute down to about 30 mins. We have 2 kids one will start Kindergarten and the other will be in 2nd grade. We are looking for amazing schools. We'd love to be in a neighborhood in the suburbs that has a small town feel. But with shopping and restaurants near by. I think we may rent first to be sure we love where we choose, but we'd most likely buy in 6-12mos after we get there. It would be great if we could get it right the first time to avoid switching schools, but that's a chance we'll have to take. We would love to stay in the home buying price of $300 or under (the property taxes are higher in TX). If anyone could give suggestions that would be great!! Thanks for the help!

You're going to be hard-pressed to find a home zoned to "amazing" public schools for $300k that is within 30 minutes (rush hour) of the middle of the city. 30 minutes is 10-15 miles in rush hour traffic . Where you can find a home for $300k, be prepared to compete with all cash offers and bidding wars. Well-prices homes are not staying on the market for more than a few days and are often sold before a "for sale" sign even gets in the yard.

Richardson ISD (look for homes ultimately zoned to Pearce, Richardson, or Lake Highlands IF it's zoned to LHJH not Forest Meadow) will be your best bet. The next suburb out is Plano. Central Plano will have homes in your price range. They will likely be outdated and will be over 30 minutes to downtown.

If you're willing to rent for a few years, there are some great elementary schools in Dallas ISD that would cut the commute times down considerably. Lakewood, Stonewall Jackson, Withers, DeGoyler, Kramer, Rosemont, etc. The gamble is with middle school - DISD public middle schools are not good and you'd want to make sure your kids were accepted into a magnet school for grades 6-12. That's a very competitive process.

Another thought is to look for jobs in Collin County where the northern suburbs like McKinney and Allen do have homes under $300k and pretty good schools. Your commute would be more manageable.

The Dallas area is not as cheap as it was 5+ years ago. Yes, you'll get a newer & probably larger home than in the Boston area but it will likely cost A LOT more than you are anticipating.

[xS☺B☺s]

IDK about "small town feel" in DFW either. If you took Plano, a typical suburb, and plopped it down outside Boston it would cover Cambridge Somerville Medford Malden Salem and Arlington altogether. Near shopping and restaurants in DFW generally means within a mile or two. Not walking distance. Nothing is walkable here. Imagine the whole entire metro area like one big Framingham. But no town center. And no trees. And no New England charm.

Turtle knows all (except museums ), and she's basically suggesting you aim for my neighborhood. She's pointing you to Lake Highlands - the swankier side (think JP nice part). I live on the skankier side - think JP, scrappier part. Houses in my hood go below 200K. You could find the bargain deal in the swankier hoods like Lakewood (JP, mansion area), University Park (Brookline) or Highland Park (pricey Brookline).

City of Richardson is prolly a good idea for your price. School qualities are prolly like Salem - better section of Lynn. My kids go to RISD in almost exactly the ones Turtle mentioned. They get a C grade from me. We tried Plano schools when we got here. No better IMO or my son's (he went to the Hurley School in the South End up to 4th grade). Richardson sits in Dallas sorta like Brookline sits in B. It'll fit the commute goals. Community is sorta like putting Malden Medford Revere and Lynn together. Middle /working class - 1960's housing stock (1800 sq ft ranches). Schools way better than DOT, maybe not as good as Cambridge, definitely not Newton.

Next town north is as Turtle said Plano. Newer housing stock, bigger houses, mcmansions, sprawl, kinda a stepford wives nightmare IMO. People are nice enough, kinda plastic tho - and more bible thumping than Richardson or Dallas. Clean, twig trees on east side, better on west.

Garland might be okay too, though getting a little father away. Mostly Mexicans. I like Mexicans. Nice families, friendly, good food. Kinda interesting living with them. Sorta like being on another planet. I take my daughter to play at the McDonalds indoor playlands where she plays all day happily with pretty little Latinas.

That covers north and east. One other idea is Las Colinas or Irving. I'm not sure if there is a nice section of Irving with good schools or not. I think it's sorta like Lynn - mostly eh with a couple good spots. Las Colinas is sorta like McBeverly Hills. 100 years from now it'll prolly be sweet. It's pretty. Prolly mostly treeless though - which is a big deal when it 100 degrees here for 60+ days.

That all said, I'll just mention pros and cons.

Pros: Friendly people, good retail shopping, TexMex, convenient to Mexico, no snow, good roads, uncongested, affordable.
Cons: Hot as hell summers, two sometimes brutal allergy seasons, dry, treeless, no river, no ocean, endless commutes, constant epic car wrecks, lacks history, unwalkable.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by xS☺B☺s

Turtle knows all (except museums)

I have no idea what this means...

Originally Posted by xS☺B☺s

You could find the bargain deal in the swankier hoods like Lakewood (JP, mansion area), University Park (Brookline) or Highland Park (pricey Brookline).

There is NO WAY they'll find a house in UP or HP for $300k. Tiny cottages on major streets run about $700k with single family cottages on neighborhood streets starting at $1M.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I have no idea what this means...

Not to worry, NBD. Just my minor disagreement w you about that lame rock collection "sculpture museum" outside the DMA.

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

There is NO WAY they'll find a house in UP or HP for $300k. Tiny cottages on major streets run about $700k with single family cottages on neighborhood streets starting at $1M.

I saw several listing on another site beginning with Z today. Like two in UP and two in HP. Was kinda wondering how that happens - maybe you can tell me ...

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by xS☺B☺s

I saw several listing on another site beginning with Z today. Like two in UP and two in HP. Was kinda wondering how that happens - maybe you can tell me ...

Maybe a townhouse or a condo.

[Dana02072]

Thanks you two!!!
Few follow up questions...What is ISD? And what the heck is a magnet school? Why is it competitive to get into?
The traffic there is what everyone talks about, but why doesn't anyone talk about DART? Is this an option? Are there any other ways to roll if we are further out, like McKinney area?
What would the commute look like from Frisco, or Rockwall?
And WHAT, you can't find any water there, river, lake, nothing?? Can we swim somewhere? Looking forward to the heat, buried in snow over here....hahaha.

[stephwin]

ISD - independent school district. They do not follow city boundaries. For example, Plano ISD, Lewisville ISD, Frisco ISD, and probably some others are within the city of Plano's boundaries. You want to focus on the ISD, not necessarily the city.

You can take DART from the suburbs, but it involves driving to a DART station, parking your car (and potentially paying for parking, depending on what city you live in), and then riding the train into Dallas.

Our lakes aren't exactly the best for swimming. Boating, yes. Swimming, meh. At least I wouldn't swim in most of the lakes around here.

[Aceraceae]

There is a public transportation stigma here. That said, if you live and work near a DART train station it works. I know a few people that take it from Plano to Downtown.

I would not recommend McKinney to Downtown Dallas. If your job is in Collin County it's a good place to live. Same with most of Frisco IMO. However, there are people who do that commute(Dallas).

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Dana02072

Thanks you two!!!
Few follow up questions...What is ISD? And what the heck is a magnet school? Why is it competitive to get into?
The traffic there is what everyone talks about, but why doesn't anyone talk about DART? Is this an option? Are there any other ways to roll if we are further out, like McKinney area?
What would the commute look like from Frisco, or Rockwall?
And WHAT, you can't find any water there, river, lake, nothing?? Can we swim somewhere? Looking forward to the heat, buried in snow over here....hahaha.

ISD means Independent School District. In Texas, school districts draw their own borders that don't always correspond with city limits. Hence, you can live in the city of Dallas and be zoned to Dallas ISD, Richardson ISD , Plano ISD, or Highland Park ISD depending on your exact address. Never assume a home you're looking at is zoned to the school district of the same name, always verify schools.

Magnet schools are schools for top performing students, usually with a specialty (K-8 tend to be Montessori or Gifted & Talented, 9-12 are TAG, Science & Engineering, Arts, etc focused). They are application based and students will need to test and possibly interview for a spot. With regards to DISD, it's an urban district where 90% of the students are eligible for income based free lunch. The majority of the district's neighborhood schools are low performing (though there are some bright spots in elementary schools), but two of it's magnet schools are among the TOP 5 PUBLIC HS in the USA. So obviously there is a ton of competition to get into a free public school that is much higher quality than the neighborhood schools. The district appropriates a certain number of magnet slots to each geographic region of the city to ensure a balanced and diverse student body - ie, they won't allow an entire magnet school to be full of wealthy white kids from Preston Hollow or Lakewood. Hence, if you're applying from a more educated part of town, your chances of getting in are even lower. I believe the district graduates about 8,000 seniors each year. About 400-500 are graduating from magnet schools.

DART works well IF you can manage to get your work and your office near a dart station. For instance, in Plano DART runs along the east (75) side of the city. If you live in West Plano, it could take you 25 minutes to drive across Plano and then 45 minutes on DART and 10 minute walk to office. You could drive it door to door in 40 minutes so DART isn't efficient for half of Plano's population. Make sense? If you live in Frisco, McKinney, or Rockwall, there is no DART rail as those cities haven't paid in to the rail network. Your only option is to drive.

There are dozens of lakes around the DFW area. Most are suffering from low water levels because we've been on a major drought the last few years but there are swimming holes at most area lakes like Lake Ray Hubbard, Joe Pool Lake, etc. However, most people swim in their backyard or community pools, not in lakes.