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I changed my mind about my lengthy post but basically this: I am genuinely curious what people think about these towns (Cedar Hill, Desoto, Duncanville etc). What is the perception? I admit, it might be heavily biased here, as I've read that Dallas city data forum users are almost always in the north suburbs, or north Dallas. Anyway, what are the perceptions about this area? What do you have to back up whether or not you would say it's "nice" in this area? What do you think the future is for this area?
And I live in one of these cities, btw, but am a transplant from another part of the country and my husband and I are still not 100% sure how we feel about staying around here.
I'm not really sure what you're trying to get at. There have been some threads about the "Best Southwest" suburbs recently and I think they've been pretty fair and accurate. They're much less busy than threads discussing the northern suburbs because most posters here haven't spent much time in SW Dallas County. I think they get a bit of a bum rap because of their demographics, but it's not as though people asking about them on these forums are being given bad information or discouraged from moving there for anything other than concerns over the public school systems.
As far as the future for the area, I don't see much changing any time soon. Almost all of the new businesses and employment centers in DFW are going in to the north in places like Frisco, Plano, and Richardson. SW Dallas County will continue to be a relatively stable and largely middle class area with more diverse demographics than the northern suburbs. With a few specific exceptions, all 4 cities are fine places and will continue to be fine places... but I wouldn't expect big changes or development in the near future.
I'm not really sure what you're trying to get at. There have been some threads about the "Best Southwest" suburbs recently and I think they've been pretty fair and accurate. They're much less busy than threads discussing the northern suburbs because most posters here haven't spent much time in SW Dallas County. I think they get a bit of a bum rap because of their demographics, but it's not as though people asking about them on these forums are being given bad information or discouraged from moving there for anything other than concerns over the public school systems.
As far as the future for the area, I don't see much changing any time soon. Almost all of the new businesses and employment centers in DFW are going in to the north in places like Frisco, Plano, and Richardson. SW Dallas County will continue to be a relatively stable and largely middle class area with more diverse demographics than the northern suburbs. With a few specific exceptions, all 4 cities are fine places and will continue to be fine places... but I wouldn't expect big changes or development in the near future.
Depends on the type of diversity though. The Southwestern suburbs will always have a much larger black community and a slightly larger Hispanic community. The Northern Burbs will have more foreign born Indians, Asians, Europeans, etc.
You can write a novel on the rather sordid history of the North/South Dallas divide. I won't rehash it here, but yeah it is definitely based on a lot of racial and socioeconomic paranoia. And it probably puts Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Lancaster, etc. at a structural disadvantage compared to other cities in DFW.
I personally have no issue with that area. The scenery of Cedar Hill alone would make it a top suburb in any other city besides Dallas. In fact I have a relative who owns a beautiful place in Lake Ridge (they technically live on the Grand Prairie side). And for much cheaper than anything in Frisco, McKinney, FM, etc.
I think the main issue with these areas now isn't so much demographics as it is lack of job opportunities. Whereas in most places, the core of white collar jobs are in downtown and the burbs more or less coalesce around the perimeter. Here, Downtown Dallas is merely just one node amongst a series of sprawling job hubs, almost all of them skewing north. That's not to say there aren't jobs down that way (you've got the intermodal hub for one). But if you are a mid manager type and can't work locally or snag a job downtown, you'll have a pretty hellish commute coming from that area. For a lot of people that makes Cedar Hill and SW Dallas County a no go.
I am genuinely curious what people think about these towns. What is the perception? I admit, it might be heavily biased here, as I've read that Dallas city data forum users are almost always in the north suburbs, or north Dallas. Anyway, what are the perceptions about this area? What do you have to back up whether or not you would say it's "nice" in this area? What do you think the future is for this area?
You probably know more about that area than 99% of the regular posters in this forum, because you're right... the northern suburbs are overwhelmingly where most posters reside, and the ones that don't, are in nice enclaves in Dallas county somewhere.
In all my years in the DFW area, I have only been in De Soto, Duncanville, and Lancaster once or twice, and usually it was because I was buying something for cheap, which may have easily been stolen for all I know.
Bought some appliances in Duncanville before from a "scratch and dent" type warehouse when doing a remodel.
From my experience/perspective... there's simply nothing there for anyone like me to need to go there. Arlington, for example, at least has Six Flags, baseball and football to get people out there. As far as shopping/restaurants/amenities, I don't need to go any further south than Plano, and certainly not further south than Dallas itself.
I have no experience with the school system there.
There really is no "perception" of the area to me... it's a quick blur to the left and right as I drive down to Austin. I think long term (VERY long term) when northern expansion hits Oklahoma, you'll start to have people thinking that buying a house closer to Dallas might be better from a commute standpoint. Some developers will come in and start building nice new homes.
For any of that stuff to happen though, the area has to be seen as desirable to live in by the majority, and right now, the majority don't think about that part of the metroplex at all.
Depends on the type of diversity though. The Southwestern suburbs will always have a much larger black community and a slightly larger Hispanic community. The Northern Burbs will have more foreign born Indians, Asians, Europeans, etc.
True, and I didn't mean to suggest that the northern suburbs lack diversity. Compared to most of the country I think the whole DFW area tends to be more diverse and mixed than a lot of places. I think "diversity" often means non-white in the common vernacular. The 4 cities in mention have combined Hispanic/black populations of between 65%-80%.
Quote:
Originally Posted by #1soonerfan
I think the main issue with these areas now isn't so much demographics as it is lack of job opportunities. Whereas in most places, the core of white collar jobs are in downtown and the burbs more or less coalesce around the perimeter. Here, Downtown Dallas is merely just one node amongst a series of sprawling job hubs, almost all of them skewing north. That's not to say there aren't jobs down that way (you've got the intermodal hub for one). But if you are a mid manager type and can't work locally or snag a job downtown, you'll have a pretty hellish commute coming from that area. For a lot of people that makes Cedar Hill and SW Dallas County a no go.
This is a very good point and what I was alluding to as well. I think if you mapped the "geographic center" of more white collar type work in the greater Dallas area (not including Tarrant County), it's probably moved north 10+ miles in the past 10-15 years.
Yes, I have to chuckle now about the word "diversity". Living down here, in the neighborhood we're in, I do a double take when I see a white person (I am white). I guess diversity means non-white even if basically the whole city is non-white.
But anyway. My husband works near Love Field and I stay home. When and if we are able to buy (we are renting) I am wondering if being on the other side of the metroplex is worth the significantly higher home prices. Many of the popular north of Dallas suburbs would be a very similar commute to what he has now. It's right around 45 minutes.
Yes, I have to chuckle now about the word "diversity". Living down here, in the neighborhood we're in, I do a double take when I see a white person (I am white). I guess diversity means non-white even if basically the whole city is non-white.
But anyway. My husband works near Love Field and I stay home. When and if we are able to buy (we are renting) I am wondering if being on the other side of the metroplex is worth the significantly higher home prices. Many of the popular north of Dallas suburbs would be a very similar commute to what he has now. It's right around 45 minutes.
I think if you are staying home and one of you _has_ to have a horrible commute, then living in the northern part of town wouldn't be a bad decision. Many of my coworkers have a similar arrangement where their wives stay home but they commute. Some homes in the northern part of Dallas can be more affordable, with the obvious age/size trade off.
Funny thing is, there have been more jobs added in the I-20 corridor over the last couple of years than anywhere else in the metroplex. That corridor is booming.
I changed my mind about my lengthy post but basically this: I am genuinely curious what people think about these towns (Cedar Hill, Desoto, Duncanville etc). What is the perception? I admit, it might be heavily biased here, as I've read that Dallas city data forum users are almost always in the north suburbs, or north Dallas. Anyway, what are the perceptions about this area? What do you have to back up whether or not you would say it's "nice" in this area? What do you think the future is for this area?
And I live in one of these cities, btw, but am a transplant from another part of the country and my husband and I are still not 100% sure how we feel about staying around here.
This forum is heavily and overwhelmingly dominated by posters in northern Dallas and the northern suburbs. Its been that way since I joined back in 2007 and remains that way today. I do believe that perceptions about the area, at least on this forum, have improved significantly. Eight years ago, the few who inquired about any of the southern suburbs would often be told to look elsewhere, often by people living in other parts of DFW and little to no direct experiences with the communities they were steering people from. There are still blanket generalizations and negativity that pops up from time to time. With more members from the area joining and participating over the years, however, its much less of a problem now. When seen as a viable option to a poster, its no longer uncommon to see Cedar Hill, DeSoto, or Lancaster being recommended for consideration. The wholesale "writing off" of every single school and school district south of Dallas has also calmed down to an extent.
The southern suburbs haven't stopped growing and while the pace is not as fast as some of the northern suburbs, this isn't a metro area where suburbs on one 'side' are losing large numbers of residents and businesses to another 'side.' There has been business growth in the area, Cedar Hill's development into a shopping/retail hub and the major logistics investment occurring along the I-20 corridor are good examples. I don't think people in other areas are aware of the logistics boom taking place. There's not a huge corporate presence yet, but you have to start somewhere. A notable wildcard is UNT-Dallas, there are ambitious plans for the campus and surrounding areas. If that could move forward, the whole area would benefit. Even with all the recent growth, Cedar Hill and Lancaster aren't even half 'built-out' yet and neither or some of the smaller towns further south, so the southern suburbs still have a lot of potential. They may never be the "it" places to live in DFW, which changes from place to place every couple of years, but can still offer a good quality of life for those choosing to live there.
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