Relocating from MS to Dallas VA (DeSoto, Duncanville: 2013, low crime, employment)

[Nolagirl09]

I need some really good sound advice. I just received an offer to work at the Dallas VA on Lancaster. I am a single mom and will be making 45k. My son is in elementary school makes all As at a school of arts graded a 10. What's important to me is living in an area with great schools and low crime (no hood or ghetto) he's very involved in sports (basketball and baseball) so having leagues near would be nice as well. I don't mind us living in a 1 bedroom apt for a few months until I kinda figure out the area. I'm scared of crazy commutes. My work schedule is 7am to 3:30pm. just wanting a nice area that I can put him on the school bus/ before school child care and be at work by 7a. Is that possible? 🙏🏼

[Acntx]

Hello nolagirl09,

We regularly receive inquiries from people who have been offered employment at VA and are looking for places to live. The neighborhoods in and around the VA aren't the best, but there are options a little further out in southwestern Dallas (Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Lancaster, Glenn Heights, Duncanville) and northern Ellis (Red Oak, Waxahachie) counties, which meet most of your stated criteria and are worth considering. I'm a longtime resident of the area and the suburbs south of Dallas have grown significantly in recent years, attracting new residents and development. While they aren't as popular as the suburbs north of Dallas, you can enjoy a good quality of life here.

Regarding education, there decent public schools in the southern suburbs where children can receive a quality education. They don't not receive much attention in this forum and there is a tendency to completely "write off" entire districts with little regard for individual school performance (particularly at the elementary and middle school levels), specialty programs offered (gifted/talented, special education, AP, IB, etc.), and other indicators that may be important to one family and not so much to another. Once you narrow down your search, I highly recommend contacting the school district to see what academic programs and resources will best serve your children's needs. These districts, like others, are regularly adding new courses and programs each year. Several public charter schools also serve the area, so there are quite a few public options available without going private.

There are other neighborhoods/areas that could work as well. I'm not as familiar with them, so hopefully some of our forum regulars can recommend places to look within Dallas and points north and east.

Here are several other VA-related threads with detailed information that you might find helpful:

//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...dallas-tx.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...-maryland.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...dallas-va.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...as-2013-a.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...orking-va.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...arlington.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...-hospital.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...dallas-va.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...las-texas.html

Hope this helps

[mSooner]

My work schedule is 7am to 3:30pm. just wanting a nice area that I can put him on the school bus/ before school child care and be at work by 7a. Is that possible?

This might be the hardest part. I'm not sure what normal hours for before school care is, but anything earlier than 6 am is probably going to be difficult to find and you will not be able to afford a long commute, even if you are willing. What Acntx posted is true--you can make it work in south Dallas, but you will have to work harder to find it. You might consider seeing if you can find a local family that could do before school care for you?

[Nolagirl09]

Thanks mSooner and Acntx!!! That narrows down the list a lot! The local family may be my best option. Thanks!