Indian family relocating from St Louis, looking for LESS Indian neighborhood (Houston: home, neighborhoods)

[stl2dfw]

I really hope my first post doesn't come across as discriminatory so please hear me out sorry for the long post.

My wife and I have options to work remotely so we are considering relocating from St Louis, MO to a major city to provide our family more options in terms of career, schools, universities, recreation, diversity etc. We narrowed it down to Dallas or Austin, after considering places like Raleigh, Chicago and Denver (California is WAY too expensive!). Of the 2, we think Dallas may be more practical since my job requires 30% travel and Dallas definitely has better connectivity.

My wife and I are originally from India but we spent equal time living in and out of India, in our formative years. That exposure to diverse cultures, people and progressive thought, has shaped our own outlook and perspective. We were hoping major cities in the US can provide similar exposure to our kids.

When we visited Dallas recently, we found some areas to be filled with people who look just like us! One such neighborhood was "Richwood" in Plano. While Plano and Frisco seem well situated and it was really exciting to see all the development happening in Legacy West, we also want to be sure our kids don't end up in schools with overly competitive academics. I had hated that during my growing up years in India and don't wish to subject my kids to that!

That said, we are looking for neighborhoods and schools that-

1) Have a good blend of academics, arts, sports and diversity. Both our kids are into music and sports and are in gifted programs (they are currently among the top 3% in their grades).
3) Our older kid is getting ready for high school and the younger one into middle school, next year. That's the reason we are considering doing this in term for the next academic school year (May/June 2018).
4) Since my wife and I work remotely, travel time is not a real concern.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions/inputs....

[MurphyPl1]

Murphy. My end of the street has 3 white families. An Iranian family two Vietnamese, black and Hispanic. The guy behind me is Pakastani and the guy next to him is Indian.

Excellent schools all the way thru HS. 5 square miles and people get to know one another. Small town feel.

[dhakaia]

inevitable question... price-range for the house?

[unexpected]

I like Murphy, but not exactly where you want to go if you want to "avoid Indians."

OP, I'm Indian-American, I grew up in Plano. If avoiding Indians is important to you, I would avoid Plano and Frisco (unfortunately the two areas you mentioned you like).

I would like at Allen and McKinney (McKinney will be further out for you). A darkhorse which you may not have even though of: Southlake. This would be perfect also because it's very close to DFW, and would make it easy for your job (McKinney and Allen not so much).

If you give a price range, we can be more helpful.

[compSciGuy]

I wouldn't throw Chicago or Denver out of the equation as they are both very convenient for travel (and are probably more "progressive" in thought if that is a concern for you).

If you look at the Plano and Frisco school district websites you are able to find demographic information for the schools. I can't speak for the middle or high schools, but it seems that once an area reaches around 35% "Asian" for the elementary school, that the Whites start to leave and almost exclusively Asians will move into the area.

My daughters' schools (elementary and middle) have Asian majorities. I don't dislike them for being too competitive because I don't feel that they are, but the environment isn't so good from a social perspective. It's mainly Indians only associating with Indians, Chinese only associating with Chinese, Whites only associating with Whites, etc.

I don't really feel like the books are good, and the teachers are hit-or-miss. Many Asian parents will say that the teachers push any issues with learning onto the Asian parents to fix. A good thing with the Asian heavy schools is that since the schools are teaching to the bottom, there will be higher expectations, but still I don't find the most competitive schools to be that academically focused, and many of the students seem to be coming out speaking English with the grammar of their peer group (Indian, Chinese, etc.) mixed with sloppy English.

I do sometimes feel that the kids end up doing a lot of busywork that they'll later forget that's not really that useful.

On a side note, sports in the schools aren't that competitive, however, there is noticeable competition if your kids want to participate outside of school (i.e., my daughter is participating in multiple sports where she has access to people with experience coaching Olympic-level athletes).

[chicagobear]

So what were the issues with St. Louis? It is 3 million people, which is still pretty good sized, and the suburban schools are good with good universities. The airport is pretty limited these days though.

[MurphyPl1]

Oh I didn't realize the OP wanted no Indians. Yes we have a good size population but it in way resembles the above posters comment. We have about 50 languages spoken at Hunt and Bogges - I know their from their Internation Day celebrations. I don't know people who flee. I do know 28 families that have moved from one Murphy home to another. About half within the same neighborhood.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

Oh I didn't realize the OP wanted no Indians. Yes we have a good size population but it in way resembles the above posters comment. We have about 50 languages spoken at Hunt and Bogges - I know their from their Internation Day celebrations. I don't know people who flee. I do know 28 families that have moved from one Murphy home to another. About half within the same neighborhood.

Murphy is India central. I have an Indian co worker who moved to Murphy specifically because there are a lot of people who speak her language living there and her mom who lives with her and her husband needed people she can communicate with. That being said, nice town, nothing against it but like others have said NOT the place to go to if you want to avoid Indians.

Other places to stay away from
Plano
Frisco
Valley Ranch
Los Colinas
Coppell
Sunnyvale
Castle Hills/North Carrollton
Richardson
Flower Mound

Allen and McKinney also have substantial numbers of Indians just not to the extent of the towns above.

Decent cities with low numbers of Indians (not zero mind you)
Prosper (for now but I feel this will change in the next ten years)
Lucas
Wylie
South lake
Colleyville
Grapevine
Forney
Little Elm
Forney
Keller
Sachse
Parker
Rockwall

[stl2dfw]

Wow, I am amazed at the overwhelming response! THANK YOU!!!!

Couple of clarifications -

- I was not implying zero Indians, I wasnt looking to be a pioneer anyplace. Lol
- Price Range (completely missed this in my original post) - $600K or under
- Did not think about Allen and McKinney, will definitely consider that in my search.
- And lastly, St Louis, despite all its flaws, is a really neat city. Our purpose for relocation are to look at places where we are relatively close to family (wife has lots of family in Dallas and Houston), good universities that our kids could benefit from, warm weather, international hub and the benefits of living in a relatively large metro.

[UnfairPark]

Rich woods isn't in Plano, it's in Frisco. If you want good location and good schools but less Indians than look at far West Plano. I attend church there and that area doesn't have much diversity, very lily white, mostly private schooling families.

I live in Plano around Park & Preston and it's a very balanced area compared to rest of Collin County, though more Indians then far west side.