Trying to find safe, quiet neighborhood in northern Dallas

[AlterEgo42]

Originally Posted by cmm2391

Hi all,

Thank you for the quick replies, I really appreciate it.

First, to @stan4, looking for rental houses.

Secondly, I should define "nice". I'm from a great neighborhood in Little Rock and my girlfriend from a smaller town in SE Arkansas. I spent 2.5 years prior to moving here in Raleigh, NC while girlfriend was in Fayetteville, AR. We both went to school at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville prior to that. All of these places are definitely smaller than Dallas and with that have less crime (total crime, at least - yes I know there are crime to population ratios, but no need to go down that rabbit hole), quieter neighborhoods, etc. This isn't to say that any smaller city is immediately nicer than Dallas - just that we're used to low-key areas.

In terms of actual things I'd do differently in dangerous/non-dangerous, nice/not nice, etc. neighborhoods, or random things I can think off of the top of my head:
- I'd feel comfortable going for a leisurely stroll at night
- I'd feel comfortable taking a weekend trip and knowing the house and it's contents are safe
- I would never expect to hear gunshots or commotion
- I'd feel comfortable letting the dog(s) out back at night to do their business or run around a little.
- Most importantly, I'd feel comfortable with my girlfriend leaving the house and getting in her car (or opening/closing garage to drive out) at all hours of the day and night. She typically leaves for work before the sun is up.

I definitely realize that no area will be perfectly immaculate with regards to crime. I realize there will be days/nights that are outliers where a car is broken into, etc., but I would definitely not expect this to be the norm. Girlfriend and I both take security precautions, as well, like never leaving anything in cars overnight, no doors unlocked, etc., so I'm not expecting to find an area where I can leave my backpack in my car overnight and magically expect nothing to happen. Just looking for an area where it's okay to eventually let our guard down a little.

Hope that helps. Any additional posts and/or suggestions are super appreciated! Thank you all.

There’s not a single place in Dallas that I can think of that wouldn’t tick all those boxes. Actual gunshots are rare as hell anywhere, but plenty of paranoid nannies chalk every loud bang up to one.

As for the dogs, you’re going to want to watch out for bobcats along the green belt areas in the vicinity of what you’re looking for. Other than that, it’s just a matter of really low inventory.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

- Clover Hill Lane in NE Carrollton
- Rose Hill Rd. near Furneaux Ln., Carrollton
- White Ash Rd. south of Frankford
>>> Applies to the 3 above: so the area around Marsh / Rosemeade/ Frankfurt is not great. It’s high crime and has a lot of run down apartments with the occasional gun shot. The area is markedly nicer once you get west of Josey but I’m just not sure what the area between Josey & Marsh (where these 3 are) is like, I can’t picture it and I’m not sure I’ve driven it anytime recently. I would just do your research if you really like any of these, check crime maps & Drive the neighborhood at all times of day & night before signing anything.

- Bendwood Ln. south of Rosemeade Pkwy > ok area, little high crime spot further to the west off Frankford/Rosemeade/Midway/Marsh. You’re prob ok here but I like your choices East of tollroad better.

- N. Capistrano Dr. south of Rosemeade Pkwy > same as above, same neighborhood.

- Daven Oaks Dr. > Nice area.
- Mapleshade Ln. near Lloyd Circle > Nice area

- Fremont Ln. north of W. Park Blvd. > Nice area

- Jenning Dr. at Iowa Dr. north of Plano Pkwy > Nice area

- Brookwood Dr. near Belt Line and Coit Rd. > 1 block from a high school’s stadium if noise & parking are a concern. South of Spring Valley along Coit is VERY SKETCH, it’s a high crime pocket in an otherwise safe suburb. I would strike this one off your list just because it’s so Far East of your jobs. And you can do better location wise.

I know this area. This part of Richardson is not really sketchy, but the smaller older homes west of Richardson High School between it and Coit aren't great (and if you're not looking at the high school or the back of Kroger, you're looking at a huge water tower). East of the high school all the way to Floyd north of Belt Line is nicer. The area between Cottonwood Park and Waterview south of Belt Line isn't great either. It's not dangerous, it's just a bit blue collar.


A word of caution about Richardson (I live there). It's not a dangerous place to live, but TC80 is 100% correct about the Spring Valley corridor on the Dallas side. South of Spring Valley all the way to 635 is a hellscape of dilapidated apartments, substandard housing, crime, drugs, and illegal immigration. The closer you are to this, the more likely you are to be a victim of property crime. I live north of Belt Line and we don't have many issues with this; no more so than any other neighborhood; but the neighborhood due south of us on the other side of Belt Line has more property crime and thefts from vehicles than we do, and I'm willing to bet it's because it's closer to the hellscape of the Spring Valley corridor. FYI, the north side of Spring Valley all the way to Coit is Richardson; south of it is Dallas.


Put at least one major road between you and Spring Valley at any point in Richardson. I also wouldn't live between the high school and Coit anywhere between Belt Line and Arapaho. If you want to rent a house in Richardson, there are better neighborhoods to do it in. I recommend Heights Park. It definitely checks all your boxes and is in your price range; my only concern would be distance.


Heights Park is west of 75 all the way to Thompson, south of Arapaho, north of Belt Line. The houses start small in the 500-600 blocks (east of Floyd) and get larger in the 700-800 blocks. (Only the streets that intersect North Weatherred have an 800 block.) Most of the rental properties are in the 500-600 blocks.

[MarshaBrady1968]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I know this area. This part of Richardson is not really sketchy, but the smaller older homes west of Richardson High School between it and Coit aren't great (and if you're not looking at the high school or the back of Kroger, you're looking at a huge water tower). East of the high school all the way to Floyd north of Belt Line is nicer. The area between Cottonwood Park and Waterview south of Belt Line isn't great either. It's not dangerous, it's just a bit blue collar.


A word of caution about Richardson (I live there). It's not a dangerous place to live, but TC80 is 100% correct about the Spring Valley corridor on the Dallas side. South of Spring Valley all the way to 635 is a hellscape of dilapidated apartments, substandard housing, crime, drugs, and illegal immigration. The closer you are to this, the more likely you are to be a victim of property crime. I live north of Belt Line and we don't have many issues with this; no more so than any other neighborhood; but the neighborhood due south of us on the other side of Belt Line has more property crime and thefts from vehicles than we do, and I'm willing to bet it's because it's closer to the hellscape of the Spring Valley corridor. FYI, the north side of Spring Valley all the way to Coit is Richardson; south of it is Dallas.


Put at least one major road between you and Spring Valley at any point in Richardson. I also wouldn't live between the high school and Coit anywhere between Belt Line and Arapaho. If you want to rent a house in Richardson, there are better neighborhoods to do it in. I recommend Heights Park. It definitely checks all your boxes and is in your price range; my only concern would be distance.


Heights Park is west of 75 all the way to Thompson, south of Arapaho, north of Belt Line. The houses start small in the 500-600 blocks (east of Floyd) and get larger in the 700-800 blocks. (Only the streets that intersect North Weatherred have an 800 block.) Most of the rental properties are in the 500-600 blocks.

I'll put PS on that- everyone wants to live in either Heights Park or Canyon Creek (if they can afford the latter) so if a house even becomes available, you better jump as fast as you can.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by MarshaBrady1968

I'll put PS on that- everyone wants to live in either Heights Park or Canyon Creek (if they can afford the latter) so if a house even becomes available, you better jump as fast as you can.

Or The Reservation or Heights Park Estates or Waterview Preservation....

[cmm2391]

Originally Posted by MarshaBrady1968

I'll put PS on that- everyone wants to live in either Heights Park or Canyon Creek (if they can afford the latter) so if a house even becomes available, you better jump as fast as you can.

Hmm interesting you say that. I think in the 8 streets I gave in my original post, 2 of them made our "favorites" list:
- Daven Oaks Drive
- Brookwood Drive (though from the last couple of posts this one may fall off)

But since my first few posts, 2 additional homes have made the favorites list, one of them I think close to Heights Park:
- Westover Drive
- Smoke Glass Trail

The Westover Drive property is unfortunately the furthest from each of our places of work and the most expensive property we've found that we like at $2,450/month. But that neighborhood and the Smoke Glass Trail neighborhood definitely strike me as a little bit quieter than that of Brookwood.

Again, I'm really appreciative of all responses and am enjoying learning a bit more about all these neighborhoods. Thanks, everyone.

[RedTexanTea]

Originally Posted by cmm2391

Hi all,

Been trying my luck with some Google searching with regards to nice, safe neighborhoods for my girlfriend and I to move to in northern Dallas and have been coming up a bit short.

I moved here mid-May of last year and, in my relocation package, was offered access to a realtor in the area good for one year. As I've been in an apartment for a year and my girlfriend a few months (she just moved here in February), the time has come to make use of that realty service and us find a nice rental property to move into. The realtor, unfortunately, hasn't been a smash success, and while I'm trying to be optimistic and give them the benefit of the doubt, it's really starting to feel like we'll be forced to move into one of the properties they've suggested even though we're not set on it, all because we're starting to get short on time with our apartment leases (60 day notice is in for both of our leases).

While the realtor did give us around 50 properties to scan thru online, and after narrowing it down to 10, I'm still having a hard time figuring out which neighborhoods are nice and safe and quiet and which are not. We're both 27 and already in that phase where we just want a nice quiet place to settle down a bit.

Now for some info to describe where we are and what exactly we're looking for:
- Currently live a few minutes West of Addison Airport
- I work across the street from the Galleria in Addison
- Girlfriend works at Baylor Scott and White, East of the Dallas N. Tollway and Pres. G. Bush Turnpike intersection
- Hoping to move a little bit closer to girlfriend's work as she'll eventually be taking call and need to be able to get to work in 15-20 minutes at all times of day
- Would like to keep my commute to a minimum (currently 8-10 minutes), so we were mostly looking South/Southeast of the tollway and turnpike intersection, but I'd be open to looking at other areas.

As for what we're looking for in a house:
- 2-3 bedroom (ideally 2)/2-2.5 bathroom home (probably no condos or townhouses)
- Decent sized backyard for 1-2 dogs
- Enclosed driveway to keep the cars safe from hail
- We didn't really have any square footage minimum, probably at least 1300-1500

As far as cost, what we're both paying right now for 2 one-bedroom apartments combined is probably around $2500. We set a max budget around $2300, cause even though a nice neighborhood and house are paramount, we'd still like to come out saving at least a little bit every month.

As for the 10 properties we've narrowed the list down to, approx. locations:
- Clover Hill Lane in NE Carrollton
- Rose Hill Rd. near Furneaux Ln., Carrollton
- White Ash Rd. south of Frankford
- Bendwood Ln. south of Rosemeade Pwky
- N. Capistrano Dr. south of Rosemeade Pkwy
- Daven Oaks Dr.
- Mapleshade Ln. near Lloyd Circle
- Fremont Ln. north of W. Park Blvd.
- Jenning Dr. at Iowa Dr. north of Plano Pwky.
- Brookwood Dr. near Belt Line and Coit Rd.

If anyone has any suggestions on nice neighborhoods to rent in, I would absolutely love to hear them. We're going to tour the above houses this weekend, but I will likely stay in crunch mode looking for additional properties over the next couple of days as alternatives. Would really be thrilled to be confident about the neighborhood we'll be moving into before getting there!

Thanks everyone in advance for the help.

There 17 single family homes in zip code 75252 more or less meet your criteria. Specifically I can recommend the neighborhood that is north of Frankford and west of Preston. It is quiet, there are trees, parks, safe to walk around, the homes have 2 car garages, backyards. The trees are huge in the Bent Trail area and hang over the streets. It is 10 minutes from your office and 10 minutes to Baylor Plano, time will be a little longer in rush hour. The areas south of Frankford and East of Preston are fine too. I can't say enough about 75252, Preston and Frankford area. I lived in that area 5 years, I loved it, loved it, loved it. It is Dallas city limits, Collin County and referred to as Far North Dallas.