Moving to DFW area - What should we know? (Arlington: construction, living in)

[txam2]

I have a job offer in Arlington and I'm pretty sure I wanna make the move. Looking to live somewhere out from the city. Seems like Denton and Collin counties have some nice areas, but the commute would be longer. Meanwhile to the south Ellis and Johnson seem to be less built up. I'd like a suburb with good access to shopping, but not too dense or close-in. Looking for a heavily Republican area.

No kids but hoping for some in the next few years. Have a bf who works from home. Budget is $650k, must be single family home, >2,000 sq ft, built after 1990. Thinking about Midlothian, Frisco, McKinney, Denton city, and a few others. What are your thoughts? What places would you recommend?

Notes:
I'm willing to do a long commute to work if it means living in an ideal community, as long as I don't have to drive far to do my shopping etc.
My only family in Texas lives in Denton (cousins I'm close to). It'd be nice to be near them.

[ChristieP]

The DFW area is as large as the state of Connecticut, and traffic here (even during a pandemic) can be brutal. You do NOT want to make a long commute, such as from anywhere in Collin or Denton Counties to Arlington. Not only will you waste valuable family time sitting in traffic, but you’ll spend a lot of unnecessary money on gas, tires, and potentially on expensive toll roads. Live as close to where you work as you can, and you’ll save yourself a lot of grief. Also, there are good areas to live in all over the metroplex, so a long commute often means you’d be driving past areas that are just as nice as the one you live in.

If you want a Republican area, look at Ellis County: Midlothian, Mansfield.

[Rakin]

Arlington is large, are you in north or south Arlington ? Going South on 360 can be brutal right now due to construction..

If north I'd recommend Flower Mound or Keller. IMO Frisco and Denton are way too far out.

[tmtex]

The Denton/Collin county drive to Arlington would be brutal. Add many accidents, construction to all the traffic

[R1070]

Mansfield sounds like a good fit.

[turf3]

How about Arlington? I know a lot of people talk down about it, but there are some real nice areas.

[NP78]

As others have mentioned, Arlington itself is pretty large so depending on where the job location is, I would look at Keller/Colleyville/Grapevine on the north side and Mansfield/Midlothian towards the south.

[MerrimanPark75231]

Hood-Parker even northern Erath county would be a better option than Denton or Collin.

[JlkajwlNsn]

Move to Mansfield or anywhere in Arlington, very nice and safe communities within Arlington too.

[tcualum]

I lived in Arlington for almost two decades. It's the third-largest city in DFW and it stretches pretty far north and south. Just going from far North Arlington to far South Arlington, and vice versa, during rush hour can be brutal, especially if you drive through the middle when the trains are coming through. It would be very helpful to know where you will work and what your budget is.