Question about commute time (Austin, Plano: rental, mortgage, houses)

[hereticiam]

We are considering moving to DFW later this year.
Our jobs are remote and will stay remote but in short term.
I am in Tech. I heard that there are many Tech employers in Plano area.
We have school-age kids so we were trying to find places in and around Plano with good schools.
Diversity is important to us.

With Plano as a potential future work location we are considering these places to live:

1. West Plano
2. West Allen
3. Frisco
4. Prosper
5. Flower Mound (I know it is far and not as diverse but it does have excellent schools)

Frisco, Prosper, and Flower Mound are far from Plano.

How bad will the commute be from Frisco, Prosper, and Flower Mound to Plano?
Based on what we learn we may just limit our search to West Plano/West Allen.
Are there other cities with good public schools closer to Plano we should consider?

[DFWGuy422]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

We are considering moving to DFW later this year.
Our jobs are remote and will stay remote but in short term.
I am in Tech. I heard that there are many Tech employers in Plano area.
We have school-age kids so we were trying to find places in and around Plano with good schools.
Diversity is important to us.

With Plano as a potential future work location we are considering these places to live:

1. West Plano
2. West Allen
3. Frisco
4. Prosper
5. Flower Mound (I know it is far and not as diverse but it does have excellent schools)

Frisco, Prosper, and Flower Mound are far from Plano.

How bad will the commute be from Frisco, Prosper, and Flower Mound to Plano?
Based on what we learn we may just limit our search to West Plano/West Allen.
Are there other cities with good public schools closer to Plano we should consider?

Frisco is due north of Plano and a commute would be very doable. Prosper is due north of Frisco and that commute would be annoying, but still doable. Flower Mound would be a pain.

I would do West Plano, Allen, or Frisco. Prosper is a bit further than all of those with less diversity and weaker schools.

[DFWUser1]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

We are considering moving to DFW later this year.
Our jobs are remote and will stay remote but in short term.
I am in Tech. I heard that there are many Tech employers in Plano area.
We have school-age kids so we were trying to find places in and around Plano with good schools.
Diversity is important to us.

With Plano as a potential future work location we are considering these places to live:

1. West Plano
2. West Allen
3. Frisco
4. Prosper
5. Flower Mound (I know it is far and not as diverse but it does have excellent schools)

Frisco, Prosper, and Flower Mound are far from Plano.

How bad will the commute be from Frisco, Prosper, and Flower Mound to Plano?
Based on what we learn we may just limit our search to West Plano/West Allen.
Are there other cities with good public schools closer to Plano we should consider?

This is the exact criteria for us when we were looking several years ago. And been very happy in West Allen.

Here is our research and ended up in West Allen.

(1) West Plano: Can be your 1st choice. 75093 zip code. 75024 also nice in that order. 75025, not so nice compared to others, but ok.
Pros: Good schools, good location, neat and clean, considerably centrally located/easy highway access to any part of DFW.

Cons: Too expensive in the area for a good house, obviously. Relatively older houses. Mostly all of them have back entry garages, which we do not like.

If you can afford and do not mind spending more money than other areas for a similar sized house, can be your 1st choice. As you did research already, we did not even consider East and Central Plano.

(2) West Allen: 75013 zip code. Small triangular area tucked in between 75 and 121. Very nice, shiny looking, better greenery (relatively) at Exchange/121 area, tons of shopping, excellent parks, school system, easy access to both highways 121 and 75 (free) to go to any part of DFW.
Very close to Plano/Frisco and also Richardson job centers. Centrally located within Collin County to enjoy all it has to offer in this area. Relatively better diversity than new neighborhoods in Frisco.

This is our choice for the very reasons and are very happy about it. As you get a better house for the same budget than in West Plano by going a few miles farther.

(3) Frisco: Any house/neighborhood close to DNT up to Eldorado or along SH 121 highway will be good. New, clean, shiny.

Cons: Otherwise, Frisco is huge and if the area/house is farther or interior part, it will take a long time to cross the streets, school zones just to get onto highway. So, got to be careful. Also, only two highways access DNT, SH121 and both of them are tolls, gets expensive.

Communities/neighborhoods are super large with 1000's of homes, entrances will be grand, but once you enter inside - you will only see an ocean of houses nothing else.

And majority of these new neighborhoods are Indians, in some cases 80%+ or more. So, obviously the schools reflect the same, full of Indian origin students, Indian PTA's etc. If you are ok with that, ok.

Prosper is even farther out North - It is nice. But, personally, do not feel the need to go there as it is also equally expensive. Other than Plano/Frisco, it is a pain to travel anywhere else. So, if it is less expensive, may be ok. Otherwise, why to go further North and spend same money than other nearby places?

Flower Mound: Also, a nice suburb, popular here - but that will be better if you job is in say Irving/DFW airport side. If you want to focus on Plano in the long term - not recommended.

You can also consider McKinney - if it is closer to 121. Look for the specific neighborhood schools, distance.

Bottom line, like your list, our top choices are West Plano and West Allen and we chose West Allen for the reasons mentioned above.

Tour the specific schools, location of the house you are looking and take a decision. Do not go by city. Look for specifics. As in case of some areas, you cross the street, you are in a different town/city. Not much of a difference

[TurtleCreek80]

It all depends on where exactly an office job would be in the Plano area. If it’s along the tollroad up at Legacy or Frisco’s Hall Park office coordior, you could look up into Frisco or possibly even Prosper. If it’s closer to the Willow Bend area, you could add Hebron / Castle Hills or Richarsdson. If it’s along the 75 side where like Samsung’s regional office is, you could look as far east as Murphy / Parker.


The safest bet for a low stress commute to anywhere in Plano would be any neighborhoods in the 75/ Tollroad/ Bush / 121 box.

Scratch Flower Mound totally. It makes no sense and the schools are just as tippy-top of the metroplex in Plano itself.

[Leonard123]

Flower Mound and Prosper would be terrible options. Southwest Mckinney would be better than those and more diverse than Frisco. Your bigger concern is going to be finding a place to move to. There isn't much selection, competition is fierce, and you may not have much choice.

Given the choice, Plano is clearly going to be your best option for commute, and there wouldn't be any reason to choose another city unless you just couldn't find a place to move to, a problem that likely would be as bad or worse in all those other places.

You'll need a Plan B. Everyone else in the nation is in the same position you are it seems.

[hereticiam]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond and provide helpful information.
When we started looking last summer there were many homes available and prices were lower. However, we had to sell our rental properties and get our home ready to sell. Knowing what we know now we should have moved last year.

At this time there is very low inventory. I do hope there will be more homes available in spring-summer.
Perhaps mortgage rates will rise and cool this red-hot housing market a bit.
We will skip Flower Mound and Prosper. I agree they don't make sense.
I am not excited about Frisco based on everything I have read so far.
The only reason I was considering it was its proximity to Plano. There are more homes available.
We are in MN and of Indian origin. In our current school, 20% of the kids are Asian.
80% Indian will be a culture shock for my kids. Plano school demographics work for us.
We will look at both West Allen and West Plano. We are hoping to move for school starts.

I am a consultant. My job is remote and will be until Summer 2023. I will always have the ability to find remote work but I like working face to face with my clients. This is why we were looking to settle down in Plano and the cities around it.

I have been looking for plan B for months. Learned as much as possible about Atlanta, Katie/Sugar Land/The Woodlands, Austin, etc. but we keep coming back to DFW. We did consider delaying the move by 1 year but I am not sure it will help. Prices may go up even more and we want to move before my older son starts high school. He is currently in 7th grade. Worst case scenario is to stay in MN for 1 more year and endure my 31st brutal winter one more time :-(

[tisanqiu]

this home looks beautiful:
https://www.redfin.com/TX/Plano/4401.../home/32068063

[DFWGuy422]

Originally Posted by hereticiam

The only reason I was considering it was its proximity to Plano. There are more homes available.
We are in MN and of Indian origin. In our current school, 20% of the kids are Asian.
80% Indian will be a culture shock for my kids. Plano school demographics work for us.
We will look at both West Allen and West Plano. We are hoping to move for school starts.(

The 80% Indian thing is only a very small portion of Frisco. The city as a whole is very diverse. I wouldn’t love Frisco for a few reasons, but I wouldn’t let this alone dissuade me

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by DFWGuy422

The 80% Indian thing is only a very small portion of Frisco. The city as a whole is very diverse. I wouldn’t love Frisco for a few reasons, but I wouldn’t let this alone dissuade me

Well that depends. In the older sections of Frisco, sure it's more diverse, but for any new (or newer) construction, it's going to be heavily Indian dominated across the board for Frisco. To be fair, Indians are also present in significant numbers in both Plano and West Allen, but Frisco seems to be their number one destination.

[DFWUser1]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Well that depends. In the older sections of Frisco, sure it's more diverse, but for any new (or newer) construction, it's going to be heavily Indian dominated across the board for Frisco. To be fair, Indians are also present in significant numbers in both Plano and West Allen, but Frisco seems to be their number one destination.

Yes, that is exactly a true picture. In West Allen, where we live, there are significant number Indians too, especially in newer communities, but it is around 25% - 30% more or less. Same in West Plano I believe.