What are the negatives to living in University Park area? (Dallas: townhouses, neighborhood) - Texas (TX) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

pouncer · 05-22-2008, 03:15 PM

Property taxes are very high. I would recommend the 75230 zip code area. Not Preston Hollow but just north of PH and still inside the 635 loop. Good schools- public and private- and great lots w/mature trees. You can get better price per square footage in this zip code region. Try Melshire Estates there are some really beautiful homes for sale there now. I remember one in particular that we looked at with a cascading goldfish fountain on a really large lot that was so beautiful.

jtrichel · 05-22-2008, 10:48 PM

one of the main things that keeps us from this area is the extreme wealth there...

lets say you are a family making $500k/year in a $1MM home... in the Park Cities area, that is nothing. do I really want my kids growing up in an environment like that?...where they believe every 16 yr old should have a BMW, ultra expensive clothes, etc.? I dont care how much money we have, I dont want that for my boys.

No offense meant to anyone that lives there...perhaps I am exaggerating a bit, but from what I hear, not so much. Highland Park is like the 15th most wealthy city in the U.S. if memory serves correct

RE Diva · 05-25-2008, 12:31 AM

University Park and Highland Park are very nice, safe areas of town. There are streets lined with huge canopies of trees that are so picturesque. You can still get larger lots in the area and there is also new construction.

It's not near an International airport, though. It's by Love Field Airport. The major carrier out of there is Southwest Airlines. You can look up their schedule, but I don't know if they'll fly to all the destinations your hubby will need to go to.

Every school in the HP district is rated exemplary. They spend more than $18k per year per student to educate and have an average classroom student to teacher ratio of 16:1. As far as peer pressure goes, where are you going to go to avoid it? It's everywhere. There is a lot of wealth here. Texas also has one of the highest concentrations of millionaires per capita. The people who live in the Park Cities for the most part know how to make and manage wealth. There are some people that have inherited wealth and others that are trying to keep up with the Jones' and are barely keeping their heads above water. But, for the vast majority, they know how to manage wealth and teach their children these same skills. The friends your kids could be making in UP could be developers, Senators, or the next Bill Gates. If all kids are exposed to is one of way of life, that's all they are going to know. So, exposure to other ways of life could be an important factor.

They are very serious about lawn maintenance and trash cans being put away at the proper times. This, however, only helps you maintain your property value, so I wouldn't really consider it a con?

Hope it helps.

awecelot · 05-25-2008, 08:52 AM

American and Continental also have limited service out of Love Field; a Continental flight to IAH will allow you to connect with anywhere Continental flies. I believe that on July 2, American will begin offering flights from Love Field to its hub at Chicago O'Hare, making connections in the midwest easy. Of course, if you need to fly somewhere that is only served by American and it's in the opposite direction of the Midwest, it makes more sense to drive to DFW and utilize their hub there.

Love Field is a much easier airport to use than DFW, and you'll find that you can get just about anywhere from there.

scm17ca · 05-25-2008, 01:48 PM

I worked in neighboring Highland Park Village, in a four star affuluent restaurant for years, so I had a good view of the culture there. People that rich don't stop talking when you approach the table, so you overhear a lot of stuff. I had people so obtuse they said "gracias senior," when I would put something on the table. Not that it matters, but I am a white woman.
First, there is an entire subculture to the HP and UP people. They expect their children to date and marry only people within a few select families, kind of like the Scandinavian royalty.
Second, there are only a couple of roads that go through east/west, so as long as you can get north or south to get to a through street, you're okay. The schools are excellent, and the people in UP are much friendlier, but there is some of the same mindset. Some call it the university park wannabes.
As far as the airport, I lived in Dallas for 20 years and never found it necessary to go to DFW airport. Southwest Airlines rocks, and goes pretty much everywhere, so why would you want to give Tarrant county (where the airport is) any tax revenue by using their airport?

FarNorthDallas · 05-25-2008, 01:54 PM

Wealthy people want to sit in first class. They want an assigned seat. They want their frequent flyer miles. They want meals. They want to fly out of DFW.

Just sayin'.

aeh · 05-25-2008, 02:02 PM

Unfortunately, Dallas does have a lot of the "wannabe" thing going on. (I feel like I can say this since I am from Dallas...and I do love Dallas regardless!) UP also used to have a lot of duplexes and, for lack of a better term --this is totally laughable--"lower end" (for the Park Cities anyway) housing. They have scraped much of it and replaced those with big expensive homes. We also have friends who moved within UP and though they spent several million on a house, preferred to stay in UP when they moved. While we liked the homes we saw in HP, we liked the family friendly feel to UP better. Both great areas though.

nsumner · 05-25-2008, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spree

And there's a 20% homestead exemption. A $1 mil house would be taxed at $800k, 2.1/2.2%

The tax rate for UP is one the lowest around at 1.87 and HP is 1.82 compared to others such as Plano 2.07, Richardson 2.48 & 2.17, Flower Mound 2.05, Coppell 2.48 etc...

Naima

texasmom72 · 06-10-2008, 06:34 PM

Sorry....have to be honest...
Truthfully, the reputation......very snobbish, & shallow. I have friends who previously lived there, & it's sad how shallow the majority of the community is. Lots of "old" money (i.e. Daddy's), & if you're new money, everyone knows....& you're looked down upon. Read "D" magazine for a glimpse into their lifestyle. I have yet to truly meet a "genuine" person from the area. Save a ton of money, make some new friends (who don't like you for your material items), & have a much larger, as well as nice home......move somewhere north of Dallas. McKinney, Prosper, Celina......very nice & great schools. Also, should you have any children, save them the heartache of that lifestyle.....it's hard enough for kids as it is. I'm sure someone will "slam" me, so sorry in advance, if you feel differently than the majority of DFW. OH....and look at McKinney ISD, & the LoveJoy school district.....schools are just as good.

texasmom72 · 06-10-2008, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtrichel

one of the main things that keeps us from this area is the extreme wealth there...

lets say you are a family making $500k/year in a $1MM home... in the Park Cities area, that is nothing. do I really want my kids growing up in an environment like that?...where they believe every 16 yr old should have a BMW, ultra expensive clothes, etc.? I dont care how much money we have, I dont want that for my boys.

No offense meant to anyone that lives there...perhaps I am exaggerating a bit, but from what I hear, not so much. Highland Park is like the 15th most wealthy city in the U.S. if memory serves correct

I completely agree with you.......kids get this whole "entitlement" issue. Oh....and you might wat to find a good plastic surgeon. It's a must! ha!