Oak Cliff??? (Dallas, Irving, Allen: buying a home, buying, schools)

[GoPadge]

Thanks Kaykay and Momof2, I appreciate the nice words.

There are Hummers in Plano, don't get my wrong. It's just that I've not seen any in my neighborhood. And let's all be honest, cars can often be nothing mroe than a substitue for the "rich lifestyle". Personally I wouldn't own a Hummer for any reason. For a 3/4 ton SUV it has at best seating capacity for 6, (more often 5, and with the 6th seat you loose 1/2 your cargo space) and a lousy towing capacity. A 1500 Suburban (1/2 ton) offers more seating, cargo space and towing capacity at a lower cost.

When we lived in Lexington, SC there was an aging doublewide trailer on a 1/2 acre lot with a yellow H2 in the front yard. We use to joke that the Hummer was worth more than the house.

BTW, Park Cities VW will also give you free bottles of water...

[Lakewooder]

Read the incredibly ignorant posts about Oak Cliff here and then try to understand why Dallasites get upset about such ridiculous opinions from suburbanites!

Do yourself a favor and take a tour. You will like being underneath trees for a change! Then your brain won't be half-baked.

[GoPadge]

Oh I agree there are ignorant posts in this thread about Oak Cliff. Please note that before I responded to dallasmaverick, my only post was about why developers prefer flat terrain.

But I will counter that there are a number of equally ignorant posts (like the one I responded to yesterday evening) where the ignorance is coming from the Dallasites about the suburbs. There is no resolution possible while both Dallasite and suburbanites continue to throw mud.

While we can not control the "drive by poster", the regulars can offer voices of reason and understanding when the situation arrises.

[momof2dfw]

LOL!!!! "drive by poster"
PERFECT name for some of those. There was one yesterday that only drops in occassionaly to stir the pot and by looking at their posts they have nothing of value to add to anything.

I'd have to say that I agree, there is ignorance on both sides - urbanites/suburbanites. Being a native and as familiar w/ ALL of the Dallas metroplex I just have to chuckle whenever I hear or read someone put down an area that they have most likely NEVER been to. For those that think Dallas is crime-ridden and you dare not go into "Dallas proper" if you value your life, LOL!!!! I'd LOVE to take you for a ride and lets go make some sales calls to some of our customers. hehehehe I'll have you curled up in a ball in the floorboard shaking thinking that your going to be shot just because your in a part of Dallas that is all industrial and may be a little rough around the edges. But we'll be just fine and you'll see that even the people working there just may be your neighbors out in suburbanville. And for those that think the suburbs are a wasteland. Come on out and visit. Well, I'd really roll out the red carpet and tell ya to ride the DART train to our Garland Star Spangled Fourth but it got changed and is no longer downtown as SOOOOOOO many people did in fact do such. LOL!!! So it is only 1 day downtown, 1 day at a city park, 1 day at Firewheel Town Center. We just had way too many people coming out for them to all fit into the downtown area.

I agree though, we (us regulars) do NOT need to let the occassional "drive by poster" stir the pot and cause trouble. So whenever you see a post that flames one thing or another stop and see what else that person has to say on other threads and if they have a habit of such, ignore them.

[foma]

Stay away from Oak Cliff. I went to college in Dallas and became good friends with a girl from Oak Cliff. Visited the area once and never wanted to go back. She empathized with me b'c she wanted to get the heck out, too. I don't know if there are nice areas or not but the place I visited I know I would never want to go back.

[Madeline]

I went to high school in Oak Cliff in the 1950's, but now I would not go there.

[GoPadge]

Gosh, Mom, you speak the words and they apear.

[Brittnw]

Originally Posted by dallasmaverick

Brittnw-- North Oak Cliff, in general terms North of Illinois, West of I-35E and south of the Trinity, is a historic neighborhood with some very wealthy areas and some areas going through renewal. It is similar to the Heights or Montrose areas of Houston in some ways but maybe a little more racially diverse, the "downtown Oak Cliff" shopping district on Jefferson Blvd is a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. There is a historic shopping area that has been renovated nearby in the Bishop Arts District, with a big part of the Dallas art and culture scene, new restaurants and coffee shops etc. North Oak Cliff is considered by some of its residents the Austin part of Dallas. It definetely has the most natural beauty of Dallas neighborhoods, a lot of it is very hilly and looks like Hill Country.
Oak Cliff north of Illinois is what I am talking about here. Most people think anything south of I-30 is Oak Cliff, in reality there are a number of different neighborhoods. Actually it has a lot in common with Houston Heights.

For the people who tell you to live in Plano, would you as a Houstonite consider living in Katy? A whitebread upper middle class suburb where everything more than 5 years old is out of style, yuppies and dumbass kids blow cocaine and drive around in leased Hummers, and the "Cultural Attractions" include 2 or 3 shopping malls. Frisco has a great Cheesecake Factory if that is what you are looking for.

People from the suburbs who have never been to neighborhoods in Dallas are the ones posting above and saying that OC is a ghetto. It has its ghettos but also has very nice neighborhoods. People are a little more down to earth on this side of the river.

Thank you for this awesome response, it was very informative and funny. I finally visited a little less than a month ago b/c my family bought a house there and I loved it. It reminded me a lot of the Heights..b/c well there are places in the Heights where you would want to live and places in the Heights where you wouldn't want to live.. All the people I met in Oak Cliff were so friendly! One of the things I was worried about was the people in Dallas b/c in Houston everyone thinks all Dallas people are incredibly stuck up but I see that is not the case. I also completely understand your reference to Katy. I would NEVER EVER live there. It's a completely different lifestyle.. not that one is better than the other but people in the city and people in the suburbs see things in my opinion completely differently. One complaint I do have about Dallas though in general is the drivers!

[trebordallas]

West Oak Cliff (I-30 and Walton Walker Freeway) near Pinnacle Park is going through great growth with retail/residential (more to come) and restaurants. Bishop Street off Jefferson is nice upscale restaurant/shops area. I live in West Oak Cliff in nice subdivision with 100,000 to 160,000 homes near Dallas Golf Course and Mountain View college with elementary and senior high school up the street. Som eof the hilliest/highest areas in Dallas County-very hill country-like area! No, it's not "utopia" but it's a nicer, newer area of Oak Cliff and neighborhood watch takes care of their own. North and West Oak Cliff is mostly Mexican American area, but you can't beat the area for lots of trees and hills. It's what "you make it" that counts. I wouldn't live out in the burbs either north or east of Dallas. The commute is killer! I hop in my car and am at work off I-35 and Mockiingbird area in 15 mins. Less than six stop lights to go through; less than a fourth of my 10 miles is on freeway in the a.m. Hope this helps!

[GoPadge]

Originally Posted by trebordallas

West Oak Cliff (I-30 and Walton Walker Freeway) near Pinnacle Park is going through great growth with retail/residential (more to come) and restaurants. Bishop Street off Jefferson is nice upscale restaurant/shops area. I live in West Oak Cliff in nice subdivision with 100,000 to 160,000 homes near Dallas Golf Course and Mountain View college with elementary and senior high school up the street. Som eof the hilliest/highest areas in Dallas County-very hill country-like area! No, it's not "utopia" but it's a nicer, newer area of Oak Cliff and neighborhood watch takes care of their own. North and West Oak Cliff is mostly Mexican American area, but you can't beat the area for lots of trees and hills. It's what "you make it" that counts. I wouldn't live out in the burbs either north or east of Dallas. The commute is killer! I hop in my car and am at work off I-35 and Mockiingbird area in 15 mins. Less than six stop lights to go through; less than a fourth of my 10 miles is on freeway in the a.m. Hope this helps!

And you hit the nail on the head, it's not necessarily about where you live as it is the relationship between where you live and work. I live and work in Plano, have a 4 mile, 10 minute commute. I wouldn't live in the city for the same reasons. The commute's a killer.