M Streets / Lakewood for family/children? (Dallas, San Antonio: daycares, houses, neighborhoods)

[4texans]

We are relocating to Dallas and are looking at the M Streets & Lakewood area. We have 3 children under the age of 5 and are interested in being close to the city in a truly family friendly neighborhood which will have other children and private schools close by. Can anyone give me feedback on the M Streets and Lakewood areas for a family? Are there any specific streets in these areas which would be better than others for us? Looking in $300-350 price range. We have lived in St. Louis & San Antonio and are looking to get back to an older home that is closer to the city (we currently live in suburbia ). If anyone is familiar with St. Louis, we are looking for something similar to Brentwood/Clayton/Ladue.

[cityconvo]

I think you would be fine anywhere in the area with a family. Drive the neighborhood and you will see tons of families walking the neighborhood.

[pepper131]

The only streets you might want to avoid are the ones that have some traffic on them such as McCommas and Monticello (I think). Plus, you'll want to be at least 2 blocks away from Greenville to avoid the bar traffic. Other than that, it's a great neighborhood.

Corner Market is a great place to hang out for breakfast/lunch. Next door is Society Bakery. Close by is a burger place - Snuffer's. Med East food at Izmir. Seafood at Aw Shucks. El Salvadorian at Gloria's. It's all right there w/in walking distance.

[Spree]

<< Looking in $300-350 price range.<<

Have you found properties to your liking in Lakewood and M Streets in this price range?

I see on another thread you were looking for a Catholic school, St Thomas Aquinas is a Catholic school that serves that area of town St. Thomas Aquinas School

Another private school in the area is Lakehill Prep Lakehill Preparatory School

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by 4texans

We are relocating to Dallas and are looking at the M Streets & Lakewood area. We have 3 children under the age of 5 and are interested in being close to the city in a truly family friendly neighborhood which will have other children and private schools close by. Can anyone give me feedback on the M Streets and Lakewood areas for a family? Are there any specific streets in these areas which would be better than others for us? Looking in $300-350 price range. We have lived in St. Louis & San Antonio and are looking to get back to an older home that is closer to the city (we currently live in suburbia ). If anyone is familiar with St. Louis, we are looking for something similar to Brentwood/Clayton/Ladue.

They are fine for family. Right next to Lakewood you might also want to take a spin through Junius Heights, and Munger Place. Very family friendly areas in the same part of town. Lakewood/Junius Heights/Munger Place, have always seemed a little more family friendly to me but of course your mileage may vary.

[billdfw]

For $350,000 you will lucky to find a decent 3 bedroom house, which is small for a family of 5. If you want something larger, you can look a little further east in Lake Highlands and get a 4 bed home for that price.

To answer your original question, yes it fine for families.

[Lakewooder]

Check out: Lakewood Advocate: Archives (http://advocatemag.com/archives/list_archives.php - broken link)

and Lakewood-Now.net - Dallas Texas - online community newspaper also search for past stories.

We also have a photo thread here: //www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...od-photos.html which will give you a good idea -- be sure to see the 4th of July Parade, probably the most family-friendly extravaganza in the Dallas area.

You would probably do best to locate in Stonewall Jackson Elementary (M-Streets) http://www.dallasisd.org/eval/schoolinfo/eszones2006/JacksonStonewall2006.pdf (broken link) or Lakewood Elementary (Lakewood, areas north of Mockingbird to Trammel over east to NW Highway and down to Hollywood Heights) http://www.dallasisd.org/eval/schoolinfo/eszones2006/Lakewood2006.pdf (broken link) .

I'm not too keen on Lakehill myself and it's mostly kids from outside the area. St. Thomas is a fine school although there was some controversy a couple years back and many families left for Lakewood and Stonewall. Many times the St. Thomas grads will go on to Woodrow Wilson High in 9th grade - or to Bishop Lynch on the other side of the lake. Zion Lutheran seems to be a good elementary school also but many of those kids are living in the Dan D. Rodgers Elementary zone.

We also have excellent elemetaries such as Lipscomb and Lee, which are family friendly but there are more singles and couples without children in the mix in those neighborhoods.

If I have to say which is the most family-friendly I would say traditional Lakewood - east of Abrams, south of Mockingbird over to White Rock Lake and down to Lakewood Country Club and Hollywood Heights (HH to a lesser degree).

Check out: Lakewood Early Childhood PTA in Dallas, TX

gwra : Greater White Rock Area ECPTA

Old East Dallas Early Childhood PTA Home Page

Also there's a back to school event:

Lakewood Theater is hosting a "Come Together Dallas" concert on Sunday, August 17 at 7pm. The concert will benefit Woodrow Wilson, J.L. Long, and their feeder schools to help those students and their families as a need arises. It will debut a video done by the Expectations Choir last year to bring about positive memories of their time at J.L. Long Middle School. It will also feature Nick Chatham, an incoming freshman to Woodrow, and other local musicians. Tickets will be a $10 tax-deductible donation and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time at Empower Your Future Home Page and click on "events".

[4texans]

Great information. Yes, I realize we are going to be looking at small houses for a family of 5, but that seems the sacrifice we will have to make to live in the city. We haven't actually started looking at houses yet, just trying to find neighborhoods so we can focus our search. I will take a look at all of the Lakewood websites. We will also take a look at Lake Highlands. Lakewooder, out of curiosity, do you know what the controversy was with St. Thomas? That would most likely be the school we'd be looking at. Also, are there any church daycares for 12 mos & up in the area?

[Lakewooder]

I think it had something to do with the curriculum. One of my classmate's wife used to teach there but it is a sore subject so I didn't ask her. There was a story about it in the Lakewood Advocate if you can track it down in those archives I listed.

I think it's a perfectly fine school - but since I went to Lakewood I'm not that enthusiastic about it. I think St. Thomas has a daycare at its Mockingbird Lane campus.

A wonderful thing about Lakewood east of Abrams to White Rock Lake is that it's probably the largest area in DFW without a major road or traffic lights. Great for walking and biking.

You'd better have a map or GPS if you are driving around because there are a lot of hidden streets. I like to post this as one of my favorite spots:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...682293345,,0,5

[debtex]

St. Thomas (STA) is a great school - many of our neighborhood kids go there and the parents are thrilled. We go to St. John's...we're also thrilled. I hear nothing but praise for both Lakewood Elem and Stonewall Jackson.

St. Thomas doesn't have a daycare, they start the part-time preschool at 3. Check out Dallas Day, I hear good things about that. There's a long waiting list for daycare here...lots of stay-at-home moms and not a lot of daycare choice.

Check out Forest Hills and Old Lake Highlands while you're looking...lots of beautiful homes over there, and you get more for your dollar on that side of the lake.