Live in Plano or Richardson & drive to Arlington or Denton?? (Dallas: high crime, houses)

[icecube]

I am contemplating whether it is realistic to live in Plano or Richardson and drive to UT@Arlington or UNT@Denton.

According to Google maps:
Plano to Denton is 37.0 mi – 47 mins
Plano to Arlington is 38.5 mi – 48 mins (up to 1 hr 20 mins in traffic)
Richardson to Denton is 38.0 mi – about 45 mins
Richardson to Arlington is 33.5 mi – 41 mins (up to 1 hr 10 mins in traffic)

Are these times realistic? I have heard some people say traffic is bad no matter what time of day. I guess a drive in of 1.5 hrs would be OK once & awhile, but NOT on a regular basis. Is heading out towards Denton going to be an easier, less congested drive just because you are going away from Dallas?

Thanks!!

[needsomeinfo]

partially depends on where in Richardson or Plano you would live. going to Denton would be against traffic, and, therefore, a better drive. Otherwise, these sound about right.

[UNT_Eagle]

Might work better for you if you stuck with commuting to UNT Denton, but I am a little biased

You would get there much sooner than having to go to UTA...

[kacvb1974]

Those Google figures are roughly correct, hard to say tho since Plano and Arlington are both so spread out. With traffic or red lights, it can take over 25 minutes just driving to one end of Plano to the other, ditto with Arlington. From my home in NW Richardson to say the Parks Mall in SW Arlington, it takes a good 45+ minutes.

With gas prices as they are and if you're drawn to Richardson or Plano, how about University of Texas at Dallas?

[KittySkyfish]

I guess attending UTDallas in Richardson is out of the question...lol.

It's going to be a long haul, either way, but it'll be easier to get to Denton from North Dallas. If you are considering living up here in Collin county and are set to attend UNT, why not try McKinney, which is right off of hwy 380. That'd take you right over to Denton in about a half hour.

[loves2read]

there is plenty of traffic going N to Denton in the morning and coming back in afternoon

there is commuter bus that UNT students/staff can ride for free with ID card--and save on gas if the times work for you
the park/ride lot is in Lewisville at 420 Oak Bend Boulevard Movies 8 lot
my daughter in law lives in Lewisville not far from that lot and worked at UNT until a month ago--did not realize that she got to ride for free until just a few weeks before she took job/promotion at DCCC Coppell campus--wished she had known sooner--she made that drive for a year...

Gas prices prompt more to hop aboard commuter buses in Denton County | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Lewisville News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/denton/lewisville/stories/DN-dcta_24wes.ART.East.Edition1.4d6e7d9.html - broken link)
and another earlier article mentioned that some runs are so crowded there are no seats and people have to stand (not very safe IMO or legal)

Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) (http://www.dcta.net/TSCommuterExpress.asp - broken link)
this is link to ride share site as well to find a carpool situation if you like
UNT Transportation Services

[billdfw]

About 45 minutes to an hour sounds about right for all of those commutes (longer with major traffic). You might want to move closer to whichever school you chose, if possible. That way you could save up to 2 hrs a day for studing, working, partying, ect..

[austinnetx]

Originally Posted by billdfw

About 45 minutes to an hour sounds about right for all of those commutes (longer with major traffic). You might want to move closer to whichever school you chose, if possible. That way you could save up to 2 hrs a day for studing, working, partying, ect..

Move next to campus. Your GPA will be higher because you have more time to study and are less tired when you get home.

[icecube]

Thanks everyone! Yes, all those senarios are quite the gallop, aren't they? Unfortunately, UTD is out of the question--only b/c they don't offer Mechanical Engineering though; I've heard it's a great school. (I am not missing any other colleges that do offer Mech Eng though, am I?) We have heard so much good about Plano (& Richardson secondly). It sounds like a safe, clean, family-friendly community and yet is not as far out as say Frisco. We are really trying to avoid being too far out there and wanting to be more centrally located. And, mainly from what I've read on this forum, I'm hesitant to buy a house in Carrollton, FB, & Irving. Sounds like they are rather run down, houses aren't selling, & crime is increasing. Otherwise, I would think it'd be perfect to live in Irving & drive to UTA. Not sure of just how high gas prices will climb, I am uneasy about planning a 45 min or more daily drive one way. It goes against common sense, you know? lol.

[kacvb1974]

Icecube, I grew up in Carrollton and many areas there have indeed grown quite run down and appear to just be getting worse and worse. However, there are plenty of lovely homes in the north part and decent older neighborhoods in the central part. Perhaps it's actually more rough than I'm aware of, but I wouldn't automatically rule out Carrollton. The Carrollton to Denton hike wouldn't be terribly bad....but hardly ideal either. I hear ya about gas prices and it does seem silly to have to drive any further than necessary. Traffic on 35 can get pretty woolly.

As far as Irving goes, it's arguably less family friendly and not as ideal school district wise. But there is a residential section I am particularly fond of right S/SE of O'Connor, off 114. Near the golf course and a really nice park, across the freeway from Cistercian and just N of the Canals/Lake Carolyn. Think those zips are 75039 and 75062 (just stay N of Rochelle.) Las Colinas is really booming these days, and the area I'm thinking of is safe and mainly a white collar, established neighborhood with lots of trees. Not terribly high on snob factor but with the country club and the Four Seasons, still swanky enough to keep long term residents. There's also the far northern areas of Irving, in Valley Ranch, that are pretty nice too but then you're practically in Coppell and maybe back to considering the UNT commute, lol. But the Las Colinas to Arlington commute is not at all bad. When I lived in Irving I did it a 1000 times and felt there were enough route options to make it fairly painless.

It's difficult to get a a good gauge on 'burbs in N Texas because there are really crappy/high crime parts in most all our 'burbs. Outside doing the gated community thing in a very cookie cutter but upscale neighborhood, there's often spotty, non family friendly areas mixed in quite near desirable areas. Same goes for Richardson and even Plano too. Some burbs just seem to get a bad rap, sometimes unfairly, because certain sections have grown run down ...yet the city, overall, may offer a lot more just depending on one's preferences. But the good news is we have so many darn suburbs that options abound. I would be intimated relocating here because it's hard to know where to start! Before settling in Richardson, I criss-crossed DFW about 15 times, trying to experience as many 'hoods as possible so feel free to DM if you think I can help.