Want to Move to Texas (Dallas, Plano: transplants, apartment, renting)

[NOMORESOCAL]

Hi everyone,
I live in So. California, and my family and I are looking to relocate to Texas. My sister moved to McKinney in 2005, and she absolutely loves it. My son is on Dialysis, which I do at home, and we want to move near Dallas Children's. My question is the traffic. Here traffic really sucks, but I can't imagine the traffic there being all that bad. I will have to commute to the hospital once a week. How about Frisco, Allen, or even McKinney? I am stressing a tad on sellling our house, and my hubby finding a job there. I am sure many of you have located from other areas of the country. I have lived in California all my life, and this is ALL NEW to me. The one thing my sister did say was that TEXANS are VERY friendly!!
Signed, Freaking out on WestCoast

[socketz]

I've lived in Socal for 15 years and recently moved to Dallas (live in Plano now, bought a house in Mckinney). If your a 8-5 type, the traffic from say Mckinney or Frisco into Dallas is pretty significant. Most likely an hour each way. For some, that's not bad considering the quality of life in the northern suburbs. You also have to note that employment is spread out throughout DFW, so it really depends on where you work whether or not the commute is that bad. The center of my universe is Richardson/Plano, so the commute from Mckinney is 35 mins worse case (under 20 miles).

Also, based on where your coming from it is alot different here. Make sure you spend some time maybe renting in an area that is somewhat central before you decide to buy. There are literaly 50 sub-communities within a community like Frisco, Mckinney or Plano, so you need to take some time to understand which one of those suits you best.

As for Texans being incredibly friendly, it really seemed that way to me at first when I was visiting, but for some reason now that I live here, they seem about the same as Socal. I never thought that Socal people were not friendly, just somewhat to themselves. This is a big city as well, so I wouldn't expect alot of the daily 'howdy ya'lls' that many transplants expect once moving here. But people are genuinely friendly here once you get to know them. I believe alot of the friendly demeanor I experience is based on this being such a family friendly place. Again, if you want killer suburban living, I don't think there are many places in the US that match Dallas (low crime, close to employment, affordable housing, organized events, gorgeous communities). In that respect, there is still alot of the American Dream left here.

[GoPadge]

We live in central Plano and my oldest is going to UT Southwestern (not far from Children's) three days a week for therapy. My wife doesn't schedule appointments during rush hour, and her average commute is 30 minutes.

[lh_newbie]

Since Dallas has so many potential areas to live - I would strongly suggest visiting and staying with your sister in McKinney for a few days. Evaluate your options. Drive to Children's during different times of the day to get a feel for the traffic.

One thing to keep in mind about traffic and the future: DFW is the 2nd fastest growing area in the country. We added 832K residents from 2000-2006. If this trend continues, the traffic will steadily get heavier and heavier. Something to keep in mind.

I used to live in Allen. It's a nice area, but I would suggest opening up your search a bit further. There are nice areas in Dallas proper also, that may offer a shorter commute to the hospital. Beyond that, check out the options for your hubby's potential employment. If he ends up getting a job downtown and you plan to go to Children's once a week, you may have more family time (IMO - this is quality of life) by locating close to both of those things.

Here is a list of questions that if we know the answers to, we may be able to give you potential options:

- What sort of things do you enjoy?
- Do you enjoy walking thei neighborhoods or getting out on a bike through the parks?
- Do you like indoor-type malls?
- Do you want a single family home, apartment or a condo?
- What field is your hubby in? (and if he's in data networking - get me his resume...)
- Is proximity to your sister important? How far (in minutes) would you consider to be aceptable?
- How many times/week do you envision eating out?
- Is public transportation important to you at all (i.e. light rail train and/or bus)

I think that should give us enough info to give some options.

[NOMORESOCAL]

Hi all,
I am not sure what happened, but I posted as JonsMom, NOMORESOCAL is my hubby. I wanted to get some feedback as I had some questions of my own.

As to the questions that I was asked:

My family & I are home bodies. We like to walk our dogs, go fishing, be in the outdoors, bbq and things like that.
Here in California, We are not able to walk at night, due to safety(little spooky), but I would love to walk through the neighborhood, and feel safe.
Malls are not a big issue, target & wal-mart do just fine
Hubby is in the car business, and I am a stay at home mom
We are looking for a single family home
As for my sister, I really would like to be near her. 30 min drive, max
We do not need public transportation.
I think that covers it. I hope that I didn't confuse anyone with the mix up on user names, sorry

thank you for all your info!
signed, JonsMom

[lh_newbie]

Since you're home bodies, don't care about public transportation and like Target and Walmart, I would suggest sticking north of Dallas proper. Check out Plano, Allen and McKinney. West Plano might be a good option - it would put you near the Dallas North Tollway, and hence an easier commute to Children's and keep you within 20 minutes of your sister. There's a slew of car dealers along Plano Parkway between Preston and Central... so your hubby might luck out and have a nice short drive. Very quiet area, close to Target and Walmart, well lit subdivisions you should feel perfectly safe walking around in at night.

Eeek... did I suggest not moving into Dallas proper? Hehe.

[Lakewooder]

Well we don't have many Targets and Wal-Marts - in fact we fight to keep them out!

[momof2dfw]

Getting out into Frisco or McKinney is going to put you MUCH farther than 30 minutes from Childrens Hospital. More like an hour on a good day and not in rush hour traffic. Folks, ya'll need to remember WHERE in Dallas this hospital is located. It is in a VERY congested area and by the time you get off of the highway and make your way thru the traffic and into the parking it is going to take awhile. This area is home to Childrens, Parkland, Southwest Medical and St Paul a block away. This entire complex is growing and being added onto right now. The traffic around it is only going to get worse and never better. While it may be much better than out in Cali it is not going to be a cakewalk in that vicinity. Nor will getting out of Frisco or McKinney just to get there. The childrens hospital at Medical City will be a good 1 hr to 45 min drive and it is on the far north side of Dallas at 75 & 635 and a straight shot from McKinney.

My sis also lives in McKinney and I'm in N.E. Garland right off of 190 and it takes me a good 25-30 minutes in non rush hour traffic and I move along and know my way around. The travel time on 190 is nothing it is the traffic thru Plano into Allen and on into McKinney and then the side roads that can choke ya.

If you can find a good doctor at the childrens at Medical City then if you want to be close to that w/o being too far out and still close to a lot of things and in a family friendly neighborhood I'm going to say look in the Canyon Creek area of Richardson. This would put you right close to 75 and give you several side streets to take if need be to the hospital or to your sister. You would also have MANY more options when it comes to the closeness of a Target or Walmart (Coit between Campbell and 190 has just about everything one could need w/o having a mall). The homes are not brand new but they are nice and in your price range. You can find some that have not been updated or the ones that have that will sell pretty fast. This also gives your husband VERY close proximity to MANY car dealerships being close by w/o a long commute.

[GoPadge]

To an extent I disagree. Anywhere in Frisco near the Tollway should put you within a 1/2 hour drive during non-rush hour times. As I said, my wife makes it from Coit and Legacy to UT Southwestern in a 1/2 hour.

Now McKinney would be another story....