Where to rent a home in Dallas? (Plano, Greenville: apartments, houses)

[mSooner]

I live in the Dallas suburbs when I'm not at school right now, but I'm getting married and June and my fiance and I starting to scout out places to live.

I'll be working in Plano right off 75, and he'll be attending school at UT Southwestern right next to Parkland. I'm pretty much willing to commute to from anywhere north of I-30 since I'll be going against traffic, but he doesn't want to be more than 15 minutes away from the school due to the nature of the schedule.

We're considering apartments, but space and storage are a big deal for us, so we think we'd like to rent a house. Buying isn't really an option right now as it is 95% likely we'll be moving in 4 years due to med school residency, though we may consider it after a year or so.

Another factor is my fiance is a BIG cyclist, and we think it would be wise to live near a safe place for him to ride (we're talking 2-3 hours of riding a day). The only place I know of right now is White Rock Lake--any other suggestions? I enjoy that area myself--seems like a pretty safe place to run (during the day at least, wouldn't go near it at night)

Based on that, I was thinking the area around White Rock (Lakewood, Casa Linda, Lake Highlands, Forest Hills) or the M-Streets near Greenville, Ave would be a good place to look for homes to rent. I've found a few online that look pretty cute (I love early 1900s cottages and bungalows) and were willing to pay up to $1200 in rent (though of course less is better) We're hoping to get something with at least 2 bedrooms/bonus rooms.

Anyone have any comments on any of these areas? Pretty safe? Anything to watch out for?

Any other areas you would recommend? We are both grew up in the suburbs and would like to experience the city--not really the clubbing type, though.

[mrboast]

mSooner,

I am looking in the same neighborhoods, but with a little bit higher rent budget (1,500) as the original poster. My wife will be working at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and I will be working downtown. We are late 20's and ready to begin our family. I would love some suggestions on those East Dallas neighborhoods as well (DART will go right to my place of employment near St. Paul station!)

Sooner, in the year I have lived in Dallas, I have noticed getting east-west (or west-east) in this town is a pain..I'm not sure he could make it to UTSW in 15 min from out there!

[DaveG99]

I dont know where parkland is but if your working in plano move to plano. There is a huge trail that runs through the west side of the town too.

[pepper131]

Parkland and UTSW are in the Harry Hines/Inwood area. You might look into renting near the Katy Trail for your husband to cycle and be able to get to work w/in 15 minutes. Off Knox where Katy Trail intersects, he can ride into Highland Park to extend his route.

For the other poster - if you want to ride the Dart Train to work, you'll want to look at M-Streets and Stonewall Terrace to take the train from Mockingbird Station.
Or look around the White Rock Station - the are some houses just west of the train station.