Which would you choose? (Dallas, Plano: new home, employment, neighborhoods)

[pinkgreenmover]

I know this is subjective, but if you worked in Richardson (75/Campbell) and went to church in Dallas (near NorthPark), would you buy new construction in Wylie or try to find an older (somewhat updated) home in Richardson?

[nsumner]

Stick with Richardson in neighborhoods like University Estates. The house would really have to be updated and made energy efficient. That is the biggest draw to newer homes.

Naima

[TurtleCreek80]

Richardson, hands down.

[Lakewooder]

Richardson -- don't fall for the siren song of a new home on the edge of suburbia. It may turn out to be your swan song.

[GoPadge]

I'd also recommend something near work. I don't understand why people would prefer to live near "prefered" shopping / night life / etc, when they only go there once or twice a week. You're driving to work 5 days a week. Take the shortest commute you can and enjoy your time at home.

[art_teacher_mom]

I agree - go with a short commute! We moved 3 miles from hubby's work and it has enhanced the quality of life for our family greatly. (Not to mention cut way down on gas costs. Oil is creeping back up, btw. $80 a barrel this week. High gas prices are coming back...).

[kacvb1974]

I'm biased and a little late to this thread, but will chime in with yet another vote for Richardson. DH has a short 4 mile commute from NW Richardson to SE Plano. The extra time he can spend with me vs traveling, not to mention the lack sheer stress from fighting traffic makes a short commute exceedingly worth it. And if a job falls through in Richardson, the DART access makes the area still quite convenient to downtown and other major employment areas.

Not to mention even in the more humble of Richardson 'hoods, homes tend to really hold their value and don't typically to sit too long on the market.

Richardson does lack high end shopping and certainly cannot complete with the northern burbs in the trendy department, but I can get to Northpark, without speeding, in 9 minutes outside of rush.

I won't bore you with talk of Richardson's mature trees, great parks, fabulous mom pop cuisine, oodles of grocery options/organic shopping/ethnic markets, and other high points...

[Smito]

Without a doubt. Richardson.

[substring]

While it makes sense to buy house close to work, but in this day and age, people are no longer staying with one job for many years like our parent generation did. You typically stay in a house much longer than you stay with a company. The most common reason is layoff, which has happened (and continue to happen) to many people that worked for Texas Instruments, EDS, Cisco, and many other companies in the metroplex. Other reasons are better offer/opportunity or career change. The short commute could change to long commute very quickly within 5 years or so.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, you should buy a house at a neighborhood where you love the most, with the amenity that you enjoy, the environment that you feel safe, and the school system that your child can benefit the most.

Just my $0.02.

[lh_newbie]

Richardson, definitely. It's more centrally located than Wylie. Even if you change jobs in the future you have better odds of being closer to work by living in Richardson.