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Hi there! My husband works in telecom/fiber optics and is currently pursuing several job leads that would have our family moving to the DFW area. My husband has family there and did in fact live there himself (in Allen) about 15-20 years ago. (He loves Texas!) I've been a mad woman doing research on housing prices, area specs and schools. I've come across a few things I like about H.E.B....BUT whenever I mention this to my husband he snickers and says "Oh yeah, Worst, Bedpan and Useless - that's how we used to refer to those areas." Now granted this was 15-20 years ago and to be frank he can be a bit of a snob (but I love him!) He also can't give me a reason WHY they referred to those areas with such derogatory nicknames. So I'm looking to you fine people for opinions about those areas as they are now. Also can anyone shed any light on the mean nicknames? Thanks!
....LOL!.... We call Bedford BEDROCK at our house. These are, older established communities with good schools, good housing prices, good locations, and my DH and I both think B-O-R-I-N-G. However, I would not hesitate living in any of the HEB communities for rearing kids or if they were in good proximity to my job. Lots of pretty homes with big trees. Not a lot of hills..... nothing wrong here, just kind of blingless. That said, if the homes fit your price point and schools are important, certainly worth more than a passing look. I like Allen better.
Current and former north Dallas residents sometimes have a tendency to turn their nose up at cities not in north Dallas.
I should be closing soon on a house in Euless. I work in Hurst and the company I work for may move to Irving soon so Euless was a natural choice for me. Just make sure to check the schools and you'll be fine. We were looking in the areas of Hurst and Euless in the Grapevine ISD and the parts of Beford that went to Bedford Heights Elementary and fed into Bell High School. There were other schools in the area we thought were decent but didn't fit in the area we preferred to live in. There were also areas of HEB I didn't want to live in (most were south of Hwy 183).
But it really depends on where in the DFW area you end up and your husband's attitude. If he can't get over the snobbery enough to enjoy living in HEB, it won't be a pleasant experience for either of you.
First a bit of my history, before moving to TX I lived in armpit, NJ and worked in NYC for 11 years. Prior to that, I lived in NYC for three years. I was born and raised in Alabama, though. After my experience in "the big city," most people once they got married and started raising a family typically gravitated towards quiet nondescript suburban towns with “good schools.” The unfortunate truth is that most towns that meet that description in the NYC metro area are overwhelmingly expensive to purchase into. So many people - even those with statistically high incomes - end up stuck in more urban areas with their problems, poor/low performing schools included. Some, of course, choose to live many miles away for the quieter communities with lower prices, but then have a harrowing commute to look forward to day after day… and commuting costs can be eye opening.
Relocating to TX gave us the opportunity to sort of refocus on the things that were important to us as a family and to correct some things in our previous lifestyle that we didn't like. Now, my job is in North Arlington. So living in Bedford means I have a very short commute with absolutely no traffic or expressway travel. I couldn't have a better daily drive. If my job were in Dallas or Fort Worth, I'd probably have gravitated to a different location.
I found a new house that was move-in ready back in 2008. Now that in and of itself isn't any great achievement because there were many new homes available in 2008. All the others were in areas like Mansfield and North Richland Hills, though. Those areas would have not provided the effortless commute that I now enjoy. New homes in Bedford are somewhat rare, though. So for us, this was somewhat fortuitous... and the builder was willing to deal and work with us while we sold our home in NJ.
I considered more affluent areas like Colleyville and Southlake in our home search. Having spent many years in New Jersey, which is very class/status conscious, did have some effect on my outlook. I even posed the question to this forum over whether there were any actual or perceived benefits to living in a markedly affluent area. In the end, we decided it would be more comfortable for us and the kids to live towards the upper end in a decent more affordable comfortable community than to represent the "poor folk" in a richer town. My days of social climbing are OVER (thank God). Also, I really don’t want for my kids to have to deal with any social pressures related to the “great divide” of wealth in the country.
Amenities? We enjoy our libraries and parks for the kids. We enjoy the YMCA for swimming lessons. We may try the Bedford Boys Ranch for swimming this year, though. My wife prefers the library in Euless, actually. The resources of all three towns are easily at our disposal. Shopping isn't an issue. Restaurants aren't an issue. Everything we enjoy is close at hand. More importantly, since our towns aren't destination towns like Grapevine and others, we don't have to deal with any traffic in or around our neighborhoods.
I guess one of the things about Bedford in particular that struck me as really cool is that the vast majority of the people in our little 16 home community are actually replants from Bedford. This is important in one small critical aspect: The people in Bedford like/enjoy their town enough to purchase "up" w/in their own community. They are not running away - escaping, if you will - the schools. Most of the people in my community went to the same elementary, middle and high schools that they send their kids to. THEY WANT TO SEND THEIR KIDS TO THE SAME SCHOOLS! I find that to be amazing, refreshing, and reassuring as heck that we found the right kind of community for us. When folks start to look down on their own town, you've got to start worrying. I haven't seen this in Bedford.
Lastly, the folks in my community are about as nice and welcoming as we could have ever wished for. I somehow doubt it would have been the same in Colleyville... and one house we looked at in NRH, well, about every home on that block was up for sale soon after we purchased in Bedford.
I asked my wife at the time how she would have felt moving to a community where all the homes around us went up for sale soon after we moved in. It would not have been comforting. To conrast what we say in NRH, our community wasn't complete when we moved in. It has since, however, filled out completely - adding seven homes: Quite the opposite effect of having existing homes around you going onto the market, yes?
Anyhow, Bedford: slow paced, boring and quiet, with good schools. That works for me.
-Eric
Last edited by Eric S; 04-20-2011 at 09:49 AM..
Reason: Clarifying a point I made about a home in NRH.
HEB has a solid school sysytem, they do a great job with the fact that they have such a wide diversity in student body etc...
Midcities is a great location for acessing both Dallas and Ft Worth.
Yes there are some older more run down areas...but stick to the NORTH section and I think even your hubby will be surprized at how nice it is developing.
(south of 820 area I would stay away from)
Hurst has put in a great sports complex, Library, shopping etc...
Parts of Eulass is zoned ofr Grapevine Colleyville schools...nice new neighborhood etc...
So, do your research and listen to those who live there they will help you narrow down some really nice neighborhoods with bigger lots and big old trees with VERY good schools.
NOW...
If you are looking in that area you might also want to explore a few more options...
North Richland Hills (however I put HEB schools above Birdville schools..the north part has Keller schools though)
Grapevine and even parts of Keller
Lived in north Bedford for over 20 yrs and living in Hurst--from choice since we spent over 3 yrs looking at where to move
taught in HEB and both my adult children graduated from the Trinity side of the district--
there is much to like about all of these towns--and some areas of Colleyville feed into the Bell side of HEB--and some parts of north FT feed into HEB ISD as well
HEB ISD probably gives parents/students/tax payers more bang for their bucks than any district with the same or even better demographics
But DFW is HUGE--
I would say consider options but don't decide where until your husband's job comes through
case in point--
poster on different site was working outside the US--was supposed to have job in Tarrant side and bought a house in Keller before he actually moved and started working
the first job did not pan out--but the house was purchased--now he was looking at job offer in Dallas--LONG drive each way because it is harder to sell a house than find a job frankly
even renting and having kids in school for part of year would not be good plan---
I would say stay where you are until the job is definite
Somebody who lived in Allen 20 years ago talking down on H-E-B? I'm not sure I was even aware of Allen's existence 20 years ago when I lived in Hurst, lol.
First of all, I think H-E-B is a pretty darn good school district. They've been one of the ISD's affected the least by this budget mess we're in because they've planned so well. I agree with 5Stones in that I would definitely put H-E-B a notch above Birdville, and I graduated from a Birdville high school. I did attend H-E-B schools for years though when I was younger. Neighborhoods are going to consist of homes built between 1960 to the present. There are some real, charming older neighborhoods with lots of mature trees throughout. Most of the newer neighborhoods are going to be on the northern side of town, but Hurst has also built some new developments on newer annexed land south of Hwy 10 around the Trinity River.
They're your typical suburbs, nothing too fancy about them, but not run down at all in my opinion. Personally, I think one of the best parts of HEB is its central location. Depending on where your neighborhood is, you're only 15-20 minutes from downtown Fort Worth and 30-40 minutes from downtown Dallas. Unlike Allen where you're at least 30+ from Dallas and a plane trip to Fort Worth.
Quote:
I guess one of the things about Bedford in particular that struck me as really cool is that the vast majority of the people in our little 16 home community are actually replants from Bedford. This is important in one small critical aspect: The people in Bedford like/enjoy their town enough to purchase "up" w/in their own community. They are not running away - escaping, if you will - the schools. Most of the people in my community went to the same elementary, middle and high schools that they send their kids to.
Yep. Actually, my wife and I moved out to the eastern Dallas area a couple of years back when she landed a job out here. We've been renting this entire time but actively scouting different neighborhoods and suburbs and trying to figure out where we were eventually going to buy and settle down. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we both admitted to each other that we missed our old neighborhoods and would rather raise our kids in the HEB/Fort Worth area than anywhere near where we live now. Sure, it's only 45 minutes down the road and you're probably thinking "how different can it be"? But it is different, and we find Fort Worth's suburbs much preferable over Dallas's. So I guess homebuying is off until we see if she can land a job somewhere closer to that area in the next few years.
Last edited by ClarenceBodiker; 04-20-2011 at 05:48 PM..
I think Eric's point about re-upping in your own neighborhood is important point--
we could have moved almost anyplace in Tarrant county when we decided we wanted a different house--checked west of FTW in Aledo area, north around Eagle Mtn Lake, Southlake, Colleyville, and the MidCities--did lot of looking--and finally bought in Hurst--we would have been happy to buy in Bedford but could not find what we wanted there
the problem is that in Bedford the city council and the mayor were very aggressive in the 80s in allowing development
consequently there are few areas now large enough for new housing to be developed in Bedford
and you won't find anyone tearing down a house in Bedford to build a new home on that lot--
would be financial suicide in 99% of cases because the comps would never support it
the HEB ISD owns one of the largest open areas--just west of the Kroger strip center on Harwood and what I have heard is that they are keeping that for new school (maybe jr high) that might need to be built
the ISD has been told by analysis firms they have hired several times since the late 80s that the enrollment will be dropping significantly because of the aging of the residents--
for anyone who actually LIVES in this area this is not exactly the case--
the large numbers of apartments, the older neighborhoods that have lent themselves to rental properties in some cases and in other just had very stable/safe dynamics, the great location in the metroplex, the low housing prices which have kept it attractive to families, the safe environment (in most areas) just meant that people still move to Bedford or stay here
What we have lost out on that Keller and new areas off NRHills could develop were modern/market-viable housing that would attract people who could afford to pay 350-500K for homes--
the same type of professional who used to buy in Bedford--
the small neighborhood Eric lives in is the only new SFH development in past 10 yrs--
the people who might like to buy in Bedford in that price range are moving to Keller or Haslet area if their jobs allow it--or maybe NRHills around the Tarrant Parkway because they can't find the house they can afford here in Bedford
In capturing the money of the moment 20 yrs ago Bedford's past leaders really did not consider the situation of Bedford today--
Bedford is a great community in my opinion. The HEB seems to be the perfect community for raising a family. There are great libraries, rec centers, water parks, playgrounds, parks and always an event to attend. The school system is amazing and the people are overall very friendly.
Having moved here from busy Atlanta, I love the area. Sure, I miss the "big city" feel but that's nothing compared to the security, sense of community and great education my kids can get. Plus, a 15 minute drive will send you to Ft Worth, Dallas, Arlington, Grapevine, Irving...
In capturing the money of the moment 20 yrs ago Bedford's past leaders really did not consider the situation of Bedford today--
VERY good post, L2R. You offer a lot of insight into Bedford's situation. It is a shame that the actions of Bedford's past have such a negative effect on the present. I've said it before, and I will say it again: Bedford has some of the highest property taxes in Tarrant County, and really doesn't have the city services/facilities to show for it.
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