Transfer tcu student needs help with picking an area to live! (Fort Worth: to rent, houses)

[swbell]

Hi everyone,
I really need some info about some places around TCU... I want to live within 10 minutes of TCU, an ideal situation would be close enough to ride a bike to, but this is not a must, just something I thought would be nice... Im married and have 2 dogs so a house is a must 2+ bedrooms and my budget is 1200 dollars a month at the highest, and it needs to be SAFE... I really like bluebonnet hills and South hills area but I am worried about the rent being too high... I have also considering sunset heights South which I have looked at on the map and I really like. It seems to be a nice neighborhood with cheap rents as well. I was also looking at ridglea hills area... The areas that I have suspect questions about are Rosemont, Fairmont, and Ryans Place... I see a few nice houses in these areas but few and far between... We want an area that we can go jog in the evenings and not be nervous... Any information about the locations would be a great help... Thanks

[John Peter Smith]

Bluebonnet Hills is convenient and safe, if you can afford it. South Hills is a very large neighborhood, so it really depends on where you are located. Avoid Rosemont.

Fairmount and Ryan Place are historic neighborhoods. The nice houses you see have likely been restored. There you might find a great historic home that has been carefully restored next door to a run down place with junk cars lying around. These neighborhoods are on the way up, especially Fairmount. However, since you're looking to rent, not buy and fix up an old house, I'd look elsewhere.

My daughter has lived in Sunset Heights South for about 6 months and loves it. It's very convenient to Hulen shopping, the cultural district, downtown and southside fun stuff, yet affordable. No matter how close it looks on the map, I would not advise biking to TCU from there, due to the heavy traffic. Ridglea Hills is nice too. The homes and lots are larger, so that might be nice for the dogs. In either of these areas, don't go so far west that you get into the Como area. That's ghetto.

As far as jogging, try and find a place near the Trinity Trail, which runs along the river. The jogging/bike trail along the Trinity River is one of the best thing about Fort Worth.

Some of the nicest neighborhoods in Fort Worth are near TCU. Generally, the closer to the university you are, the nicer, safer and more expensive it is.

[Campeador]

Originally Posted by John Peter Smith

Bluebonnet Hills is convenient and safe, if you can afford it. South Hills is a very large neighborhood, so it really depends on where you are located. Avoid Rosemont.

Fairmount and Ryan Place are historic neighborhoods. The nice houses you see have likely been restored. There you might find a great historic home that has been carefully restored next door to a run down place with junk cars lying around. These neighborhoods are on the way up, especially Fairmount. However, since you're looking to rent, not buy and fix up an old house, I'd look elsewhere.

My daughter has lived in Sunset Heights South for about 6 months and loves it. It's very convenient to Hulen shopping, the cultural district, downtown and southside fun stuff, yet affordable. No matter how close it looks on the map, I would not advise biking to TCU from there, due to the heavy traffic. Ridglea Hills is nice too. The homes and lots are larger, so that might be nice for the dogs. In either of these areas, don't go so far west that you get into the Como area. That's ghetto.

As far as jogging, try and find a place near the Trinity Trail, which runs along the river. The jogging/bike trail along the Trinity River is one of the best thing about Fort Worth.

Some of the nicest neighborhoods in Fort Worth are near TCU. Generally, the closer to the university you are, the nicer, safer and more expensive it is.

Good advice here.

I'd check Bluebonnet and even Westcliff and other areas very close to TCU. Jogging is even better along Overton Park; the trees make nice shade for summer runs. Trinity trail is wide open and exposed to summer sun--nice for cycling and commuting by bike w/o car traffic.

You might look in Mistletoe Heights and Berkeley too.

[LuvsFW]

Originally Posted by Campeador

Good advice here.

I'd check Bluebonnet and even Westcliff and other areas very close to TCU. Jogging is even better along Overton Park; the trees make nice shade for summer runs. Trinity trail is wide open and exposed to summer sun--nice for cycling and commuting by bike w/o car traffic.

You might look in Mistletoe Heights and Berkeley too.

I'm not sure they could find what they're looking for in that price range in Mistletoe or Berkeley. Ryan Place, maybe. Fairmount, probably, but sketchy. Bluebonnet, Westcliff...all good. Good luck!

[swbell]

My brother is looking at a house for me tomorrow in Sunset heights South on Driskell boulevard... The immediate area looks nice but a mile away is lake como and the other side of the lake is Como... Is this something I should be worried about? Como looks pretty rough.

[Cymbyz]

You'll probably be all right if you stay east of the lake. It's my impression that Arlington Heights gets safer the farther north you fo: north of I-30 is better than south, and north of Camp Bowie is even better than the Triangle (where I grew up years ago).

[John Peter Smith]

Originally Posted by swbell

My brother is looking at a house for me tomorrow in Sunset heights South on Driskell boulevard... The immediate area looks nice but a mile away is lake como and the other side of the lake is Como... Is this something I should be worried about? Como looks pretty rough.

I would generally define Como as west of Lake Como, north of Vickery Blvd., east of Bryant Irvin Blvd. and south of Camp Bowie/I-30. I think Driskell would be fine. My daughter lives a few blocks from there. One thing I like is that her street has a number of retired folks who are out during the day and generally keeping a watchful eye on things.

[swbell]

Ok great... That puts my worries at ease... Does your daughter like living there?