Relo from Seattle - youth ice hockey needs! (Dallas, Fort Worth: 2014, rental)

[Colorado RN]

Hello All!
After relocating to Seattle 2 years ago for a job, It looks like Ft. Worth will be our next stop. This is good news for us as I'm originally from OK and have 2 sisters in the Ft. Worth area.

We are looking at Keller and Trophy Club (per my sisters recommendation) - my sister lives in Haslet and it's important that we live close to her. I am an RN and my hours usually allow me to skip most of rush hour traffic so it's not imperative that I be close to a hospital. My husbands office will be in Grapevine. His commute currently in Seattle (just to drive 30 miles) is over 1 1/2 hours - so anything less than that is a bonue!

We have 2 boys that play travel ice hockey - can anyone recommend a youth hockey assoc. and a rink that would be less than 30 min driving distance from Keller or TC? We spend most of our life at the rink so this is a priority for us!!

We lived in a master planned community in Denver that had the schools, pool, trails and Target, Walmart, groceries and moves all within 5 min drive - would like something like that again.

Thanks for all the information - can't wait for the Texas heat!! (I know I'll be eating my words after a few weeks...)

[ChristieP]

What's your budget for housing? That's going to be the big issue here.

Keller to Grapevine is not going to be a fun commute for your husband. It won't be as congested as Seattle, though. There is a lot of construction on the only highway between the two (114/170) and the only alternative is to take side streets with school zones, etc. Trophy Cub is only slightly shorter commute, and will still have the constructon on 114. Yes, both of those are fairly close to Haslet, but so are other cities in the area: Grapevine, Southlake, etc.

For you, the big hospital in the area is Baylor Regional at Grapevine, and also Texas Health HEB in Bedford. There is a small surgical center/ER in Trophy Club, and several hospitals have free-standing ERs in Keller. A hospital is under construction in Keller but won't open until 2014 IIRC, and they are also Magnet so all of their nurses must be BSNs.

This is the area's ice rink: Polar Ice House Grapevine Southlake ISD plays ice hockey, and I am not sure about the other area ISDs.

[Colorado RN]

Thank you for all the information. I know traffic is going to be a huge factor for us.

Housing budget: - We haven't decided if we will rent (as we're doing now) or buy. We own a home in Denver that is being rented, so we need to take a look and make a decision. Southlake is out of our price range. We'd like to stay around $300,000 (due to high property tax that will take our monthly payments out of range for us) or around $2,000 for a rental. Although we realize the overall the cost of living is a lot less in Texas than in WA which may allow us some wiggle room.

I will look into the rink in Grapevine - don't know anything about the school district. Do they have open enrollment (where you could live in one school district and attend another) there?

Thanks again

[ChristieP]

Ok. With $300k, Southlake is definitely out and Trophy Club is likely out unless you want an older home. That leaves Keller, Roanoke, and Grapevine. All of these are good choices. Grapevine is closest to work and is really a good community.

You have to attend school in the district that serves your residence. You cannot go to another district. Some districts allow you to attend any school in the district.

Disclaimer: DH and I have lived in Grapevine for 10 years now and we LOVE it!

[5stones]

Keller to Grapevine is not bad at all, esp after Seattle traffic!
20 minutes with light traffic and 30-40 during rush hour (depending on where in Grapevine the office is)

the other big youth Hockey association here is located in North Richalnd Hills (a hike from Trophy club)
At the NYTEX sports center. They also have adult leagues
Texas Brahmas Youth Hockey Association

Keller ISD also has Hockey a team. ALL school hockey here is club, it is not a UIL sport. So Keller's team pulls from the entire district not just 1 or 2 schools. The Varsity won State last year (Silver division) and are looking pretty good this year!
Keller ISD Hockey powered by GOALLINE.ca

300k is a good budget. If you want master planned there are too many here like (Highlands ranch? in CO) Keller has Hidden Lakes that has elementary school, trails and pools and is very close to shopping etc
The other big one in Keller ISD would be Heritage, but that put you west of 377 in Ft Worth and for a commute to Grapevine I wouldn't do that!

North Richalnd Hills has "Hometown" it's in the Birdville ISD. not my favorite because of small lots, alley and narrow streets, the houses really looked crammed in.

[loves2read]

some other posts about youth hocky on this and the dallas forum--run a search

this is link to story about altercation between Keller ISD hockey player and Arlington ISD player in the playoffs last year
Hockey players suspended after fight caught on tape | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth

Hockey teams in this area have fans that are as rabid or more so than football--even though it is not a UIL sport here and certainly not as popular/pervasive as football or other top 2

the coaches are not hired through the school and the school really has little oversight over what happens...the sport is managed by the Texas Amateur Hockey Assoc...which I think definitely is looser with the rules than UIL

BRAHMAS | PRO ICE HOCKEY | NORTH RICHLAND HILLS: NYTEX Sports Staff
this is the coach for the Keller high school team

the ice rink at Grapevine Mills is one that has youth/school practice
and there is one in Euless as well--
not sure about Keller area around 377
so it depends on which team your sons would be on as to where they would practice and they are likely to be on different travel teams vs school teams...

ISDs in TX are not tied to city/county boundaries--one ISD can flow into 2-3-4 towns and one town have serve 2-3-4 ISDs which makes it different from many other states where ISDs are zoned by city limits or county boundaries...
very few of them have open enrollment--mainly because most districts are very crowded and students are zoned to specific schools
you can apply for an "inter-district" transfer but that can only happen at one time in the year and you are not guaranteed to get that request
Garland ISd is only district I know that has school of choice option--and that is way across Dallas so not going to work for you

there are Charter schools--which take students who live in any district--and get their funding from the state--
good ones usually have a wait-list and probably don't take new students during the year...
you also have the choice to use private schools or homeschool your children--TX is one of most flexible home-school states from what I have read...
AND your children could still apply for hockey team in the district they live in

The only developmes in Tarrant county like you describe are in Keller really--
Hometown in NRHills/Birdville ISD does have a school very close to its development and it is also close to strip mall/ retail developments but they are not INSIDE Hometown--and yes, its lots are small (mainly because they use alleys to get to garages)
the large Keller developments don't really appeal to me and some of those are in Keller ISD but FTW city limits--that makes a difference on many fronts--from tax rate to resale value--so make sure you know what CITY any home would be in...

you need to see how the towns here interweave--
if is very difficult sometimes to know when you pass from one to the other--
there is not lot of rural land as buffer separating towns--and there is retail/commercial scatter along major roads all over--so there is probably convenient shopping/restaurants pretty much anywhere
Hospitals are not that common--
Harris HEB (or that used to be its name), Baylor-Grapevine, one in NRHills (not my favorite), and there is one that will be constructed in Trophy Club area
but there are day surgeries, doctors' office/clinics scattered all around...
FTW has hospital district just SW of downtown and another glob around the Hulen/820 Loop area

the 114 corridor is under construction right now--and will continue for another year or more
Hwy 26/Grapevine Hwy which is 4 lane surface road is also under construction
so is 183/Airport Frwy which runs from Dallas to FTW through Irving and the Mid-Cities (Euless/Bedford/Hurst)
the north Loop 820 is also going under construction for the next few years...

getting to Haslet can be easy or hard depending on where you start from--
the 377 and I-35 commutes are N/S which don't help your husband since Grapevine is about 30-45 min east--depending on where/when you start

R U seeing your sister daily--is she providing after school care? or is this something of a weekend--be a visitor--nature--because that will make a big difference in where you would want to find a house...

right now rental properties in good ISDs are very desireable -- rents for homes are probably higher than what you could buy a comprable home for because of the competitive nature of the marketplace and the fact that many people who own rental property are like you--
living out of town/state and have to rent to cover that mortgage because they can't sell the house for what they owe...

you might have trouble finding the "right" house this time of the year because most people tried to get one before school started...

traffic in this area (Haslet/west Keller to Grapevine) will be complicated for several years--
the only consolation is that there are a good number of surface roads that you can divert to (and some people use all the time) for commuting...

[mcpugh]

Colorado RN: I was also looking for Ice Hockey in the DFW, except for adult leagues. So I just did a simple Google search and discovered several rinks in the area. So far, the ones I looked at offer hockey for all ages.

Fun sport.... look forward to playing again.

[RockyJoe817]

If I am not mistaken, I seen a news story about a adult hockey league in the Frisco area.
A past aquaintance told me he participated in one that played towards Euless. You may
want to check the Ice hockey rinks and see if they have any adult leagues starting again.

[bhalpin]

We are moving there too in March, my husband is there now and has looked at a couple of rinks, The Brahamas at the Nytex and Euless where the Jr. Stars play, both have competitive programs for youth hockey, one currently has tier 1 hockey and the other should have in the near future, I would certainly visit the rinks speak with the coaches and hockey directors you should be able to make a clear choice what will work for you family! We have! Good Luck!