Just accepted a new position in Fort Worth...HELP!? (Dallas: extended stay, apartment complexes)
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Hi everyone, I've accepted my dream job and it's bringing me to FW. I plan on moving by 8 January, site unseen, having come from a military background I'm comfortable picking up and going, without knowing anything or anyone. I will be coming alone and my family (hubby and 2 elementary age kiddos) will come after the current school year ends. A few questions I would like answered, please and thank you:
1) Job is downtown (Cherry street) so I'm looking to live as close as possible, currently debating if I should find a roommate or just stay in an extended stay....give me the rundown of good/bad areas "sides of town" etc? Street names would be very helpful.
2) How is public transportation? I'm not sure if I want to bring my car or not...if public transportation is good plus uber/Lyft, I may not need it right away.
3) Although my husband and kids won't be down until June, I want to start staking out potential suburbs. I've looked at Mansfield, North Richland Hills, and South Arlington so far...want to keep rent between $1300-$1800 and need great schools.
Let me know if you need anymore info from me that will help you, help me. Thanks so much!!
I would definitely bring your car. Public transportation is not great around here as far as buses are concerned. But Uber is very popular.
I think an Extended Stay might be a good choice. This takes pressure off in the beginning so you can focus on your new job.
Once you’re here, some good good school districts to cosider are: Mansfield ISD, Joshua ISD, and I think Burleson ISD is pretty good too. Yes. NRH is nice too. I think Mansfield is nicer than S. Arlington.
You can search threads on FTW forum for all those towns--
Joshua ISD I don't think I would recommend just because it is smaller district
NRHills has two school districts --Birdville and Keller--
Both are what I would consider good but there is variation within the district as to stronger/weaker schools
My experience says that the more you can afford to spend on rent the better ISD you can likely get into
FTW has bus line but doesn't go in the other ring of suburbs except Richland Hills and that I think might be expensive--there is like a commuter line into/out of downtown station with several outlying stations -- one off Airport Frwy in Richland Hills--
That line goes from FTW to Dallas and there are quite a few people who use it depending on how the end stops align w/their destinations...parking can be crowded and they don't run 24/7 like BART lines...
Uber exists but don't know quality or pricing
If you are looking for a home vs apt to rent then your rent for multi bedroom is low @1300
HEB ISD which is in Hurst, Euless, and Bedford has some good elementary schools and Jr highs--offers some special programs like Suzuki strings in some schools
Both high schools offer the IB program which is great for accelerated college credits
Check travel patterns for getting into downtown FTW from outlying areas
Construction on 121/Airport Frwy from the east will continue for several years and it is a busy road...toll lanes are expensive
I30 goes E/W and is option -- and while I don't think there is construction it is busy travel
820 Loop circles outside FTW ---
There is 377--state Hwy--which goes N/S--and is multi lane but with traffic lights--
And I-35N/S---most people hate that
The Northwest ISD has become more popular with the growth in areas along 114 WEST of Southlake into towns like Roanoak, Trophy Club, Haslet, and north FTW
Birdville ISD goes north a good ways--into Haltom City north of 820 loop
ISDs west of FTW not that great IMO
Understand that in TX all school districts are "independent" meaning they set their boundaries and flow over town/county boundaries...
Aledo to WEST of FTW (using I 30) has decent ISD
Burleson SOUTH of FTW I would rate a little lower
Mansfield I would rate about like Burleson
FTWISD itself is not what most would recommend--Paschal HS feeder line probably has best schools but might be difficult to find rental property in your price range...it is kind of a dysfunctional district
Last edited by loves2read; 12-03-2017 at 07:42 AM..
Hi everyone, I've accepted my dream job and it's bringing me to FW. I plan on moving by 8 January, site unseen, having come from a military background I'm comfortable picking up and going, without knowing anything or anyone. I will be coming alone and my family (hubby and 2 elementary age kiddos) will come after the current school year ends. A few questions I would like answered, please and thank you:
1) Job is downtown (Cherry street) so I'm looking to live as close as possible, currently debating if I should find a roommate or just stay in an extended stay....give me the rundown of good/bad areas "sides of town" etc? Street names would be very helpful.
2) How is public transportation? I'm not sure if I want to bring my car or not...if public transportation is good plus uber/Lyft, I may not need it right away.
3) Although my husband and kids won't be down until June, I want to start staking out potential suburbs. I've looked at Mansfield, North Richland Hills, and South Arlington so far...want to keep rent between $1300-$1800 and need great schools.
Let me know if you need anymore info from me that will help you, help me. Thanks so much!!
There is an Extended Stay hotel on University Drive that we stayed at when we moved to Fort Worth (from Seattle area) until our apartment was ready. Very nice and close to downtown, close to restaurants.
Bring a car, you cannot live in Texas without one. And a good one, not a beater car.
We now live in the Marine Creek area in North Fort Worth - homes were very affordable a couple years ago when we bought - they have gone up a bit. I would suggest Googling Sendera Ranch - a work friend lives there and loves it, great schools, etc. Homes are in the 200k range and are newish.
I worked in the Burnett Plaza Tower on Cherry Street when I was with the DOJ/US Attorneys Office. Very nice building.
Of those three choices. I would say that the Keller ISD in NRH, The West section of Arlington ISD (martin high school), and the central section of Mansfield ISD (Mansfield High school) are your best choices.
Burleson ISD has good schools and has very equal school ratings through out the city, while Mansfield and Arlington ratings vary depending on where in the city your located. Kennedale and the HEB ISD's are also good choices.
Can't tell you much about the northern burbs, but the Mansfield ISD schools that are located in SE Arlington and most the Arlington schools on the west side are less then desirable.
FTWISD itself is not what most would recommend--Paschal HS feeder line probably has best schools but might be difficult to find rental property in your price range...it is kind of a dysfunctional district
Just so you know, wanting to be close in to downtown Fort Worth pretty much means that you would have to be in the FWISD. Other than FWISD, there are some areas of Birdville ISD that come close to downtown, though that would probably be the worst of that school district, and not at all comparable with the portion of Birdville in North Richland Hills; you also have Castleberry ISD, though I wouldn't recommend that district at all. That said, not all of FWISD is "bad," especially at the elementary level. Some of the elementary schools do seem comparable to suburban districts in terms of academic achievement, though the facilities will be older.
If you can get a rental apartment in the Stonegate/Bellaire area off of Hulen near TCU, you would be in the Tanglewood Elementary zone, which is easily the best elementary school (in terms of academic achievement) out of anywhere else in the FWISD, and probably the best relative to those in the aforementioned suburban ISDs. Tanglewood's test scores are up there with the most prestigious school districts in the area, comparable with the elementary schools in Carroll ISD (Southlake). Academic achievement scores do drop off in the middle (McLean) and high schools (Paschal) though, as many Tanglewood parents send their kids to private schools as they enter middle school, plus you also have schools serving lower-income populations feeding into McLean and Paschal. Also, since Tanglewood is a highly sought-after school, and in combination with the fact that there are new (and very expensive) housing developments going up in the area, it must be said that Tanglewood is overcrowded. Given that most of the neighborhoods in the Tanglewood zone are pretty expensive, an apartment would pretty much be the only option to get into the Tanglewood zone at your rental budget. These apartment complexes are used by TCU students, so you'll have to be concerned about parties. Avoid the Kelton at Clearfork as it is in the Como Elementary zone (one of the worst elementary schools on FW's west side).
There's also Westcliff and Lily B. Clayton, which seem to be okay options within the Paschal HS zone, with Westcliff being a little bit better than Clayton. The main advantage of these two schools is that they feed into FWISD's best middle and high schools (McLean and Paschal). Portions of the Paschal zone east of 8th Avenue are not recommended (including Fairmount) as you'll pretty much be stuck in subpar elementary and middle schools unless you can get selected for FWISD's K-8 Daggett Montessori or other "programs of choice"; those living in the E.M. Daggett Elementary attendance zone -- pretty much Ryan Place north of Cantey and Fairmount south of Richmond -- do get priority in the Daggett Montessori admission lottery, at least to my understanding. I wouldn't bet on that lottery, though.
Looking on Fort Worth's west side, it should also be noted that the elementary schools feeding into Stripling MS also seem to be good (South Hi Mount, North Hi Mount, and Burton Hill); in fact, Burton Hill Elementary is FWISD's 2nd best elementary (in terms of test scores) after Tanglewood, though there is a notable gap in test scores.
In the case of Burton Hill, you would want to look at the Westworth Village vicinity, though you'll need to stay west/southwest of the river in Westworth Village and the Burton Hill neighborhood (on the other side of the river is the Castleberry ISD). As Burton Hill is close to the NAS Joint Reserve Base, you'll probably find some parents who have a military background there as well; in fact, Burton Hill is the assigned elementary school for children who live in housing on the base itself. For South Hi Mount, look in the area around Hulen and the I-30 West Freeway (Arlington Heights). North Hi Mount is a bit below the other two elementary schools in the Stripling zone in terms of its test scores, though once you control for the low-income students (which are the majority at these three schools), many of the differences in academic achievement between these schools seem to disappear. Most FWISD elementary schools (excluding Tanglewood and the two Benbrook schools) are going to be majority low-income.
And even right in downtown itself you have Charles Nash Elementary, which seems good on the academic achievement front.
Even in many of these areas with good elementary schools, you'll have to be concerned about the state of the middle and high schools in the FWISD.
First off, if your company doesn't have a private parking garage make sure you set up monthly parking downtown. There is no free public parking and some garages can run upwards of $100 a month and have waiting lists. Finding metered street parking can be difficult.
Think of Fort Worth as a circle divided into four quadrants. Loop 820 is the circle. I-35 splits it north to south. I-30 splits it west to east. Stay away from the Southeast quadrant as it is the high crime area of town. The north/northwest quadrant is mostly Hispanic neighborhoods until you get to Azle and then it turns into more of a blue collar "country boy" type feel. The southwest quadrant is a mix of bad and good neighborhoods. That area is tricky in that the good and bad neighborhoods literally change from street to street.
Any suburb that lies outside of the 820 loop will most likely be a 30 minute commute or more during rush hour. However, if you want higher than average schools you need to look there. There are a couple nice schools in FTW around the TCU (aka rich) area of town but houses are $$$. Birdville, Keller, Southlake, Burleson, Mansfield, Grapevine are all very large districts but have pretty good ratings. The southlake/grapevine area is a little more "upper class" with higher end shopping.
Driving on I-35 at any time of day is a nightmare so keep that in mind. As others have said, a reliable car is a must. You will be sitting in traffic if you work downtown.
Last edited by abelinkkin; 12-04-2017 at 08:42 AM..
Oh thank you all so much! Lots of info to process, but all useful. We currently live in the suburbs in southern Illinois, and I want to keep that same standard of living when we relocate. Close to grocery stores, YMCAs, parks and community centers for youth athletics, movie theaters, zoo/museums etc...its looking like there are quite a few areas that are "checking our boxes". I'm grew up in California, so I know traffic a little to well. As long as the commute is around 45 mins, maybe up to an hour, I won't pull all my hair out!
First off, if your company doesn't have a private parking garage make sure you set up monthly parking downtown. There is no free public parking and some garages can run upwards of $100 a month and have waiting lists. Finding metered street parking can be difficult.
Think of Fort Worth as a circle divided into four quadrants. Loop 820 is the circle. I-35 splits it north to south. I-30 splits it west to east. Stay away from the Southeast quadrant as it is the high crime area of town. The north/northwest quadrant is mostly Hispanic neighborhoods until you get to Azle and then it turns into more of a blue collar "country boy" type feel. The southwest quadrant is a mix of bad and good neighborhoods. That area is tricky in that the good and bad neighborhoods literally change from street to street.
Any suburb that lies outside of the 820 loop will most likely be a 30 minute commute or more during rush hour. However, if you want higher than average schools you need to look there. There are a couple nice schools in FTW around the TCU (aka rich) area of town but houses are $$$. Birdville, Keller, Southlake, Burleson, Mansfield, Grapevine are all very large districts but have pretty good ratings. The southlake/grapevine area is a little more "upper class" with higher end shopping.
Driving on I-35 at any time of day is a nightmare so keep that in mind. As others have said, a reliable car is a must. You will be sitting in traffic if you work downtown.
Thanks a lot for this! You can't find this out by simply googling. A big circle cut in 4, love it!
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