Ft. Worth a good place to live? (Dallas, Fort Worth: homes, high school)

[tcualum]

Arlington has some lovely neighborhoods such as Interlochen, and certain areas around Lake Arlington and in North Arlington. Dalworthington Gardens has some unique character as well.

[asiatrails]

Originally Posted by Shaun Minh

Hello all, my family and I were initially looking to move from the cold and extremely liberal state of Minnesota to north-northeast Dallas(Allen,McKinney,Melissa,Wylie,Sachse,etc.) We have always loved Texas and have traveled there many times, I was even stationed in San Antonio and San Angelo for a time. I work as an RN so I know it shouldn't be too difficult for me to find a job at a hospital wherever we choose to go.

My main reason for this thread is to hopefully get some good information from people who either have or currently live in the Ft. Worth area. We have 2 younger children so our main concerns are for them as it relates to low crime and good schools. Those two factors are what actually first drew us to NE Dallas suburbs. The school ratings and low crime rate was very impressive. However, what is not impressive is the cost and availability of houses lately in that area as well as the increasing traffic. We don't know much about Ft.Worth other than what we have seen when driving through. We would greatly appreciate any helpful comments or words of wisdom from those familiar with this area. Some of the main points of interest are..
- School satisfaction and ratings
- is the crime rate low?
- Fun things to do in Ft. Worth
- Traffic
- Taxes
- Job opportunities

Keller ISD, a couple of big hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers etc. are on North Tarrant Parkway

- School satisfaction and ratings - Excellent for Keller ISD
- is the crime rate low? - Yes
- Fun things to do in Ft. Worth - Many, depends on your interests, but get a toll tag and use it
- Traffic - good to horrendous - Get a Toll Tag and use it
- Taxes - Property taxes are higher than you will be used to, no income tax, the biggest bite of taxes are for the school district

[Shaun Minh]

Oh wow this thread has really taken on a life of its own. Only 2 people really have seemed to read the OP and attempted to help. Everyone else either twisted what I wrote assuming I want “excellent “ schools and no crime for a 200-250k, or got triggered by my sarcastic comment about gender and assumed that I thought Texas was free of that stuff. Im guessing those people were fighting others for toilet paper when not hurrying back to this thread to spew ridiculousness.
Im kind of thinking its a good thing there is an influx of migration from other states at this point if proud ‘native’ texans react this way.
We will still be coming down whether people like it or not.
Thanks asiatrails for your post, it was very helpful.

[asiatrails]

Originally Posted by Shaun Minh

Oh wow this thread has really taken on a life of its own. Only 2 people really have seemed to read the OP and attempted to help. Everyone else either twisted what I wrote assuming I want “excellent “ schools and no crime for a 200-250k, or got triggered by my sarcastic comment about gender and assumed that I thought Texas was free of that stuff. Im guessing those people were fighting others for toilet paper when not hurrying back to this thread to spew ridiculousness.
Im kind of thinking its a good thing there is an influx of migration from other states at this point if proud ‘native’ texans react this way.
We will still be coming down whether people like it or not.
Thanks asiatrails for your post, it was very helpful.

You are welcome. Here is a Zillow link to homes for sale in the Keller ISD, some are in your price range and it is an excellent school district

https://www.zillow.com/fort-worth-tx/keller-isd-_att/?searchQueryState={%22pagination%22:{},%22mapBound s%22:{%22west%22:-97.46380646142579,%22east%22:-97.06211883935548,%22south%22:32.787243446366254,% 22north%22:33.02245092147221},%22regionSelection%2 2:[{%22regionId%22:18172,%22regionType%22:6}],%22isMapVisible%22:true,%22mapZoom%22:12,%22filte rState%22:{%22keywords%22:{%22value%22:%22keller%2 0isd%20%22},%22sortSelection%22:{%22value%22:%22pr icea%22}},%22isListVisible%22:true}

[TexanByMarriage]

OP, feel free to participate in the thread you started in order to get the feedback you want. As opposed to criticizing the responses people put in here.

[calgirlinnc]

This may fall on deaf ears, but oh well. It's not enough to look at the district; looking at individual schools is important. The vast majority of houses in your price range in Keller ISD are zoned to Fossil Ridge HS. That is not an excellent school; it is not even a good school. Fossil Ridge has problems with gangs and drugs. Keller HS is an excellent high school but is probably out of your budget. Timber Creek and Central are good, and there are some houses for sale in that range.

By contrast, Birdville HS, for example, is a better high school than Fossil Ridge, even though Birdville ISD is overall not as highly ranked as Keller ISD (and yes, there are homes for sale in your price range zoned to Birdville).

[bmlx]

Originally Posted by calgirlinnc

This may fall on deaf ears, but oh well. It's not enough to look at the district; looking at individual schools is important. The vast majority of houses in your price range in Keller ISD are zoned to Fossil Ridge HS. That is not an excellent school; it is not even a good school. Fossil Ridge has problems with gangs and drugs. Keller HS is an excellent high school but is probably out of your budget. Timber Creek and Central are good, and there are some houses for sale in that range.

By contrast, Birdville HS, for example, is a better high school than Fossil Ridge, even though Birdville ISD is overall not as highly ranked as Keller ISD (and yes, there are homes for sale in your price range zoned to Birdville).

Agreed. Unless the school district is very small, the rankings of the district as a whole are not really going to matter. It definitely comes down to the local schools and the feeder pattern you are in.

[asiatrails]

Originally Posted by calgirlinnc

This may fall on deaf ears, but oh well. It's not enough to look at the district; looking at individual schools is important. The vast majority of houses in your price range in Keller ISD are zoned to Fossil Ridge HS. That is not an excellent school; it is not even a good school. Fossil Ridge has problems with gangs and drugs. Keller HS is an excellent high school but is probably out of your budget. Timber Creek and Central are good, and there are some houses for sale in that range.

By contrast, Birdville HS, for example, is a better high school than Fossil Ridge, even though Birdville ISD is overall not as highly ranked as Keller ISD (and yes, there are homes for sale in your price range zoned to Birdville).

I came back to post the tax rates to help the OP but decided to expand my answer

First for school and city taxes you will find the current Tarrant County table here https://www.tad.org/wp-contentpdf/ra...19TaxRates.pdf

Great Schools Keller ISD assesment https://www.greatschools.org/texas/k...hool-district/

Great Schools Birdville ISD assesment https://www.greatschools.org/texas/h...hool-district/

You can find all the state school academic rating details here https://www.texasassessment.com/

Birdville ISD is at https://www.birdvilleschools.net/domain/4267 This has school zone maps links to the various schools

Keller ISD attendance zone maps are at https://portal.metrostudygis.com/arc...8bb87668f0d3b8

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by asiatrails

I came back to post the tax rates to help the OP but decided to expand my answer

First for school and city taxes you will find the current Tarrant County table here https://www.tad.org/wp-contentpdf/ra...19TaxRates.pdf

Great Schools Keller ISD assesment https://www.greatschools.org/texas/k...hool-district/

Great Schools Birdville ISD assesment https://www.greatschools.org/texas/h...hool-district/

You can find all the state school academic rating details here https://www.texasassessment.com/

Birdville ISD is at https://www.birdvilleschools.net/domain/4267 This has school zone maps links to the various schools

Keller ISD attendance zone maps are at https://portal.metrostudygis.com/arc...8bb87668f0d3b8

I am not saying that Birdville ISD is better overall than Keller ISD. It is not. We are a Keller ISD family.

However, Birdville HS outranks Fossil Ridge HS. Fossil Ridge is the worst school / feeder zone in Keller ISD. The vast majority of homes in the OP's budget within Keller ISD (as provided in your link) are zoned to Fossil Ridge. If he can find one zoned to Timber Creek or to Central, fine.

How well your district scores doesn't matter if you have gangs and drugs in your own particular school. In this instance, Keller HS's numbers skew things for the district as a whole. Keller outperforms the other schools in the district in band, athletics, academics, and almost everything else.

[TeamLynn]

I'd look at HEB area..... are you going to work in a hospital? If so HEB hospital is great in my opinion and seem to have super happy nurses. My mom was just in patient for a month there and I am picky about care and thought it was excellent.

I'd try to live close to where you will work.

You could also try Mansfield or Keller area or move further north to someplace like Northwest ISD.

I think you can have plenty of options in your price range.

For all the reasons you state, that's why people are moving here. Property taxes may be higher than in some other places, but I think in many cities and school districts there is good ROI.