Ft. Worth a good place to live? (Dallas, San Antonio: transplants, low crime)

[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

[calgirlinnc]

Schools in Fort Worth are not very good. However several suburbs between Fort Worth and Dallas have excellent schools.

What is your housing budget? Then we can direct you to some areas.

[Shaun Minh]

We are thinking between 225K and 250k

[calgirlinnc]

I would look at the Hurst/Euless/Bedford (HEB) areas.

I'm going to be the bearer of bad news: your housing budget is very low for this area. Have you looked online to see what that gets you here?

I am sure other posters can direct you to more areas in your budget. Good luck to you!

[ChristieP]

I agree that’s a low housing budget for a safe area with good schools. You might be able to find something in that budget, but it is going to be very small and old.

[Angie682]

5.9 MILLION people have moved to Texas since 2005 -- for all the reasons you list.

Before that time, Texas was a cheap place to live. It's not anymore. You're about 15 years too late. The influx of transplants is expected to continue into 2030. Lots of these transplants are from California or higher priced metros.

The property taxes suck and as soon as my kids are out of school we're going to move to another state.

Traffic is horrendous. If you do move here live close to work or you will spend lots of time in your car.

The good news-- winter is non-existent compared to Minnesota. But summer is brutal here and lasts half a year...lol.

Texas public schools have always been ranked very low nationally. Minnesota schools were ranked 12 and Texas was bringing up the rear at 33 per US News. My kids are now high school.and they have not even learned about WW II or the Holocaust in school which is completely unbelievable to me....

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

I would take the previous comments with a grain of salt. $250k is not very low for a house here. There are tons of houses that are of reasonable size (2200+ sq ft) and in good school districts for that price in the Ft. Worth area. Here's one: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3301-Paint-Brush-Ln_Bedford_TX_76021_M83055-42844


For some reason, this forum often acts like the average house in Ft. Worth is $500k. It isn't. $250k isn't a massive budget, but there are lots of good family homes in good school districts for that price.

In terms of Ft. Worth proper, the only public school feeder system that is good ends at Paschal High School. The middle school is the weak link. There are some excellent elementary schools, and if your kid is in the advanced program at Paschal, it's a great high school.

My wife and I used to live in Ft. Worth and have been considering moving back. We lived in both Ft. Worth proper (just south of downtown) and in the HEB area. We loved downtown Ft. Worth but really didn't like the HEB area. We found it to be boring, and it completely lacked charm. However, our priorities are probably not your priorities, so you should also take that with a grain of salt. FWIW, we would never in a million years consider living in the NE Dallas suburbs.

Traffic is terrible, so you should try to live near your job.

I am gathering that you are conservative (based on your comment about MN being "extremely liberal"). DFW as a whole is quite conservative, particularly the suburbs.

[Shaun Minh]

Thanks for your reply Wittgenstein's Ghost. We also have seen some fairly reasonable home prices in the Ft. Worth area with schools ranking 6 and higher, which is why I made the post to begin with. You are correct about the conservative part.
In response to Angie682, Minnesota schools might be ranked higher but they also force feed the kids liberal ideology and these days the kids don't know their gender and think everything and everyone is "racist" so that type of education I will pass on.

[tcualum]

Their budget won't buy anything decent that's zoned for Pascal. Personally, I would place the quality of the education before whether it's "liberal" or "conservative."

[calgirlinnc]

For *excellent* schools and *low crime*, $225K is indeed very low. There is a reason homes are more expensive in places like Keller and Grapevine.

The house linked above is in a multiple offer situation. Houses like that, at that price point, will often be in bidding wars, because they are uncommon. You should be aware of this before you relocate.