Why N. Richland Hills Generally Cheaper than Colleyville & N. Hurst (Houston: apartments, crime rate)

[mrboast]

Admittedly, I am a newby to the area, but in browing homes online I notice North Richland Hills is usually the cheaper alternative. Birdville School District appears very good so I am just trying to understand why. I'll be taking a trip to the area this weekend and may find out! There are homes that nearly butt up to Colleyville that are still much less it seems.

[Squirl]

Some areas are just more desirable than others..... That's like asking why Richardson is more expensive than Garland.

[kingdomcome1]

We've lived in NRH for the past 5 years and love it. Housing was cheaper even back then. Honestly we're not sure why. We're 8 minutes from Southlake and 5 minutes from the HEB area. Our house in Soutlake would probably be around double than it is here. The only thing I can think of is that we do not have immediate access to a major hwy like the others do. Birdville is a wonderful school district and the crime rate is really low compared to surrounding areas(Southlake excluded).

[loves2read]

watch out for the train track that runs along Hwy 26--that is the Cotton Belt line--it is very likely going to be turned into light rail--DFW into dowtown FTW/TCU area and maybe hooked up to Dallas eventually--
so it will be busy...some homes are very close to the tracks...currently there is only the Grapevine historical train to worry about--2 to4 trains a day but that will change if light rail goes in
and there is going to be a station built in NRHills...the city bought into the tax plan already I believe

and I don't know what you mean by "cheap"--the newer homes in NRHills have seen lot of appreciation over past 4-5 yrs and while their lots are small and have good deal of "overlook" --newer 4000 sq ft house has avg psf from 112 to 125 or higher--depending on house/neighborhood--older homes like in Thornbridge--quality neighborhood--range in the mid-high 90s...
so yes--they are less expensive than Colleyville/southlake homes--but I would not call them "cheap"--most people would think a 450K home is expensive...

[ChristieP]

Probably because NRH isn't convenient to the major freeways. There are nice houses there, and it has been a good place to live for many years.

Colleyville is one of the most exclusive cities in NE Tarrant. Some parts of it rival Southlake with fancy gated communities, etc. Comparing it to NRH is apples and oranges!

[loves2read]

and NRHills is not an exclusive area--it has apartments and most homes are tract homes which can't be turned into McMansions like the older homes on acre or half-acre lots in Colleyville can--
the south part of NRHills is good bit older and not so attractive as the area north of 820 between say N Tarrant Parkway and Harwood Rd where the NRH2O water park is...

land was cheaper in NRHills because there were large sections that developers had bypassed getting to Southlake/Colleyville and then backtracked--John Barfield, one of the major developers in this area, had bought some of his land more than 15 yrs ago and just sat on it, biding his time for development to ripen...
so it is a trade off--Birdville or Keller (since some of NRHills is in Keller ISD) does not have the cache of GCISD or Southlake Carroll -- but taxes in NRHills are comparative to others in area--may be more than Colleyville...

[Eric S]

Why is NRH cheaper? No one wants to deal with 820... and it is too far off of the beaten path to live w/o resorting to using 820. 820 is that bad.

That's my uneducated guess .

-OMS

[mrboast]

Don't the Colleyville and Southlake and North Hurst folks hit 820 also?

[loves2read]

why would Colleyville/Southlake/Hurst people USE 820--no reason to unless you don't have other options...

NRHills does not have to involve 820 at all--just depends on where you live and where you want to go

we live close to Precinct Line/Hwy 26 in Hurst -- across from NRHills--
my husband had to fly to Houston today on private jet from Meechum--which is WEST of 35 just west of 287--
he went across on Mid-Cities which turns into Wautaga and then Western Center--came south on N Beach to Meachum Blvd then into the airport....took him about 30 min w/lights

we NEVER go 820 unless we know there won't be traffic...

[Eric S]

Originally Posted by mrboast

Don't the Colleyville and Southlake and North Hurst folks hit 820 also?

I'm new to the area, but never had to use 820 to go from my office to Hurst, Bedford, Euless, Colleyville, Southlake or Grapevine to look at home buying options. Everytime I needed to look at a home in NRH there I was on 820.

Was it possible to get to NRH w/o using 820? Yes, but that was like driving from Arlington to DFW airport by way of Mansfield. It didn't make any reasonably sense going that far out of the way.

If guess if you plan to work north of 820 then NRH may fit the bill. 820 is the only thing I have against the place. Lots of nice homes there. At this point in my career, however, those vast seas of homes (huge subdivisions) in places like NRH and Mansfield don't appeal (or strike me with awe) as they once did.

-OMS