Which cities in Dallas County have the nicest downtowns? (Plano: homes, buying)

[bulldog1975]

Just curious as my wife and I are still trying decide where to live when we move to TX. Any input would be much appreciated. I did suggest to her that we move to Dallas itself, but she'd rather live in a smaller city within the county.

Thanks everyone!

[ladarron]

Dallas

[FarNorthDallas]

It all meshes together in Dallas County. You have to get out of Dallas County to find a real small town.

[First24]

Check out the Lakewood area in Dallas.

McKinney in Collin County to the north of Dallas may be worth a look.

[Lakewooder]

"Downtown" Lakewood in East Dallas 1930s:



1940s:




Today:

[ladarron]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

"Downtown" Lakewood in East Dallas 1930s:



1940s:




Today:

I really like the pictures!

[Metro Matt]

Downtown Rockwall maybe. The rest are pretty depressing looking.

As a side note, I would NOT consider Las Colinas to be Downtown Irving. Irving's historic downtown is in the ghetto.

[TXDungeonMaster]

If you are considering the entire DFW metroplex (but focusing more on the Dallas side), you have a range of choices worth a visit. Further, one might divide the world up into several distinct styles depending on your preference (within each category I rate by my own preferences):

Communities that are technically part of Dallas yet create somewhat its own smaller town feel:

1) Lakewood (east of Dallas at Abrams/Gaston) - As previously mentioned above, it's a section of Dallas that forms a bit of its own "community" along with everything from a Whole Foods, country club, restaurants, and shops; it's hard to be so close to the city core yet feel distinct (much due to the various architecture styles) and have access to White Rock Lake for cycling/jogging

2) Park Cities (north of Dallas on Hwy. 75) - As Higland Park and University Park comprise Park Cities, that are several little areas with a concentration of restaurants/shops; check out Snider Plaza near SMU (college) or the Henderson/Knox area (trendy spot (think Apple store and Pottery Barn) with access to the Katy Trail (a jogging/skating paved path); issue is expense of buying a nice home here; you get good public schools

3) Oak Cliff/Kessler Park (southwest of Dallas off IH-35 and IH-30) - This area is more similiar to Lakewood with more a mix of both older and modern mid-century/soft contemporary homes. There is a area called with Bishop Arts District with that pretty walkable and contains nice restaurants.

Stand-alone cities within the metroplex that create an "old timer" or classic smaller town feel:

4) Plano - (north of Dallas on Hwy. 75) - Like McKinney above, it has historic buildings with quaint antique shops; you're not too far from the city and you are right on the light rail line (DART); you get good public schools

5) Denton (northwest of Dallas on IH-35) - Denton has stores/shops surrounding a nice city square

6) McKinney (north of Dallas on Hwy. 75) - McKinney has many quaint antique shops

Stand-alone cities within the metroplex that create a modern interpretation of a smaller town feel:

7) Southlake (northwest of Dallas on Hwy. 114) - nicely built out "city center" with many (seriously, many!) commerical/retail stores; examples include Anthropologie, Apple, Crate and Barrel, and The Container Store (if you know these stores, you will know if you like it or hate it) - Google Southlake Town Square; you are really close to DFW airport for work related travel; you get good public schools

8) Plano (north of Dallas off the Tollway) - Plano so interesting it's listed twice! While the eastern portion of Plano has a more historical downtown feel, the western side is more upscale and similarly planned like Southlake - Google the Shops at Legacy in Plano; you get good public schools

9) Flower Mound (northwest of Dallas off IH-35) - smaller version of Southlake with master planned development of commerical/retail stores - Google Parker Square; you get good public schools

For overall impressiveness within each respective category, I'd rate the Lakewood, Southlake, and Plano areas as the top places.

[Lakewooder]

Downtown skyline from Lakewood Country Club



If you look closely to the middle left you can see the Lakewood Theater tower in the foreground.

BTW, Lakewood also has excellent schools (two blue-ribbon elementaries and four ranked exemplary) and Woodrow Wilson High School is one of four Texas candidate schools for International Baccalaureate. It's ranked by Newsweek and recently received the ACT College Readiness Award (both require schools to be in the top 5% of all high schools).

[Lakewooder]

Lakewood Harrell's Drug Store (1924) in the late 1950s





Lakewood Friday night: