joethin Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Hello everybody, I'm really new around here (you don't say?) and I've been reading posts from almost every walk of life in this parts. So I thought I'd give it a try and ask for some tips, advice, what nots, etc. I got a transfer with my work and I'm moving to Dallas, TX right at the beginning of this Football season. I have everything set up as far as tickets, corporate housing, moving co., etc. However, I know that all metro areas (Dallas is supposed to be in the top 10 of the most populated cities in the nation) have their little gimmicks and stuff. I'm happily married with 4 children (10, 9, 7, 2) and obviously I need to find a place in a family oriented area; we love the outdoors (hiking, biking, picnics, kayak, etc). We have never lived in TX. So far we have looked at Arlington, Irving, Carrolton, McKinney and Plano. We would like to have a house of our own before the Holidays. We already have a realtor and a mortgage officer working with us, still... I'd like to know more from other persons. Again, any tips, advice are much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I believe the person who runs this site (DMD) lives around there as well as about a dozen others in here. I'm sure you'll get whatever questions you asked answered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I live north of Dallas in McKinney - about 15 miles or so. Plano is about 10 miles North of Dallas and both are right off of I-75. I don't know much about Irving other than Texas Stadium is there. Arlington is getting the new Texas Stadium and I think Six Flags is there. Carrollton is another suburb but those three are older ones far as I know. Plano was the growing suburb but it's pretty much filled all up. McKinney is now starting to fill up and I believe we are the fastest growing city over 50,000 people in the nation. If you want any info about McKinney, just send me a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I live north of Dallas in McKinney - about 15 miles or so. Plano is about 10 miles North of Dallas and both are right off of I-75. I-75 does not go to Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Loins of Beef Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Try Rockwall--it's just past Mesquite and my family and I lived there for five years--it's a great place to raise a family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joethin Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 Try Rockwall--it's just past Mesquite and my family and I lived there for five years--it's a great place to raise a family We've seen very nice houses (internet) in Mesquite. Have not looked at Rockwall. Thanks. Thanks DMD I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Loins of Beef Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Lake Ray Hubbard is between Mesquite, Rowlett and Rockwall--boating and kayaking are the main draws there--if your looking for tennis clubs I can help you there--horseback riding is also pretty prevalent. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Okay, it is technically US Route 75 which around here is called the Central Expressway. For some reason, they refer to highways by name instead of number here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Ryan Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 (edited) We've seen very nice houses (internet) in Mesquite. Have not looked at Rockwall. Thanks. Thanks DMD I will. I grew up in Mesquite and its not where you want to move your family,as the housing is becoming too cheap there, with riff raff moving in or already there. My parents still live there, but are moving to Frisco, which is just north of Dallas on the Tollway, or Preston Rd. But talk about over populated, Frisco is that, but everything there is new, malls, shopping, theatres, etc... which is what all the buzz is about. I live in Rockwall as well, and we love it here. Rockwall is the smallest county in the state and the richest as well, which means the schools are top notch, and the campus of Rockwall and Rockwall/Heath are the size of small colleges, and have all the bells and whistles. Check out the Shores for housing in the 150-500K range, or Buffalo Creek or Heath for 500K plus. Shores - http://www.irigolfgroup.com/shores_country_club.html Edited July 9, 2006 by Sgt. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneymakers Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Schools should be your #1 concern with the 4 kids. If you cant go private. avoid DALLAS,Lewisville,Carrollton. Plano schools are the best. Frisco is a rising community that is slowly stealing the Plano teachers and staff by offering the big $$$. Allen and McKinney are also growing very rapidity you want to live north of 190 (George bush tollway) and West of 75 (central). The closer you get to the North Dallas tollway the better the neighborhoods and resale. If you are going to live in The city of Dallas than go to Highland park. (Big bucks). If you are looking for lakes/camping away from the city. Go for prosper. (getting far North) Lewisville /Wylie /rolette has the lakes. Arlington is a midtown city for Dallas and Ft.Worth. It has sixflags,Texas rangers,future cowboys and hurricane harbor. Stars and Mavericks play in Downtown Dallas. Shopping,Malls and restaurants are in all the suburbs and city. Texas is hot and it stays lot. Dallas is currently under a drought. Water restrictions in most of the cities are limiting the watering of the yard to one day a week. Some cities are monitoring the meters for water usage and if you go over a certain amount the price doubles. Texas Rangers are currently playing decent baseball but that will not last. They will die after the allstar break (they always do.) The Superbowl parade is scheduled for February 10th. Avoid all areas around the cottonbowl (Fair Park) at night. Texas lottery is a ripoff. Racetrack and Sams are the two best places to buy gas. You will have to get your cars inspected for emissions and safety when you do your car registration. Keep your old tags till they expire. Get a tolltag. Dfw is the #1 airport. love field will never do away with the wright amendment. Dallas city council are all crooks. Dallas school board all belong in prison. If at all possible do not live in Dallas county. Collin and Denton county are the growing counties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joethin Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 Schools should be your #1 concern with the 4 kids. Great input! Thanks! My wife just found this greatschools website and she has started to look at houses around schools. Again thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 2 User(s) are reading this topic (0 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)2 Members: hepcat71, wiegie this always makes me smile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I spent a little bit of time in Denton and that seemed like an okay community. What's up with dry counties where you sign up for a waiver and then drink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Where is your job? That will make a difference on which side of the metroplex you want to be looking. With gas prices where they are, you don't want to live in Prosper if you are working downtown. I live in the mid cities and work in Uptown, commute is 20 miles which equals ~35 minutes. Plano is definitely not the best school district, it is pretty good, but highland park, southlake and a few others are much better. Your question really depends on how much you want to spend and where you are gong to be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spain Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I will say this about Dallas: It is a great place, but I certainly dont want my kids growing up with the values that I saw in my time there. I have never, outside of southern California, seen such materialistic and shallow people in my life. Growing up, we never had any money so materialism was out of the question. When I went to college in Texas, I spent alot of time in the Metroplex and was shocked not only by the wealth, but by how materialistic everyone seemed to be. It seemed to me, a poor boy from Tennessee, that everybody in Dallas got their self worth from the things they owned. The cars they drove, the clothes they wore, the neighborhood in which they lived, etc. I had never been exposed to that sort of attitude and it really sickened me. It seemed pretty pervasive with most of the folks I knew from Dallas. Maybe it was because Dallas was a booming thriving place and everbody had money. But the abject materialism left a taste in my mouth that I will never forget. I will say that small town east and west Texas were exactly the opposite: plenty of folks with big $$ but it didnt define them and materialism wasnt worshiped there, God was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spain Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Dallas smells of ass and vasoline. You better like Mexicans and gheys because that is all they have there. And a racist city council with the intelligence of sharecroppers. And the Dallas Cowturds are there too. Avoid that shi@tehole like the plague... I dont know anything about all that, but I would definitely try to get as far away from the city as possible, even if I had a long commute. Well, there was one whole area of town devoted to gheys called Oaklawn I think. You cant escape the Mexicans anywhere in Tejas. I imagine that Tejas will revert back to being part of Mexico one of these days. One good thing he will like about Texas is the high school football is 2nd to none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Schools should be your #1 concern with the 4 kids. If you cant go private. avoid DALLAS,Lewisville,Carrollton. Plano schools are the best. Frisco is a rising community that is slowly stealing the Plano teachers and staff by offering the big $$$. Allen and McKinney are also growing very rapidity you want to live north of 190 (George bush tollway) and West of 75 (central). The closer you get to the North Dallas tollway the better the neighborhoods and resale. If you are going to live in The city of Dallas than go to Highland park. (Big bucks). If you are looking for lakes/camping away from the city. Go for prosper. (getting far North) Lewisville /Wylie /rolette has the lakes. Arlington is a midtown city for Dallas and Ft.Worth. It has sixflags,Texas rangers,future cowboys and hurricane harbor. Stars and Mavericks play in Downtown Dallas. Shopping,Malls and restaurants are in all the suburbs and city. Texas is hot and it stays lot. Dallas is currently under a drought. Water restrictions in most of the cities are limiting the watering of the yard to one day a week. Some cities are monitoring the meters for water usage and if you go over a certain amount the price doubles. Texas Rangers are currently playing decent baseball but that will not last. They will die after the allstar break (they always do.) The Superbowl parade is scheduled for February 10th. Avoid all areas around the cottonbowl (Fair Park) at night. Texas lottery is a ripoff. Racetrack and Sams are the two best places to buy gas. You will have to get your cars inspected for emissions and safety when you do your car registration. Keep your old tags till they expire. Get a tolltag. Dfw is the #1 airport. love field will never do away with the wright amendment. Dallas city council are all crooks. Dallas school board all belong in prison. If at all possible do not live in Dallas county. Collin and Denton county are the growing counties. So this is the admission that you truly live by Dallas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joethin Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 Where is your job? That will make a difference on which side of the metroplex you want to be looking. With gas prices where they are, you don't want to live in Prosper if you are working downtown. I live in the mid cities and work in Uptown, commute is 20 miles which equals ~35 minutes. Plano is definitely not the best school district, it is pretty good, but highland park, southlake and a few others are much better. Your question really depends on how much you want to spend and where you are gong to be working. My job is really at Irving. My work covers the gas costs... As for the spending, I really don't want to go over 200K right now. I don't want everything going into the house and the car. I want to have some left to go out and enjoy ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I'm about to head out on a plane to Dallas to look at some properties for work. We're headed out to the Heath area... right on Lake Ray Hubbard. Looks like some nice, newer neighborhoods out that way. Good luck with the move, and enjoy the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 (edited) My job is really at Irving. My work covers the gas costs... As for the spending, I really don't want to go over 200K right now. I don't want everything going into the house and the car. I want to have some left to go out and enjoy ourselves. If working in Irving, you don't want to live out on Lake Ray Hubbard. In your price range (with 4 kids I imagine you want at least a 4 bedroom home) you ought to look in the HEB area. You'll be close to Lake Grapevine and not too far from Lewisville Lake. It is a little bit older, (60s-80s) but you should be able to find a 4 bedroom house for ~$200k. Schools are ok, much better than Ft. Worth or Dallas but not as good as Southlake. EDIT: By the way HEB stands for Hurst-Euless-Bedford. Edited July 9, 2006 by geeteebee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spain Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 My brother in law and his wife just moved to a new subdivison in North Richardland Hills right by Keller. They really like it and the house looked pretty nice in the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 My brother in law and his wife just moved to a new subdivison in North Richardland Hills right by Keller. They really like it and the house looked pretty nice in the pics. It's North Richland Hills and that would be another good area to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 those north suburbs are fairly nice (plano, etc.)...i'd look up there but make sure you're somewhat close to one of the major north/south expressways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Ryan Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I'm about to head out on a plane to Dallas to look at some properties for work. We're headed out to the Heath area... right on Lake Ray Hubbard. Looks like some nice, newer neighborhoods out that way. Good luck with the move, and enjoy the heat. PM me when you get here, Ill take you on a tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joethin Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 PM me when you get here, Ill take you on a tour. Thanks! I will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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