Vanity - Feedback on north Dallas area

N.A. | 09/09/2012 | self

[Cementjungle]

A year ago my MIL passed away in Los Angeles, and my wife and I have been here in LA dealing with the estate issues. Our home in WA is leased out, and we're about to put my MIL's Los Angeles house on the market.

We want to get out of L.A., and since my wife never adjusted to the rain of the Pacific Northwest, we're looking for a new place to live that doesn't have 9 months a year of dreary rain. Texas seems to fit the bill for weather (we plan to have a pool), and is more our style politically.

We have a trip planned in a couple of weeks to visit Dallas and do some house hunting.

It looks like the Carrollton/Frisco/Richardson areas of Dallas might fit the bill... nice homes in our price range, near the DFW airport (we like to travel). We're empty-nesters, so we're not concerned with school issues.

Does anyone in that area have any comments on living there? Are there plenty of good restaurants, shopping, etc.?

Any feedback would be appreciated!!!

[JRandomFreeper]

North Garland, near the Richardson border has some fairly nice houses and is somewhat cheaper.

/johnny

[wolfman23601]

The area between Love Field and SMU is very nice. Anywhere around Preston and Mockingbird North for a few miles, but it is in the City of Dallas. Thats what i can tell you through my visits!

[kbobdelux]

Highland Village (Highland Shores)-
- Quiet
- North of DFW Airport 10 miles,
- 25 minutes or less consistently to DFW airport
- Many restaurants and shops
- Lake Lewisville community
- Most mojor road construction projects should be complete in a about 6 months.
- Safest small town in Texas several years running.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=highland+village&hl=en&ll=33.101033,-97.036228&spn=0.081248,0.149517&sll=33.09461,-97.057838&sspn=0.081254,0.149517&hnear=Highland+Village,+Denton,+Texas&t=h&z=13

[smokingfrog]

Check out Grapevine too.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Also take a look at Denton:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/search/rea?query=denton&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=

http://www.dentonrealestate.com/

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Denton_TX?source=web

[formerlyfree]

You should consider Southlake. It’s 7 minutes from DFW airport and a great place to live. Nice homes, nice neighbors.

[freedumb2003]

North Irving (valley Ranch_/Coppel area. Great schools, low cost housing, near the airport but not too near.

Nice, friendly people.

Almost no democrats.

[umgud]

Congrats on having the sense to get out of CA. It is going in the toilet and the final flush is guaranteed.

[Oklahoma]

Collin County is one of the wealthiest counties in the country. McKinney, Allen, Plano and Frisco are the largest towns in Collin County. Frisco and Allen are brand new. Twenty years ago Frisco was probably around 2,000 in population and today it must be at least 100,000. Allen has grown by the same rate. Plano has been the largest for a good forty years but it will soon be overtaken by the county seat and former largest community, McKinney. McKinney and Plano both have older parts of town that Frisco and Allen really don't.

Richardson and Carrollton in Dallas County are both more mature suburbs and have a less wealthy populace. The living costs would probably be lower than in Collin County. I would expect a higher crime rate in Dallas County.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Nice prices, too, if by nice you mean expensive. I agree it’s a nice area, though...

[Badabing Badablonde]

Any community on Sam Rayburn tollway will give you a quick trip to DFW airport. Carrollton, Plano, Frisco, and McKinney are all nice communities. I moved to McKinney in 2009 and love it here, with the exception of not having access to public transportation. Same with Allen.

If you end up buying a house with no pool and need a builder, I have an excellent recommendation. And my former realtor is a champion with Remax, and has blown my mind with the good deals he has gotten for me. I’d be glad to pass his name to you too.

[Hang'emAll]

lived in Plano (between Richardson and Frisco) many years and many years in Irving but have moved down to Corpus Christi area. Much nicer on the coast.

Dallas is big, hot, lots of shopping and restaurants. Lots of good highways now. Lots of tolls.

You kinda need to have an idea of where you are working to minimize drive time. Traffic is not as bad as LA though. Pools are a great idea. Liked mine a lot. They can freeze over in January.

There are bad parts of Dallas just like any other city. I would say that Frisco being the one further out and newer overall is probably the better choice if you do not have to go downtown to work in Dallas. They do have trains running now to certain areas. Something to look into.

I come back to visit my kids. One in Frisco one in Plano.
I like the smaller city on the coast I live in and would not go a big city if I did not have to.

Good luck

[max americana]

“Almost no democrats.”

Sounds like heaven..almost.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Collin County is the most Republican/conservative county in the U.S. We’ve sent some good people to the state and federal houses. A lot of it is surrounded by tolls, so be sure to factor that in. Also factor in car expense for CONSTANT road construction. The new hotspot in the area is Prosper, north of Frisco.

Try a satellite search and zoom in on some of the areas listed above. It’s not the best picturesque way to look, but you will get a feel for the area.

I would avoid DART areas. Bad crime rates and Sec 8 seem to follow DART.

[Cementjungle]

Thanks for the feedback everyone... very helpful.

My wife’s retired, and I’m semi-retired (and work from home), so a commute isn’t an issue. We also plan to spend part of the time (the summer months) in Costa Rica so we can escape the extreme summer heat in TX.

We just want access to lots of good dining, friendly neighbors and things of that sort.

[kabumpo]

Stay in L.A. and hold onto the house for a couple of years until the market recovers, then sell the house. L.A. can be a great place to live.

[Cementjungle]

The house in L.A. is in Hollywood... the traffic is insane, and we get hit with graffiti every week. We just had to repair the driveway gate because the bums and tranny hookers always pee on it at night and make it rust away.

We want out of Los Angeles.... it’s a dump.

[Melas]

We call this little corner, Gardallison.

[TexasNative2000]

Southlake. Secure, easy access to DFW Airport, great shopping, great food, EXCELLENT school system (It does matter here because the best school systems draw the best neighbors).