Dallas Plano Area
 

I am curious as to the feedback on the general area of Plano/Texas - my husband is going through interviews in the area and I would love any feedback on the best areas to live, schools (High School), best neighborhoods, churches etc.
Thanks so much!

Hi Dawn-

I was just looking at this this morning (I'm always fantasizing/making pretend plans to move) and a city in Texas came in at #5. I don't think it's too far from Plano:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/

My daughter's roomate is from Tyler, TX but that seems to be much further from Plano.

Thank you! You crack me up about pretending to move! Hahahah - ideally back east would be better but at this point we are just in the waiting mode to see what happens. We will know more in the next 2 weeks but he has a very good chance of getting the role and if he does we have tough hard choices to make.

Pretty darn hot in Dallas.

McKinney looks SO cute!!!

Would your husband be working in Plano???

Overall, I would say it is a great place to live if your DH is working up north. Frisco is another area close by.

Here is a link to the Plano accountability rating. You can click on the school for more info. I *think* most of the high schools are broken out btw 12 & 11th grade (Senior high school) and then 9 & 10th at another campus. The graduating classes are usually HUGE and very academically competitive (in a good way)

There are SEVERAL nice neighborhoods - make sure your Plano home is in the Plano school district (some are in Lewisville ISD). I suggest go to www.ebby.com and do a map search in Plano and see what you find.

Best of luck to you. BTW, it is hot this week.

Oops, I forgot to include the link.


http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/cgi/sas/broker

jcb - yes, the company he is currently in interviews with is located in Plano. We will know more in two weeks. He is actually there right now and yes, he said it is VERY hot.

Thank you for the links and the info. We have been tossing around several options and he will most likely move ahead of us and get settled if it comes to that. In these economic times we will be happy for him to get the position.

jcb - are you sure on the link - it is not working for me.

Try this and type in Plano


http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfre...list.srch.html

worked thank you! The one friend we have their sends his children to a VERY expensive private school at almost 17,000 a year.

If I lived in Plano, I would have no problems sending my kids to public school.

BTW, $17,000 is considered normal (if not low) for private school around here. The closest one to me is $22,400 a year for high school. Needless to say, our children will not be attending that school.

JCB - that is a pretty penny~ we live in a pricey area of S. California and thought 12,000 was a costly high school! My friend has three children in that school. Gulp.

I asked them as they were just here for a visit if there was something wrong with the schools and he said no, not at all - that they are actually pretty good.

If he gets the job I imagine I will go in the August to try to figure things out. Fingers crossed!

Best of luck to your husband!!

There are some beautiful homes in Plano and a ton for sale, so you'll find something great at much lower prices than S CA.

Three in private school - ouch!!!! I thought that is why people lived in Plano - so you didn't have to send your kids to private school. Property taxes are high enough without having the extra tuition!!

<Property taxes are high enough without having the extra tuition!!>

don't get my friend started on that...he was ranting about that too ;-)

Thanks for the wishes - I will let you know!

McKinney is #5 on the Top 10 List of Best Places to live in America...according to Money Magazine, I think. It is on yahoo's home page today.

Let me know if you move. I know of a yard boy for hire!

Dawn:

Aren't you a huge Cowboy's fan?! Maybe you could take up cheerleading?

MomDD - Didn't you guys just get moved back in??? LOL... You are much better with change than I!

Mom, we are leaving soon for our vacation but I have several friends and a couple of relatives from the Dallas area. I'll make some calls to get more info for you when we get back next week.

It's hot and humid and flat and Southfork is there.
When I lived there, the area pretty much just looked like Southfork.
Now it's full of subdivisions and shopping and the schools are good out there.
And Southfork is still there.
http://foreverlodging.com/foreverinf...ontentKey=2923

If it looks like the job is going to happen I'll ask someone who works with schools in the area for the "best" re schools and neighborhoods.

Did I say it was hot and humid?

I've lived in Dallas for a few years, and I didn't find it humid. Yes, it was hot - like the oven, but not humid like the E Coast.

In Dallas, with the low humidity, I can actually wear jeans even when temps are in the high 80s. In Boston, I can't stand jeans unless it's 70F or lower because of the high humidity.

Good luck to your husband, MomDD. If it makes you feel better, the east coast has been very hot and very humid for most of the summer. McKinney did look cute!

Mom - No, I am not better at change..but one thing the last three years has taught me is to roll with it... dh is home - we won't know anything for several weeks.

There is a possibility of the east coast as well Suki. But the strongest is currently Plano. I am anxious but not too much so - I imagine if he gets a firm offer I am sure that will change.

I really appreciate the offer Starrs - that is of course one of my biggest concerns (the list is long)

Weekender - I was teasing dh at dinner tonight that would be the best thing about move - Cowboys :)) My cheering days are long over friend.

FYB - enjoy your trip and if it happens I will be taking you up on that.

Cat - I will be happy to keep an eye on that yard boy. ((F))

Oh...looks like I was "moved" to the lounge. Sorry for posting in the wrong place. Thought the USA was more of the appropriate spot.

and Yk.... it is HOT & Humid... my Mom lived there and I just remember a ton of thunder storms and HEAT.

True, there are thunderstorms every day in the afternoon, but the rest of the day is usually fairly dry. Dallas still feels much drier than Houston or East Coast!

Don't forget that there is no state income tax in TX. That's the one thing I miss most about living in TX.

YK I understand there is high property tax though?

Oh well... will not know anything now for a few weeks - he is working hard on keeping his options open and looking at other places. Unfortunately he has had to now say "open to relocation" which is not something we have said in the past.

Sorry, MomDD, we were renters so we didn't have to worry about property tax.

Hey Mom, I just wanted to stop in and wish you all luck. I'm sure this can't be easy for you guys. Thinking of you!

Well, if you're headed east, consider Atlanta. We moved here in 1993 and still love where we live. We really have no desire to live elsewhere!

Yes, Texas property taxes are pretty high (sis and BIL lived there for awhile), but the housing is VERY reasonable, particularly compared to Southern California...you'll be shocked (in a good way).

Lots of good music, too! :)

Thanks everyone - no, it is not easy. Trying SUPER hard not to borrow trouble as the saying goes...going to be a long few weeks.

SO many different issues, children, my school, my amazing love of my life - my granddaughter... *sigh*. They want to move to Texas so really praying that is where we end up I think... (if not here).

Mom Georiga is actually on the list - Dh mentioned tops are Georgia, Virginia, and the north East. I nixed Florida as LOW on the list - he would consider it.

At this point, it is a good position for him is of course the highest on the list.

Hi Dawn-
I have a bunch of friends in Dallas but only one who had kids in the school system. She lives in Southlake, TX which is west of DFW. It would be kind of a commute but I know Carroll HS is a great school. I went to school in the south with a lot of kids who went to Highland Park HS which is right in Dallas but a wonderful area right near SMU. It's about 15 miles from there to Plano. I don't know if your hubs wants to drive far but it's something to think about.

Some stuff I would check on if you're going to send the kids to public school is how many students are in each grade and what is going on with state funding for that particular school district? A lot of my clients in NJ are complaining that their districts are cutting arts/music, one class a day, etc. I know this varies from school to school but again, just something to think about. I think Plano is a nice area (from what I've heard) and you can travel ANYWHERE from DFW!

The heat is not my thing but my friend in Southlake is originally from New Jersey and she loves it. Texas is more affordable than SoCal and Dallas is a great place to raise kids. I know many nice people from there!

Hi Dawn, Wow, what a busy and exciting time for you and your family. We have 3 sets of friends who have moved to Texas and 2 live in Frisco and one lives in Plano and all are happy there, even tho the moves were mostly decided by job changes and they were happy where they were. Two of the couples moved from Orange County and loved the fact they got great houses for TONS CHEAPER than OC. The other couple moved from the Midwest and they also were thrilled with the housing prices, especially for the size of house they were able to purchase. All have children in the public high schools in the area and they are happy with the school systems. They all say it is hot and they do feel it is humid, but they do have central a/c so not a huge problem. They also like their neighborhoods and neighbors. All in all a good move for all of them. I hope things work out well for you and you are happy wherever you end up. Best wishes to you and your family. Keep us posted.

Go for it! We lived in North Dallas for 11 years and I would move back in a second , heat and all. Plano is so close to all that Dallas has to offer you are getting 2 for 1.

Are there many job openings in the area? We might move there if the job market looked promising...

I heard on the news this morning that Texas was #1 for business and Virginia was #2. I have never been to Texas. My family lived there well before I was born and they loved it, but that was decades ago. By all accounts it is hot and humid.

I love Georgia and am of course biased towards Virginia. These are the types of situations the I believe work out the way they are supposed to even if it doesn't seem so at the time. And I am sure it is hard to not borrow trouble, especially since you recently moved back to your home and the area you would be leaving is one you love and are attached to.

I'd have a VERY hard time leaving Virginia or even Richmond.

I hope it works out the way you want it to.

Dawn...we lived in Plano for about 17 years. My kids went all through that school system, k-12, and we couldn't have been happier with their education. The best of the high schools now is West Plano and that would be the preferable area to live.

It is still home to our son, who graduated college then went back, and is living in Frisco.

I <i>do</i> think it'd be a tough move from southern CA, however! Your perfect summer weather is far from summers in north central Texas, and you will miss the water and the hills.

That said, I moved there kicking and screaming all the way from Boston. I did not want to go to Texas! 17 years later when we were transferred out, I cried so long and hard about leaving people at work the next morning knew instantly something was amiss and I had to explain. It was a great place to raise our kids and we loved the community.

I'm pressed for time this morning but will be back in the PM if I can help answer any questions. Good luck to you all in these tough decisions!

Thank you everyone. Heavens - yes, the market there is decent. I know that they still have new grad nursing programs as opposed to much of the country.

In general I will say that when my dh looked for work in 2008/2009 the options in his area were basically none. People were doing massive lay offs and shutting down entire operations having lost all " securitisation".

He was able to get into a different aspect of his field through his connections on a long term contract. It was not at "his level" on the challenge level or the income level.

This go around he has found that the industry is going back into a growth mode - I am happy for that - not just for us but hopefully as a general barometer.

If he gets the position with the company - we are hoping that he can finish his career there. He has several excellent factors going for him, and several not. We shall see - at this point someone could come in on Friday and knock their socks off.


Thanks for listening... we are not sharing "irl" as too many variables so it is "nice" to be able to share and hear what you all think of Dallas and the other areas.

I appreciate *all the well wishes - we DO love our area - and goodness knows I love "my" home. But I am realistic enough to know that home is where my family is and where dh has a career job ;-)

I once had a chance for a good job in Dallas. Too bad I didnt know enough about high school football to get it

MomDDTravel,

I am from Dallas. Was raised there and moved out after college in, well, a long time ago. My family still lives there, my son goes to SMU and I will be visiting there in a week and a half. I can't answer the current situation so much, but I would not hesitate to put my kids in the Plano, Frisco and/or McKinney schools unless there are problems I don't know about. I hear good things.

The people there are the greatest. So friendly and will do anything for you. Food is good. Culture is well, they are working on it. It is an easy plac eto live, I'll put it that way; not so much traffic and expenses as in some other states (like CA).