It might be Dalls... ??

I asked previously about moving to Houston and I like what I have seen.

The company I am working for has thrown me for a loop however and wants me to go to a 3 month training in Dallas, where I could possibly take a job there afterwards instead of Houston. The job would be downtown.

So now I have to find out about Dallas to make an educated decision. Yes, I will have a few months to choose, but all that info I got before was incredibly helpful in pointing me in the right direction!!

Questions:

1. Nice areas to live in Dallas that compare with a community like Spring or Woodlands outside of Houston. Are there any? What are the differences? Are prop taxes high?

FYI - looking for large homes in a nice neighborhood (low crime, quiet, pretty streets) with a little breathing room and mature trees (if possible).


2. How far of a commute is it from these nice areas to downtown? Is there a website for this?

3. Overall reasons why I would love Dallas ($110K salary, no kids - like things polished and clean but not snobby).

4. Overall reasons I would dislike Dallas. Weather? Crime?

5. What about the lake communities - are they within reach of the city?

6. Anything else relevant I should know?

Thanks in advance for helping me out!
Blondie

Hey Blondie -

Here are a few suggestions for surburban neighborhoods - Plano, Flower Mound, Las Colinas, Valley Ranch, Coppell and Carrollton. Each of these areas have new home construction along with established homes. I belive that you will find houses similar to those in Spring or the Woodlands minus the trees.

Travel time to downtown would be btw 40 mintues - 1 hour in normal circumstances.

I image that property taxes would be similar as well. You would pay approx $5,000 on a 225,000 home.

The closer you get to downtown, the older the homes are and the more expensive the homes are. Although they are doing a lot of tear down and rebuild - it is expensive.

There are a few lake communities, but don't have any info on those.

The weather is nice, although July and August are hot, but it is not nearly as humid as it is in Houston.

Hope this gives you a start. - jcb

Hey again -

I forgot about Frisco and McKinney. These cities have lots of new home construction too!!!

If you're going to be working in downtown Dallas, and you have no kids, then don't even consider Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Coppell or Flower Mound. Those cities are a LONG way from downtown Dallas and your drive would be at least an hour each way on a GOOD day! Most of the people that live in these communities do so for the good schools, but since that's not your concern, there's no reason to live there.

If you like living near a lake, I highly recommend the Lakewood, Lake Highlands, or M Streets areas of Dallas. These are near White Rock Lake, and they are quiet neighborhoods with big trees, beautiful homes, and fairly low crime. Your commute to downtown Dallas would only be about 20 minutes from here. The different neighborhoods within each area have varying home prices, so on a $110K salary, you'll have a lot to choose from. The homes are older, but they are usually very well maintained and have a lot of character.

If you could like Houston, you'll likely love Dallas. The air quality is a LOT better, and there are plenty of opportunities for culture and entertainment. There are so many restaurants and shopping places here that you'll probably never get to try them all! The weather is a lot less humid than Houston, although it still gets hot and sticky in the summer.

The Dallas Morning News' website is www.dallasnews.com, and it's a great resource to find out what's going on in Dallas.

You might do a search here on fodors about living in or moving to Dallas and the suburbs. This has been discussed several times.

Personally, if I had to chose either Dallas or Houston, I think I'd pick Dallas. The ONLY thing I think is positive about Houston over Dallas is that Houston is closer to the Gulf Coast and the Piney woods. There is more change of scenery in East TX than N. Texas. N Texas (Dallas) is the plains part of the state.

While I totally agree w/ ChristieP regarding Lakewood and the M Streets regarding the proximity to downtown and White Rock Lake compared to the suburbs, maybe tells us more what you are looking for in a house (size, approx price). I assumed from your original post that you were looking for "large" and "newer" home. IMHO, those kind of houses are more scarce in Lakewood and the M streets.

Plano is a good choice because of the lower auto insurance AND there are DART rail stations that take you straight into downtown without ANY traffic hassles! I live between Sachse and Rowlett, which is right on Lake Ray Hubbard. It's a bit of a trek to the station but is such a convenience I don't care.
You might look at the Firewheel community in Garland. It's right on 190 (Bush Turnpike) and just a few minutes drive to the DART Station.
Firewheel has beautiful homes in the older neighborhoods (15 or so yrs old) which left all the hardwood trees intact. My dad lived on Torrey Pines for years and it was the nicest neighborhood with lots of friendly stuff going on. Progressive dinners and block parties were not uncommon.

This is such a good start. I didn't know about the DART at all - that's a good tip.

I do like newer homes, and our price range is pretty large. We're approved for up to $300K but would like to stay around $200ish.

Sizewise, I like a big house with big rooms - around 3000 sq. feet with lots of windows. Hopefully a pool too (which I didn't see that many of when I looked... ??)

Being close to the city is not a priority or even a desire really. I've done some crime checks and I definitely like the bedroom communities better.

Why are all the trees missing in Dallas? I looked at some realty webpages and on the virtual tours you could see a lack of trees in the newer residential areas. Don't they grow there?

I also heard someone recommend Allen, TX. Is this really far? What's the general impression?

TxTravelPro - what is your neighborhood called? Zip code?
JCB - Thanks for those city listings and the tax info. At least I know to fit that it the budget!

Oh, and what about basements... for a place that gets tornadoes - why aren't they prevalent? The hail index is very high too - is that accurate?

Thanks again everyone.
Blondie

My TA lives in the Carrollton area,Castle Hills I think zc 75010.I cant remember everything but its close to a VistaRidge Mall and surrounding area.Hebron Parkway is the main east-west throughfare and he's 15 minutes to the Tollway the main north south to the downtown area.But I have heard horror stories about the Tollway.The houses are new and large and I think in your price range. Hope that helps.I love the area myself.Anything outside of LA is a relief.

We've had some killer hail storms up here although they seemed to be getting fewer and farther between until a couple of weeks ago when we got another bad one. I think that is one of the reasons car and home insurance seems to be higher here. I have never been in any home in the DFW area (or in Texas now that I think about it) that had a basement.

How high is the water table in Dallas? I was born in Gulf Coast Louisiana, and you couldn't dig more than 6 feet without hitting water, so houses are built on a slab foundation. Or maybe developers are just cheap and hope the tornadoes will be naturally attracted to nearby trailer parks...?

And no, I'm not suggesting there are lots of trailer parks in Dallas.... Are there?

Dallas is huge, even larger is the metropolitan area surrounding the city. Yes somewhere in this vast area are trailer parks but they are neither prevalent nor located in inappropriate areas.

Water table is not an issue. I'm sure the no basements thing is all about cost. I live in an older neighborhood that has a pier and beam foundation but almost all new developments are slab.

There are no basements in Dallas homes due to the soil here, not the water table. It's a black clay that is notorious for shifting and causing foundation problems. To build a basement in a home would be prohibitively expensive.

Tornado shelters are uncommon here because there really aren't that many tornadoes in this part of Texas. Head a little northwest, or into OK, and you'll see shelters everywhere!

There are very few trailer parks in Dallas area because of deed-restricted land. Once you get like 20-30 miles out of Dallas, you'll start seeing them.

The lack of large trees in the suburbs is because most of the land used to be farmland/cotton fields, and therefore, no trees. Also, even if land did have some trees on it, developers usually plowed them down when they leveled the land for houses. Most varieties of trees will grow here if they are planted; pines are a notable exception.

You can get a NICE house for $200k, but it will be newer and likely not have mature trees. Ask a Realtor to show you the ones with pools and there will be LOTS to choose from. (many people do not want a pool due to the expense of upkeep). It's a buyer's market here right now, especially in Plano, due to all of the high-tech/telecom layoffs.

Allen is a nice area with new homes. Do go by and see the area on weekends and make sure it is right for you.

It doesn't have to do with the water table, which if I took at guess at, I'd guess to be extremely low. Ground movement is the problem, with clay soils which expand and contract to the point you must be very careful that the ground around your foundation never dries out, causing soil to pull away and resulting in foundation cracks. This same problem is something you especially need to watch for in the Las Colinas area, where the hills seem to exacerbate the problem.

Trees are missing in Plano because it used to be cotton fields. I was always amused at a sign on one of the back roads into Plano from Carrollton. "Welcome to Plano, TreeCity USA"! Yikes. Someone explained that it is awarded for effort.

We lived in Plano and loved it--large homes, many with pools, great schools, and PISD/community athletic programs but...no trees, and a long commute. My DH worked downtown first, a 40 minute drive but now longer, then at DFW, which was closer to an hour. He really didn't mind the drive...left early (no later than 7) primarily because he liked being in the office early, but also because it made a tremendous difference in his drive time. For us at the time we lived there it was perfect. If I were to go back, sans children now, I'd opt for closer in older neighborhoods. Lots of character and real trees the closer to downtown you get.

Yep, we sure did get a doozie of a hail storm last week. My area was hit really hard, we have about 10,000 of damage (cars and property).
This is my neighborhood:
http://www.highlandhomes.com/woodbridge50home.asp
I can't find a website on my Dad's old neighborhood but the zip is: 75044
Here's another decent website:
http://www.dallasrelo.com/plancomm.html
I would stay away from Carrollton and Lewisville. The traffic is even worse over there... but I am a Plano girl myself so my opinion is a bit biased.

How are property taxes paid? I have a conventional mortgage now with no escrow account. I just pay my insurance (to the insurance co) when it comes due and taxes to the tax assessor twice a year.

Also, back to Allen - any estimates on the commute (getting in early 7:15ish and leaving late 6:15ish most days).

Thanks

One more -
In what area would a house around $200-$225K be the lower end of the community?

I pay my Collin Co. taxes with my mortgage. This is my first home, so I am not sure how other people do it but it seems logical that you either pay directly or in your mortgage, right...?
Of the suburbs, it's hard to say a town where 200,000 is the low end. Since we love our planned communities here, you could be talkin' about many options. We bought the cheapest home in our community @ 150,000.
Allen, Plano, Sachse, Coppell, Southlake, Trophy Club, Frisco, Addison, Flower Mound, Rowlett, Rockwall and just about every other town has exclusive neighborhoods.
Allen is just an extension of Plano, really.
If you leave at Allen at 630am you will be in Downtown Dallas by 715am, at least the way I drive.
Returning at 615pm is smack in the middle of rush hour and it'll suck.
I would take 75 South to the northernmost DART station and catch the train into downtown. Parking is expensive in Dntn too so it's a wash as far as cost is concerned. You will not really shave time off your morning commute by taking the train (assuming you leave at 630am) but you will certainly save time on the return.

About the taxes, I guess the point I was getting at is that with the taxes so high is there a different way it's done from the tax assessor's office. No matter really, I'll figure it out when we get there.

Thanks for the tips on driving/rush hour.