My husband may have the opportunity to relocate to the Dallas area from Southern California. I would be interested to hear suggestions on cities to live in. Here is what we like and are looking for: obviously moving from Southern California the housing is not an issue - we currently live in a 4000 square foot home, 5 bedrooms/4 baths and we would like to find something comparable on at least 1 acre or more (current lot size is 17000 sqare ft). We have 1 child (10 months) and would like another sometime this year or next (good healthcare/schools). My husband travels alot (should be no further than 30 minute drive to the airport), loves golf and the outdoors. I enjoy shopping and outings with my child. We both enjoy eating dinner out and it would be nice to find a town that doesn't close down at 9 pm. We currently live 52 miles from Los Angeles and we wish we were a little closer to the city to enjoy it, but far enough away that we wouldn't have to deal with the problems that large cities face. Also curious about taxes (property/state). We also enjoy the water - suggestions for areas that may have lake front housing would be a plus. Sorry to give so much information, I just hope that it will help with suggestions. Thank you in advance for your help.
Tracey

Hello Traceynt,

Housing is significantly less expensive in Dallas and even more so in Ft Worth.
You will certainly find something in the Park Cities (Highland Park or University Park) which are among the priciest 'hoods with an excellent public school system. There are many other nice areas, but the school systems are less well regarded.

Parts of Oak Cliff, White Rock Lake area, Kessler Park, Bluffview, Northwood Hills/NH Estates, Colleyville, etc. might be of interest.
There are quite a few "far out" lake areas as well.

Sorry I don't know Ft Worth, but there are some wonderful areas there as well.


Texas has no state income tax, but property taxes (2.4 -2.7% of appraised value annually in many areas - 'tho I think less in the Park Cities) and Sales taxes (6.5% state and 2 % Dallas city) are steep.

Utilities are fairly expensive also, 'tho I replaced an ancient gas heater and middle aged A/C with a top end Trane (19 SEER) 14 months ago which made a huge diff'n in A/C and a smaller in heating costs which have been rapidly rising with the cost of natural gas.

You may want to contact real estate agents with expertise in each specific area and arrange visits.

D Magazine has periodic articles on the various neighborhoods and the DMN's www.guidelive.com site will give you info re: restaurants and most current activities.

DAL and DFW make air travel convenient, but the Wright Amendment and AA's "monopoly" at DFW have kept fares higher than average.

I left SAN in 1980 and never regretted the move. I am soon relocating "permanently" to Colonial MX.

Best wishes.

M

Thank you Mikemo - sales tax in California is 8.25% and prop. tax is 1.2%. I looked up some homes in the park cities area and they seem quite small for the $$ and those prices seem to be on par with Cali real estate...ugh! I did see some nice homes in Colleyville, do you know anything about this area and my husband says that Irving is a nice place...? Thanks again for your response - really appreciated.

You might look at Southlake too--big homes, larger lots, close to the airport and good schools.

If you haven't already found a real estate search site - try ebby.com. It is one of the largest in the Dallas area. Easy to search, too.

Many people choose Irving at first then choose another area. Southlake could be a good fit - are you a Desperate Housewife?

You can find large homes on large lots in Forest Hills which is near White Rock Lake. Also some areas of Lakewood and Casa Linda as well as Kessler Park in North Oak cliff.

I've heard of nice homes on Lake Ray Hubbard, but you'll be too far from DFW.
What about about homes around Lake Grapevine which is close to DFW?

Good hospitals for having babies are Presbyterian and Baylor.

Good schools can be found in suburbs and Park Cities (although crowded). And a few areas of Dallas (most do pvt schools).
Child outings - Dallas Arboretum, walks around White Rock Lake, parks in Park Cities, Katy Trail...just off the top of my head.

Shopping areas - Northpark Mall, Highland Park Village, Inwood Village, West Village, Mockingbird Station.

Suburbs are pretty much going to close down around 9pm. Dallas does not - Uptown area, Greenville Ave area stay open later.

Thanks for all the great suggestions...my husband and I have been playing around a bit with realtor.com and searching the areas that you are mentioning...found some good stuff. We are very lucky that we have fantastic public schools in the city that we live currently and even though it is sleepy, we have stayed for the schools. One poster mentioned private schools...are private schools where the children get a better education or are the public schools great...one of my concerns is overcrowding. I know that my child is only 10 months old, but these are things that I worry about...new moms =) No currently I am not a desperate housewife - but thanks for asking =)

traceynt -

It depends on the area. In Dallas, there are some good public schools with a lot of parental involvement, most notably the magnet schools, which you have to apply to and wait for acceptance.

Some areas are nice to live in, but the public school may not be up to par, so some parents decide on pvt school. Another issue in Texas is: public school students must take a test every year called the TAKS. Some parents are fed up with this test because so much "class time" is spent simply "learning" to take the test.

To find a small class size, you will have to do some research. I've heard from a mom, who's kid goes to Armstrong Elem in Highland Pk, that there are 24 kids in his kindergarten class. So while HP is a desirable area, 24 kids in class is not (my opinion).

A few of the best pvt schools are: St. Mark's (boys), Hockaday (girls), Greenhill (coed), St. Alcuin (Montessori), ESD (coed).

Hi Traceynt again,
For what it's worth, my sons spent 5 years at LaJolla Country Day School before our move to Dallas. Despite living in the then highly regarded RISD (Richardson), they attended The Greenhill School 6-12 and 4-12. My daughter was a lifer (PS-12) @ Hockaday.
Public school "quality ratings" will give you a snapshot, but the media has been uncovering "cheating" recently.
The DISD (Dallas) is simply not an option imho and the RISD is crowded and very stressed financially.
The Texas "RobinHood" school financing has weakened more than a few once VG districts.
Also, when I mentioned Colleyville, I was thinking Southlake: Many bargains there still as the 9/11 fallout at DFW continues with Delta's abandonment at month's end.
M

Traceynt, these "cities" as they are called, are actually huge municipalities with populations ranging from 75,000 to 300,000 people. Their neighborhoods are not uniform and similar, but very diverse, depending on their age and price. So you cannot generalize about neighborhoods in Irving or Plano or McKinney.

Same thing with the schools. The many schools in a district vary in quality, depending upon the managerial ability of the principal. It's hard to determine overall quality of a school, however. If you measure student scores on tests, all you're really measuring is the family incomes of the students. There is a correlation, long proven, between achievement and family income.

Plus... if a school is supposed to be "good" today, will it still be good 5 years from now, when your child starts school?

If I were in your position, I'd choose a neighborhood on esthetic factors, convenience factors, location, things like that. Mostly, I'd do a lot of research on the internet first, then If I did move, I'd stay in temporary housing for a while until I understood the area as well as the locals.

I don't think you want to rely on the reccomendations of a handful of strangers, each of which has personal preferences, tastes and predjudices.

The issue of overcrowding in schools is a funny one. Where I live the private schools became overcrowded as people opted for them. Then the FL. St. legislature passed an amendment (originated by a citizens ballot initiative) to keep class size small, don't remember how many, and all of a sudden we had to build more classrooms and get more teachers and the public schools lost so many amenities because of this new drain on the budget.

Lucky you will not have to worry about it for awhile.

We were very happy with the Plano ISD while our kids were there and felt they got a terrific preparation for college (much better than I did in my New England school!) That said, the last one finished in the early 90's and the city has grown tremendously.

My best friend, who has a Dallas address but lives within the Richardson ISD, also sent her kids to Greenhill as Mikemo did. (You do need to watch the address and ISD...they don't necessarily match.)

Southlake is a wealthy area, impacted by the Robinhood act, but the parents won't let the kids go without and personally make up much of the difference, according to a friend of ours who moved there a couple of years ago (and whose husband works at DFW...a factor in their selection).

We moved to Dallas from a Boston suburb where our daughter was in a Harvard experimental school, and like many from that area, were predisposed to thinking our schools were "the best". Aha...we quickly had our minds changed as we found her curriculum had been behind her peers in Plano...

Thank you all again for some the information.

xbt2316 - I agree with you about the temporary housing and checking out the areas...which is what we did when we moved to So Cal from Arkansas. I am really just trying to get some ideas of areas that are similar to the one that I currently inhabit.

Thank you all for the info on the schools. I would really prefer to send my child to the public schools that will ultimately challenge him and prepare him for higher education...although as a child I experienced both private and public, both with their own pros and cons. I agree with one poster that class size is very important and again I have plenty of time to figure it all out.

Ultimately I am looking for a safe area to raise my children, where they will get a great education, where my family will meet other families with same interests, and with access to a great city with many things to do...and great sushi and shopping is a plus =)

I looked into Southlake and checked out their official site on the web and it seems very nice...the hubby and I may have to plan a long weekend to check out the area and others.
Thanks
Tracey

If you liked the look of Southlake, you might want check out Coppell -- Southlake's arch rival in football and Highland Park's rival on the academic side. As others have said, you need to get a feel for these places for yourself. The suburbs are going to be an entirely different scene than inside Dallas proper. There are some awesome (and frankly more interesting) neighborhoods near Whiterock Lake... Casa Linda, "M" streets. But you will probably have to seriously consider going with private schools if you choose some of those areas.

If you choose the suburbs of Tarrant County, you probably won't need a private school.
For a more rural feel, also look into Keller if you are considering Southlake.

PS - I must say this. While I like the look of Southlake, my DFW family always has a story to tell about the latest antics there. I have been told that Southlake teens made up t-shirts this school year with a saying something like this, "I Transferred from Keller when My Daddy got a Real Job."

The Highland Park area is great, but many of the homes are more in the 2500-4000 square foot range. If you want a big, new home, look a little further out.

Although I don't live in Dallas, I have alot of colleagues who do. Several live in an area called Colleyville, not far from the airport. They really like it. Lots of big homes.

One place where xbt and I (hi there old buddy) actually agree: Temporary housing for a few months might be well worth the cost of doing two moves. You'll get a much better "feel" for the area.

Thanks Again - I am actually starting to get excited about a long weekend trip and checking out all of the areas recommended.

wsoxrebel - I currently live near a very upper class suburb where the kids are given anything and everything their little hearts desire and it truly makes me ill at times, but a positive to that is that those kids tend to be successful because they know in order to have those things, you must have money and most people that have money are successful. It is definitely a double edged sword =(

Hazelmn - I agree about the temporary housing and the great thing is that our company will pay for the temporary housing for about 3/4 months and both moves, so we are very fortunate in that regard.

I grew up in Mississippi, so I know what humidity is like (I miss it actually), however what are the average temps in summer/winter? Rainfall? Snow/Ice?
Thank you
Tracey

I would guess that your H/O insurance company would be the best source for the extremes we face here in Dallas.
That said, winters are mild, 'tho it's really cold today, and the humidity and temps in Summer are inversely related - when it's 90F, humidity is usually 40's, 100F, maybe 20's.
We have enjoyed fairly mild summers and winters in '03 and '04, but '04 had near record rain fall (mostly good).
You'll not miss Mississippi!
M