OT-Tell me about the Dallas suburbs!

[micheleq]

DH is going to the final round of interviews for a job w/his company that would relocate our family to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Kinda scary, but we're excited as well. It's a promotion, great step up in pay (after a hard year financially, like the rest of the nation), and the cost of living in the Dallas area is about 50% less than where we are now (according to the online calculators I've researched).

So any DISers in the Dallas metroplex? On paper, Flower Mound and Southlake sounds like great towns to live in. We don't want to be in Dallas proper (DH will be seeing clients all over the area, so no office to commute to), and I want to be in a town/city of under 70,000 people. Schools are top priority. What towns should I look in? Any advice?

It's not a done deal by any means, but a real possibility. I want to research as much as I can to help prepare my family for the move.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am not going to be much help, but I will tell you what I know!

Southlake is newer, and I imagine it is still growing. Not sure what the current population is there, but it won't stay at that number. I would guess home prices are higher in Southlake than in some of the other suburbs, but with the crummy economy you might be able to find some reasonable ones, especially if you are coming from a higher priced area.

I don't know anything about Flower Mound at all. I have heard of it, but I have no practical knowledge of the city.

For awhile the "hot" suburb was Frisco. Now they are saying Frisco has grown much too quickly, and the roads and other infrastructure are suffering. I am not sure how tricky it is to find projected growth info, but that is something I would look for.

 

[micheleq]

Thanks jackskellingtongirl! All advice is appreciated. I'd be up for living in Dallas proper, but DH is not a city guy.

We have friends that live in Frisco and the crazy pop. growth is why I don't want to move there. They are at 90,000+ people give or take, and on track to be a city of 250,000 (kinda like Plano) in the next 10 years from what I've read.

Flower Mound has put a cap on residential growth; they had their explosion in the 90's and seems like the town is making an effort to keep a steady population.

I guess the real question is -- how far is Dallas from WDW? LOL!

 

[TxRabbit]

Check out a map. We used to live in North Richland Hills and in Bedford. Went to church in Southlake. Went to Lifetime Fitness in Colleyville. Almost bought a house in Keller. Moved to Houston area.

The mid-cities area is much calmer than the actual suburbs. IMO, I liked mid-cities better than Dallas because there are places where there are some rolling hills (some more south in Arlington area) and a bit more interest in the landscape. I consider Dallas to be mostly concrete...

The whole area is growing. But the traffic isn't too terrible. There are many services and things that are in the area, so you really don't go into the city much. Southlake has one of the best school districts in Texas. Carrol. Highest rating as a district and for every school in it. No personal experience.

Flowermound has a reputation for having a good school district as well. But highwaywise it wasn't as convenient to get too, so I didn't spend as much time in that area. DH worked in Fort Worth.

We are actually contemplating a move back to Southlake. DH might have a good opportunity that would take us back to DFW.

If you enjoy cooking, check out Central Market. They were building one in Southlake when we moved. It is an amazing store. Market Street is also nice.

For a health club, Lifetime is amazing. I hate exercise but I liked going there. The thing about the whole DFW area is that the cities aren't really distict. Cross a street and you're in the next one, if you KWIM. But you can find relief from the metro in the midcities area while still maintaining the convenience factor. Fort Worth is a great town.

Not sure how much I can help, but I'm totally willing to chat. Any other specific questions?

 

[ktlm]

We have family that we visit pretty frequently that live in North Richland Hills and Keller, both of which are down the street from Southlake. Southlake is a nice place, but it is known as one of the richest cities in the U.S. so housing can be overpriced. Keller and Richland Hills are close enough by to hang out at Southlake, but far enough away so that the housing prices are not as inflated. Southlake Town Square is really nice. It has good shopping, restaurants and a movie theater. They both have some really nice neighborhoods. If your DH is seeing clients more around the Fort Worth and Arlington areas, they are nice places to live. All three are growing quite a bit. They are all very near Fort Worth. I like shopping and doing things in North Dallas (Allen Outlet Mall, Northpark Mall, Galleria) and it takes forever to get there from Keller (40 min to an hour). That's the only big drawback for me, but it sounds like you are looking for a smaller more contained area. If so, that would be a good area for you. Our family members are the same way and they hardly ever travel outside of those three cities to other parts of DFW. They all really like it there.

We also had family that used to live in Flower Mound. The traffic through Flower Mound was terrible. It made it feel really crowded to us. With the traffic it just seemed hard to get to their house any time of day. If I remember right the problem was all the development and growth and the streets had not been modified to accomodate that. I don't know if they have finally fixed that as it has been a few years since our family moved out of there. I wasn't real crazy about the area just because of that, but it is closer to Dallas itself.

 

[micheleq]

Thanks again everyone. TxRabbit, I might PM you w/more questions if DH gets the offer!

Mid-cities might be a good option for us (like Arlington, Irving, Coppell, right?), since most of DH's business will be in Dallas or Ft. Worth proper, and then scattered around the 'burbs. Good to know that FM has some bad traffic issues, that would affect DH as he'll be seeing clients all around the area.

Southlake sticks out because of its location and reputation for great schools. I'm not too concerned about house price for now. Where we currently live (NYC 'burbs) we'll be able to sell our house, make a lateral price move in Texas, and go from 1200 sq. feet to over 4000 sq. feet from what I see on the MLS. Crazy huh? But that's part of the reason why we are contemplating the move, cost of living.

Like I said, thanks again. I appreciate the honest input.

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

We lived in Highland Village for years, and it was wonderful. It is snuggled next to Lake Lewisville and has great schools. It is a small town tucked into an area with all the amenities.

It is part of the Lewisville school district, the same as Flower Mound. The schools were wonderful and I adored our parks, green space, and walkways.

Just an option to consider. Oh, when you are looking at housing cost, make sure to calculate in the property taxes, which are quite high to make up for the lack of state income tax.

--Eeyore's Wife

 

[ekatiel]

I live in the suburbs of Houston, so I've got no advice for you about the Dallas suburbs, but I did want to second what Eeyore's Wife said about property taxes. There is no state income tax in Texas, but property taxes in the Houston area range from 2.5% to 4+%, which is a nice chunk of change. Be sure to look up each area's tax rate and figure that into your payment. --Katie

 

[TxRabbit]

Thanks again everyone. TxRabbit, I might PM you w/more questions if DH gets the offer!

Mid-cities might be a good option for us (like Arlington, Irving, Coppell, right?), since most of DH's business will be in Dallas or Ft. Worth proper, and then scattered around the 'burbs. Good to know that FM has some bad traffic issues, that would affect DH as he'll be seeing clients all around the area.

Southlake sticks out because of its location and reputation for great schools. I'm not too concerned about house price for now. Where we currently live (NYC 'burbs) we'll be able to sell our house, make a lateral price move in Texas, and go from 1200 sq. feet to over 4000 sq. feet from what I see on the MLS. Crazy huh? But that's part of the reason why we are contemplating the move, cost of living.

Like I said, thanks again. I appreciate the honest input.

Definitely PM me with any questions. I'll do my best.

Mid-Cities would most properly refer to Hulen/Beford/Euless specifically, because they are so small. But yes, that whole area would be good to look at considering your DH's work.

Don't be detered about Southlake. It is expensive, no doubt. But I am familiar with real estate in your area, and if you own where you are, then you should have no issues with Southlake. You do need to beware of what other's have mentioned with the property tax issue.

What they haven't mentioned is the homestead exemption. It is a way to lower your tax burden for some taxing entities, especially the school district, which is the largest tax. The exemption is by declaring that your residence in TX is your main residence (in case you owned more than one.) It's from an old law that would protect your home in the event of financial difficulty. It made your homestead EXEMPT from being taken from you in many financial situations.

If you owner of the home you buy has filed for the exemption, you will get that benefit when taxes are due. With the change of the new year, however, you will need to file for that exemption on your own. If by chance, the owner doesn't have the exemption filed, then you will have a higher tax burden that first year.

At the time that we left, driving into Ft Worth was no big on 121, I think it was. It's like the one highway where traffic moved at a good clip both coming and going. Not as familiar with the Dallas end of it, but I knew several people that would commute into Dallas from Southlake. Let me know too if you need an agent in the area. A friend of the family is one. Very nice man. Older. Knows the area well. Would have no worries about passing along that info either.

 

[loydandmel]

I live in south Fort Woth in Benbrook. I love my town the only down fall is we don't have our own school distrit our kids go to Fort Worth schools. I'm a teacher in Sagiaw so DS goes with me. I don't know where you guys live now but I love the DFW area. It is full of thinks to do and see. There are lots of great little towns all around DFW.

 

[JamesMom]

If you are looking at Southlake, check out my neck of the woods - Keller. Excellent school district, reasonably priced houses, great parks and we are building a new library -- all at fraction of the cost of Southlake. But we are cheap that way .
Money Magazine named Keller the 50th best place to live in US: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0707/gallery.BPTL_top_100.moneymag/50.html
My hubby works in Arlington, close to the new Cowboys stadium. Traffic is tough about 1 hr each way commute - but always is no matter where you live around here.
We moved here 7 years ago and love it here.