Who's from Denton, TX?

[TammyAlphabet]

I am looking for information about Denton, like: Cost of living, weather, schools, traffic...all that stuff? Anyone here that can clue me in?

 

[janette]

No longer there but we lived there a long time ago while DH was at NTSU, now were are closer to Dallas but still not too far from Denton (in Denton County).

Housing shouldn't be to bad, depends on what you are looking for. It is cheaper than the DFW area and some of the fastest growing communities in the nation are close to Denton. The DFW suburbs are stretching that direction so lots of new development.

Climate is hot humid in the summer, not too bad in the winter. No real fall or spring.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DH's aunt and uncle live there. We are 20 mins from Denton. It is growing and civilization will catch up there eventually, meaning population explosion. It is inevitable.
Right now it is considered on the outskirts of the Metroplex, I think. I only moved to Texas in April so I have a limited perspective.

 

[m&m's mom]

Denton is just down the road from me.
The cost of living compared to what? TX is pretty good in general for costs. Denton is definitely cheaper than Dallas.
Weather - Hot Summers, mild Winter. It does freeze here and we kind of see a tiny bit of snow at least once a year. Every few years a big ice storm comes through and is gone the next day.
Denton does have a couple of Universitys so it culturally sound. Very good hospitals.
I kind of think of Denton as an older (compared to Dallas) town w/ a lot of small town feel to it. Beautiful downtown Courthouse that is about 100 years old w/ a fantastic hamburger place in the square and has the best made-on-site ice cream parlor I have ever come in contact w/.
What are you considering Denton for and I can give you more specifics.

 

[Simba's Mom]

DS lives in Denton now. I'll ask him some more details in answer to your questions, but I can tell you a few things from my experiences up there (plus he's lived in a house there for 2 years, gone to college there 2 years before that, so it's been 4 years). Traffic seems pretty bad, at least compared to what we're used to. He used to work in Lewisville and constantly battled that traffic. The cost of living is pretty reasonable, housing especially. If you like ice cream, don't miss Beth Marie's, in the center of town. Great Pizza and subs-New York Deli and the other place looks like a factory with Tomato in the name. And unless you like kind of wild, free fun times, avoid Frye Street! Big college hang-out area.
There are some good schools, I used to teach private school and lots of kids from up that way-if I remember, I think Denton had some good football teams.
You're close to Texas Motor Speedway for Nascar. And close to University of North Texas for some excellent music (got to get that plug in!)
Weather is nice, DS likes it, less hot than here!
I'll see if I can get more info for you.

 

[m&m's mom]

Beth Marie's was the ice-cream place I was referring to. My DH and I drive 25 miles to Denton just to get Beth Maries'. Turtle Turture is to die for!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Actually, I might (and I stress) might have an opportunity to relocate there next year. I am looking for a job and Denton is one of the possibilities. I guess I am concerned about the proximity to Dallas with respect to crime and overinflated housing prices.

We would want to buy a home and would be able to handle a mortgage of 150K to 200K at the most. Secondly, I have two children, and I want the best school district in town. I am wondering if there are problems with guns and drugs in the schools (I know this is hard to avoid).

I have always lived in fairly small places (less than 100,000 in population). I am a small town southern girl. But I like all that a larger metroplex area has to offer, I just don't want to live in the metroplex, just visit .

I have never dealt with alot of traffic and this could really be a downer. But, proximity to Dallas made me think that traffic could be a problem.

Any info that you have would be wonderful. If I am asked on an interview, maybe they will take me to the ice cream place. Sounds great!!

Thanks for all the responses so far. Keep them coming.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Traffic...hahahahaha...I just moved here from Missouri. Traffic is a nightmare EVERYWHERE! I wouldn't base your decision on that.

 

[jajuan]

A few of us live in the Flower Mound/Lewisville/Highland Village area. We are only about 20 minutes away from Denton. If you were working 9-5 hours, you would be going opposite traffic to get to work...so that wouldn't be much of a problem. The reason I mention this is that we are in the LISD school district. It is a great school district and keeps me from moving anywhere else. There is traffic, but it has a small town feel.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

What does the LISD stand for? I want to know for purposes of comparing the price of housing vs. school district.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Lewisville Independent School District

BTW....Flower Mound beat FM Marcus at Texas Stadium last night. Go Jags...

ETA....
Just thought I would warn you...I guess this is all over Texas, really. Texas has "the top 10% Rule".
You didn't say of you are already from Texas so I thought I would mention that. My 9th grader is NEVER going to make it to the top 10% of the graduating class. However...at least in the LISD you are able to take PRE-AP classes to at least make an effort to boost your GPA. Most schools have strict prerequisites . LISD does not, which is why I chose to get into this district.

 

[karebear1]

My son in law 's family is from Denton. WHen we went there for the reception this summer, it seemed like a pretty nice place. I don't think you need to worry about over inflated prices on housing in Texas! Texas has the best housing prices around!

 

[janette]

Lewisville Independent School District, it is a very large district and encompasses or has part of several surrounding towns. Lewisville is south, about 1/2 way between Denton & Dallas.

I think you'll find most of the schools to be okay in that area. Denton is more of a small town, the main industry is the universities. There are several suburbs growing in that direction. Little Elm & Frisco are about 15minutes east of Denton and they are amoung the fastest growing areas in the country. I have some neices & nephews that live in that area. Traffic is horrible around there right now because they've built the housing and the roads haven't caught up.

One of the areas I think very nice and close to Denton is Corinth. It's between Denton & Lewisville but still close to the interstate.

150K to 200K will buy a decent house in any of those areas, depends on what you are looking for. The further away from Dallas the cheaper the housing.

 

[janette]

Just thought I would warn you...I guess this is all over Texas, really. Texas has "the top 10% Rule".
You didn't say of you are already from Texas so I thought I would mention that. My 9th grader is NEVER going to make it to the top 10% of the graduating class. However...at least in the LISD you are able to take PRE-AP classes to at least make an effort to boost your GPA. Most schools have strict prerequistes. LISD does not, which is why I chose to get into this district.

The Texas top 10% Rule will only effect your kids if they want to go to certain Texas universities. It is a law that says the TX universities have to admit the applicants to their school that are in the top 10% of their High Schools. It really works against the top high schools, I worry tha my 14yo DD who is in LEAP (accelerated program) and taking all pre-ap classes in middle school will have a hard time getting into the top 10% of her High School. I've read that some parents will actually chose a lower rated High School to ensure that their kids make it into that 10% but just don't see the reasoning for that.

We are also in LISD and I do like the district, the Dyslexia & Special Ed programs have actually been what I think our family has benefited the most from. My 11yo DD is Dyslexic and if we lived in some other districts she would proabably be in private school.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The Texas top 10% Rule will only effect your kids if they want to go to certain Texas universities.

Do you know which ones those are?

I have talked to people that say their kid got into A&M without being in the top 10%, but they had to take classes that wasn't their major? Or something like that.

 

[janette]

University of Texas at Austin & Texas A&M are the main ones. I've also heard that just because they have to admit everyone they don't always admit them into the school that they want to major in so it would probably work both ways.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have family in Pilot Point, 15 minutes or so from Denton. Small town feel. I have friends in Little Elm and Celina as well. That area is booming, the highways can't keep up with the growth though.

Cost of housing in Texas is amazingly (AMAZINGLY) low compared to most places. Dallas is very low, unless you want to move into a mansion in Highland Park. $200k will get you a very very nice brand new house.

I wouldn't place my child in DISD (Dallas) but I think most of the other districts are good. My friends/family in those areas have been more than happy.

 

[Planogirl]

I can't imagine Dallas crime affecting Denton in any way. It doesn't affect us and Denton is much further and more isolated. That's not to say that Denton doesn't have its own crime problems but I've never heard that it does.

Denton is still very much a small town in character. We visit a huge used bookstore on their courthouse square occasionally and the overall feel I get from Denton is one of quiet and CONSTRUCTION. There's tons of street construction right now which is of course a good thing on down the road.

I also like that a major highway splits right in Denton and one way takes you to Dallas and the other to Fort Worth. We love going to Fort Worth for their excellent zoo and museums and it's hard to get there for us but wouldn't be bad for someone who lives in Denton.

Do you or does anyone in your family like auto racing? The highway to Fort Worth passes a major Nascar race track too.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Everything sounds really good. I appreciate the responses. Now I have to make an effort not to get excited. I don't have the interview yet. I hope to have it soon. I heard that I was on the short list of candidates. Anyhow, thanks for all the info. Everything I have researched on my own has been pretty favorable. Any information or personal experience is greatly appreciated.

Tammy