Calling all Dallas, TX Mamas!!!

[Kungjo]

DH just got a job offer with a company that has openings in Dallas, TX and Houston, TX. We've never been to these places before and was wondering what you thought about Dallas.

1) Is housing really affordable? (How have foreclosures affected your area?)

2) How's the school system? (Our oldest DD just started Kindergarten.)

3) Would you recommend private or public schools?

4) Is it better to live in the Dallas area or a nearby suburb? (We don't mind a 30-45 minute commute.)

5) How's the weather?

6) What are the pros and cons of your city? (What do you like or dislike about it?)

It's good that we have this opportunity, but it's also sooooo stressful to decide on which city. We would be moving in the end of May so that DD #1 can finish her Kindergarten year. When we move, we would like to rent while we wait for our house to sell and we get our bearings. I would like to rent in a neighborhood with good schools so I can at least get DD #1 into a good school. That's stressing me out a lot. She's in a good program here so I'm really sad about leaving it.

Any advice would be great. THANKS!!!!!

[kristenk]

The metro area's pretty big, so it might help if you narrow it down a bit. Do you know where your DH's potential office location is? That might help with recommendations.

Housing - Housing is pretty affordable here. I'm honestly not sure how foreclosures have affected the housing market here. We've been in our house for 5 years. I haven't noticed more homes than usual on the market *in my neighborhood* but that doesn't mean that it's not happening elsewhere.

Schools - Public schooling is DEFINITELY affected by location w/i the metroplex. We live in between Dallas and Fort Worth. Our school district is great. DD will be attending public school starting with kindergarten. If we have any problems, I'll look in private school, but our current default option right now is public.

Dallas vs suburb - It totally depends on where your DH's job is. My BIL and SIL bought a house in Dallas and love their location. We love fairly far away from Dallas and love ours! (My DH does not work in Dallas. He works in Irving, so we never did any Dallas house-hunting.) I lived in North Dallas for about 4 years before DH and I married.

Weather - It's hot. We don't really do seasons all that much. Our trees recently changed color and dropped their leaves, but this year seems a little odd. Summer is definitely hot. DH moved from Michigan and much prefers hot weather to the snow he got there. We don't have much snow and ice and the roads are really in trouble when we do b/c we're not very prepared and drivers aren't used to driving on it.

Texas Monthly recently had an issue that rated Texas public schools (elemtary and high schools). You might want to see if you can get your hands on a copy. Oh, nevermind, here's a link: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2007-12-01/feature6.php

[cellenly]

1. Affordability - The homes are cheaper than many areas in the states. You get more for your money so on average people live in more sq footage than other areas esp compared w/ east/west coasts. But i guess it depends on where you're coming from as well. Real estate market in Dallas generally doesn't follow the national news as severly. I hear the market is slower -- which is good for you as buyer, but housing prices haven't really tanked (but of course we never experienced the severe boom that other areas experienced either). We've had a friend get a good deal on a house but it doesn't seem like there's a lot of that going on -- or that seems to be my impression. but i'm no real estate agent either.

2. School System - Suburbs are okay and vary greatly by neighborhood. Dallas proper isn't really great. All the people i know in dallas proper send to private w/ the exception of a few who are sending their kids to dallas magnet schools. When you narrow down on where you'd like to live, you should check out the TEA (texas education) site (http://www.tea.state.tx.us/accountability.html) for school test performance to start your search if looking at public schools. Most people look to see whether their school is "exemplary" "recognized" or the other 2 -- something like needs improvement and unsatisfactory (can't remember exact terms). Tip about the reports - the "exemplary" is the % of kids that can pass the minimum requirement, but what you want really is the % of kids that are considered "commended" because that tells you more about what's going on in the school. I'm not sure what the threshold is to have a kid become "commended" but an elm teacher friend said it's not easy.
Our personal take is that Dallas suburb school districts are generally okay but not that great compared to districts we've seen in some other states. DH & I are always debating private vs public since i'm product of one system in TX & DH a product of another in the 'burbs of Philadelphia. Even within the famous Plano school district it seems to vary even though Plano schools are all on the same cirriculum (so on a given day all the 1st graders are learning the same thing). You may want to check out http://www.city-data.com/forum/dallas/ (there's a good tread on calculating cost of living for a guy moving from s. CA to dallas area -- basically the conclusion being that you don't necessarily save too much but your money gets you much more here than in CA) The forums are full of Dallasites & realtors & a lot of empassioned (and also very biased) opinions about Dallas neighborhoods. PM me if you'd like. Another thing to watch out for - there's tonz of new neighborhoods in Dallas which means new schools which often means young new teachers who may or may not know what they're doing. You may want to consider that when looking at different areas as well.

3. Private/Public - if i had an answer for you & my other friends who are in this debate right now. *shrug* DH & I are in one of the best schools that we could find within a certain reasonable distance w/in a certain price range. it was pretty self selecting for us b/c we started out near downtown & went further & further out til we found something we liked.

4. Dallas vs burbs - I think the price range of homes & whether you want newer vs fixer upper will kinda self select whether you'll live in Dallas proper or not. A 30-45 min commute will get you from downtown to the very closest burbs but will not get you to Lewisville/Frisco/Allen. (i've done closer arlington w/in that time frame but not the further more desirable I-20 arlington so i'm not sure about that & plano - it'll depend on where in plano). Most of DH's coworkers live in Dallas proper and it's pretty much you live in Highland Park or University Park & send your kids to public school or you send you kids to private if you live in Lakewood/M-street/Preston Hollow/Hillcrest HS area. There's some new things going on in historic oak cliff area but it's more gay/up-coming area & not child friendly & there's stuff around Joe Pool lake but not much 'burb ammenities.

5. weather - it's hot. thankfully not AZ hot (lived there & no matter what they say, dry heat is still heat). it only gets to low 100s(102) at peak heat. and it's cold -- never frostbite warning cold, but don't throw away your winter stuff either. because we're in a flat region - it gets windy & combined w/ the coldness, it's cold. But if you're from Chicago, you won't think much of it. But if you're from Chicago, you're going to melt your 1st summer here.

6. pro of northern dallas burbs (can't say it's as true of dallas proper) is that it's really really kid friendly. life is comfortable -- esp if you're from a city. but when we go back to a bigger city, we miss the energy and the craziness (DH & I always say we miss the energy somewhat but we're thankful that w/ 2 kids we're where we are). con - not much to do but we seem to have a lot of fun w/ the kids despite this. summertime, you're trapped indoors b/c it's so hot -- either you're at home, the mall, or the pool.

7. houston vs dallas - you didn't ask but since you said you got offers for both. houston is much bigger & crazier. we lived there for 6 yrs b/4 we moved to dallas to be nearer to my parents. when we 1st moved to houston from dallas, we missed dallas. when we moved back to dallas, we missed houston. most pple love one & hate the other. i love both cities for different things & it kinda comes down to what you want from your city & where you work/live. again, if u want more info, pm me.