Q. on N. Dallas Suburbs

[jfmiller]

My DH lost his job in early Dec. and we are pursuing opportunities in Plano, TX. We're making the trip down Thurs. for a round of interviews. Any advice/suggestions on northern Dallas suburbs? Currently we live in a suburb of Mpls., MN (yes, this would be quite a change for us!) and live 20-25 miles from my husband's work. Here are some things we are looking for:

- Shorter commute (like half of what he currently has)
- Good public schools (also open to private)
- Close to shopping, etc. THIS is huge to me as we live in a very convenient area currently
- Newer home (10 years) with larger backyard


Anyone familiar with this part of Dallas - please help! Oh, and any advice on moving from the Midwest to TX would also be appreciated. A move is probably 80% guaranteed at this point.

THANKS MUCH!

Jennifer
Proud SAHM to Graham (1/02) and Genevieve (4/04)

ETA: really the only thing I know is the housing will be significantly cheaper than it is here.

[lovin2shop]

I live in Plano, and I think that you are going to be very please with the area! The houses are a bargain compared to most areas, the public schools are great, and shopping is superb! The commute can vary depending on where your DH will work, but if you've narrowed it down to this area, then it will probably be a short commute. Plano is very, very family focused and there are a lot of SAHM's in the area. Lots of Moms groups and neighborhood activities. There are several other school districts that are also excellent that border Plano, so you will have a good number of options for the suburban areas and houses.

Now, you will obviously be in for a major climate change, and that will probably not be an easy adjustment. But, there is a lot to do in the heat of the summer, and you will adjust eventually!

Let me know if I can help you out at all with information on this area.

[Mermanaid]

We just moved to Plano too (from the Eastern suburbs of Dallas) so I agree with everything PP said. FWIW, we moved to Plano for the excellent schools and family-friendly neighborhoods. It's fantastic.

A couple of things to add:

-- Watch the commute time as it can be tricky. For instance, I used to live 22 miles from my job when we were on the East side and it took me 45 mins to an hour to get to work. I now live 13 miles away and it still takes me 35 mins or so. It just depends on the roads he'll be taking and the time he's commuting.

-- Getting a large backyard with a house that is ten years old or less may be tricky. Typically, the newer homes are much larger but still sit on the same size lots. But, if you have the budget you can find homes with a decent sized backyard (i.e., not a postage stamp). It just depends on your budget and the location where you want to be.

Good luck with your search and let me know if you have any questions.

[jfmiller]

Thanks for the insights, ladies! It is much appreciated!

Jennifer
Proud SAHM to Graham (1/02) and Genevieve (4/04)

[JulieL]

My sister (from ST. Louis) and her DH have lived in Dallas for several years now. They just in the last year moved to Richardson, TX and they LOVE it. They say it's very affordable, love the community and the area. I don't know much else about it, but here is the city website, it's not that far from Plano. FWIW it's their favorite place to live in Dallas.

http://www.cor.net/

[rlu]

My company relocated my job to Plano from CA so I took the move but then moved back to CA when the opportunity arose 18 months later for various reasons. Consider the weather when you decide where you buy. We bought NE of McKinney because we wanted a large house with some property. We rarely went outside - the pool wasn't heated so we rarely used it, there were those darn ants & chiggers all over so running around the yard didn't happen, too hot in summer, too cold in winter (boy I sound like a whiny Californian)...we liked actually having seasons but we definitely did not need all the outside space we bought since we didn't utilize it. The commute time was similar to what I did (and now do) here in CA. I took 121 which was ok most of the time despite its scary reputation (plus the people out there did know how to drive in snow thank goodness).

We had the outlets in Allen near us, but I'm not a big shopper (heresy on this board) so that wasn't a big deal for us.

DS was born just a few months before we moved back so I can't speak to the schools but generally heard the Plano schools were good.

I liked McKinney - it is a small town compared to what I'm used to but Chestnut Square was cute and I loved antiquing there. Plus movie prices were actually reasonable at the one main theater there.

[cchavez]

Hi! Just wanted to chime in here....we live in Allen....our home is about 5 minutes away from Plano. I worked as a speech language pathologists in Plano ISD for 5 years. When we were looking for a home, we initially looked in Plano but we were able to buy the same exact model we had fallen in love with in Plano for approximately 50K less in Allen. The original home we had seen was only 5 minutes away from our current home. I starting asking around to find out if Allen ISD schools were as good as PISD. Several esteemed colleagues of mine worked in Plano ISD but lived in Allen and they assured me that Allen ISD was as good or if not better than Plano ISD. Well, fast forward 7 years and I now have a 3.5 year old that nttends Allen ISD special education preschool program b/c he has sensory processing disorder and a language delay. The one thing I never thought to ask is "Is Allen's special education program as good as Plano's......." Plano is highly regardaing for their speical education program....or at least they used to be in the the past. But in general, I do think the AISD program is as good, there are differences but none of them really make one program much greater than the other. The one thing I do notice is that Plano ISD has more resources. For example, I think Plano ISD now has close to one hundred slps on staff.....you are bound to get a wealth of resources and many experts when we have a large staff that size.
However, in general all the N. Dallas suburbs on Plano, Allen, Mckinney and Frisco are know to have excellent schools. Hope this helps.

[stefani]

Hi Jennifer,

We live east of Plano. PISD (Plano Indep. School District) is supposed to be good (DS is not in public school yet, so I don't have first hadn experience). Shopping is definitely abundant. We like it here.

Please let me know if I can be of any help.

For newer home (ours was built in 2000) I found that we needed to look more north & east to get it affordable. Plano itself is quite built up I think, so the newer ones are on the fringes.

[kbudsberg]

I lived in Richardson from when I was 9-16 years old. It was a long time ago but I did want to share my experience as an adolescent there. It was a very, very hard place to be at that age. The schools were great but very, very high pressure. If you weren't a cheerleader or football player by elementary school you weren't ever going to be one. Also I remember being so upset because to become a cheerleader you had to pass the judges then they put the girls in front of the student body to vote on them. Yes, it was a popularity contest completely sponsored by the school. All the girls wore a ton of make up and had very expensive clothes. There were very mean clicks and I absolutely hated school. It was just overall very, very high pressured (not from my parent's at all just the environment in general). If you didn't wear certain brands or look a certain way you were teased because of it. I had friends from church that lived in other parts of Dallas and they did not experience the same thing that I did in N. Dallas. In the middle of my sophomore year we moved to CO and wow what a difference. I loved school and things were so normal and not superficial. Anyhow, that was in the early 80's so much may have changed. I just hated being that age and living in a very snooty environment. I just wanted to share my experience but take it w/a grain of salt since it was well 20 years ago. There were a lot of problems in the area then. It was around the time of the suicides in Plano that received so much attention. It very well may be a great place to raise a kid now. The shopping was to die for though! Good luck.

Kim

[jfmiller]

Wow - thanks for the suggestions and replies, everyone. Kim, thanks for sharing. I have heard that cheerleading is big in TX, so good to hear that insight of your growing up experience.

Stefani - tried to PM you, but your profile is disabled.

THANKS again everyone!

Jennifer
Proud SAHM to Graham (1/02) and Genevieve (4/04)

[cchavez]

There was recently a BIG scandal regarding the Mckinney HS cheerleaders...it was so bad it made the national news. So things probably haven't changed that much.....

But my kids are really young so I don't have to worry about that. I have alot of really nice friends and I stay away from the snooty people. :)