Mom Needs Advice on Moving to Murphy.... (Dallas, Plano: low crime, new home)

[mikoboozeeboo]

Hello, everyone! I'm sure I'm the millionth person seeking advice about relocating to Texas from California, but most of the posts I have been reading have not discussed Murphy in too much detail, but have been very informative about other areas.

My family (husband, 5 year old son) and I currently live in Tustin, located in Orange County. The cost of living here is ridiculous; there is no way I want to spend $600K+ for a home in this area and spend the rest of my life slaving away for my mortgage. More importantly, my son is autistic, and we desire a more affordable, slower pace of life that will allow me to spend more time with him, or even stay at home if possible.

The reason we are considering Murphy is because a good friend of mine used to visit the area to see family, and she mentioned that it has a small-town feel with beautiful and affordable housing. I just don't know anything about the area other than the impression she obtained while visiting. I want to be sure that I would be part of a good school district that can handle the needs of my autistic son. I want to be able to spend a maximum of $200K for a home to minimize financial stress. I don't want to have to travel too far to get to work. And that's another thing--we are not relocating for work, so we would have to find work when we get there. I'm afraid to make such a big move, only to find out I can't find work or that I have to make an awful commute to get to work. I would be seeking a position in administrative support, if that helps.

Can anyone offer insight on what life may be like living in Murphy? Are the residents friendly, the crime rate relatively low, the schools good for special education students, the housing really all that affordable and does it offer local employment? Or am I just asking too darn much? I apologize if my questions seem ignorant; I want to make an educated decision on where we are going to visit to see if that will be our new home. Any other area recommendations will be appreciated as well. I love California, but just can't afford it. We want to have more children, but can't do that here. And it's hard to hear my son telling me he misses Mommy because I have to work so darn much just to get the bills paid. I would love any advice anyone can give me! Thank you so much!

[FarNorthDallas]

Sorry, I don't know much about Murphy, but I wanted to tell you your questions aren't at all stupid. I sortof thought Murphy was in the Plano school district. If it is I have heard good things about their special ed dept esp concerning autism and Asperger's. For work, my guess is you'll have to look in Plano or Richardson or maybe into Dallas. I'm guessing Murphy is more of just a bedroom community, not a lot of office jobs.

The exterior house from the "Dallas" TV show is in Murphy, so I've driven through it many times showing people the house. It seemed to be a country-ish place.

Did you see this information about Murphy?
Murphy, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MaryS80]

Murphy still has that small town feel, but like much of Collin County it is growing. It will soon have that typical suburban look and feel. As with any fast growing area traffic can get congested on the main drag in and out of town. Murphy much like Rowlett, Wylie, and Sachse is a bedroom community. Most people work elsewhere. It would probably be pretty easy to find a job in a nearby city such as Richardson, Garland, or Plano.

[mikoboozeeboo]

Wow! Thank you for your feedback; now I have a better idea of what to expect. How far is Plano and Richardson from Murphy? And if I wanted to live in Plano, what areas would fit the description of what I'm looking for as far as home pricing/jobs/great schools?

Boy, I am really driving myself crazy trying to narrow it down to a couple of places to visit....

[momof2dfw]

Murphy is a or rather once was a small town (VERY SMALL) that was WAY OUT THERE! Not anymore. Mostly housing developments w/ the typical suburban strip centers w/ grocery stores and such now. It is growing like crazy. It still has a smaller town feel to it and is VERY close to other areas that are more "rural" in feeling in that they houses are on acreage lots vs typical suburb lot. Schools are either Plano ISD or some can be in the Lovejoy ISD which is a small school district but very impressive (always has been very well regarded). Plano ISD is a HUGE district. As for the commute - unless you get a job in the immediate area (Plano, Garland, Richardson) you could end up w/ a job on the OTHER side of the metroplex and it could make it a tougher commute. Rush hour traffic to get to north of downtown could easily take a good hour depending on traffic. Leave before the traffic starts and it can be an easy 45 minutes. If you want a tad bit closer in then you can go a little bit farther south into the Breckinridge part of Richardson (literally about 3 miles down the road) and find more alternatives yet still have that same feel of community. A bit more established too. If your wanting brand new construction then you will have to look in Murphy. If you don't mind pre-existing then Richardson would be a good bet. You can even come on down into Richardson farther south and get a nice house in a great family community and good schools. It would also give you a better commute to a job in the metroplex. If you want more of the "country" feel then Lucas is a great place to go. Lucas is Murphy's next door neighbors as is Parker. Lucas is mostly part of the Lovejoy ISD while most of Parker is in the Plano ISD. You could possibly maybe find a home on an acre or two in that area but it will be an older home in that price range.

I'd say your best bet since you don't have a job is to look in the Richardson or Far East Plano areas to give you more leeway for a job/commute. Most of the neighborhoods are pretty family friendly.

[socketz]

Murphy is in the Plano School district, close to Parker which is very rural/exclusive. I believe it's in the 75075 zip. It's my favorite area east of the 75 because of the schools, low crime and newer homes. The only issue is that most of the construction I've seen out there is new, so I'm not sure if you can slip in under the 200k mark. My friend at work recently bought a house out there that went up 30k in value by the time it was built, so I really like the area for resale because it is not sprawling at all, so building is limited. If you do a search on City-Data, there is an article I posted from Big D that had Murphy ranked in I believe the top 10 burbs in the Metroplex.

Great place. For sub 200k, East Allen, Richardson or Central Plano may be a better fit though.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Some of Murphy is Plano ISD, and some is Wylie ISD. Plano is considered to have better schools, but we have our daugher in Wylie schools and they've been great.

We live in Sachse, but just past our fence is Murphy, so it's the same basic area. There's plenty to do in the area between Plano, Richardson, and north Garland being just minutes away. In north Garland there is Firewheel mall which is an outdoor mall with tons of shopping and restaurants. Just minutes away on the George Bush Turnpike there's another section of restaurants (Olive Garden, Outback, Chuck E Cheese, Texas Roadhouse, On The Border) and shopping centers with Super Walmart, Sams, and Super Target.
There are plenty of food stores in the immediate Murphy area as well, with Walmart Neighborhood Market, two Albertsons, and Kroger.

Then just 5-10 minutes west down FM-544 you can head into Plano and US-75 where there's a ton more shopping areas and restaurants, etc.

I just had my sister and brother-in-law down from Virginia and the comment they had was that between Murphy, Wylie, Allen, Plano, and Frisco, they really didn't see an area that they didn't like. So come for a visit and I'm sure you'll find the place that's just right.

And Southfork Ranch is actually in Parker, just down the road from Murphy and across the road from Allen.

[FarNorthDallas]

How is Lovejoy ISD going to provide appropriate services for special ed kids when the only classes they have in high school are AP classes? Does anyone know?

[rgmills25]

There are actually 2 large shopping centers planned to be built in Murphy very soon. One will be anchored by a Lowe's, possibly have a movie theater and one of the big fitness center chains. Plus a few restaurants(Chili's I think) and smaller retail stores. I don't know very much about either school districts(Plano v Wylie) special education departments, but since Plano is a very large district(bigger than Wylie), I'm sure they have a great program.

There is a ton of new construction homes still being built in Murphy and I'm sure there are at least a few builders with homes for less than 200K. Also try a zip code search for 75094. I found 25 listings for homes less than 200K.

You will definitely have to drive to at least Plano or Richardson to find a job in your field. There aren't any real companies in Murphy except for local so you might get lucky and find a job at a doctor's office or something like that, but most likely you'll have at least a 20-30 minute communte to your job, assuming it's on the Eastern side of Plano.

Overall, I think Murphy is a great choice for what you need. When we moved last year I looked for homes from McKinney to Allen, to Plano, to Murphy, to Wylie to Richardson. We were very picky about what the house needed to be, and we found that house in Wylie, but Murphy is a nice area and is more centrally located to cities like Plano and Richardson. Good luck.

[kaykay]

Originally Posted by socketz

Murphy is in the Plano School district, close to Parker which is very rural/exclusive. I believe it's in the 75075 zip. It's my favorite area east of the 75 because of the schools, low crime and newer homes. The only issue is that most of the construction I've seen out there is new, so I'm not sure if you can slip in under the 200k mark. My friend at work recently bought a house out there that went up 30k in value by the time it was built, so I really like the area for resale because it is not sprawling at all, so building is limited. If you do a search on City-Data, there is an article I posted from Big D that had Murphy ranked in I believe the top 10 burbs in the Metroplex.

Great place. For sub 200k, East Allen, Richardson or Central Plano may be a better fit though.

Our friends were able to purchase a home in Murphy for right around 200,000 about 2 years ago, but it is about 20+ years old. About 2000 sq. ft. I personally would vote for Central Plano, though as socketz suggested, but that's just me!