Relocating from Chicago (Dallas, Irving, Mesquite: renting, safe area, school district)

[phiandj]

Hi,

I am relocating from Chicago, IL and wanted to know what would be a nice diverse area for me and my 7 yr old daughter to reside in? I will be renting. I have never been to Dallas so help with the best areas and elementary schools would be greatly appreciated! I anticipate working in the downtown area of Dallas. I would like my commute to be no longer than 30 minutes from door to door. Is there a train system? Any info on the the elementary schools near the downtown area if any at all? Any info on after school programs? It'll just be my daughter and I, therefore, I am concerned about safety as well. Please help!!!!!!!

[catluvr]

We are new to DFW. We are going to probably reside in Irving area. There is a train called the DART. You can find them at DART.org. You can see their routes and schedules. It's safe as far as I have seen and I go down towards Ledbetter to get off in South Dallas.

Irving is a nice area that is very diverse. Several areas seem to be safe, but best to go north of HWY 114 or so I've heard. You will have to look around the area to find where you want to go. I can't help you with public schools, as we are only familiar with Private Christian schools. You may want to visit greatschools.net I think. Here you can look up statistics, etc. Nice areas within a 30 minute drive are hard to find central and north of dallas. You can also check out south of Dallas...depending on what you are looking for, but be very careful about those areas, as most can not guarentee how safe they are. You can obtain police reports from various city police headquarters. You may want to do a 2nd tier suburb or more if you go south of Dallas.

I work with tons of diverse people and they like Mesquite, Euless and Bedford. Some like Cedar Hill and a couple of people like Mansfield, but say it's a changin'. Not as safe as it used to be. Be very careful when checking out these suburbs even though they are within 30 min of DFW (at least according to my co-workers). Stay away from Lancaster which is where I work! Wouldn't want to be there after dark. Not a safe place.

Good luck with your search.

[Lakewooder]

See So, tell me about Lakewood

[saadrajabali]

if you want good schools and safe area do not move to irving...the best best best place for you which fits your needs is GRAPEVINE and schools in the Grapevine Colleyville districts which has two of the U.S.'s best 100 high schools too

[catluvr]

Actually Irving is not bad if you go to Valley Ranch/ Las colinas. Anything north of 114 is best. The area is VERY nice. Check out greatschools.org. Grapevine is also nice, but be careful about which part of Grapevine you live in. You will find that no matter where you go, there will be problems (that's why we do private school).

Rule of thumb which I have found: Do not go by the city when looking for a good area. Go by the school district and the local schools. Dallas is very different than any other area I've lived in when it comes to finding areas to live.