Commute from Frisco to Las Colinas? (Houston, Dallas: house, neighborhood, public schools)

[Ivy8876]

We are relocating to Dallas and are 90% sure we want to settle in Frisco. We have young kids and it seems the most suitable for our family. The only drawback is that my husband will be working in Las Colinas. He doesn't mind a long-ish drive but I just want to make sure this commute wouldn't be a hellish nightmare for him. Does anyone have experience with this commute?

ETA: We are looking at Frisco because a self contained area is important to us. Meaning, we don't have to get on the freeway and go to another town to find places to eat, shop, go to dr appts, etc. Dallas seems so spread out, we would really like an area where we can live and still find everything we need without having to travel very far.

[TurtleCreek80]

The drive isn't too bad, probabably between 25-40 minutes depending in exact start/end points and time of day. The real killer is that it's a 100% tollroad commute at the cost of about $9/ day round-trip.

Have you considered Colleyville, Coppell, Southlake, or Grapevine? All are super family-centered, much closer to Las Colinas (with no tollroad commutes), and all have significantly better public schools than Frisco.

[Ivy8876]

Southlake is out of our price range. Our budget is $200-$300k.

Are any of the places you mentioned as "self-contained" as Frisco is? I know it's silly but I have major driving anxiety and like to avoid freeways at all costs. Not having to travel far for daily errands is a big thing for us.

[wallawallahoohoo]

Probably with your budget, have you considered Irving? If you're in Frisco I would guess you would be taking freeways on a daily basis. How do you survive in Texas without driving on the freeway? Unless you live in a small town.

[Ivy8876]

I'm from The Woodlands, a suburb north of Houston. Everything is in one place. I'm a stay at home mom, so my errands just include the bank, grocery store, doctors appts for the kids etc. and it is all within a 5-15 drive from my house with no freeways involved ever. It's pretty great.

[Aceraceae]

All the neighborhood amenities you're talking about are in all the suburbs around Dallas. Doctors, groceries, Restraunts no problems at all having those nearby without freeway use.

[RonnieinDallas]

I second the Coppell, Grapevine, and Colleville recommendation. Grapevine and Colleyville feel like small towns. Parts of Irving in the Valley Ranch area are zoned to Coppell schools.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Ivy8876

Southlake is out of our price range. Our budget is $200-$300k.

Are any of the places you mentioned as "self-contained" as Frisco is? I know it's silly but I have major driving anxiety and like to avoid freeways at all costs. Not having to travel far for daily errands is a big thing for us.

Grapevine would woke well wirh your budget. Dallas' suburbs blend one right into the next. It's possible to drive from my house a bit north of downtown Dallas all the way to Frisco/McKinney without getting on a highway. It will take an hour, but along the way are multiple malls, dozens of grocery stores, hundreds of bank branches, multiple hospitals & major medical centers, etc.

The point being- none of the suburbs mentioned need to involve highway driving. Frisco is not "contained" the way The Woodlands is; it blends right into neighboring Plano / The Colony/ Prosper/ McKinney with a first time visitor having no idea when they are passing from one city to the next. Same thing with Grapevine/ Colleyville/ Southlake area. It all just blends together on surface streets.

As long as you're picking suburbs and not small towns/ exurbs (like Celina/ Savannah way north of Frisco), anything you could ever want or need on a daily basis is going to be no more than 0-15 minutes from your house or the kids' schools.

[jcl_cls02]

To answer your question, it's a 45 minute drive during rush hour.

[frenzyrider]

I do that commute sometimes. It takes me about 35 min and about $3-$3.5 / day. Whoever says it is $9/day is unreal. 121 straight shot to 35 and 35/ loop 12 / 114 can be done in 35 minutes if you leave before 7am... Period. Having said that, coppell might be better but outside your price range... South frisco close to 121 might be above your price range too... Coppell is a small town and you can run all your errands for the most part..