West Plano or West Allen?

[theloneranger]

What are you looking for, where are you working, and what's your price range? Dallas is HUGE--more people than the entirety of New Zealand, in fact. There are lots of places to live, but they're all different.

Richardson is a very nice, rather generic suburb, but I would live there when I'm older. It's got a big range--the Richardson school district has multi-million dollar houses and I believe it also has some cheap apartment complexes and public housing. So there's a lot of diversity.

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by WillyNorgate

Hi.
Saw your thread and wanted to ask: We are moving to Dallas from New Zealand and having never been to Dallas, we have heard Richardson is nice but that's all hearsay to us. We have two boys under 6 so want good schooling and have seen Bowie school has good results. So can I please ask what are really good suburbs to look to move to, and as a general rule what areas should we stay away from? Would be very grateful your view having lived in Richardson?
Many thanks J

Bowie Elementary in the Richardson ISD (school district) is rated exemplary by the state. It and its entire attendance zone are actually in the city of Dallas. The neighborhoods that feed into are Highlands North, Prestonwood East, Estates West, and Holiday Park. There are also a couple of apartment complexes in the zone and some duplexes.

It is a good choice because Bowie students have a choice of junior high (grades 7-8 either Parkhill or Westwood) and a choice of high school (grades 9-12, either Pearce of Richardson) which is nice.

Other exemplary elementary schools in the area are Spring Creek, Brentfield, Mohawk, Prestonwood, Canyon Creek and Prairie Creek.

It is a good place to live if you work in downtown Dallas. If you work north of 635 or even north of George Bush tollway, you might want to look at Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney schools too.

[WillyNorgate]

Thanks for your replies!!
We would look to rent when we first get there to make sure we find the right place.
Really would like a house with a backyard and a pool as we have two boys!! Also keen on being close to parks and green areas for biking, soccer play and other sporting activies.

What I have seen so far, one seem to be able to rent an ok place for around $1500-$2000?? Is that realistic?

My husband travels all over the US so hence Dallas is our pick as it is a great hub for flying.
Texas clients are south of the city with about 5 hrs drive...
However I have telco experience, so once established would like to have the option to be close to the bigger Telco's such as Verizon Wireless or Erisson if I get a job opportunity.

When does the school year start, and by what time does one have to have enrolled the kids?

What does HOA mean when buying a house?

Yes, New Zealand is a very very very small place, so I reallise the importance of finding the right suburb to ensure it's a family friendly neighbourhood and within what budet we have.

Grateful any advice or suggestions.
Cheers

[Carla125]

HOA= Home Owners Association= a community of houses that are incorporated into as association, if you want to live there, you belong to the association. The HOA fees can run from a couple hundred $$ a year to a couple hundered $$ a month. The association pays items like a maintenance of a park or pool, landscaping, insurance, paint, road repair, etc., etc., depends on each community and its members.

School starts on August 24th, each home/apartment address will belong to a particular school. You go to the school that belongs to the address and sign them up. It doesn't matter when you register them, the school has an obligation to provide the children the service by law, so you are ok there.

You can research the school by going to the school districts, so if you live in Richardson, you would look at the Richardson ISD, ISD= Independent School District, or if you live in Plano, you would go to Plano ISD. You can locate the elementary by address and then you can research the school rating. A school rating of 10 is the best and 1 the worst. Before you rent, do research the school and the rating, some districts can have schools that are expemplary, which is a 10 to very bad schools. What can also happen is that you could rent for example in Richardson but that could be zoned as a Dallas ISD zone, and you could end up at a bad school.

Look at:
Plano Independent School District – Plano, Texas
Richardson ISD - Home Page
GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community


To give you an idea on rent:
craigslist: dallas / fort worth classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events
Dallas Rental Homes, DFW Home Rental

Yes, $1500-$2000 in rent can get you a nice place to rent.

Email me if you have any questions.