Advice for UK Citizen relocating to Irving (Dallas, Fort Worth: mineral rights, homeowners insurance)

[NutsMum]

Originally Posted by Squirl

Look also in Colleyville if you like land. Colleyville is about the same distance from Las Colinas as Grapevine and shares the school district with Grapevine and Southlake. Colleyville tends to attract a more "down to earth" kind of resident than Southlake. I have some friends from London and they bought their home in Colleyville and love it (he works at the DFW airport so location is ideal).

Hey Squirl..... another font of all knowledge, thankyou Will take a look!

[padcrasher]

Originally Posted by NutsMum

Padcrasher and ChristieP...... tell me more about Grapevine? I'm always wanting knowledge from the people who live\lived in the area.

Looked at Coppell on realtor websites and they seem very small lots, in my price range anyway. The homes in Southlake have alot more space around them.

I'll just go over a some of the things Grapevine has that other surrounding cities are lacking in. A good French bakery run by a French trained Chef, a genuine Chicago deli run by a real Chicagoan, a real Mexican restaurant that serves real Mexican food, a wonderful tex-mex eatery with atmosphere, a small opera house with plays and musicals, live music at least 5 nights a week at various drinking establishments, bike and jogging paths by the lakes and in the woods. A feed store since some homes still have horses and cows, a small railroad with a working steam engine. A wine festival. A British food shoppe where you can get your bangers, and poppers, and HP sauce, and whatnot.

Here's a few pics to give you an idea...funny you can see this Monty Python picture because the British Food Shoppe had a silly walk contest downtown.

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl...=&oq=&gs_rfai=

[NutsMum]

Originally Posted by padcrasher

I'll just go over a some of the things Grapevine has that other surrounding cities are lacking in. A good French bakery run by a French trained Chef, a genuine Chicago deli run by a real Chicagoan, a real Mexican restaurant that serves real Mexican food, a wonderful tex-mex eatery with atmosphere, a small opera house with plays and musicals, live music at least 5 nights a week at various drinking establishments, bike and jogging paths by the lakes and in the woods. A feed store since some homes still have horses and cows, a small railroad with a working steam engine. A wine festival. A British food shoppe where you can get your bangers, and poppers, and HP sauce, and whatnot.

Well I'm now starving! . Just been looking at a Grapevine website and there always seems to be something going on. I take it there are quite a few Brits in the area........ A Bristish Food Shoppe....... now your talking! Will carry on investigating the area most definately. Thankyou

[Squirl]

The road project is scheduled to be completed in 2014. Until then, if your husband is living west of Irving he will be dealing with the worst of the traffic as most of the commuters are going towards Dallas in the mornings and back home in the evenings. On your leisure times of course you can go to any of the west 'burbs if you are inclined to for entertainment, I often go to Southlake and Grapevine from my home in Las Colinas...takes 15-20 minutes in weekend or day time traffic. But hubby will be the commuter.....Just sayin'.......

DFW Connector Highway Construction Project by Northgate Constructors

[adixyz]

Traffic is bad during peak hours everwhere in DFW. If you want actual facts ask the folks who live in FM or Southlake. I suggest you actually do a test drive from point A to B and compare. Both FM2499 and FM3040 are now 3 lanes (each way) .FM 1171 is also under construction (3 lane) and a lot of other road projects/ expansions in FM are going on. Commute is relative in the house buying process both from the current or future job perspective. Try driving on internal roads in Plano or Richardson on easy days like weekends and see the traffic. Before moving to FM, I used to live in Valley Ranch, Irving close to 635 and did test commutes couple of times in peak hours from FM Vs Valley Ranch through the Grapevine funnel - it took me 10 mins more each way. Once the DFW connector is done it should get better. I also calculated and mapped commute times from different locations in DFW area and the relative difference if I lived in those locations. If you want real facts about worst traffic points in DFW area check the following link from TXDOT.

100 Most Congested Roadway Segments in Texas

Do not disregard any towns close to 114/121 due to the negative comments on traffic on the ongoing DFW connector project. This project has a requirement to maintain current traffic during peak hours and most work is done in the night. Granted there is a little inconvenience on lane changing but once you commute daily you know how to navigate. From long term perspective, once this project is completed it will give a substantial commute time improvement and business/ economic benefits to a lot of mid cities depending of how they take advantage of this project.
The project execution is going fast. You can see the most current status of this project with the latest presentation below. This is must see presentation for all people living in Mid Cities.

Webinar | The DFW Connector: Bridging North Texas

[finchfamily4]

I've lived in the DFW area for 40 plus years. I love downtown Fort Worth / TCU and Dallas / SMU. We're raising two kids in Colleyville (10 min drive to the airport) We've moved three times in the Metroplex over the past 18 years of marriage. I can paint you a picture: Basically HOT flat topography, mature trees in older neighborhoods and parks (usually higher crime). Cities are comprised of small home developments called subdivisions/neighborhoods. Most newer homes are on very small lots. The developer most often will remove all mature trees before building. Urban sprawl is an understatement in the DFW area. You will find alot of the "same". Strip centers with the same shops from city to city. The cities kinda bleed into each other. In other words, it's difficult to say when one begins and one ends. Now for the good part: you can get to the good stuff easily. You will have to drive. Part of the deal when you live in Texas. You will find the most beautiful areas most often are not child friendly (crime, bad schools, etc) We did live in a beautiful area in Fort Worth (huge trees, side walks, large lot, no large shopping centers) but we had to use private schooling. We are now in Colleyville. Our neighborhood is older but we do have good schools & low crime. Home values from 250-450K We also have over 100 trees on our 1 acre lot. You're welcome to PM with any questions

5 minute drive to the Main Street in Grapevine

P.S. You might consider buying a house with a pool

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by NutsMum

Well I'm now starving! . Just been looking at a Grapevine website and there always seems to be something going on. I take it there are quite a few Brits in the area........ A Bristish Food Shoppe....... now your talking! Will carry on investigating the area most definately. Thankyou

British Emporium has been around for many years and they are a fixture of the Grapevine downtown community. Their annual Monty Python Festival is always a treat!

Yes, there is always something going on! That's one of the things I love about living here!

[adixyz]

I love Grapevine downtown and the area around. Every time we go to Colleyville to take our son to Karen Dillard, we will choose to go through Grapevine downtown.

[NutsMum]

I've been reading some other threads about gas drilling....... should I be worried about this? Any areas I should be avoiding?

Obviously still researching all the areas everyone has mentioned. It appears there are ALOT of good schools, so, it's probably easier if I ask the schools to definately avoid....... every area has them and most people normally know which ones they are!! Thanks again!

[NutsMum]

lol Sorry totally off topic, but found this hilarious!!

My kids are playing with there lego city police truck. Today they have decided the police are American and my daughter said.......

"we have to leave room for the Donuts", in reply my son said
"police don't eat donuts!"....... reply from daughter......
"Yes they do.... I saw it on The Simpsons so it must be true!"

Are we reeeeally ready for Texas...... or should I say..... is Texas ready for us lol!!!