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Help!! We are being relocated to Waco Tx in January, all I have read is pretty negative comments about Waco. We have a 10 year old daughter, and we will need to rent. A great middle school in a nice neighborhood - looking at the distance to the Richland Mall area, I guess we could live in any neighborhood and it would be a small commute compared to California. Also, there were a few old thread that were from 2007 & 2009 but things change.
I would really appreciate some insights into neighborhoods, schools, and rental companies. There are not many listings on-line.
Let me say welcome to Texas, also Waco isn't dangerous as people make it out to be, It has it's crime pockets like around Baylor University and the east side but nothing on the level like Detroit, Chicago, or Harlem. Waco schools are very much average so no worries there and also SW Waco is a nice area to live from what I've heard.
Sasha: My wife and I live in Waco and we have 3 school-age girls. It sounds like schools and neighborhoods are your priority. Here is my advice.
The greater Waco area has seven different school districts that cover the city and its suburbs. There are various other small rural districts further out where many people live who commute to Waco but I'm not counting those because I don't sense you want to live 20 miles away in a small farm town. So for the seven school districts that cover urban and suburban Waco here is the rundown.
Waco ISD, La Vega ISD, and Connally ISD are the lowest performing districts with the highest levels of poverty and social problems. Waco ISD covers most of the city of Waco itself including most of its poorest neighborhoods. La Vega and Connally cover the northern suburbs of Bellmead and Lacy Lakeview which are somewhat rundown areas with a mixed population. Connally has some nice areas along the shore of the Brazos but the school is pretty mixed. There are some extremely upscale neighborhoods within the city of Waco itself along the lake shore and scattered pockets such as Castle Heights with big old historic houses. But a lot of those folks send their kids to private schools.
Midway ISD is the large suburban district that covers most of the more affluent suburbs south and west of Waco. The majority of doctors, lawyers, Baylor professors, etc. that live in the greater Waco area live in the Midway ISD and send their kids to Midway schools. Of all the school districts in the greater Waco area, Midway is going to have the highest per-capita income and most affluent parents and all that goes along with that. Midway ISD has 6 elementary schools (grades k-4) two intermediate schools (grades 5-6) one large middle school housed in the old HS building (grades 7-8) and one large HS in a new building built in 2003 and expanded in 2010. Midway ISD covers the cities of Woodway and Hewitt as well as parts of south Waco and unincorporated rural areas around McGregor, Robinson, and Crawford. Woodway is the more upscale area along with the unincorporated suburbs south along US-84. Not a lot of rental options within Woodway. Hewitt is a more middle class suburb with a mix of single family homes and apartments. Most of your rental options are going to be in Hewitt if you want your child to attend Midway schools.
The other districts are Robinson ISD, China Spring ISD, and Lorena ISD. All of these are smaller outlying towns that are gradually being absorbed into the greater Waco area through growth and sprawl. They are all pretty similar and will be a mix of rural and suburban folks. My wife and I lived in China Spring and our kids attended China Spring schools before moving into the Midway ISD. These smaller districts are going to be more insular and more dominated by local families who have lived there for generations. They have better test scores etc. than the more urban districts because they are more middle class and white and don't have the social problems found in Waco ISD and La Vega. You'll also be facing longer commutes. If you want the small town feel and smaller schools pick one of those. But you'll have a harder time finding rentals I expect.
Bottom line, most people in your position who want to be near Richmond Mall will chose to locate within the Midway ISD. It has some of the highest ranked schools in the area and the neighborhoods are perfectly safe. The inner city crime you read about is completely on the other side of town. If you are looking to rent a house I'd contact the real estate agents in the area. Many of them handle rentals on the side. If you are looking for an apartment then you'll have a lot of options in Hewitt. I can give you some names of the ones I drive by but I don't know anything about their quality, only the locations.
Sasha: My wife and I live in Waco and we have 3 school-age girls. It sounds like schools and neighborhoods are your priority. Here is my advice.
The greater Waco area has seven different school districts that cover the city and its suburbs. There are various other small rural districts further out where many people live who commute to Waco but I'm not counting those because I don't sense you want to live 20 miles away in a small farm town. So for the seven school districts that cover urban and suburban Waco here is the rundown.
Waco ISD, La Vega ISD, and Connally ISD are the lowest performing districts with the highest levels of poverty and social problems. Waco ISD covers most of the city of Waco itself including most of its poorest neighborhoods. La Vega and Connally cover the northern suburbs of Bellmead and Lacy Lakeview which are somewhat rundown areas with a mixed population. Connally has some nice areas along the shore of the Brazos but the school is pretty mixed. There are some extremely upscale neighborhoods within the city of Waco itself along the lake shore and scattered pockets such as Castle Heights with big old historic houses. But a lot of those folks send their kids to private schools.
Midway ISD is the large suburban district that covers most of the more affluent suburbs south and west of Waco. The majority of doctors, lawyers, Baylor professors, etc. that live in the greater Waco area live in the Midway ISD and send their kids to Midway schools. Of all the school districts in the greater Waco area, Midway is going to have the highest per-capita income and most affluent parents and all that goes along with that. Midway ISD has 6 elementary schools (grades k-4) two intermediate schools (grades 5-6) one large middle school housed in the old HS building (grades 7-8) and one large HS in a new building built in 2003 and expanded in 2010. Midway ISD covers the cities of Woodway and Hewitt as well as parts of south Waco and unincorporated rural areas around McGregor, Robinson, and Crawford. Woodway is the more upscale area along with the unincorporated suburbs south along US-84. Not a lot of rental options within Woodway. Hewitt is a more middle class suburb with a mix of single family homes and apartments. Most of your rental options are going to be in Hewitt if you want your child to attend Midway schools.
The other districts are Robinson ISD, China Spring ISD, and Lorena ISD. All of these are smaller outlying towns that are gradually being absorbed into the greater Waco area through growth and sprawl. They are all pretty similar and will be a mix of rural and suburban folks. My wife and I lived in China Spring and our kids attended China Spring schools before moving into the Midway ISD. These smaller districts are going to be more insular and more dominated by local families who have lived there for generations. They have better test scores etc. than the more urban districts because they are more middle class and white and don't have the social problems found in Waco ISD and La Vega. You'll also be facing longer commutes. If you want the small town feel and smaller schools pick one of those. But you'll have a harder time finding rentals I expect.
Bottom line, most people in your position who want to be near Richmond Mall will chose to locate within the Midway ISD. It has some of the highest ranked schools in the area and the neighborhoods are perfectly safe. The inner city crime you read about is completely on the other side of town. If you are looking to rent a house I'd contact the real estate agents in the area. Many of them handle rentals on the side. If you are looking for an apartment then you'll have a lot of options in Hewitt. I can give you some names of the ones I drive by but I don't know anything about their quality, only the locations.
China Spring has really progressed a lot. I attended for a short time during my elementary years [I'm black] and yes it was pretty insular around that time [late 90s], but now the area is COMPLETELY different from what I remember. It's definitely becoming what Hewitt is today.
Anyways, your post is pretty much spot on about the school system here. It's either Midway or hell.
I would not recommend China Spring for someone looking for both a rental and easy commuting to Richmond Mall. China Spring is something of a fast growing exurb area to the Northwest of Waco. There is no actual incorporated town of China Spring but mostly a collection of newer and older housing developments. Some are extremely upscale gated communities with million dollar mansions and others are more ordinary subdivisions. And there is a lot of rural land out there with folks living on farms and ranches of various sizes. It would be where you might consider if you want to buy a house out in the country or a small plot of land to raise horses. But not the place to find a rental. The only big apartment complex that I know of in China Spring is that place just past the airport on China Spring Highway. But the problem with that location is that it is on the exact opposite side of the lake from Richmond Mall so you'd have to commute all around the lake on Lake Shore Drive or the other way on Highway 6 and it will take at least 25 minutes to get to Richmond Mall. China Spring makes more sense for those who are commuting to locations in North Waco such as TSTC or L3 Communications. Or perhaps even Baylor. But it doesn't make sense for people commuting to South Waco locations like Richmond Mall or the hospitals. That is why my wife and I moved.
Frankly if the original poster is looking for safe rental neighborhoods near good schools and with an easy commute to Richmond Mall then Hewitt or Woodway are really the only options and Midway ISD is the only school district to consider. Waco ISD has some very excellent elementary schools in the nicer areas. But when they get pooled together at the Middle school and HS levels they have more problems. Not saying your child wouldn't do fine in Waco ISD, lots of kids get good educations there. But it is definitely much more of an inner city setting and the schools have high rates of poverty which means the teachers have to struggle with all kinds of issues that aren't found so much in the suburbs.
You might look at Valley Mills too. It's a small school and a nice little town. 20 minutes from mall. We have a clean three bedroom one bath home you could rent. I work at the school, and recommend it highly.
If I were you, I would look into the town of Robinson. Great schools, not too big or small. A couple of years ago, I was in Austin and watched their girls bball team win the state title. I talked to many parents, many of whom grew uo in Waco and DFW. They all had great things to say about the schools and described the environment as healthy for children. Great town and school spirit. They filled 8 - 9 sections of fans, more than any of the larger schools and were very classy and well behaved. I know it seems corny, but observations like this really do reflect well on the schools. As far as test scores, I would log onto greatschoools.net for more details.
where is the richmond mall I thought it was Richland, I dont get what social problems mean in school, what should be said is that WISD LVISD and Connally have majority black & hispanic students. Im a product of WISD and I fare pretty well in life its all about rearing your children it doesnt matter what district they attend as long as they get an education and get the chance to go to college. Give midway 5 to 10 years and it will be black and hispanic too because parents dont want there kids in WISD and more people are moving out to SW Waco because that is the most desirable area in the city, plus midway has a great athletic program that is on the rise there in the state championship game for them in Dallas.
where is the richmond mall I thought it was Richland, I dont get what social problems mean in school, what should be said is that WISD LVISD and Connally have majority black & hispanic students. Im a product of WISD and I fare pretty well in life its all about rearing your children it doesnt matter what district they attend as long as they get an education and get the chance to go to college. Give midway 5 to 10 years and it will be black and hispanic too because parents dont want there kids in WISD and more people are moving out to SW Waco because that is the most desirable area in the city, plus midway has a great athletic program that is on the rise there in the state championship game for them in Dallas.
I'm sure the original poster meant Richland Mall.
Your post contradicts itself. In your first couple sentences you claim that WISD, LVISD and Connally ISD are just fine and it doesn't matter where you attend. Then in the last part of your post you explain how the parents in those schools (mostly the black and Hispanic parents by the way) are moving out to the suburbs to find better schools. Which is it?
In any event, Midway, China Spring, Lorena, and Robinson are not going to change that much over the next 5-10 years because there simply isn't very much low income housing in those districts. Mostly it is middle class single family owner-occupied neighborhoods. I don't hear of any plans to build any big new apartment complexes. Most of the construction in those districts is actually middle and high end subdivisions. Those who do move out to the suburbs will be middle class folk who are buying their own houses. In any event, the black families in my neighborhood are not folks who moved out from the poor neighborhoods in the inner city. They are mostly middle class retired military families who chose to settle in the Midway area after retiring from Fort Hood just down the road. As Waco is growing it is also attracting a lot of middle class and professional black and Hispanic families who are moving in from elsewhere just like everyone else who is moving to the Waco area. The metro population is growing fairly fast due to people moving in from all over, just like a lot of other Texas cities.
In any event, it's not the racial make-up that makes Waco ISD and La Vega ISD difficult. It is the poverty. Kids from poverty tend to bring more issues with them to school. This is not news to anyone who has studied education in any city in this country.
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Suburbs
