Family-oriented places to live north of Dallas?

Diana

Diana

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Diana
My son arrived in Dallas late last night (staying near the Addison airport) and will be exploring the area for possible places to live. He and his wife are thinking of moving to the Dallas area. They have three little munchkins, ages 1, 2 1/2, and 4 (:eek:).

He would like to be within 30 minutes of DFW. They are members of Life Time Fitness and visit the locations everywhere they travel, especially with the kids. They are physically active and love hiking/biking trails and parks, as well as being near water. Their life is mostly about the kids and doing stuff with them.

Do you all have any suggestions as to safe, family-oriented neighborhoods with lots of little kids, parks and biking trails north of Dallas, like in Plano, or Frisco or areas west of there?

I told him that I would rather fly into McKinney than Addison, not that that matters. :D

Thanks!
 
I live in north Dallas, so no help re outlying areas. Obviously many options, the problem is trying to define "within 30 minutes" of DFW. Lots of places should be within that range, but you never know.


Diana said:
My son arrived in Dallas late last night (staying near the Addison airport) and will be exploring the area for possible places to live. He and his wife are thinking of moving to the Dallas area. They have three little munchkins, ages 1, 2 1/2, and 4 (:eek:).

He would like to be within 30 minutes of DFW. They are members of Life Time Fitness and visit the locations everywhere they travel, especially with the kids. They are physically active and love hiking/biking trails and parks, as well as being near water. Their life is mostly about the kids and doing stuff with them.

Do you all have any suggestions as to safe, family-oriented neighborhoods with lots of little kids, parks and biking trails north of Dallas, like in Plano, or Frisco or areas west of there?

I told him that I would rather fly into McKinney than Addison, not that that matters. :D

Thanks!
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Diana said:
My son arrived in Dallas late last night (staying near the Addison airport) and will be exploring the area for possible places to live. He and his wife are thinking of moving to the Dallas area. They have three little munchkins, ages 1, 2 1/2, and 4 (:eek:).

He would like to be within 30 minutes of DFW. They are members of Life Time Fitness and visit the locations everywhere they travel, especially with the kids. They are physically active and love hiking/biking trails and parks, as well as being near water. Their life is mostly about the kids and doing stuff with them.

Do you all have any suggestions as to safe, family-oriented neighborhoods with lots of little kids, parks and biking trails north of Dallas, like in Plano, or Frisco or areas west of there?

I told him that I would rather fly into McKinney than Addison, not that that matters. :D

Thanks!
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Diana, call, email, or PM Dave Siciliano (dsiciliano2@sbcglobal.net). He's very well versed on real estate in the area, having been doing developments there for many years.
 
Tell your son to hightail it out of Dallas! There are lots of undesirable Attorney Pilot types who fly Bonanzas out of ADS living in the area.
 
gismo said:
Diana, call, email, or PM Dave Siciliano (dsiciliano2@sbcglobal.net). He's very well versed on real estate in the area, having been doing developments there for many years.
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If he doesn't respond here, I'll shoot him an email. I couldn't remember the name of the place he was involved in that Carol's daughter lives at. We went there the night we had dinner with Dave.

AdamZ said:
Tell your son to hightail it out of Dallas! There are lots of undesirable Attorney Pilot types who fly Bonanzas out of ADS living in the area.
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I was thinking the same thing, Adam. :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
gismo said:
Diana, call, email, or PM Dave Siciliano (dsiciliano2@sbcglobal.net). He's very well versed on real estate in the area, having been doing developments there for many years.
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Diana,

I can't second Lance's suggestion enough. I was offered a relo to Dallas way back in history and Dave was an exceptional resource.

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
"Family-oriented places to live north of Dallas? "

Has he checked into S. Dakota?
 
At the risk of being completely ignored as a dangerous, subversive type (ie, lawyer), I'll still jump in with a First, Most Important Question:

Where will Son be working?

Will this be a relo for a particular job, or to start a business, what?

Also, "family friendly" can mean many different things; I live in a wonderfully family-friendly area, but some feel that the schools ought not to be used (not sure I agree, but a discussion for another life). We use the Y instead of Lifetime Fitness, because of all the team sports and other programs they offer.

So, dish the details.

And, there is nothing at all difficult about flying into ADS- we'll make certain you're treated like the royalty you are!
 
N Dallas is a wasteland. Everywhere is toll roads, and generic housing. Go west, much nicer. I would suggest going NW toward the race track on 114 somewhere. I wouldn't want to live in Drano or anywhere around that area.

Sorry, if folks live up there, I just can't stand it. The smog in summer is not suitable for kids. Now, if you have enough money, you can find a place on lake Lewisville.
 
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Hi Diana, you were up in Frisco, north of Dallas proper. I live in north Dallas, just a couple blocks north is Plano, then Frisco.
The metroplex (Dallas-Fort Worth area) is pretty complicated. Over 3MM folks overall. There are a lot of variables: cost of housing, school district, ease of getting to work are just a few considerations. I'd just have to talk to them and give them an overview. Frisco, were we were, has excellent schools and a good transportation network; toll road is part of it as has been brought up.
I'd probably just be best to get together with a map and chat. I certainly don't have a corner on ideas and others value some things more than me, but I'd be happy to bring some good aerial photos and chat. I have every new subdivision in the North Dallas area on a nice aerial map because I'm chasing lots in a lot of those subdivision. Once one gets west of Flower Mound, I wouldn't have as much detailed knowledge.

Best,

Dave
 
SCCutler said:
At the risk of being completely ignored as a dangerous, subversive type (ie, lawyer), I'll still jump in with a First, Most Important Question:

Where will Son be working?
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Spike, he will be working out of his home. I'll PM you.

SCCutler said:
And, there is nothing at all difficult about flying into ADS- we'll make certain you're treated like the royalty you are!
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You're a sweetheart. :) I flew in there years ago...I must say, they have the nicest airport bathroom I've ever been in.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Hi Diana, you were up in Frisco, north of Dallas proper. I live in north Dallas, just a couple blocks north is Plano, then Frisco.
The metroplex (Dallas-Fort Worth area) is pretty complicated. Over 3MM folks overall. There are a lot of variables: cost of housing, school district, ease of getting to work are just a few considerations. I'd just have to talk to them and give them an overview. Frisco, were we were, has excellent schools and a good transportation network; toll road is part of it as has been brought up.
I'd probably just be best to get together with a map and chat. I certainly don't have a corner on ideas and others value some things more than me, but I'd be happy to bring some good aerial photos and chat. I have every new subdivision in the North Dallas area on a nice aerial map because I'm chasing lots in a lot of those subdivision. Once one gets west of Flower Mound, I wouldn't have as much detailed knowledge.

Best,

Dave
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Thanks Dave. :)
 
Diana,

We lived for a time in Keller (NW of DFW) with young kids in a fairly typical neighborhood. 5 mile bike trail adjacent to the house, 10-15 minutes to a workout in Bedford (where there is a Lifetime), 10-15 minutes to the boatramp on Lake Grapevine (only way we could stand the summer heat, as we did not have a pool), 20-25 minutes to the DFW parking lot, with traffic. That was 5 years ago, so demographics and traffic patterns have probably changed.

Hard to not find something that fits most requirements in the metroplex, with a little research. While we were not there long enough to completely review the schools, we have since learned that going in and taking a look at the activity on the volunteer sign-in sheet at the office is a good way to find a good specific elementary school, after finding a good school system (parent involvement=more resources=happier kids, usually).

And if they are boat people, not just water people, day trips to the Brazos River are highly reccommended. We hauled the Mastercraft down there regularly, and those are some of my fondest memories ever in our boat.

Mike
 
Diana,

My girlfriend's best friend and her husband bought a house in Frisco < 2 years ago, and love it. They have since added a little boy to the family. The only complaint I hear from them is that since she works in downtown Dallas, it takes her a long time to get to work in morning rush hour traffic.

That's about the extent of my Dallas knowledge - now if he wants to move to Houston, I could provide even more insight.
 
Frisco to DT is a long commute PJ. Over 20 miles through rush hour traffic unless they go in off hours. There is a tollway from Frisco to DT; it's the really high demographic growth corridor. Frisco is a pretty new city; it's had some of the most growth in the late 90s and this decade.

With the current market downturn, someone could live closer in and get some good deals if they are willing to get an older home. Unfortunately, Dallas schools have real issues. There are some good ones, but there has been a flight to the 'burbs for this and other reasons. Most folks are going north, but there was some growth in other directions also, for affordability, larger lots, country lifestyle and smaller community amoung other things.

Best,

Dave
 
Lots of burbs around the DFW meet those requirements. Lewisville, Flower Mound, Plano, Carrollton, Coppell, Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville, etc are all a few minutes from both DFW and one or more lakes. The only problem is how close to a GA airport does he want, and how big does it have to be.

I personally would prefer living in Lewisville, Southlake or the Flower Mound and using 52F in Roanoke or DTO in Denton than living on the Dallas County side of the metroplex and using Addison, but I'm a bit biased since I grew up in Tarrant County (Ft.Worth side of the metroplex) and worked in Tarrant/Denton counties most of my career. But, Addison has a very nice airport. It used to be that you could move north of DFW and find a really nice peaceful place, but since the boom of the platinum corridor (Frisco area), traffic and congestion is as bad out there as it is closer to DFW.
 
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Thanks for your input everyone. :) He's driving around today checking out your suggestions and exploring those areas that you mentioned.
 
Diana said:
My son arrived in Dallas late last night (staying near the Addison airport) and will be exploring the area for possible places to live. He and his wife are thinking of moving to the Dallas area. They have three little munchkins, ages 1, 2 1/2, and 4 (:eek:).

He would like to be within 30 minutes of DFW. They are members of Life Time Fitness and visit the locations everywhere they travel, especially with the kids. They are physically active and love hiking/biking trails and parks, as well as being near water. Their life is mostly about the kids and doing stuff with them.

Do you all have any suggestions as to safe, family-oriented neighborhoods with lots of little kids, parks and biking trails north of Dallas, like in Plano, or Frisco or areas west of there?

I told him that I would rather fly into McKinney than Addison, not that that matters. :D

Thanks!
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I'd tell him to look around Denton. Might be a bit further out, but with little kids, might be worth it. I know people live in Sherman and Lake Texoma that have no qualms with their commute to Dallas.
 
They were quite a bit qualmier last year with $4 gas. We do that drive up 75 frequently, as the family farm is just across the river. No fun. Traffic is getting worse instead of better. But a radius around Denton and thereabouts would be my choice too, rather than the northeast 'burbs towards McKinney. The Bush is a joke (three lanes of traffic each way with one-lane off ramps (say what?) and the DOT recently responded to many complaints about delays on the new high-five interchange by saying it wasn't designed to handle rush-hour traffic. The old road was OK when traffic was light, but backed up during rush hour. After five years of construction and five jillion dollars the new road backs up all the time, just further during rush hour. Your tax dollars (and their talent) at work.
Henning said:
I'd tell him to look around Denton. Might be a bit further out, but with little kids, might be worth it. I know people live in Sherman and Lake Texoma that have no qualms with their commute to Dallas.
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For someone who does not need to drive to the office (can office at home), and needs to be comfortably close to DFW, I suggested Flower Mound, which (western fringes) is some mighty nice livin'.
 
Well, yesterday he finally made a down payment on a house. He sent me a photo that he took with his phone...it was of a Cub that had just taken off from somewhere close to his new home. He could also hear cows from his yard. Cool. He said it sounded like our farm. :)

So, it's in Keller and from what I can tell, he is about 3 miles from Alliance (KAFW) on a heading of maybe 013 or 014 degrees. I wonder what airport the Cub was taking off from?

Here's the photo he sent me that he took from his yard. He knew I'd like that. :)
 

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Diana said:
Well, yesterday he finally made a down payment on a house. He sent me a photo that he took with his phone...it was of a Cub that had just taken off from somewhere close to his new home. He could also hear cows from his yard. Cool. He said it sounded like our farm. :)

So, it's in Keller and from what I can tell, he is about 3 miles from Alliance (KAFW) on a heading of maybe 013 or 014 degrees. I wonder what airport the Cub was taking off from?

Here's the photo he sent me that he took from his yard. He knew I'd like that. :)
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Diana, he is almost certainly seeing a plane taking off from Northwest Regional (52F) -it is a wonderful little field.
 
I bet it's Hillcrest Airpark (7TX4). Looks like 21 aircraft based there.
 
I drove through Hillcrest with lust in my eyes often while living with 4 foot lot lines in Keller.

Diana, should fried chicken or chicken fried steak be pleasing to your palate, go to Babe's up the road in Roanoke when you visit. Best ever! If not, do not go, as there is nothing else on the menu!
 
catmandu said:
Diana, should fried chicken or chicken fried steak be pleasing to your palate, go to Babe's up the road in Roanoke when you visit. Best ever! If not, do not go, as there is nothing else on the menu!
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Seconded. Best anywhere!:thumbsup:
 
Diana: glad to see your important others got settled here in the Big City! Hope you will be visiting and can make time to visit some of us other city ratz on occasion.

Best,

Dave
 
SCCutler said:
Diana, he is almost certainly seeing a plane taking off from Northwest Regional (52F) -it is a wonderful little field.
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Spike, can you tell me more about that airport? I was just looking at the information about it on AirNav. Says you need to call first before landing there to check the runway conditions, and they have a landing fee. I will likely be flying into that one instead of Alliance, but I'm not sure they want transients?
 
News to me. I flew over to look at a 182 for a friend last year, and none of that was in play. Maybe it has changed.

Diana said:
Spike, can you tell me more about that airport? I was just looking at the information about it on AirNav. Says you need to call first before landing there to check the runway conditions, and they have a landing fee. I will likely be flying into that one instead of Alliance, but I'm not sure they want transients?
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Diana, I have been into and out of 52F probably 30 times, and have never had to deal with anything remotely resembling a landing fee. Fuel prices there tend to be pretty reasonable, as well. My cousin is involved in a pilots' group there, I'll ask him if there's any negative gouge, but I surely doubt it.

It is a very "dense" field, in that there's a lot of stuff there... hangars lining the strip- but other than being a little bit downhill landing south, it's fine for a Bonanza, and you could land and take off three times in CitaBlueBerria before you ran out of runway.
 
Tom says three-four landings per approach is pretty common for her anyway.

SCCutler said:
Diana, I have been into and out of 52F probably 30 times, and have never had to deal with anything remotely resembling a landing fee. Fuel prices there tend to be pretty reasonable, as well. My cousin is involved in a pilots' group there, I'll ask him if there's any negative gouge, but I surely doubt it.

It is a very "dense" field, in that there's a lot of stuff there... hangars lining the strip- but other than being a little bit downhill landing south, it's fine for a Bonanza, and you could land and take off three times in CitaBlueBerria before you ran out of runway.
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Diana said:
Wayne and Spike, thanks for the info. :)

Well, on occasion I do that unintentionally. :D
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Heh, when I do that, I usually add something about maintenance test flight completed as I make my call clear of the active...:wink2:


Trapper John
 
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