What is a good area to live in, in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex?

Question

My company is transferring me from Houston to Dallas and we are planning to move there next summer. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what a good area to live in is for the DFW Metroplex. I will be working in east Fort Worth, and don't want a commute for more than an hour. My wife and I have three kids (who will be going into 11th grade, 10th grade, and 8th grade for the 09-10 school year). We want to send our kids to public schools that have good test grades as well as high diversity, and we want them to live in a diverse area and not an "Orange County" type area. What areas would be good for families that meet this criteria? Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

Planto is a nice area with great schools.

I just don't like that drive from dallas to Planto. At peak time it's wall to wall parking lot.

Answer 2

Plano - Low crime rate and you rarely hear police sirens. Plus good schools and pretty much everything you need is around here

Answer 3

I  moved from Orange County (SoCal) over a year ago, and you'll find the schools FAR SUPERIOR to anything in the California school system (which regularly ranks 48-50 out of 50 states).  I live in a North Dallas suburb though, so the commute would be a little far for you.  The homes in Flower Mound are very nice though, and that wouldn't be far at all for you to commute.....  We went to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington yesterday, and got a little lost:)  We were in Euless, and it seemed like a pretty little town, but I don't know anything about it (the other answer gave you more specifics)

Answer 4

Stacys Mom is right.

I moved from Houston a couple years ago and live in Las Colinas area.

Southlake is very nice with schools that rank well nationally.  But very expensive and not at all diverse.  Hurst, Euless and Bedford are in a good area for your commute.  They are diverse and "middle-middle" class.  Not too rich but not too poor.  Affordable houses.

Grapevine is nice, a bit expensive but good schools and more diverse than Southlake but not as much as Hurst Euless Bedford area.  

Ft Worth is very nice in my opinion if you don't mind living in a city known as Cowtown.  

Flower Mound is good, North Richland Hills, Keller all nice and short drive.

Answer 5

You might want to consider North Richland Hills.  It was voted by Money magazine as one of the "100 Best Places to Live" in the U.S.

Home costs are extremely reasonable--probably less than half of what a comparable home in Southlake would cost.  It's really an up and coming area----NE Tarrant County.  

We have a brand new library, a minor league hockey team with it's facility right here (the Brahmas) and a great water park called NRH2O, and many great parks. Plans are underway for a brand-new recreation center as well.  

Birdville ISD is quite good, and it's quite a bit more diverse than nearby Southlake.  You're close enough to Ft. Worth for the nightlife, but it's a nice laid-back lifestyle here.  Southlake and Colleyville both have good shopping and they're very close-by.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Unfortunately, I think you will the find that the best school districts are in the least diverse areas. I don't mean to sound racial, but that just seems to be the way things work out. As far as "East Ft Worth", I would look at Southlake or Flower Mound. Those are NE Ft Worth. The most up-and-coming area is Plano/Frisco/McKinney, but those are far N Dallas, so it would be a pretty long commute.

Answer 7

I would look at Euless.  It is just a 20-30 minute drive to Fort Worth.  We have an excellent school district (HEB school district).  We have a low crime rate, and an excellent park system including a dog park.  There are houses in all price ranges.  Good luck and welcome to the metroplex!

Answer 8

I live in Arlington.. and it is pretty nice... I don't have kids so I don't know about the public schools though I have heard wonderful things about the private schools here.. If you move to Alington, live north of I30, south of I20 or near lake Arlington... all very safe and nice areas... I think the best public schools in the area though are in North Richland Hills if I remember correctly.. I am trying to remember the news article a couple of weeks back in the local paper about where the schools ranked... I think Hurst is a good area too...  

Answer 9

Parts of Arlington are okay. But you have to be selective. The area around Westover Hills, just west of downtown Ft Worth is very high end - think Bel Air. More affordable burbs with good schools, shopping, transportation etc... are Southlake, Colleyville, Keller and the Alliance area of north Ft Worth. Check out the Heritage subdivision as well.