From what I understand, Plano is a pretty expensive place to rent an apartment. What are some affordable communties close to Plano? I mean places that are affordable, yet safe and convenient. Not the ghetto, but semi-decent. Thanks
Times in Plano sure have changed. When I was born there, Plano wasn't such a nice town. But from what I hear from that place now, it's gotten very nice and EXPENSIVE.
Frisco, Richardson, and Murphy are the suburbs around Plano. McKinney and Allen is north of the 3. Frisco, McKinney and Allen are becoming the new Plano. You should see the area....developing like crazy!
My friend recently moved to Frisco... that's where a lot of the growth is. It's dominated by generic suburbia (suburban generica) and probably will be for quite some time... even the town's brochure showing their "art" offerings had an Old Navy in the background of the sculptures... lots of stores and restaurants are being built to accommodate the people. Almost not fast enough. My friend seemed to think he had researched the area and that's where the most affordable new medium-sized houses were. It is also a million miles from anywhere else in civilization. I think it took us 45 minutes to get from there to Richardson even with no traffic. If you need to go anywhere in certain directions, you might end up spending a fair amount on tolls...
Wow, it took you 45 minutes to get from Frisco to Richardson? Did you go by horse or walk? It should only take 15-20 minutes to get from Frisco to Richardson if you take 121 to 75 or go down 121 and take Coit/Independence/Custer, etc. Frisco might be far away from downtown Dallas, but if you live there, you don't even need to leave the city. Anything you need is 5 minutes away. To get to anywhere in Plano, it's 10-15 minutes away. Being north of Dallas is a whole new world compared to the toilet bowl they call downtown.
My freshman year roommate was from Plano. Kept bragging about drugs and suicide. I was like "umm okay".
Dallas is expensive, period...Traffic around Plano (75) is horrendous...If you looking for an inexpensive place to live, try the Village Apt. Village Apts I just moved from there and its older, but the Country Club Pool area rocks on the weekends in the summer...Plus, its a younger crowd...It's off of 75/Lover's Lane near Lower Greenville, Knox-Henderson, etc...
Two of the craziest people I know are from Plano. They are in their early/mid thirties though. Plano was just trying to be like Clear Lake of the '80s with the drugs and suicides.
The home I just bought is in Frisco and yes, it's suburbia. Yes it's filled with upper-middle class wannabe's ($175k - $250k homes) to very rich folks ($6,000,000+ homes). I love the area. It's got its own soccer/baseball stadiums, so sports is right around the corner. It has a great mall with all the shopping you need. And if you need more shopping it's just a hop down the DNT. The biggest problem in Frisco right now is the fact that the population has exploded far faster than the roads can handle, but that's being resolved slowly. Tolls are a way of life in the Dallas area if you want to get anywhere that's across town (for the most part anyway). The traffic can be bad, but I don't think it's worse than any of the traffic I endured driving from the Missouri City area to say downtown Houston or the Dome complex. Frisco housing prices have shot through the roof. I got a steal on a new construction home. If you're looking for relatively inexpensive housing, in suburbia, you can still find "cheaper" housing in the Wylie, Sachse, Allen, etc. areas. It depends on what you call "inexpensive". If you're looking for a new $150k home in Frisco, you're probably out of luck unless you want a 1400 sq. ft. home. If you're looking in the $200k and up range, you have a better shot of landing a 2000-3000 sq. ft. home. The property taxes in the area are also among the lowest in the Dallas area as well. What nWo34Life said is correct. Whatever you want is basically there in Frisco - except for a good sports bar or club. And you can always go down the DNT for that. AggieRocket, What kind of sq. ft. and price range are you looking for in an apartment?
Small and cheap. This apartment would be for one person who won't be home 50% of the time because of business travel. It is a safe assumption to say that the apartment will be vacant 10-15 days every month. The only reason I said close to Plano is because MetaSolv Software is in Plano and I know how hard it can be on someone when the commute to and from work is long.
Based upon where Metasolv is, unless you buy an apartment in Plano, Allen, or Richardson, you'll be faced with traffic. Central Expressway and LBJ construction will get you one way or another. The only thing I can suggest is try cities like Allen. The housing there is a bit cheaper and not too far away from Plano. You could go out to the Wylie/Sachse area, but that's potentially a much longer drive and really the only way to Plano from there is via tollway. Definitely stay away from Mesquite and most parts of Garland. Have you tried using one of the apartment search engine sites? Those were pretty invaluable to me when I first moved to Dallas.
Okay..we are looking at 4 different properties when we take a trip to DFW tomorrow. They are: 1) Camden Springs (corner of Frankford and Marsh) in North Dallas 2) Mission Collin Creek in Plano 3) Villas of Timberglen (on Timberglen Road) in North Dallas 4) Deer Run (Trinity Mills Road) in North Dallas Does anyone know anything about these complexes and the suitability of the areas they are located in? Are these located in a safe part of DFW?
AggieRocket, My wife and I live in the Marquis at Frankford Springs and it is also located at Frankford and Marsh. Our apartment complex must be across the street from the one you are looking at. As far as price we pay around 1100 a month for a 1550 square foot three bedroom two bath apartment with a den. We have only been in the area since February so as far as location I might not be the best source but the location seems good to us. We are close to both George Bush expressway and the North Dallas Tollway and from these two roads it seem that you can get to any major highway in Dallas. Hope the search goes well for you.
