Moving to Dallas- Stressed Out!

Two suggestions- both are in Dallas but Richardson school (RISD)- Lake Highlands and Prestonwood (Brentfield or Prestonwood Elementary and ParkHill Middle)
Both are great family neighborhoods, great schools, pretty homes, older trees for shade, convenient to Baylor as well as most of Dallas.

Despite what you might hear from people generically about Dallas isd, there are pockets of good school all over the city. Especially elemtary schools. Then there at lots of magnet school options for middle and high school. We live in nw Dallas (generally west of tollway, east of 35, n of northwest highway, and south of 635), and you can definitely find what you are looking for.

Lakewood or might be a good option for you, and maybe even a little easier to get to Baylor. Lakewood schools are good, and homes are pricey and going fast right now.

Oak cliff and east Dallas will get you more diversity. I'm not as familiar with the schools, but I know there are some good ones in both areas.

Hope that helps!

Lakewood is great with great schools and would be a good commute for you, but the houses are well over your budget. My neighborhood is in East Dallas right outside of Lakewood, and even my property values have gone sky high. Good luck to you, and welcome to Dallas!

Welcome to Dallas! I hope you won't miss the snow! lol There are lots of good options for you to consider. The closest area to Baylor - 10 minutes is Lakewood. It can be a bit pricey and unfortunately is in Dallas ISD (which is horrible!) Lakewood Elementary is pretty good and so is Woodrow Willson HS, but I am not sure about the middle school. There are other areas of East Dallas that would be nice, but the schools are hit or miss. Lake Highlands is about a 20 minute commute and is a very desirable location because it is in Dallas city limits but Richardson ISD. Homes go fast there and many sell before they are even on the market. It is probably not as diverse.

You will find that 500K will get you a very nice home in one of Dallas's many suburbs and a much better school district. Most of these commutes would range between 30-45 minutes. Richardson and Plano are great, but taking Central Expressway can be a pain.

I live in Garland, which is NE of Dallas. Garland ISD is a great school district. They have an awesome talented and gifted program that begins in K and several other quality magnet programs. GISD also includes the cities of Rowlett and Sachse. Rowlett has won several awards lately as best small city, etc. http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/4304120/rowlett-tx.... Rockwell is a little farther north of Rowlett and also has great schools. The only problem is that traffic on I-30 to get to Baylor can be a huge headache at times. There is a long bridge that goes over a lake and if you happen to be on that bridge when there is a wreck, you have no where to go. There is a light rail system, DART that connects Garland/Rowlett to Baylor, but it has many stops and takes over an hour. I have a neighbor that works at Baylor and she takes DART and loves it. She said it is nice to be able to relax and read and not have to fight the traffic. One of the things I like about Garland, is that I can get most anywhere without having to get on a freeway. Garland Road becomes Gaston Ave and is a straight shot to Baylor. Depending on whether you are in South Garland or North Garland it would be a 30 - 45 minute commute, but without the possible 1-2 hour freeway back ups that happen frequently.

All of the schools will be diverse - my kids have friends from a variety of races and nationalities. This is a good tool to check out schools - www.greatschools.org/. All commutes will have some traffic problems unless you are right near Baylor.