Moving to Fort Worth, Please Help!!!

Please do not consider the SE side of 820/Fort Worth.
The SW side is much safer and there are a lot of options for nice apartments and easy access to the base. Somebody had mentioned the Montessori on Camp Bowie and I also would highly reccomend it. You will come to love Fort Worth. It is a very fun city for families. The zoo and mueseums are wonderful and easy to get to. Lots of parks and trails and festivals downtown. WELCOME!!

Where about's are you going to be moving? 820 is pretty extensive. What street's? Do you know that yet? That would help in giving you some advice on schools, daycare's and housing. I've lived here all my life and I am 32 years old.

My e-mail is ____@____.com if you want to chat.

I have a friend that does Property Management Residential Housing.

She lives on the West side of Fort Worth, TX.

Andrea Mason

###-###-####

Don't mind the phone number, she used to live in Irving.

As the others said, you need to know which TCC Campus.

P.

Hello my name is B. - first of all welcome to Texas! I have a cleaning company in South Arlington, which is pretty close to the 820/20/287 area and am in a lot of neighborhoods in the area! I really love the south arlington/mansfield area. My daughter is 3 and attends Pantego Christian Academy - (age 2 all the way to graduation) - we just cannot say enough about the curriculum it is outstanding! She has really flourished and loves the teachers! Hope this helps!

When we moved to Dallas 10 years ago. There were people called "apartment finders". They were very helpful. There are some that are more helpful and knowlegable than others though. If you get one that does not seem very interested in helping you, try another one. They are usually free! Their fees are paid for by the apartment that you select.

Congratulations on finishing nursing school!! You may want to consider Benbrook. We are on the southwest corner of loop 820, 1/2 way between TCC South campus and NASFWJRB. My husband is retired from there and I am a nurse at 2 of the hospitals downtown. From Benbrook, it is 10 miles from work with a straight shot there. Our neighborhoods are very safe. We have great police and fire departments who are very quick to respond to emergencies and our schools are top of the line. There is plenty of rental property available until you are ready to decide where to settle down for good. Are you going to be working at the Federal medical center on base? Feel free to email me at ____@____.com if you have any questions.

Welcome to Texas! (soon! :) ) I do home daycare in Arlington/Kennedale so if your bf is going to the campus near me... look me up! However, the campus that has the daycare facility is an awesome daycare. One of my parents is going to be going to that school in August and is going to take her kids there (I'm out of the way for that school)- and it's a great pre school. JRB is about 20 - 25 minutes from my house. I'm at Highway 287 and I20 (towards Mansfield) My kids are military dependants, so we know right where it is!

I, too, am a single mom, (of 4) so if you need anything else... just holler. We moved here from California about 7 years ago. The parent who is going to TCC just got her RN and is going to TCC to get some other degree!!! (I tell her she's a schoolaholic! lol)

Good luck!
K.

Hi K....

Welcome to TX in advance. I am pretty new to the area myself, so I'm not real familiar with the areas you are talking about, but I do know that the town of Mansfield is a really nice area to live in. It's south of Arlington. (they are building a new water park there too!) We recently moved to Weatherford, which is about 40 minutes W of Ft. Worth.

I just thought I would give you a heads up about the weather! It is going to be HOT in the summer and we have humidity here! ugh! But at least we have AC!!! If you don't have lots of shorts, you will be shopping later on!!

Have a good move and good luck! Oh by the way...gas is still at around $3.65 right now!

D. G.

Hi K.. I just moved here too! I have seen a Montessori school on Arkansas St., just west of Bowen in Arlington. I don't know anything about it but I thought I'd tell you there is one. I don't know how close that would be to you, but it's not far from the UTA campus (I know - not your school, tho). I would also suggest asking moms questions here on this site - it has proven to be very helpful for me.

Good Luck!

You do not want to move inside the SE Loop 820. It's all bad. Go a couple miles east to Arlington's Southwest corner or down 287 to Mansfield. As for childcare, Children's Courtyard is the best in the city as far as I'm concerned. My son was there from age 1 to 11 and STILL talks about how much he loved it there (He's 14 now). There is one at Pleasant Ridge and Kelly Elliott, 1 block north of I-20. I drive from SW Arl almost to the Stockyards every day to go to work and I LOVE IT. Takes about 1/2 hour - rarely is there a bad backup to the traffic. The Southwest corner isn't too bad either.....You want to be either outside the loop on the East/South/Southease, but inside is ok SW, W or North.

Hello K.,
Welcome to Texas!! I live in Saginaw and have since 1998 and I would not be anywhere else..VERY good schools. Close to the Joint Reserve Base and close to TCC Northwest Campus. I would look in this area. Good Luck with your move and Godd Bless!

It depends what campus he is going. NE is the biggest one. And the previous poster is the one reffering to that campus.
If you are going to work at the JRB, it is in the W side of Fort Worth, inside loop 820. NE campus, outside the loop in Hurst. NW campus outside the loop in Fort Worth, but close to Lake Worth. South East is by Arlington/Kennadale. South I don't know much. and there is one in downtown.
I am familiar with the HEB (Hurst, Euless, Bedford - where the NE campus is) area, which the previous poster talked about. Hope this helps you figure out where things are.

Welcome to Texas - looks like you already got a boatload of great advice from other moms! I think you will find that you will love living in the Fort Worth area. It's a neat city - people are friendly and there are a lot of great things to see and do whether you are a little kid or a big kid. :-) It's a very family oriented place. The DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) area is really just a large collection of mini-cities and each has their own character. With your son being 2 1/2 and you planning to rent initially, you probably will want to be more concerned about being in a very nice area that is convienent to your job and boyfriends school in the nearterm vs school district. Once you are settled here for several months, you will get to know the area better, and when your lease/rental period is up, you can always move to an area that better suits you if needed. As your son get's closer to kindergarten age definintely be sure that you have yourself planted in a good school district. Fort Worth proper is a great city, but the public schools are not terrific overall (hense the great private schools in that area.) There are several other nearby cities with good school districts which several other moms mentioned.

With gas prices so high, be sure to consider how much time you want to spend on the road or in areas of high-traffic/congestion.

Given the slump in the mortage industry this may be a perfect time to rent a home in a nice neighborhood. Lean on the moms on this site to help steer you of not-so-great neighborhoods as you are doing your looking. There are a lot of great places to live that would be relatively close to your work...so don't settle for anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe (as there are those areas too.) Also consider what type of neighborhood you want to be in. e.g. Do you prefer an old established neighborhood with big trees etc, or an neighborhood that is brand new? Would you prefer to live in an apartment with a lot of amenities (e.g with a swimming pool to beat the texas heat)? You may want to consider some of these things before you start hunting.

Once you determine where you will be living, then check out the local preschools/daycares. I think you will find there are quite a few good programs in different areas. You might check into Primrose Preschool/Day care if there is one close to where you end up locating- they have seveal of these in the metroplex. They are a bit more expensive, but have an extremely good reputation. We live in Keller and KISD has a solid school district. My 3 yr old daughter goes half days to a Children's Courtyard in Southlake and so far it has been a good program for her. I think you will find Children's Courtyard is good overall, but sometimes depends on the location. Definitely do a walk through of any prospective day care, meet the teachers, and get a gut check.

If you are looking on-line in advance of your move here and you find one or more specific places/areas you want feedback on or someone to scout out, feel free to drop me a message and I would be happy to check into where it sits on the map and whether it is in a good or bad spot. Best Wishes :-)

I live in Keller and it is great! The schools are fantastic too! My son is 2 as well and he presently goes to Primrose a few miles from our house and he has learned so much it is amazing.

Let me know if you have any questions about housing etc.

Good Luck!

N. Fort Worth & Saginaw are great towns! Make sure the school district is Eagle Mountain ISD and that will guarantee a nice location. When you are looking online here are some zip codes that can be helpful...76179, 76131, & 76135.

If you are working at the Joint Reserve Base then make sure to stay West of interstate 35W. Traffic on 820 between 35W and Hwy 121 is horrible at all times of the day!

Lake Worth/ Saginaw area is really nice we live in Marine Creek. And there is a great daycare in Lake Worth Cornerstone Childcare on 199/ Jacksboro Hwy.

Hi K.,

If your boyfriend is going to be a student at TCC, they have a fantastic Child Care center. It is one of the best in the area. As for apartments, there are some directly across from TCC, the 8500 Harwood Apts. and the Equestrian Apt. There are some apts that are also close on Booth Calloway called the Plantation West Apt. Best Wishes!

Congratulations on your new job!
I work in Fort Worth at some apartments right off 820.
I hate to say it but I would not recommend living in the area where I work. Stay away from the John T White, Brentwood Stair, Bridge Street exits. Depending which campus your boyfriend is attending, I suggest looking in South-southwest Arlington, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Euless or Bedford. I would be glad to give you more suggestions if you want to email me with the campus he will be going to. My email is ____@____.com name is A.. I have lived in Arlingotn all my life and have loved it.

Hi there. I live in N Richland Hills which is off of hwy 820. The north side of NRH is newly built and nice. The surrounding towns are Keller, South Lake & Colleyville which very nice as well. There is good shopping and things to do with the kiddos. These areas are low in crime.

Best wishes,

N.

Take a deep breath. You have your hands full. You can check out http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/About_Child_Care_L... for information about child care facilities.

I live in Saginaw (a suburb of Fort Worth). We are about 15-20 minutes away from NASJRB and 10 minutes from the NW campus of TCC. Check out the cities web site. There are some nice apartments in the area. You can also look at Lake Worth, which is close to the base and TCC as well.

I currently attend NW TCC and my mom is a reservist at the base. We both live in Saginaw. I love the area.

which TCC is he going to and what hospital? I live in Fort Worth and may be able to help. I live on the westside and have lived here all my life.

Sounds like you got some good places to start. One thing I could add is make sure you get into an area where there are good schools. Fort Worth is a big district with some great schools and a lot of not so great schools. We live in N. Fort Worth, but are in Keller ISD. They are great schools and I don't think it is to far of drive for you boyfriend.

The Fort Worth/Saginaw area would be a good place for you to move. The area is very nice and schools are fantastic. There is a montessori school in the area and there are also alot of home sitters available via the sitter web site that is usually advertised on here. There is the North West TCC campus in the area as well. So you could basically go to work within 10-15 minutes, boyfried could be at school within 10 minutes. There are some great apartments and homes for rent in the area as well as townhomes. Good Luck.

K.,

I live in benbrook. there are a ton of JBR people who live out here. it is right down 377 from the base and about 10 minutes from the tcc south campus. we love love benbrook and they have plenty of apts/duplexes.
here is the link
http://schools.fortworthisd.net/education/components/scra...

check it out. it is in a great location and we love it. they have a great park a lake great schools. it is a small town so you get great services, but (as you will notice with all of dallas fort worth it is really just one big city) we are really part of fort worth and this side of town has tons of schools and activities. feel free to email me if you have any questions. personally i dont care for the white settlement area (the area around the base). good luck and congrats on the nursing school, i know it is not hard. i think you will love it hear! really feel free to email me with any questions.

You guys will love it here! There are Primrose Schools all over that have a strict and wonderful curriculum - I started my little boy at 2 1/2 and he has thrived. Primrose is reasonably priced and really prepares your child socially and educationally.

I live in Northeast Tarrant in Hurst which is less than a mile from the TCC campus and right off the highways. There are a lot of choices for apartments in this area or if you are looking to buy, there are lots of safe affordable neighborhoods. Don't hesitate to correspond with me further. I have lived all over Fort Worth since 1989 and have my law practice and home in Northeast Tarrant now. ____@____.com. J.

I would recommend living in Keller or North Ft. Worth, better neighborhoods and plenty of daycare and apts. to choose from. Outside the 820 loop and close to 35. It will be about a 25 min. drive to the base. Even closer to TCC Northwest.