possible relocate to dallas

My husband and I are from the Houston area. We know all the negative things about big city living in Texas - the spraw, heat, humidity, etc. We are currently living in the Nashville area and have become quite spoiled! The terrain, the seasons, the size of the city, the traffic is not bad....the list goes on. Franklin TN is consistently voted the best small town in Tennessee. It is historic, charming, quaint, cherished and well-preserved....and 15 minutes on the other side of Franklin is the modern retail/boom town area with hotels, retail, class-A offices, etc. We love it here.

Unfortunately, our time here may be coming to an end and a move to the Dallas area looks like a possibility. If we accept this position my husband will be in the Irving area.

I love homes with front porches, renovated ';historic'; homes, and I love the trend of building new homes that are historic reproductions . We like living near charming historic districts and like good restaurants, great grocery stores (Central Market Whole Foods, etc.) . Our children are in college. We probably won%26#39;t spend more than 400-500K on a house. Any suggestions for where to look? Thanks so much!

possible relocate to dallas

I had read your post on Fodor%26#39;s, but didn%26#39;t reply...seemed like it was about to be an arguement about how great Highland/University Park is. The type of home you%26#39;re looking for gets bulldozed in HP/UP....they%26#39;ve lost some good ones.

So...Munger Place and Junius Heights are two areas that are under a historical district protection. ChrystinP wil have more info on this since she lives in Munger Place and loves it.

Lakewood is great as well as Lakewood Heights and Vickery Place.

We have a local monthly magazine showcasing these neighborhoods - The Advocate - see if you can find it on-line.

Whole Foods is moving from lower Greenville to Lakewood at the intersection of Abrams and Gaston. And Central Mkt is at Greenville and Lovers.

possible relocate to dallas

Forgot to mention M-Streets...there are so many neiborhoods - East Dallas encompasses all of them. Zip codes to look in are:

75214 - Lakewood, Vickery Place, Lakewood Heights

75218 - Forest hills

75206 - M Streets

What about Southlake and Grapevine? Would those areas be too far out for a commute to Irving? Or are those areas attractive mainly to families?

Southlake is great and most move there for the schools which are superior. It is family oriented and school oriented since their football team is top rated. There%26#39;s a Central Mkt in Southlake now.

Grapevine also has the feel you are looking for, but I don%26#39;t know much about the area since I live in East Dallas.

Personally, I%26#39;d go more for the area/neighborhood you%26#39;d like to live in. There are ways to get to Irving from East Dallas w/o getting on the highway - on Northwest Hwy. I can get to the DFW airport from East Dallas in 45 minutes during rush hour traffic taking Northwest Hwy...so Irving is probably a bit shorter.

Y%26#39;all might visit and do the driving and see what you can handle.

You should look in East Dallas. The area known as Lakewood has homes from the 1920s-1940s. It is just NE of downtown Dallas so a commute to Irving would be doable. The areas in Lakewood to check would be M-Streets and Hollywood Heights. These areas are a few miles apart, and really all the homes in this area are older and charming. This area has undergone a period of ';tear downs'; so there are newer homes here too. This area is east of US 75 and west of White Rock Lake. You can find an older home in the $400k-$500k price range.

I too would say M Streets/Lakewood area.

From your description of what you%26#39;re looking for I%26#39;d say you%26#39;re a candidate for Munger Place, Junius Heights, or Peak Suburban, in that order.

Munger is an exceptional neighborhood, 13 blocks of folks who know each other, are extremely active in protecting historic districts and in having parties.

www.mungerplace.com

Junius Heights is to the east of us, more of an eclectic mix of homes, just got Historic Conservation District status.

Peak-Suburban is to the west of us and they%26#39;re an up-and-coming district, where Munger was several years ago in organization and housing mix.

I like these three neighborhoods because there%26#39;s real easy access to I-30 and I-75 and I don%26#39;t feel all hemmed in like I would in a more internal neighborhood. And this area is like living in a small town where you know your neighbors. I have friends from each of these districts because we%26#39;re all at the same meetings, care about the same issues, are active in our communities.

Munger Place is having our home tour May 5 %26amp; 6, and you might want to try to come to see the neighborhood during that time, if it looks like you%26#39;re going to be moving..

Lakewood is less neighborly and more expensive as a general rule.

I wouldn%26#39;t buy in University Park or Highland Park if I were Mark Cuban and could afford it, but lots of people are highly enthusiastic about those cities.

There are also properties on Swiss Avenue that can be had for your price range, but I%26#39;d choose Munger over Swiss (and did).

The Munger Place home tour is great - that would be a PERFECT time for you to check things out!!!

All the other neighborhoods do home tours too...but usually not on the same weekend.