Dallas DUers - what can you tell me about Valley Ranch?

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

We're in the market for a home in the Dallas area, and my husband has found a new home there about which he sounds extremely excited. It's in an area of Irving called Valley Ranch. Is it a nice area? How far is it from Southwestern Medical Center? Is there any chance there are Democrats around?

[crispini]

1. Valley Ranch is

one of the newer 'burbs. It's near Irving, not terribly close to Southwest Medical center. I used to know someone who lived there and it struck me as VERY 'burb-y. Very new homes, very white-bread. I doubt it would be very Democrat. It's pretty far away from Dallas. The Democrats tend to live in Dallas proper, especially the older neighborhoods, or downtown.

You should look in MY neck of the woods... 75218. :)

[crispini]

2. Oh, and...

it's very funny, the dividing line for liberal / artistic tends to be LBJ 635 expressway. Some even say Loop 12. South of that, there are a LOT of people with great artistic urban sensibility. The area between LBJ and the Pres. G. Bush tollroad (ick) tends to be mixed. North of the tollroad, it's all white-bread drones.

(OK now everyone from Collin county's going to whale on me. No, that's not entirely true. There are cool people who live in the hinterlands i.e. Fudge Stripe. But they ARE kind of few and far between.)

BTW welcome to Dallas! where are you coming from? It's a great place to live, quite affordable, and the liberal point of view and the artists and local music and so on are all *around* -- you just need to look for them. There really are a lot of great things going on here, if you know where to look. :)

[reprehensor]

3. PRICEY.

If the $220's don't frighten you, then you have the pick of practically anywhere in and around Dallas.

You would have a solid 30min commute in the morning from VR, and I'm not sure how long in the evening, 45min to an hour, I would guess.

The Lakewood district is really cool. Older, established, leans Democrat. Most of the houses there have been there for decades.

My wife, (fudge stripe cookays), says that a number of the Dallas cowboys live in the Valley Ranch vicinity.

Expect to be surrounded by Repubs.

You should move out to Rowlett. We are establishing a Democrat colony here. ;)

If you move to DFW before the end of October, let us know, we're having a kick-ass Halloween party.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Pricey depends on where you are coming from.

I moved here (Collin Co. "hinterlands" of Bush/Limbaughmania) from San Diego where you might pay $500K and up for a 1400 square foot 1960's or 70's vintage fixer upper. Same prices here will buy a McMansion with cherubs spitting champagne into your indoor/outdoor swimming pool. Yard about the same size though. I exaggerate but not that much, LOL.

[fudge stripe cookays]

4. Hey DTBK--

Check out these areas--

Get a map--

Lower Greenville (older 20s-30s bungalows with lots of newer teardowns mixed in, cool restaurants and clubs) bounded by Hwy 75, Mockingbird, Ross, Skillman.

Lakewood (about the same, more stores, less clubbing) bounded by Skillman, La Vista, Grand, Mockingbird.

Little Forest Hills (kind if a mini Austin in Dallas, Crispini's neighborhood) bounded by approximately Garland Road, Highland, Ferguson, and Buckner

White Rock Lake is close recreation for the above three (with a dog park too)

Oak Lawn (same types of architecture, plus lots of ultramodern condo style places; our gay neighborhood, with lots of cool straights mixed in) bounded by approximately Inwood, Maple, Lemmon and 35

Winnetka Heights or Kessler Park in Oak Cliff (Oak Cliff is experiencing somewhat of a Rennaissance; formerly, and in some parts still rundown, and gang-infested, Oak Cliff has historically been the mostly black neighborhood. But some of the historic architecture there is not to be believed! Within the last 10 years, many gays began moving in here, and Bishop Arts has become an eclectic, very fun shopping area. Some of the neighborhhoods around it have begun to see improvements as well. Bishop Arts is bordered by I-35, 8th, Jefferson, and Davis, I think.
http://www.winnetkaheights.com/

These are going to be your Big 5 in town as far as finding lots of Dems. We are scattered around, of course, but those are your best bets for having great neighbors.

If I were you I would avoid any mention of Pleasant Grove in ads, and most mentions of Oak Cliff. Highland Park is EXTREMELY high dollar, snooty Repubs. Much of North Dallas is nouveau riche versions of the same.

Also keep in mind if you like having regular access to alcohol. Here in Dallas, we have this annoying thing left over from Prohibition where city fathers left it up to individual areas whether they wanted to sell booze or not. There are areas here ("dry") where you cain't buy nothin, cuz it's Unchristian. Then there are "wet" areas, where you can get it all. "Damp" areas sell beer and wine, but no hard liquor. Just a tip. It sucks having to go into town for a 6 pack!

The great thing about living out in the "The Hinterlands" as crispini calls it, is that you forge VERY strong relationships with your Democrat friends out of necessity.

I CAN tell you that out here in Rowlett, our Rockwall County Democratic club is getting a HUGE flux of new folks and new interest, so much so that we're looking into getting a storefront for our organization. We went from 15-20 attending meetings last year to over 60 per meeting now. And we're like 85% Repub out here.

Valley Ranch will give you luxury and beautiful real estate, b ut you'll be AWFUL lonely out there.

Good luck! LEt us know when you make it so we can send you an invite to our next DFW gathering (our the aforementioned Halloween party!)

FSC

[lpricanprynces]

6. I grew up in Irving

Valley Ranch is nice, but it still is Irving, which isn't so nice anymore. I think Valley Ranchers use Coppell ISD, so that might be OK if you have kids. No mall, but they have really built up a lot of shopping centers and restaraunts around there, and everything is landscaped beautifully. If you're really into suburbia, it should be perfect for you.

Incidentally, I live in Frisco, and the other day at Stonebriar Mall, there were six cars in a row had Kerry stickers on them. :)

[fudge stripe cookays]

7. No SHIT???

That's even better than I would have expected! Perhaps they parked together one purpose?

crispini and I work together, and the other day she alerted me to several other anonymous Kerry supporters at work. Now, we all park together on the side of our building, making a statement of uniformity like that! we're aiming for 5 or 6 if we can get there. Then, who knows?

FSC

[anarchy1999]

8. Welcome to Dallas, I would not move to Valley Ranch if I was paid to.

Are you both going to be working at Southwestern Medical Center or split? Important question to ask, traffic to Southwestern, coming and going is brutal. Many nicer places to be unless you just like sprawl, chain restaurants, Super Wal-Marts, Mega theaters, etc, etc. Many more nicer and cooler places to live in Dallas. I've lived here since '69 and Valley ranch was, in my teens, nothing but beautiful rolling farmland. FSC gave a pretty good break down. Another pocket in North Dallas to consider Richardson. Centrally located and some really nice neighborhoods, along with directly south of LBJ and east to Central Expwy stretching west to Marsh Lane and south to Northwest Highway, otherwise known as Loop 12.

If you want more help on nice places to live in this town just ask. Are you both going to be working and where. Commutes in this town can be absolute hell.