Anybody live in this area that can provide some input on pros/cons?

We are a couple in our mid-thirties looking around the area and it seems fairly nice and ideal location for both our commutes.

Absolutely beautiful area. We looked there at one point.

Historical con was lack of grocery stores nearby that wouldn't get you shot walking through the parking lot.

Tons of development over there in past few years so that might have changed?

I'm about your age, I moved here in 2014 and it was the best decision we ever made. I've met infinity more highly educated friends here (including a ton of ags) than ever in the burbs. Beautiful topography and supposedly getting a sprouts at fort worth and hampton. The area is pricey right now tho...Got any questions, fire away

Ha I think that attitude came from me first moving to the addison area which is where I thought I would love to live. I quickly found out how soulless it is...

Always heard it was a pretty great place to be, but yeah, lack of amenities and price, maybe public schools were the traditional negatives.

albatross said:

---

Always heard it was a pretty great place to be, but yeah, lack of amenities and price, maybe public schools were the traditional negatives.

---

Yes, this too. Grocery stores and schools were deal killers.

I just haven't been down there in about 5 years so not sure if that has improved. I doubt the school situation has improved because you can't turn that around as fast, but sounds like a grocery store is in the works.

My understanding Rosemont EL is not bad, but then you end up at Sunset HS, which I think is halfway decent, but again a big question mark.

albatross said:

---

My understanding Rosemont EL is not bad, but then you end up at Sunset HS.

---

Yeah, that's kind of the outcome with almost all of DISD. You can find decent elementary and middle schools in pockets but then they all feed into high school hellholes.

About the only one that I would have been ok with was Woodrow Wilson coming out of Lakewood because it had heavy parent involvement. Not sure what they look like these days because we moved away 6 years ago.

Yeah we started out with around 10 families we met in the hood at rosemont for my kidos kindergarten. Now he's in 5th grafe and only 2 families are left at rosemont. Disd is a choice district so you can go to any campus in disd. You just have to apply and be accepted. It doesn't seem to be a problem if you have a smart kido and involved family.

The magnate programs at DISD are strong. You don't have to get stuck in a bad middle or high school. You just have to be able to get your kids into those good schools, which is partially about your child's ability and partially about the parent being organized and ready for applications. There is opportunity. For middle co-ed, for instance, Travis TAG is great, and a lot of those kids go to Townview For girls only, Irma Rangel is one of the top rated Middle and High Schools in Texas. Also, you can enroll your kids at Woodrow in the IB program as school choice.

We can deal with the grocery situation. We live in an apartment building near Methodist Dallas so have come to terms with the lack of good options in the general area. Having a Sprouts would be great.

We were curious about the Rosemont Elementary situation...appreciate the input on that. I was not aware of the choices for middle and high school with DISD.

Do most of those who you knew who start at Rosemont Elementary end up going to private school for middle/high school?

Good to know there are some Aggies living in the area.

50/50 on the ms/hs question. Rosemont actually has an awesome ms but you have to apply for that also. Greiner ms gets good grades on its academy side but your kid may get thrown in with gen pop during pe and such. Most times I see you either pay 15k for hs in oak cliff or you get a golf membership and live in plano. To each their own however I have stevens park to fall back on and I love oak cliff

Demasiado said:

---

A bunch of high schools in disd look nicer than any building I went to at a@m. Townview had 2 schools in the top 10 in the nation. Booker t has a more kids get into juliard than any other hs in Texas. You can find quality public education

---

Well....yeah....but Booker T is one of the best high schools in the country and is highly unique. Vast majority of kids aren't getting into it. You have to apply and audition.

Demasiado said:

---

A bunch of high schools in disd look nicer than any building I went to at a@m. Townview had 2 schools in the top 10 in the nation. Booker t has a more kids get into juliard than any other hs in Texas. You can find quality public education

---

No question, but I have known a few families who failed to get into one of the few good highschools and were forced into private schools.

Most of the kids I know that got into booker t, were accepted for academics or stage design. Not everything is preforming arts. There is a lot of visual arts stuff also. It definitely helps now that they started policing out of district kids from getting in

I guess that depends on what your definition of a good hs is... most times people mean the school finishes look new and nice. I'm in the school construction sector. Frisco isd rick reedy was the nicest school I'd ever seen but south oak cliff hs latest renovation makes it look almost as nice. Both way better than the a&m west campus buildings I was in back in the day

Demasiado said:

---

I guess that depends on what your definition of a good hs is... most times people mean the school finishes look new and nice. I'm in the school construction sector. Frisco isd rick reedy was the nicest school I'd ever seen but south oak cliff hs latest renovation makes it look almost as nice. Both way better than the a&m west campus buildings I was in back in the day

---

Good, as in good academically and prepares kids for college. Most of DISD is abysmal in that regard.

Disd is dealing with a lot of abandoned kids since it is an inner city district, immigrants, single parent, etc. Those numbers get skewed but you would be surprised at how many kids get into ivy league level schools. The bottom is more pronounced but the top is as good as any district. I think all of us on here would be very active in our kids education but for many that is not the case

Demasiado said:

---

Most of the kids I know that got into booker t, were accepted for academics or stage design. Not everything is preforming arts. There is a lot of visual arts stuff also. It definitely helps now that they started policing out of district kids from getting in

---

I don't doubt it. However, Booker T is an extreme outlier and not remotely indicative of DISD. I just don't think it's fair to include them as representative of DISD.

Anywho, I'm about to derail so I'll stop!

Thank you for not derailing! It was nice to have a discussion that didn't devolve into politics. That was nice...

There are a TON of great DISD magnet options other then Booker T, so not really an extreme outlier.

Just a few here: https://thehub.dallasisd.org/2020/04/23/three-dallas-isd-schools-rank-top-20-among-nations-best-high-schools/

We're looking to buy in Kessler Park as well, but there has been a painful lack of inventory. If you know of any neighbors that want to sell (north of Colorado) and don't want to bother listing we're very flexible on terms and condition of the home.

Don't personally care about the school districts, other than ultimate resale value, but we're looking for a place to live for the next few decades at least. We've lived in UP for 12 years, but fell like the topography and people in Kessler Park are more our vibe.

You should broaden your search to North of Davis, north of Colorado you're probably looking at almost million dollar homes. They are building $800k townhouses at the corner of oak cliff blvd and Davis

I understand how the price rises north of Colorado, but so does the desirability of the lots and homes to us. There is more topography, and the homes feel architecturally designed. There are nice homes south of Colorado, of course, but most of them are on grid lots that feel more suburban and tract like. Nothing wrong with either, and I'm sure I'm using the wrong adjectives, but just saying what desirable to us about the area is much less prevalent almost as soon as you south of Colorado.

Wife and I moved over here in 2015 and are in our mid thirties now. We have loved it and it would take us a lot to leave the neighborhood.

For groceries:
Cox Market - has fresh produce and everything but a meat market. All of their chicken, beef, etc. is frozen
Whole Foods (uptown) - it's remarkably easy to hop on I30 to Woodall from this neighborhood so we run over there quite a bit
Tom Thumb - I go there from time to time and never had any issues, but I can see why some people may. I had the same reservations before we moved over here and can say that getting groceries has never been a problem/hastle.
Sprouts - read the same thing that we may be getting a Sprouts in the hood sometime soon

- We love having Bishop Arts so close by and go grab drinks/dinner at a couple places pretty often.
- Kessler Theatre is probably my favorite music venue in Dallas. It's small though so you don't get huge names there, but when it's a good band/artist it is very hard to beat that place
- Stevens Park is a nice little golf course to have in your neighborhood.
- If you have to commute I feel like this is a pretty good area for that.
- A sneaky pro to me is when you're traveling south to Houston/College Station/Austin because you can get south of town really easily.

Any family or friends that come over have always loved our neighborhood. To me it is kind of a hidden gem in Dallas. I didn't really know how cool the houses and everything were when we lived in uptown and were coming over on the weekends to Bishop Arts. We've been very happy here.

CavitationAG said:

---

Wife and I moved over here in 2015 and are in our mid thirties now. We have loved it and it would take us a lot to leave the neighborhood.

For groceries:
Cox Market - has fresh produce and everything but a meat market. All of their chicken, beef, etc. is frozen
Whole Foods (uptown) - it's remarkably easy to hop on I30 to Woodall from this neighborhood so we run over there quite a bit
Tom Thumb - I go there from time to time and never had any issues, but I can see why some people may. I had the same reservations before we moved over here and can say that getting groceries has never been a problem/hastle.
Sprouts - read the same thing that we may be getting a Sprouts in the hood sometime soon

- We love having Bishop Arts so close by and go grab drinks/dinner at a couple places pretty often.
- Kessler Theatre is probably my favorite music venue in Dallas. It's small though so you don't get huge names there, but when it's a good band/artist it is very hard to beat that place
- Stevens Park is a nice little golf course to have in your neighborhood.
- If you have to commute I feel like this is a pretty good area for that.
- A sneaky pro to me is when you're traveling south to Houston/College Station/Austin because you can get south of town really easily.

Any family or friends that come over have always loved our neighborhood. To me it is kind of a hidden gem in Dallas. I didn't really know how cool the houses and everything were when we lived in uptown and were coming over on the weekends to Bishop Arts. We've been very happy here.

---

Im not sure if I'm just hating on the Park Cities.....but If I had unlimited funds to build a custom home I would much rather live in Kessler Park or Lakewood than UP, or HP.

IMO the nice parts of East Dallas and Oak Cliff are nicer than their old money inner city counterparts in the Park Cities and North Dallas.

I've always thought Kessler Park was the prettiest neighborhood in Dallas....and most people don't know about it. Driving through that neighborhood with the hills, golf course, and beautiful old mansions does not feel like you are in North Texas.

The only real advantage the Park Cities has over Lakewood or Kessler Park is the ISD.

Almost everyone agrees with you, even those who love in HP.

I don't know. Nothing against Lakewood, but it just feels too far away from things to me. We're in UP and, all things being equal, I'd rather stay in our neighborhood than move to Lakewood. I guess that's the beauty of real estate, lots of different preferences with neighborhoods and houses to match them.

For example, this property is soo intriguing and tempting. It needs to be gutted due to mold, electric, plumbing, pet odors etc, but is an amazing house and lot with so much potential that has the vibe we like. I just don't really care for the neighborhood, which is ultimately a deal breaker. I know it's a lot farther east then you're talking about though.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9023-Capri-Dr-Dallas-TX-75238/26832119_zpid/

jamotoe1 said:

---

For example, this property is soo intriguing and tempting. It needs to be gutted due to mold, electric, plumbing, pet odors etc, but is an amazing house and lot with so much potential that has the vibe we like. I just don't really care for the neighborhood, which is ultimately a deal breaker. I know it's a lot farther east then you're talking about though.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9023-Capri-Dr-Dallas-TX-75238/26832119_zpid/

---

600k for that run down place in that neighborhood? Wow, real estate is out of control.

As a former denizen of East Dallas we loved living there but it was a nightmare to get anywhere in Dallas from there. Commuting out of there sucked hard.

Weekends were great though.

That is fantastic. There are a few other time capsules around the area.

I dated a chick that lived in kessler park. She had a cool house that was basically the original carriage house.

It was a cool place in a great neighborhood but going grocery shopping was a bit of a hassle.