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Gated Communities?
Hi there!
Quick question for everyone on what "the norm" is for DFW.
Apparently my Dad has been googling things (never a good sign....) and is convinced that DH & I need to live in a gated community in DFW. He said that this is very common and most neighborhoods are gated.
Is this true?!!? I've never heard of gated communities for regular-old neighborhoods. There are a few of them in the very, very wealthy parts of town here in LA - but still pretty rare.
We've been looking online at homes in Uptown, Lakewood area and most of them don't look like gated. Not sure if I need to change our search requirements.
Love that my Dad is still worried about me at 32, but now he's got me nervous that I'm looking in unsafe areas!!
Thanks in advance for your advice 
Re: Gated Communities?
The only communities that I know of that are gated are the wealthier ones. Most don't have a gate and they are still perfectly safe. It all depends on the area that you are looking in.
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Natural Cycle (8/7/13)- BFP! Beta #1 (9/10/13): 509 Progesterone: 18.64 Beta #2 (9/12/13): 1118
This is what I suspected. And hoped you would say. I already told my Dad he is "misinformed", so I was praying that I wouldn't have to go back and say that he's right
I have no idea where he got that idea, but I feel much better now.
FTR: we're looking in Uptown, Lakewood, M Streets (kind of...). And also Grapevine.
There are a lot of gated communities depending on where your looking, but I would definitely not call it the norm at all. You would probably be spending at least $300+ in most of those areas...usually more.
If he is thinking safety, I can offer personal experience that I lived in a nice gated apartment complex and was robbed. Awesome, huh?
Uhhh. Yeah. No. Don't think we'll be spending that much - no gate for us!! Yay!
CRAPPY on the apartment robbery - and it gives me the creeps.
DH travels a lot, so I think my Dad more wants to make sure I'm following other people's leads who know the neighborhoods as far as safety and what is normal....
Great point. It can almost be MORE dangerous because it can give a false sense of security...
Thanks everyone for the advice!!!!
I am from Grapevine, and still live there now. I don't think that there is a single gated community in Grapevine... other than apartment complexes.
I've seen some in Southlake and Colleyville, but they are the million-dollar homes in those. And even those communities are few and far between.
Bio
In Lakewood, if anything is gated, it's a private home. And even then you're talking about the newer McMansions (they tore down the old house and built a new one) and not some of the older homes. In Uptown, the apartment complexes/townhouses might be gated but it's just that little area. Dallas is just like every other big city--you have to be aware of your surroundings, etc.
Thank you everyone for your responses.
I realize that it sounded like a silly question, but different parts of the country live differently....so I thought that I would ask. Heaven forbid my Dad is right at some point and I don't listen to him.
TX-Bride - totally agree. It sounds like a pain, and so I'm relieved that I don't have to add it to my housing requirement list!
kate
I don'g what your budget is, but you can find plenty of nice neighborhoods, with great ISDs that are not gated but the zip code is as prestigious if not more.
Good luck home shopping! We have been in the Plano area for 9 months and just started looking, and we are no where near deciding which city, and which neighborhood we want to seriously consider. The choices are really over whelming at times.
My dad was the same way. Every once and a while, they're right.
I completely agree.
I think they're just like gated apartment complexes. They give off the perception of being more secure, but in reality, they're not.
If someone really wants to get in, all they have to do is follow behind someone who has a code. Real safe.
Agreed. I know someone already brought up University Park as being not gated, and the last I knew they literally have a 0% crime rate in U.P. Gates are all about perception and for the reasons PP just pointed out, they are in no way safer. Most of the time it seems like in the apartment complexes the gate is broken anyway...
You'll be just fine in an ungated neighborhood and I don't think it was a silly question at all. I would just do your research on crime rates, schools, etc. if you aren't familiar with the areas and then go from there.