Thoughts on living in Southlake, Texas
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1/22/2006
My husband moved our family to Southlake 11 years ago from the northeast because of a job relocation. We moved to Southlake because the schools are rated high for the state. In general, my children received a good education here but the schools do not begin to compare to the education system in the northeast. Southlake has a great brand new "downtown" area and there is a nice community feel to the area. Beware, there are many high end, expensive homes here and Southlake has a negative image in the surrounding areas as being "snobby, and wealthy". Not true (we are an example of the fact) but I have found myself not wanting to tell people that I live in Southlake since the response is "oh, you must be rich". Be aware that property taxes are VERY high here and will continue to go higher as the district is property tax wealthy and Texas has a state mandate which taxes property wealthy areas to fund the poor school districts in the state, this is non-affectionately know as "Robyn Hood", taking from the rich to give to the poor. The schools are also highly competitive in all areas. Both of my children played in the high school band but there is a lot of pressure to be "number one" here in all areas of school competition. One extreme of this is the Carroll High School Football team, the State Football Champions in the 5A district. There are shades of "Friday Night Lights" here, there is an expectation that since we are Southlake Carroll we are supposed to always win. Keep that in mind if you have kids in sports. Sometimes it borders on being unhealthy. But frankly, this is Texas, the football capitol of the US. You will probably find this attitude in any town in Texas. The town is full of transplants from all areas of the country so don't worry about being ostracized for being a newcomer. But, this is also a highly conservative Republican area; liberals beware!
Cheryl | Southlake, TX