We had been renting a small house in a suburb. The place was owned by the grandson of a woman who had passed away and left it to him. The whole street was made up of homes that were now rented out that were once occupied by the residents who built the homes. Without the investment in the land that the original owners had, the area went downhill fast. Renters were coming and going, and bad stuff started happening on our once quiet street. I asked my wife if she would start looking for apartments in North Dallas that were nice and affordable.

I was talking to an original homeowner on the street. He and his wife were the only ones remaining. They said they were worried when we moved in years ago that we would be trouble. We never were, but a few of the new neighbors are. Not many, just enough to ruin our little community. There is nothing we can do to get the landlords to stop renting to bad people, so we decided to just move to a better place. We made the final decision when the last original owner on the block put his house up for sale. He was going to take a hit on the selling price, but the community was not getting any better.

We moved to the Oaks of North Dallas, and we have been very happy there. It is a nice place for us with all kinds of amenities we did not have at the rental house. They have a dog park for our dog, Chubbs, and the kids are now able to go to the Plano School District. That is a big difference right there that made it worth moving. The fact that they have three swimming pools and free gated parking is nice too.