Job Interview in Irving, TX

[goodygumdrops]

Hi fellow MDCers,

I have a job interview in Irving, TX this coming Friday.  Actually, it's a telephone interview as I live 10 hours away so I am curious if anyone can tell what it is like to live in that area.  I will certainly visit before I decide for certain but any info helps. 

A little about me, I am soon to be divorced with a four year old son.  My job will be as a maternal child health professional.  I'm assuming Dallas isn't very crunchy but I just thought I'd see what to expect.

Thanks,

goodygumdrops

[Night_Nurse]

Well, Irving itself is very culturally/racially diverse. So, you'll see lots of different people and ideas. Dallas/Fort Worth does have some crunchy "pockets" but it's still relatively conservative. I guess it depends what area of crunchy you're looking for. Some people homeschool but most don't. Public transportation isn't great but I think they are trying to work on it. My husband used to live and work in Irving. He took the bus twice. It took him over 1 hr to get some place he could drive in about 8 min.  I worked as an OB nurse for over a decade. D/FW still has a very high circumcision rate.  About 60 - 70% of mamas try to breastfeed (that's a guess but that seemed pretty accurate for the hospital where I work). If you wear our baby or nurse in public I don't think most people here would stare but it's also not a hugely common thing that I've seen. We do have birth centers and plenty of midwives but hosp. birth w/ induction and epidural is very typical.

Let us know specifically what you're looking for and we'll see if we can provide more answers.

[goodygumdrops]

Thanks Night Nurse. 

Let me see...  Well, I would love to get some recommendations for areas to live, schools districts etc.  My son is in Montessori and I would like to keep him in the same kind of program but if there is an stellar school district in the area, I would also consider this.

I will not likely buy a house in the area because I don't plan on staying longer than two years.  I am going to be applying for a PhD program and I hope to get in a year or two from now.  I would love to rent a house but I'm not sure what to expect cost wise. 

What about childrens activities?  The Zoo and Aquarium seem interesting. 

[JoEngland]

I live in East Dallas, and it's pretty crunchy here. Since you're looking at a job in Irving, though, which is on the Northwest side of town, I'd consider perhaps something in Richardson, which is also multi-cultural (seriously, some of the best Dim Sum I've ever had), but also has really great network of crunchy folks, including some homeschoolers. 

Edited to add: Richardson also has some pretty good schools, too. And it's home to the University of Texas at Dallas.

Now, If you want uber crunchy in Dallas, the place to be is anywhere near a historic district, but especially on the East side.

Seriously, though, if you have any questions about location, feel free to message me. I'm more than happy to help!

[Night_Nurse]

How did the interview go???

I don't know too much about Dallas or Irving ISD. Honestly, I've never really heard glowing recommendations of either one but people tend to voice complaints more than praises so I'm not sure. I also do not know of Montessori in that area but I'd bet they have them. My oldest went to a wonderful Montessori elementary in Denton county! I also don't know much about neighborhoods in Irving but my husband had an apartment in Irving, near Las Colinas when we dated and it was very nice, relatively quiet & crime free. That was 15 years ago though, I'm not sure how much it's changed.

D/FW does have lots of children's activities. Lots of parks, children's theater for plays (we went to one at the Irving theater a long time ago). I prefer the Fort Worth zoo over the Dallas one but both are fine. We have several water parks and Six Flags. We have several "farms" in the area where kids can get a hands-on adventure from days gone by (Ft Worth also has the Log Cabin Village). Art museums in both Dallas & Ft Worth offer special days for kids of family nights and they also have the science museums. Dallas has two aquariums - we've been to both and both are enjoyable. The aquarium at Fair Park is more affordable and they have many other museums there in the facility to explore. Fair Park also has paddle boats you can rent. The Heard Museum in McKinney is fun and the Fossil Rim wildlife park in Glen Rose is absolutely outstanding. The nice thing about D/FW is that you pretty much can find anything you're looking for within a 1 or 1.5 hour drive (or less).

Good luck to you! 

[smeep]

Dallas is a lot crunchier than most people expect! It just depends on where in Dallas you are. My mom had all of us at home and for quite some time I was under the assumption that hb was the norm (until I was old enough to notice otherwise), I saw more bf babies than bottlfed babies, etc., and it was all because my parents were around mostly crunchy people. There are loads of us, just gotta find 'em! :) 

Originally Posted by Night_Nurse 

Public transportation isn't great but I think they are trying to work on it. My husband used to live and work in Irving. He took the bus twice. It took him over 1 hr to get some place he could drive in about 8 min.

It depends on where you live. With rare exception (like you live in Plano, work in downtown Dallas, the train is faster than rush hour traffic), Otherwise....yeah, it sucks timewise. It was faster for me to bike 4 miles (while in my first trimester!) than to take the bus and train there. It was 30 minutes, as opposed to an hour minimum on DART (a 10 minute drive in the car, ugh). Anyway...

Originally Posted by Night_Nurse 

About 60 - 70% of mamas try to breastfeed (that's a guess but that seemed pretty accurate for the hospital where I work). If you wear our baby or nurse in public I don't think most people here would stare but it's also not a hugely common thing that I've seen. 

It does seem that the local hospitals are becoming more and more breastfeeding friendly! At least from what I've heard. I do know for a fact that Parkland has improved very, very much. The new hospital they're building won't even have a well baby nursery, only NICU! My friend works there (NICU nurse) and she said many of the staff are becoming IBCLC certified. I'm amazed.

I agree with the babywearing/NIP. Some places have a lot more (I worked at Central Market for 1 1/2 years and we had a good number of mamas wearing their babies, and I saw a few NIP, though obviously not as many as I'd like!). They're around, though. :) 

Originally Posted by goodygumdrops 

Thanks Night Nurse. 

Let me see...  Well, I would love to get some recommendations for areas to live, schools districts etc.  My son is in Montessori and I would like to keep him in the same kind of program but if there is an stellar school district in the area, I would also consider this.

I will not likely buy a house in the area because I don't plan on staying longer than two years.  I am going to be applying for a PhD program and I hope to get in a year or two from now.  I would love to rent a house but I'm not sure what to expect cost wise. 

What about childrens activities?  The Zoo and Aquarium seem interesting. 

My mom works for Montessori of Las Colinas (Irving) and my son goes there, so I can vouch that it's a good school. It only goes through primary (up to kindergarten), though. East Dallas Community School is where I went as a child (my mom used to work there as well). But there are some Montessori schools that really aren't true Montessori, so you'll want to ask around and weed those out.

I live in East Dallas, absolutely love it. Lots of crunchies compared to a lot of other areas. Can't really say about any other areas. It is more expensive to live IN Dallas as opposed to the outer areas (like Irving). 

The zoo and aquarium are great. You can take the train straight to the zoo. If you're going from Irving, you can take the TRE train downtown and then take the red line - not usually worth it if you have to take the TRE too due to the limited times it runs, but it is a great treat for kiddos since they always love trains! There are also various splash parks, lakes, etc., and there are AP mom groups who do get togethers at various places.