Originally Posted by MWright

With no kids, I'd shy away from the suburbs. Plenty of time for that later if it floats your boat. If I were you, I'd look into living in actual Dallas or Ft. Worth. Plenty of nice neighborhoods north of downtown Dallas. Lake Highlands (decent schools because it's part of Richardson ISD), Preston Hollow, Midway Hollow, and North Dallas/St. Rita neighborhood.

Plenty on the market in all of those areas (Preston Hollow will be tough, but you might find a fixer-upper) for less than $400k. 10 minutes to downtown/uptown (restaurants/bars/shopping), situated in between Northpark Mall and the Galleria (two of the best malls in the metroplex), and 15-25 minutes from the employee lot.

Only drawback I can come up with is access to good golf courses with affordable prices, unless you join a country club. There's only 3 or 4 courses I consider playable (not burnt out deadpan year round) within a 20 minutes of the city center. Easy fix is to join one of the country clubs young executive programs, which offer membership at lower rates (~$250/month) until you turn 40. Then they'll hit you up for an initiation fee and higher dues.