Keller

North Keller is on a mission to become the most family-friendly suburb in Texas. Located about 20 miles outside Downtown Fort Worth, North Keller is known for its combination of small-town charm, community amenities and a stellar school system, which helps it appeal to kids, parents and singles alike. “Keller provides a real sense of family and community,” says Denise Johnson, broker associate and owner of Torelli Properties at Compass. North Keller’s housing stock is quite varied, with different pockets of homes offering vastly different lifestyles. “You’ll definitely find more new construction on the north side,” Johnson adds. Compact subdivisions like Marshall Ridge offer a true suburban neighborhood feel with spacious, tall and brick-clad homes bordered by manicured lawns and clean sidewalks. These $600,000 to $800,000 homes take up most of their quarter-acre lots, but you’ll still have room for a small pool or backyard patio. Moving east, traditional suburban vibes transition to a more rural atmosphere, with ranch-style homes from the 1970s spread out and set back from the street by winding driveways and towering oak trees. Here, you’re more likely to find lots of at least a half-acre, but you’re less likely to have sidewalks and streetlights. With the best of both worlds and a heaping spoonful of elegance, developments such as the Manors at Waterford present a high-end experience and a price tag to match. “This is where you get privacy, seclusion and custom-built homes, and it’s popular with families of executives that work in Dallas or Fort Worth,” Johnson says. Usually listed for around $2 million, these five-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot homes stand out with French Countryside and Tudor-style architecture, and many properties include private pools and regal landscaping. There may be about an acre between you and your nearest neighbor, but lighted sidewalks make the area safe and easy to navigate. But no matter which lifestyle you choose, you’ll be purchasing a home in the award-winning Keller Independent School District, in which very few schools have a grade below A on Niche. Many students will start their academic career at Keller-Harvel Elementary, a Kindergarten through fourth grade institution, before completing fifth and sixth grade at the nearby Bear Creek Intermediate School. After spending two years at Keller Middle, students can join one of the many award-winning fine and performing arts groups at Keller High School, which also boasts a grade of A on Niche. Here, interested students can audition for the Indianettes dance and drill team, which has won numerous national championships for both solo and group work over the last decade. The team even hosts an annual indoor craft show, which helps fundraising efforts while bringing the community together. When it comes to bringing the community together, though, there’s no better place than The Keller Pointe. This state-of-the-art community center is most popular for its monumental indoor and outdoor water park, complete with towering slides, splash zones and wading pools. You can also sign up for group fitness classes or attend one of the many events held here, which include holiday breakfasts with Santa and a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt. After spending some time on the shaded playground, you can explore the colorfully adorned Keller Rock Art Trail, where visitors are encouraged to add to the collection of whimsically painted rocks. From here, you can easily connect to the smoothly paved Big Bear Creek Greenbelt trail, which leads west to 44-acre Bear Creek Park. With everything from a kids’ sandbox to sand volleyball courts, Bear Creek Park is the community’s go-to spot for outdoor sports and recreation. And if that’s not enough, you’ll find an additional 20 acres with a playground, half-mile bike trail and picnic pavilion at nearby Overton Ridge Park. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, hop in the car and head down to Keller Parkway for a bit to eat. With no public transportation in the city, Keller Parkway acts as the area’s main east-west artery. Here, you’ll find international options such as Ashim’s Eastern-Euro Buffet, where you’ll be greeted by the warm aroma of homemade beef kabobs and falafel. Just down the street, Joe’s Pizza and Pasta invites you to take your tastebuds on a trip to Italy with rich pasta dishes and huge calzones. If you’d prefer to pick up ingredients for your own pizza night, you’ll find everything you need at the Kroger just south of Keller Parkway. And across the parking lot, you can catch the latest release at the Cinépolis Moviehouse. Surrounded by highways, North Keller makes it easy to explore shopping districts like Downtown Fort Worth and outdoor recreation hot spots like Lake Grapevine, which is less than 8 miles away. With a highly regarded school system, community pride and homes fit for every lifestyle, North Keller offers homebuyers a family-friendly suburban experience in Texas.

Named after the park at its center, Bear Creek Park has access to the rest of the Keller parks, local businesses to the west and highly rated schools. “Keller is kind of in this little pocket with everything surrounding it,” says Deanne Wagner, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty who has been in real estate for 9 years. “You find a little bit of rural area with lots of trails, parks and trees.” The area is filled with streets that weave and bob through hills, and bikes have become increasingly popular through the area. “Keller has been big on connecting anything,” says Wagner. “You can bike all over the place on the park system.” With the park at its center, residents are also close to the main activities within Keller, such as the Keller Farmers Market and holiday events at the town hall, just east of the neighborhood. Homes consist of a mixture of ranch-style and New Traditional throughout the streets. Ranch-style home prices range between $300,000 to 450,000 while New Traditional styles can range from $650,000 to $1.3 million. Properties tend to be larger, and Keller, as a town, has few spots left for new construction. “It’s built out pretty well,” says Wagner. A ranch-style home may be torn down in order to build a custom built or New Traditional home on the same lot. Some streets may have ranch-styles filling the area with a single New Traditional home in the middle. Not every road has sidewalks, although the ones with more recently built homes tend to. “We’re surrounded by multi-million dollar homes to the north and east,” says Wagner. “We seem to see our prices going up in response.” Students living north of Bear Creek Parkway will begin at Keller-Harvel Elementary for kindergarten through fourth grade before moving to Bear Creek Intermediate for fifth and sixth grade and then Keller Middle for seventh and eighth. South of Bear Creek Parkway, students begin at Willis Lane Elementary for kindergarten through fourth grade before moving to Indian Springs for fifth through eighth grade. Both routes lead to Keller High School, where students can take Advanced Placement courses. All of the schools receive an A from Niche. Bear Creek Park sits in the middle of the neighborhood and acts as a hub for all the trails and parks within Keller. This 44-acre park sits adjacent to the pond and creek and has grills for adults to use as children explore the playground. From Bear Creek Park, trails spread through the rest of Keller, such as the Apache Trail leading to the Keller Sports Park. The Keller Sports Park has a total of 31 sport fields, the Blue Sky Indoor Soccer Complex and a wildflower meadow. Just east of the neighborhood, The Keller Pointe recreation center has an indoor and outdoor pool alongside fitness areas and a gymnasium. On South Main Street, eateries and local shops line the street. “Keller is starting to attract a log of good restaurants and mom-and-pop stores,” says Wagner. “DeVivo Brothers are a staple, as is FnG Eats.” Hush Sushi Kitchen and Bar sells family recipes and sake, and Cadence Cyclery of Keller provides bike servicing and trade-ins. Within Bear Creek Park, the Keller Farmers Market sets up every Saturday, rain or shine, with over 150 vendors throughout the season. One of the regulations for the market is that all the products sold must be grown or produced within 150 miles of the Keller Farmers Market. For groceries, a Sam’s Club is just west of Main Street along Golden Triangle Boulevard. U.S. Route 377 acts as the western border for most of the neighborhood and runs parallel to Interstate 35E, but Keller itself acts as more of a bedroom community and does not have direct contact with any interstate highways. Likewise, the neighborhood does not have public transportation. “It’s close to major highways and you can get to Dallas in 25 or 30 minutes, to the airport in 15,” Wagner says. The neighborhood may not have bike lanes, but it isn’t uncommon to see bikes on the roads or the park trails. Keller Lights, held the day before the Fourth of July, has live music, food trucks and a hot dog-eating contest before finishing the day with a fireworks show at the town hall. “There’s lots of different things going on,” says Wagner. “The Parks and Rec is good at scheduling things and letting residents know about it.”

The Highland Oaks community in Keller offers homeowners picturesque suburban streets, elegant homes and a convenient location. “Highland Oaks is a master-planned community that has everything people are looking for in a community, including a pool, a playground and running trails. Residents are about five minutes from all sorts of eateries and shopping. And it’s fairly close to the Southlake Town Square area, which has every amenity known to man,” says Corey Wrenn, a Realtor with Weichert Realty. Access to shopping areas and parks, and an exceptionally low crime score of 1/10 on the CAP Index, make this suburban neighborhood particularly attractive. The homes throughout Highland Oaks are stately and large, built from brick and of various architectural styles, including New Traditional French Provincial-style, Colonial Revival and Tudor. Big front-facing windows in homes let in the Texas sunshine, and driveways lead to two-car garages. Tall mature trees are plentiful and provide shade for manicured front lawns and along the wide sidewalks lining the streets. Quiet roads curve throughout the neighborhood, often ending in cul-de-sacs, which means through traffic is rare. It is a regular sight here to see kids riding their bicycles and parents pushing strollers. Homebuyers can expect to pay between $440,000 for a 3-bedroom ranch-style to around $1.1 million for a 5-bedroom Tudor-style home. The neighborhood is served by the Keller Independent School District. Children attending public school in Highland Oaks begin their education at Shady Grove Elementary, which holds an A rating from Niche and has a 12-1 student-teacher ratio. From there, students continue to Indian Springs Middle, with an A rating and a 14-1 student-teacher ratio. Keller High also boasts an A rating and has a 17-1 student-teacher ratio. The school has an award-winning marching band, which won the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Shield in 2015 and participated in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2018. When residents want to get outside in the fresh air, Cross Timbers Park in North Richland Hills has over 100 sprawling acres of green space and amenities. Lighted baseball fields are home to several local Little League teams. Fan-filled bleachers and a concession building make the park a hive of activity on game nights. A nearly two-mile-long trail winds along the park’s perimeter, providing a scenic route for hikers and cyclists. Children flock to the large playground, as overhead shade structures covering the play areas allow kids to swing, slide and climb on even the hottest summer days. The park is home to a nature preserve that houses a variety of birds and wildlife, so birdwatchers can be on the lookout for feathered friends. A half-mile from the neighborhood, at the intersection of Rufe Snow Drive and North Tarrant Parkway, is Keller Place, a shopping center home to a variety of salons, fast food shops and a Kroger. Just across the parkway, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Superior Urgent Care stand ready to help residents out with homeowner and physical upkeep. For a full day shopping experience, residents can make the 8-mile drive to Southlake Town Square. The destination is worth the trip. The 130-park features more than 100 merchants and boutiques, top retailers and restaurants as well as green spaces and glittering water fountains. Concerts, art shows and special events are regular occurrences. When it comes to dining out closer to home, residents have their pick of local eateries, including Niki’s Italian Bistro, which has served the community since 1990. Indulge in their signature dish, Niki’s Fettuccine, which features ham, fresh mushrooms and broccoli in a creamy white sauce. In October, Keller residents don their running shoes to support the Community Storehouse’s annual Boo Run. Participants can sign up for a 1-mile, 5k or 10k run. Following the event, runners and watchers celebrate with a community festival that includes food trucks, costume contests, face-painting and a kids’ zone. Proceeds benefit underserved children. Commuters may have to travel a bit to reach major highways, but North Tarrant Parkway connects to I-35 West, which runs south to Fort Worth. Drivers destined for Dallas can take Highway 114. The neighborhood is 20 miles from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. This is a car-dependent neighborhood.