re: Which areas of "Greater Dallas" should I avoid at ALL costs?

I'd stay away from Mesquite. If you don't mind me asking, what prove range are you looking in? There's some really nice areas in Garland and there are some places that you don't want to go near. Part of it is all Asian and English isn't spoken in that part of town, and some of it is ghetto dangerous. Where exactly are you working? 10 miles one way can be 15 minutes and 10 miles the other way could be 45.

Generally, I'd look in Richardson, Plano, Garland (again depending on budget) or maybe somewhere like Farmers Branch. The thing is there's really nice areas in every "city" so you really just have to know exactly where you are looking and all the cities kind of run together.