Living in North Richland Hills, TX

North Richland Hills, or NRH, is a Mid-Cities suburb about 10 miles northeast of downtown Fort Worth. With about 70,000 residents it's the third-largest city in Tarrant County, and it has its own water park, two commuter rail stations and a walkable town center called HomeTown.

Getting around

Loop 820 runs through the southwest part of the city, and Davis Boulevard, Precinct Line Road, Mid-Cities Boulevard and North Tarrant Parkway handle most local traffic. NRH has two TEXRail stations, North Richland Hills/Iron Horse and North Richland Hills/Smithfield, with trains running to downtown Fort Worth in one direction and DFW Airport's Terminal B in the other. Downtown Dallas is about 30 miles east.

Things to do

NRH2O Family Water Park, the city's water park, open in the summer
Iron Horse Golf Course, a public golf course that gave the nearby rail station its name
NRH Centre, an 86,000-square-foot recreation center with an indoor pool, gyms and one of the longest indoor walking tracks in Texas
HomeTown, home to the central library, The Lakes at HomeTown and Walker's Creek Park
The Cotton Belt Trail, which connects NRH to Colleyville and Grapevine

Schools

Most of North Richland Hills is served by Birdville ISD, and the northernmost part of the city is in Keller ISD. Because the line runs through the city, I always confirm the school assignment for a specific address.

Homes and neighborhoods

NRH has a wide range of home ages. The southern part of the city, where NRH began in the 1950s, has many established neighborhoods, while the north side generally has newer homes. HomeTown is a 287-acre master-planned area between Mid-Cities Boulevard and SH 26, planned for about 1,000 homes along with shops and offices.

A little history

In 1952, Clarence Jones began turning his dairy farm into a neighborhood and named it after the successful Richland Hills development to the south. Residents voted to incorporate in 1953, and the older community of Smithfield was annexed by 1960.