Welcome to Dallas! I hope you won't miss the snow! lol There are lots of good options for you to consider. The closest area to Baylor - 10 minutes is Lakewood. It can be a bit pricey and unfortunately is in Dallas ISD (which is horrible!) Lakewood Elementary is pretty good and so is Woodrow Willson HS, but I am not sure about the middle school. There are other areas of East Dallas that would be nice, but the schools are hit or miss. Lake Highlands is about a 20 minute commute and is a very desirable location because it is in Dallas city limits but Richardson ISD. Homes go fast there and many sell before they are even on the market. It is probably not as diverse.
You will find that 500K will get you a very nice home in one of Dallas's many suburbs and a much better school district. Most of these commutes would range between 30-45 minutes. Richardson and Plano are great, but taking Central Expressway can be a pain.
I live in Garland, which is NE of Dallas. Garland ISD is a great school district. They have an awesome talented and gifted program that begins in K and several other quality magnet programs. GISD also includes the cities of Rowlett and Sachse. Rowlett has won several awards lately as best small city, etc. http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/4304120/rowlett-tx.... Rockwell is a little farther north of Rowlett and also has great schools. The only problem is that traffic on I-30 to get to Baylor can be a huge headache at times. There is a long bridge that goes over a lake and if you happen to be on that bridge when there is a wreck, you have no where to go. There is a light rail system, DART that connects Garland/Rowlett to Baylor, but it has many stops and takes over an hour. I have a neighbor that works at Baylor and she takes DART and loves it. She said it is nice to be able to relax and read and not have to fight the traffic. One of the things I like about Garland, is that I can get most anywhere without having to get on a freeway. Garland Road becomes Gaston Ave and is a straight shot to Baylor. Depending on whether you are in South Garland or North Garland it would be a 30 - 45 minute commute, but without the possible 1-2 hour freeway back ups that happen frequently.
All of the schools will be diverse - my kids have friends from a variety of races and nationalities. This is a good tool to check out schools - www.greatschools.org/. All commutes will have some traffic problems unless you are right near Baylor.