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The problem with a city like Irving, is that it is surrounded on all sides by other cities that were once bedroom communities, but have now grown to be an unrecognizable mishmash, that is now the reality of the DFW metroplex. As a result, property values are unreal and priced out of a lot of people's price range.

Your 45 minute commute time, is doable from a lot of places, but only at certain times of the day. Some drive times would limit you to less than 10 miles from work.

After choosing your job, I would suggest driving to various locations, during your normal commute time, and find the one you feel you can tolerate best.
Unfortunately, finding a large segment of land, will probably mean driving a lot further.
I live in Johnson County and if I leave early enough in the morning, I can get to Irving in less than an hour. But if I try it after 7 am it can almost double.

Irving is serviced by the DART public transportation system, which, in my experience is clean and safe. You can also carry on any trains and busses. That may increase your overall commute time, but could allow you to live further out and utelize park and ride lots.

These are just suggestions, and if you are planning on buying property, don't be in a rush. I would wait until I was sure my job was where I would stay for a while, so that I wasn't stuck in one place that was perfect for one job, but would be a nightmare to have to drive to another.

Good luck, I'm sure there are members here who can give you more specific advice regarding various areas.