New York to Cobb County relocation (Atlanta, Smyrna: to rent, big house, landscaping)

[MaddisMom]

Can anybody help me??? I am in the begining stages of my relocation to the Atlanta area. I am thinking about going to Kennesaw. Can anyone please tell me if this is a good area or not. I have a 5 month old little girl so schools are a big deal. I am looking for a place that has a city/ small town feel. Also how is the traffic in this area?

Thanks Much

[TakeAhike]

Try to find housing close to your place of employment--then consider the schools etc.

Kennesaw is a good area and it has a lot of traffic. Note that the area around the Barrett Parkway is extremely congested and often identified as one of the worst intersections in the metro area.

You might also want to consider Smyrna and Acworth or Mableton.

I suppose suburban living is 'city with a small town feel' and that is what you will find in metro Atlanta. Atlanta has a 'business-like' ambience.

Do you want to rent or purchase a home of some sort?

What is your price range?

Posters can provide better FYI if they know more specifically what you prefer.

hth

sls

[sweettea1]

Yes, please respond with where you or your DH will be working, the type of community feel you're looking for and your price range for a house. This will help!

[MaddisMom]

I will be working from home but when I drop my daughter off at school I dont want to be stuck in traffic. I'm going to also llok at Acworth as suggested but I read that Smyrna had a lot of bad areas...please correct me if I'm wrong. My biggest thing is being sure my daughter gets a good education.

[atlantagreg30127]

Ok, well, Atlanta = traffic. There's no way around it. During rush hours (or school drop-off hours) then traffic is going to be very bad anywhere in the immediate metro area unless you find a place to live 3 miles from the school. It's not referred to by some as the "L.A. of the East" for nothing.

Once you figure out what school you're aiming at, then try to find a place CLOSE to it, otherwise you can look forward to this every morning around here...

[GF72]

Since education is so important you should avoid Mableton and Smyrna, they have the worst schools in Cobb County by a large margin.

The best schools in cobb county are in East Cobb, specifically the eastern part of East Cobb closer to Fulton County and the river. The western part of East Cobb has above average schools, but not top-ranking. The main problem with East Cobb is it doesn't have a "small town" feel at all, "sprawling suburbia" would be a much better description. The main streets are filled with strip malls and upscale retail chains and there aren't any ma and pa stores or village areas. However the majority of East Cobb (which is residential single-family houses) is very pretty, with dense forests, twisting roads, elevation changes, a few rivers, lots of parks, and big houses with lots of landscaping. Make sure you can afford it though, East Cobb is the most expensive place in cobb county (along with Vinings).

Kennesaw has probably the second best schools in Cobb County after East Cobb, above average overall, though not top ranking like the East Cobb schools. The city of Kennesaw certainly has much more of a small town feel with a little downtown and lots of historical sites, but the area commonly known as Kennesaw is much larger and includes the entire Town Center area as well as a lot of suburban west Cobb. Town Center has absolutely horrific traffic problems and densely packed strip malls as far as the eye can see, west cobb is basically suburbia but still developing and not as nice as East Cobb.

Acworth certainly qualifies for the whole small town thing but it's a little redneck-ish and slowly but surely suburbanizing with subdivisions popping up... the schools aren't that great though. It's also way up I-75, far from Atlanta.

If you want small town charm in Cobb County your best bet might be the little town of Vinings. Lots of forested, established homes near the river and there's a nice little city center, and Vinings has one of the best locations in metro Atlanta located at the intersection of I-75 and I-285. The main problems with Vinings though is that it is zoned to Smyrna's schools which as I mentioned are terrible. Most people who live in Vinings send their kids to private schools in neighboring Buckhead, which is costly, especially considering the fact that Vinings is a very expensive place to live.

[Go Blue 99]

GF72- I'd like to look up home prices for this eastern part of East Cobb that you mention. What school districts or zip codes should I use when I do a home search online?
Also, any idea how the traffic from Eastern East Cobb is to 400 and 75?

thanks!

[chiefs fan]

If you are looking at West Cobb (Acworth/Kennesaw area), the Harrison HS and Kennesaw Mtn. HS areas are nice. Allatoona HS is being built to help alleviate crowded schools and will be pulling students from North Cobb, Harrison, and Kennesaw Mtn in Fall of 2008.

Check out Schools, High School, Public Schools, School District, Public High Schools - SchoolMatters or www.greatschools.net; they are both handy school research tools (don't forget to look at Cobb County school district's website too).

[MaddisMom]

What area would be considered East Cobb?

[marjan]

You can use 30062 - it should give you listings for Lassiter, Pope & Walton High Schools (Walton being the top rated school.)