Coming to Atlanta from Dallas (Sandy Springs, Alpharetta: to rent, insurance, daycare)

[LifoLove]

My husband and I are thinking of relocating to the Atlanta area from Dallas in order to be closer to family.
We both work full time, and we have 2 kids- one is a baby and one is going into elementary school.

We are in the very begining stages of exploring relocation, and although we have family in the area to pose questions to, I'd like some unbiased information from a wider audience

1. My husband is an IT manager supervising development, QA, and suport with 15 years of .Net experience. What is the job market like for someone with this background? Are there any areas of the metro that have a concentration in these types of jobs? What is the salary range for this type of job? Any IT recruiters reading this? PM me, please!

2. I am a CPA (licensed in TX) with 5 years of audit experience and have recently made the move out of public accounting into financial reporting for a very large public company. Ideally I'd like to stay in industry as a senior accountant, assistant controller, or doing financial reporting for a company in the Atlanta area. What's the job market like for someone with my background? What's the salary range for this type of job? Any accounting/finance recuriters reading this? PM me please!

3. What can we expect to pay weekly for daycare for both an toddler (2 years old) and after school program for the 6 year old?

4. What is a good area to live in? We're looking for someplace with good schools, family friendly, safe, neighborly, and within a reasonable commute time (<45 min) to work (I know we don't have jobs yet, so I guess an easy commute time to any parts of town where there seem to be a lot of jobs). A city/suburb with excellent ammenities (parks, libraries, pools) would also be nice.

5. We are conservative/reform Jewish. I am not expecting any discrimination, but should I? Is the Jewish community concentrated in any particular area (if so, where?), or just spread out all over?

I know this is a lot to ask! If you read through all of this, you deserve a cookie
Thanks in advance for any advice!

[LifoLove]

In terms of budget: I really don't know what that will be until I know what we can expect in salary. In DFW, our combined income are in the 150-175k range, our house payment is about 2,500 (includes insurance and taxes), and we're middle class or maybe the upper end of middle class. Most of our neighbors have college degrees or more, and expect the same of their kids. Some of them belong to country clubs, but we don't. We're not fancy people, but we can afford a few nice things. We hope to keep about the same standard of living.
Our kids will be in public school, and we plan to rent when we first move, but would like to eventually get a house once we're sure of what area we want to be in.

Thanks again!

[TakeAhike]

Here's a previous thread that may provide an overview of several areas to consider>>>
Jews in Atlanta?

Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Alpharetta have larger Jewish communities and schools, housing that would fit your criteria.

http://www.alpharetta.ga.us/

[DeaconJ]

Here's are a couple of other sites that might be of interest:

Atlanta Jewish Experience:: Main Page

The Temple

templesinaiatlanta.org

jewish communities in Atlanta, GA on Yahoo! Local

I'm not Jewish, but I have several friends who are...none of them has ever mentioned any discrimination, although that may not mean that there is none. I think Atlanta is about like most other cities as far as acceptance and freedom of religion. There are always individuals that might be ignorant, but the majority of the people could care less.

[LifoLove]

Thanks, guys! Those links are very helpful. Seems like the Jewish community here is pretty similar to Dallas.

Can anyone give me any insight to the job situation and daycare costs?

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by LifoLove

Thanks, guys! Those links are very helpful. Seems like the Jewish community here is pretty similar to Dallas.

Can anyone give me any insight to the job situation and daycare costs?

Daycare costs>>>
Daycare Cost in Alpharetta - $$ in this post - hope it helps!

In general employment is highly competitive and relocating w/o a job is not advisable.

[LifoLove]

Thank you, again!
We aren't going to bounce until our house in the Dallas area is sold and at least 1 of us has a job lined up, so this is all very preliminary research...

[jumboloan]

You should look at the Byrnwyck subdivision where I live. It is centrally located at 400 and 2-85 so wherever you end up working you can get anywhere in 20 minutes. There is a daycare right outside the subdivision on your way to work. There are many conservative schools like Greenfield Hebrew and Epstein, maybe Davis Academy in the area. This area is good where the IT "center of gravity" is for corporations.

The area is safe and this subdivision is the only one entrance swim/tennis/trail community that is "inside the perimeter".