From Warwick, NY seeking small town feel . . . (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: low crime, get credit)

[Melody 914]

Anyone familiar with Warwick NY?? That's where we live now. Quaint, small town feel, upscale, great restaurants, gardens, etc. Love it, but winters are getting tougher to take. Looking for same feeling in GA. Visited McDonough where my daughter purchased. Nice, but too "new" and bare. Any suggestions on some nice, woody, cozy, yet upscale areas? Thanks!

[donac]

it depends on your price point. a lot of the downtown suburb areas definitely give that quaint small town feel. for example,, downtown marietta. if you get too far from there you find the same kind of knocked down/cleared out subdivisions. but closer to the square you kind find homes that are definitely offer the established feel. again though it depends on your budget. the closer the more expensive. As a Realtor in the area, i see this refurbishing of the downtown areas and i love it. me personally, i like to walk. and the areas offer a lot of that plus for example marietta offers a theatre on the square with year round events. this is just one area.

[donac]

i just realized you said upscale. in addition to marietta, other areas would be downtown alpharetta or roswell. if you want to stay away from 'atlanta' you could try Peachtree city. small town feel with everything you need.

[mamamarie]

Heron Bay in Locust Grove (close to McDonough). Golf and adult community. they have a website

[ptcgirl]

Peachtree City is a wonderful place to call home! There are about 100 golf cart/ped/bike paths all over the city. It is small (about 35k), very natural setting (no large signs, etc), high amount of recreation opps, decent dining (although I wish there were more "mom and pop" establishments, low crime, etc. It is the best place I've found.

[GF72]

Yeah I hear you about those new, barren places like McDonough. Atlanta doesn't really have any small-townsy places like up in the northeast, but Atlanta has a lot of beautiful forested residential areas with dense tall trees, creeks and streams, winding roads, and very nice houses hidden away between everything. You may be surprised that there are areas like this that are mere miles away from skyscrapers and 16-lane highways, but you can never tell when you are in those areas. Try Vinings, Buckhead, southern half of Sandy Springs, Roswell and East Cobb near the river, Druid Hills. The forested areas of these places are really woody and cozy and these are all upscale, long-established places. There are some historic districts scattered around (such as in Vinings or Roswell) that can give a small town vibe, though in a southern way and they are not very big with tons of people walking around like the north. The forest scenery and elaborate houses in these places are really nice though, something Atlanta doesn't get credit for a lot (people love to complain about Atlanta's lack of small town charm). Be prepared to fork down the cash though, living in a suburban subdivision in atlanta is affordable compared to most cities but those forested areas with big houses and single-lots are expensive.