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Our family may soon be relocating to GA due to husband's job, and we're taking a look at Peachtree City. Everything I read about it sounds wonderful, and I would love to hear from someone that lives/lived there, who can give me an insider's view. We have four young children, and currently live in a fantastic, woodsy, family-oriented neighborhood in Central Florida and want to find something similar. Thanks for any and all input about P.C.!
We live in Peachtree City and we really like it. We moved here 2 years ago from San Diego and it was a good move for us. It is very family oriented, has excellent schools, lots of recreation, low crime, little traffic, and is beautiful. There are about 35k people here. Homes vary from $250k-million +. All areas except the newest neighborhood are pretty woodsy and have rather large lots. Lots of transplants live in our town. I know very few who are actually from here. I'm not sure what type of info you are looking for. Feel free to ask some questions and I will be glad to answer them the best I can.
There are nice, woodsy, family friendly areas all over metro Atlanta, that is not unique to Peachtree City.
What is unique to Peachtree City is that it's rather out in the middle of nowhere, and that the entire city is basically a huge, planned country club, with a golf-cart roads connecting the whole city. If that sounds like heaven to you then you'll love Peachtree City.
There are nice, woodsy, family friendly areas all over metro Atlanta, that is not unique to Peachtree City.
See, that's info that's helpful, b/c those kinds of neighborhoods ARE unique to Central FL....here, they mow down anything that resembles a tree when first beginning a subdivision and you have to live there for 20 years before you have a tree that can actually produce shade. We were lucky to find the neighborhood we live in right now (and no, it's not Stepford Wives Celebration FL). Our lot still had five full grown oaks left on it (wow - we even had a tree swing) until Hurricane Francis took down 4 of them but that's another thread...
Anyway I'm glad to hear that it's very different in GA - what can I say, I love trees! (I dream of owning a hammock one day) - and that it should be easier to find a nice woodsy subdivision than it is here. So with that said, I'll start to look also in other areas as well...maybe Fayetteville??
This is my dream subdivison : South of Atlanta, but not too far since hubby's office will be there.....nice sized lots so houses aren't too close together.....lots of kids.......fees/taxes not too high.......neighbors that take good care of their homes/lawns....lots of trees on lots! (as already mentioned)....am I asking for too much??I s this too Utopian??
Last edited by xxman777; 07-04-2007 at 08:27 PM..
Reason: Fix Quotes
See, that's info that's helpful, b/c those kinds of neighborhoods ARE unique to Central FL....here, they mow down anything that resembles a tree when first beginning a subdivision and you have to live there for 20 years before you have a tree that can actually produce shade. We were lucky to find the neighborhood we live in right now (and no, it's not Stepford Wives Celebration FL). Our lot still had five full grown oaks left on it (wow - we even had a tree swing) until Hurricane Francis took down 4 of them but that's another thread...
Anyway I'm glad to hear that it's very different in GA - what can I say, I love trees! (I dream of owning a hammock one day) - and that it should be easier to find a nice woodsy subdivision than it is here. So with that said, I'll start to look also in other areas as well...maybe Fayetteville??
This is my dream subdivison : South of Atlanta, but not too far since hubby's office will be there.....nice sized lots so houses aren't too close together.....lots of kids.......fees/taxes not too high.......neighbors that take good care of their homes/lawns....lots of trees on lots! (as already mentioned)....am I asking for too much??I s this too Utopian??
About your dream, if you change the word south to north, your dream would be fulfilled because that is pretty much the entire north metro area between I-75 and I-85. However, in the south metro area, Peachtree City is really the only thing that fulfills.
Recently (and appallingly), developers in Atlanta have been cutting down lots of trees to make way for UGLY cookie-cutter subdivisions with identical houses on barren plots, but fortunately the north metro area is already fully developed and mostly immune to such developments.
Here's a quick list of some of the woodsy, forested, areas other than Peachtree City that are close to Atlanta:
Buckhead (5-10 miles from downtown): Very dense and tall forests, beautiful houses (mostly mansions) with lots of landscaping and a very natural look to the forests that surround all the houses, which are on large single lots, almost no subdivisions here. A very large area, basically the entire northern fifth of Atlanta city limits. Lots of roads that twist and turn through the forests (I love these). Although these roads are commonplace in all the following areas too.
Sandy Springs (10-15 miles from downtown): Directly north of Buckhead and basically the same kind of place, dense tall trees with lots of big lots, big houses. More subdivisions than Buckhead but even the subdivisions here have big lots, big houses, and tons of trees and landscaping. The western and northern boundary of Sandy Springs is the Chattahoochee River and as a result Sandy Springs has lots of elevation changes. Lots of roads that curve through the forests and go up and down a lot. Lots of subdivisions have houses that can be 20-30 feet higher or lower than the next house.
East Cobb (15-20 miles from downtown): Across the river from Sandy Springs. The southern portion of East Cobb near the river has lots of long established areas with lots of trees, streams, and borderline ridiculous elevation changes, I mean houses that are over 30 feet higher than the next house, and cliffside houses that overlook more houses down below. Lots of landscaping around the houses and more of a neighborhood feel than Buckhead and Sandy Springs, which are more wild and natural. Farther north away from the river the elevation changes are not so extreme. East Cobb has more subdivisions (though there are still single lot homes) and far more of a community feel than Sandy Springs and Buckhead, which feel more like a forest with houses plopped here and there. East Cobb has TONS of parks, many of them along the riversides.
Vinings (8-10 miles from downtown): Across the river from Buckhead, basically a continuation of Buckhead but in Cobb County. Lots of long-established homes in dense, wild forest.
Roswell (20 miles from downtown): Across the river from Sandy Springs to the south, and across another river from East Cobb to the west (notice a trend with the boundaries here?) Roswell also has lots of tall trees (another trend) and lots of parks. There are jogging trails all along the river and recreation areas. This town also actually has a historic city square. Also lots of elevation changes and more subdivisions than Sandy Springs, Vinings, and especially Buckhead (extremely few subdivisions there). Stick to the west and south sides for the forests.
These areas are all directly north of Atlanta, also this is just a sampling. I didn't list any of the outer metro areas, because then you have entire counties that are still heavily forested like Cherokee and Forsyth. I also didn't list plenty of other closer metro areas like Dunwoody, Druid Hills, and Milton, because I'm sick of typing. But I think you get the point.
Actually, a better way to illustrate this city in a forest thing would be through some pictures: Pic 1 - The tall office buildings in the foreground are in Buckhead, notice how they are practically coming straight out of the forest. You see all that forest surround the skyscrapers and retail areas? It's not empty forest, every inch of that greenspace is fully populated and full of houses, but the trees are so tall (50+ feet) that they cover everything up. Here's another shot of another side of Atlanta.
Here's a blurry (broken link)but great picture, notice if the skysrapers weren't there you wouldn't even know there's a city under those trees. This shot was taken due north of Atlanta looking south, that forest between the camera and the city is actually Buckhead and it is completely filled with houses under there. Here is another picture which is taken from Buckhead. In the foreground is a road interection in Buckhead, believe it or not there are houses hidden behind those trees behind the intersection. You can see the Buckhead skyline in front and the Atlanta skyline in the back. Here's a shot of the Buckhead skyline from Vinings, all the forest in between is residential Vinings and Buckhead. Here's a shot of Midtown Atlanta, those skycrapers are only like a mile away. A shot of a 1000+ foot skyscraper (http://pics3.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles13708.jpg - broken link), and it's only like a mile away. Even right in the city (http://pics3.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles24980.jpg - broken link) there's trees (http://pics3.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles12870.jpg - broken link). Here's a shot from a tall building in Vinings, with the Buckhead skyline on the left and Atlanta skyline on the right, and all the forest in between. You can even see some houses in the foreground among the trees. And more shots of Buckhead from Buckhead. A shot of Atlanta showing all the forest surrounding the city, of course hiding houses. If you look carefully you can see some single-family houses just barely sticking out. (try bottom right)
Finally, I would like to end with this very cool picture of the north metro area. Notice the three sets of tall office buildings popping out of the forest. The closest set in the foreground is part of Atlanta, in the middle is Buckhead, and farthest out is Sandy Springs (and neighboring Dunwoody, the meld into one another). Every single inch of all that forest in between is hiding houses under there.
North of Atlanta is MUCH busier than south of Atlanta though so you will definitely have to deal with traffic more in the north! If I were you I would check out Coweta or Fayette County.
However, in the south metro area, Peachtree City is really the only thing that fulfills.
I have to disagree with this. PTC is great and I highly recommend it (as a newcomer). But there is more than PTC south of Atlanta that would fulfull. I just bought in Sharpsburg and had the same criteria has the original poster. I got everything I wanted and more in Sharpsburg...five minutes further than PTC. And because Sharpsburg has easier access to the I-85, it takes my husband LESS time to get to the airport than it would in PTC. It is still a very underdeveloped community which means tons and tons of trees and bigger lots and bigger homes for less money. Any retail/restaurants can be found in less than 5 minutes in PTC or in 10 minutes in Newnan. The schools are highly ranked as well. My particular new neighborhood is full of kids, has it's own swimming pool and state of the art play area. It surrounded by protected green space. In Coweta County, the taxes are lower than Fayette.
I have to disagree with this. PTC is great and I highly recommend it (as a newcomer). But there is more than PTC south of Atlanta that would fulfull. I just bought in Sharpsburg and had the same criteria has the original poster. I got everything I wanted and more in Sharpsburg...five minutes further than PTC. And because Sharpsburg has easier access to the I-85, it takes my husband LESS time to get to the airport than it would in PTC. It is still a very underdeveloped community which means tons and tons of trees and bigger lots and bigger homes for less money. Any retail/restaurants can be found in less than 5 minutes in PTC or in 10 minutes in Newnan. The schools are highly ranked as well. My particular new neighborhood is full of kids, has it's own swimming pool and state of the art play area. It surrounded by protected green space. In Coweta County, the taxes are lower than Fayette.
Yeah you're right, but I was only talking about the south metro area close to Atlanta (which even Peachtree City really doesn't completely make it into), you know like South Fulton and Clayton....
Of course, anything as far as Sharpsburg or Newnan or Peachtree City fulfills, but I was only talking about the main metro area, which these areas (even Peachtree City) don't really fall into, there's a noticeable gap in the sprawl between south metro Atlanta and Peachtree City. Whereas on the north side there is absolutely no gap at all from Downtown Atlanta all the way up to Milton/South Forsyth/Acworth/South Cherokee.
We recently re-located from Long Beach, CA to the PTC area. After months of research and numerous visits we decided to settle in Tyrone, which is just a few miles north of PTC but still in Fayette County. We have an elementary school age son who just completed his first full year at Tyrone Elementary School. The school and entire staff are fantastic. Tyrone Elementary is one of the top rated grade schools in Fayette County, which rates very high nationally.
We found that PTC is more crowded than we wanted and is growing (unfortunately) in leaps and bounds. Your real estate dollar goes quite a bit further in Tyrone than PTC (a home similar to mine in PTC would go for at least $50k more). From our Southern California roots perspective, Tyrone is small, quiet and quaint. Some long time locals have believe that Tyrone is overgrown, but as I mentioned before, I feel it is far from it. Tyrone is within minutes of all the conveniences of PTC. Unless you prefer the pretentiousness asssociated with the "8th best city in the country" as PTC is constantly promoted, consider Tyrone as a viable option.
While I do not commute to Atlanta, I have found that the traffic is not as bad as mentioned previously in this spool. There is convenient access to both the north and south bound I-85. I have attended numerous sporting events in downtown Atlanta and have never experienced heavy traffic. The north side of Atlanta however, is a completely different story. The area is so densely populated that the traffice reminds me of Southern California with trees.
Back to work...I hope this helps!!
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