Johns Creek Vs. South Forsyth (Atlanta, Alpharetta: fit in, credit, new home)

[staywarm2]

A good bit of Forsyth has junky areas with run down business buildings and some trashy housing. I'm not referring to subdivisions, but to areas along busier streets. It gives a low class look to some parts of the county. There also seems to be a lack of zoning.

[mrpanda]

Just for clarification. I am talking about South Forsyth, which represents the entire Lambert High school cluster for comparison purposes with Johns Creek.

The population of South Forsyth and Johns Creek should be similar around 70,000. Median household income and per capital income for S. Forsyth maybe not be as high as JC, but comes very close.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Just for clarification. I am talking about South Forsyth, which represents the entire Lambert High school cluster for comparison purposes with Johns Creek.

The population of South Forsyth and Johns Creek should be similar around 70,000. Median household income and per capital income for S. Forsyth maybe not be as high as JC, but comes very close.

"South Forsyth" also includes the South Forsyth High School Cluster.


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[movingtoAtlanta4]

We searched in S. Forsyth recently. We were looking at a home community building in the $300s off Burgess. Beautiful. Look up on the hill behind the model home and there is a trailer home. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't see that in JC. Forsyth has a very country feel with less ammenites around the area. IMO pay more taxes for more amenities. The old saying usually holds true. You get what you pay for. You might also consider the per student spending in each of the counties.

[hal2814]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

A good bit of Forsyth has junky areas with run down business buildings and some trashy housing. I'm not referring to subdivisions, but to areas along busier streets. It gives a low class look to some parts of the county. There also seems to be a lack of zoning.

Yeah, it's a good thing they don't have any of that in Fulton County.

[livinginbuffalo]

living in Johns Creek as well but can't find a subdivision with newer homes (2000 and up) with a golf community (St. Ives are older and mostly stucco, not interested in CC of South) so we feel like we are restricted to Laurel Springs. Windward is in Alpharetta but the country club is much more expensive and not as family friendly relating to the golf club (I'm not saying Windward and St. Ives are not much better amenities than Laurel Springs- this I know). Why does it seem like the snob factor is that Johns Creek/Alpharetta is BETTER than S. Forsyth? I'm not saying this in a mean way- just what I gather from here and other places.

When I visited the elementary school is Johns Creek that would be St. Ives' elementary school, we were not that impressed. I'm not going to get into what came out of the womans' mouth who was showing us around but I'm pretty sure she violated Title whatever number it is that the realtors can't violate. They also told us that St. Ives was being rezoned from Johns Creek to Northview and that they probably weren't even going to have a football team next year because of lack of interest. (I know that could change but also could change again). I want my girls to have a well rounded education and high school life which includes friday night football games. I realize they are a long way from high school but I'm not looking to live somewhere temporarily and then move.

Could it be that because S. Forsyth is relatively new, there aren't a lot of S. Forsyth people on this board and, therefore, the opinion is that N. Fulton is better because of where the members live? The president of my husbands company (multi-millionaire) lives in Laurel Springs and couldn't say enough about how wonderful the community was for his kids growing up, how he felt it safe for them to ride bikes without worrying someone would kidnap his kids and they could trick or treat with their friends without parents going with them (I'm sure he meant middle schoolers and up). I realize the history of Forsyth county and that sucks but everyone we spoke to that lives in that area when we were visiting couldn't say enough about how they loved that they were still close enough to Atlanta to take in a ball game but far removed enough that it was away from all the crime etc.

Johns Creek and Alpharetta ARE nice. I'm not saying they are not but to infer there aren't poor people, trailer parks or section 8 right around the corner, doesn't seem right. That happens everywhere you go. I guess I'm just wondering if we are making the right decision to move to S. Forsyth.

One more thing- just looking at the school stats on:

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schoolrank.aspx

and Forsyth has 4 out of the top 10 schools and Fulton has 2. Sharon where my kids would go ranked sixth in the state. How could people be saying that the Forsyth county schools aren't as good as N. Fulton?

[Delaney1314]

We are relocating to the area this summer. After looking at some 20-25 houses in S. Forsyth, Roswell, Alpharetta and Woodstock (Cherokee Cnty) we settled on Woodstock. Cumming (S. Forsyth) is OK but has a very rural feeling. We loved Roswell but it was hard finding a house we liked that had a yard and/or didn't need a ton of TLC in our price range ($350-375). We settled on a development in Woodstock called Laurel Brooke about 5-7 minutes from the Roswell line. We are still very close to all the ameneties, kids will be going to good schools and the neighborhood is great. Also the taxes are much lower. I think it all depends on your needs and what you're comfortable with.

[hal2814]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

living in Johns Creek as well but can't find a subdivision with newer homes (2000 and up) with a golf community (St. Ives are older and mostly stucco, not interested in CC of South) so we feel like we are restricted to Laurel Springs. Windward is in Alpharetta but the country club is much more expensive and not as family friendly relating to the golf club (I'm not saying Windward and St. Ives are not much better amenities than Laurel Springs- this I know). Why does it seem like the snob factor is that Johns Creek/Alpharetta is BETTER than S. Forsyth? I'm not saying this in a mean way- just what I gather from here and other places.

When I visited the elementary school is Johns Creek that would be St. Ives' elementary school, we were not that impressed. I'm not going to get into what came out of the womans' mouth who was showing us around but I'm pretty sure she violated Title whatever number it is that the realtors can't violate. They also told us that St. Ives was being rezoned from Johns Creek to Northview and that they probably weren't even going to have a football team next year because of lack of interest. (I know that could change but also could change again). I want my girls to have a well rounded education and high school life which includes friday night football games. I realize they are a long way from high school but I'm not looking to live somewhere temporarily and then move.

Could it be that because S. Forsyth is relatively new, there aren't a lot of S. Forsyth people on this board and, therefore, the opinion is that N. Fulton is better because of where the members live? The president of my husbands company (multi-millionaire) lives in Laurel Springs and couldn't say enough about how wonderful the community was for his kids growing up, how he felt it safe for them to ride bikes without worrying someone would kidnap his kids and they could trick or treat with their friends without parents going with them (I'm sure he meant middle schoolers and up). I realize the history of Forsyth county and that sucks but everyone we spoke to that lives in that area when we were visiting couldn't say enough about how they loved that they were still close enough to Atlanta to take in a ball game but far removed enough that it was away from all the crime etc.

Johns Creek and Alpharetta ARE nice. I'm not saying they are not but to infer there aren't poor people, trailer parks or section 8 right around the corner, doesn't seem right. That happens everywhere you go. I guess I'm just wondering if we are making the right decision to move to S. Forsyth.

I don't think it has to do with newness. The southern part of Forsyth County and Johns Creek experienced their big development booms around the same time. I think it has more to do with Alpharetta and Johns Creek being cities now while south Forsyth is a vaguely-defined unincorporated region of a county. Cumming is the only incorporated city in Forsyth County and it's not in south Forsyth. When I was in school at Forsyth County, it was a bigger deal to live inside the Cumming city limits than outside. No real reason since Cumming's city services were pretty unimpressive back then (and probably still are), but that was the stigma. I imagine that same stigma is at work here.

If it were me personally, I'd live in Alpharetta because I like the area better, but I wouldn't hesitate to send my kids to any of the schools in Johns Creek, Alpharetta, or south Forsyth.

[hal2814]

EDIT: Oops. DOuble post.

[Tresninas]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Why does it seem like the snob factor is that Johns Creek/Alpharetta is BETTER than S. Forsyth? I'm not saying this in a mean way- just what I gather from here and other places.

Could it be that because S. Forsyth is relatively new, there aren't a lot of S. Forsyth people on this board and, therefore, the opinion is that N. Fulton is better because of where the members live?

I don't know where you've gotten the impression that there is a snob factor about Alpharetta/Johns Creek verses South Forsyth, but in the three and a half years I've lived here, I certainly haven't noticed people living in North Fulton County holding anything over on people in South Forsyth. Both areas are upscale and they run together. Keep in mind that Johns Creek has only been a city for 4 years now. It's still the case, actually, that many residents in South Forsyth, when asked where they live, tell people Johns Creek. It's just simply the geographic history of the area.

I'm not saying a snob factor doesn't exist, but I think it's far more related to specific subdivisions/country clubs than it is to Johns Creek/South Forsyth border.

I do think that North Fulton schools have a better reputation than South Forsyth schools. I don't know why that is, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. The schools are excellent in both areas. You can't go wrong.