Decatur..maybe??? (Atlanta, Smyrna, Tucker: rentals, condo, homes)

[smcelveen]

so I've been reading all of the posts about Decatur and schools in Dekalb, but now I'm really confused. I got this job with the VA in Decatur (on Clairmont Rd) and I'm not sure where to live now. Ive looked for rentals (maybe 1000/month), but I'm not sure what is a "good" area to live. I have a three year old so I would want to live somewhere that has a great school system. I'm willing to pay for private school for her, as long as she will receive a great education. Can you tell me where I should concentrate on looking? When I searched by myself, a lot of rentals for Stone Mountain came up, but then I heard I shouldnt move there and I should look in Smyrna, but thats a PRETTY LONG commute especially if there's traffic. PLEASE HELP!

[George Chong]

It sounds like you are looking for the City of Decatur. Concentrate your search on the zip code of 30030 and the following elementary schools. Schools

The VA Hospital is located in Decatur, but not Decatur City (I know - very confusing). The City of Decatur has excellent schools from elementary through high school.

Good luck!

[IntownHomes247]

George is right, you can't do better than the City of Decatur (30030) for the combination of convenience to your work, great school system, and wonderful lifestyle.

City of Decatur : Home

Of course, $1,000/mo. is not a generous budget in this area of town. Generally, you'll be a bit lucky to find a 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo for that budget.

You'll have a lot more options in 30033 for that budget, but then you'll be in DeKalb county schools instead of City of Decatur. The schools in this area are generally okay (some are even quite good, although the best ones are in the most expensive areas, of course), but not as good as City of Decatur.

If you can put your private school budget toward your rent, then City of Decatur might work. Otherwise, you might want to look in 30033 (which is actually the zip the VA Hospital is in) and concentrate on the better school districts within that zip code. You can find school rankings on the Georgia Public Policy Foundation's web site at:

2010 Georgia Report Card For Parents (http://gppf.org/pub/edrc2010.htm - broken link)

[southkakkatlantan]

Well, I have a friend and her husband (and 4 year old son) that just moved back here from New Jersey and they were trying to decide what side of town to live.

They were originally looking at Tucker and then John's Creek and a few other areas. But they were staying with me (my zip is 30030) and they realized they might want to be back in this area again (they lived in this zip once before a few years ago).

They actually ended up moving into my complex and got a nice sized 2 bedroom with half off the first month and it's a little less than your budget. It's about a 15 minute commute to the VA in the morning and 1 mile from the Farmer's market, maybe 3 miles tops from downtown decatur square. If you're interested I'll pm you the name of the complex. It's not brand new but it's affordable and the location is good because I'm close to 85/285/North Decatur Road/North Druid Hills. It's also diverse and the units are a decent size. It also seems to be pretty safe/quiet for the most part (I've been here for about 14 months).

ETA: Oh yeah...and my friend/her hubby enrolled their son in Montessori school that is less than 2 miles from where we live so that worked out good too.

[MilkMachine]

I have kids. If I had my druthers, I might be in 30030, but it was just outside of our budget so we ended up in 30033, Laurel Ridge district. My oldest will start kindergarten in '12. I hear great things about the school and feel pretty good about sending her there. I also think Fernbank is a great district to look into. I do think the problems in DCSS are systemic and I have some concerns, but they are more longterm concerns than short term. I also know that CoD schools, while great, are not perfect and are not a perfect fit for every single child. Either way, I think you'd do well to stay in either '33 or '30. I'm a little biased, but I love it here.

[IntownLifeAtl]

There are parts in unincorporated DeKalb which have a Decatur mailing address, but are not in the City of Decatur that have homes with large backyards with 3bedrooms, 1 if your lucky 2 baths for around $1000-$1100/mo. A lot of the homes in 30030 that aren't in the City were redistricted to Avondale Elem, Druid (formerly Shamrock) Middle and Druid Hills High School. Also close by are Museum Charter schools, Friends School of Atlanta, Waldrof School of Atlanta (both of these are within 1/4 mile of each other. The only catch is that the homes outside City of Decatur are transitional, but they are safe, but it depends on what you consider safe. I've lived over here for 7 years and the only incident I had was a something taken out of my tool shed 6 years ago. It'll be difficult to find anything other than an apt/condo for $1000 in the City of Decatur city limits, but they do have excellent schools. Also check out Avondale Estates, which is virtually right next door.