Vinings Estates Eastgate

[spacelord75]

No problem. We're actually still on the market with our townhome. We've had it listed since March and everytime we're the "next in line" to sell some dumbass gets foreclosed on, and the bank slashes their price! It's so frustrating.

[kelabu]

Aww, man that sucks, but it's not too bad in this market. It took us 8 months and 2 price drops to sell ours. This was in FL though, and people still told us to be happy it sold at all. Your time will come. I know the frustration... I got so sick of realtors and showings ughh. It would be so nice to never deal with that process again.

[stvincent]

Both Mableton and South Fulton Pkwy. are growing rapidly and are going to give the people that buy now good resale vaulues in 5-10 years. However, if you move to South Fulton Pkwy. now you will feel like you are living in the country for ten years. Mableton is right next door to the city and, thank God, they are tearing down Bankhead Courts so that area is now destined to boom, now that Cobb suburbanites don't have to pass by a blighted ghetto in order to get home.

If it were me in your situation I would personally choose Mableton because it is a more convienent location. From what I have seen there is a really healthy mix of whites to Blacks and everyone seems to mix in well. As I am sure you know, this is EXTREEMLY rare in middle class neighborhoods in Metro Atlanta. I think it's a good thing that people can mingle in like that. I wish we had more of that here where I live. The schools are pathetic in both locations at the moment but as both areas gentrify, I think you will see that change. Vinings Estates is nicer than Providence IMHO (it looks like a dream to me in how perfect it is). Providence is VERY nice too, I just prefer the look of VE. Yet, Providence seems to be more diverse so it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking in the 400s range I think South Cobb would serve your needs more than that part of South Fulton. Most of it is painfully rural.

And as for suggesting Smyrna over Mableton, you will hear that suggestion only because at the moment, the schools in Smyrna are better than Mableton's. The demographics, racially and economically are similar between the cities though. Smyrna just costs more because of the better schools.

[notvinings]

No, the annexation of the Wieland property which became Vinings Estates was requested by John Weiland in order to get the City of Vinings considerations rather than live with Cobb County regulations which would have cost him a bit more money to develop the land. It had nothing to do with "Mabletonians' wanting to go to 'Smyrna' Schools. There WERE no 'Mabletonians' livings on the then vacant land. All these schools are Cobb County schools, and they are all less served and less well performing than the "East Cobb' schools. The South Cobb schools are the stepchildren of the Cobb County School System. And, yes, residents of Vinings Estates claim to live in Vinings, actually reside in the city limits of Smyrna, and have a Mableton mailing address.

[casualobserver]

[quote=notvinings;2453028]The South Cobb schools are the stepchildren of the Cobb County School System.quote]

Clearly, you feel strongly about the topic! Yikes

Especially since you just registered to post this comment. (You must either be a principal in a Marietta school or a disgruntled parent from the South Cobb area.)

I no longer have school aged offspring, so schools are not my primary concern, but I do understand their contribution to resale values and certainly a lot of people come to this forum with schools a high priority........so tell me.....

If Georgia public schools are funded and administered on a county level, an uninformed outsider like me would assume money and teacher quality should be "sort of" equivalent throughout the one county. In fact a good "county" school superintendent would be motivated to see to just that.....as your CV would be based on average county achievement. If southern Cobb schools are the "stepchildren", therefore I would assume that this actually means the students underperform their north county peers....as opposed to truly being less well funded or administered. Since I give not a rat's *** about political correctness, I will "think outloud" that this must mean south has less extramural affluence and student body homogeneity. Am I getting warm??

[notvinings]

[quote=stvincent;1317582]Vinings Estates is a HUGE community with two entrances, one off of Cooper Lake Road and one off of Pebblebrook Road. Smyrna has annexed the entire community, half used to lie in Mableton and half in Smyrna. The whole community was annexed because the Mableton residents wanted to go to the higher achieving Smyrna schools.


Do you actually think there were "Mableton Residents" in Vinings Estates before it was built??? Squirrels, maybe? John Weiland had the property annexed when he bought it for advantages he got on things like sidewalk and tree ordinances - things that would have cost him money, but ultimately only cost al of the residents of the area in quality of life. Vinings Estates is in Smyrna city limits, and is served by the Mableton Post Office. Vinings is 9 miles away.

[notvinings]

[quote=casualobserver;2454334]

Originally Posted by notvinings

The South Cobb schools are the stepchildren of the Cobb County School System.quote]

Clearly, you feel strongly about the topic! Yikes

Especially since you just registered to post this comment. (You must either be a principal in a Marietta school or a disgruntled parent from the South Cobb area.)

I no longer have school aged offspring, so schools are not my primary concern, but I do understand their contribution to resale values and certainly a lot of people come to this forum with schools a high priority........so tell me.....

If Georgia public schools are funded and administered on a county level, an uninformed outsider like me would assume money and teacher quality should be "sort of" equivalent throughout the one county. In fact a good "county" school superintendent would be motivated to see to just that.....as your CV would be based on average county achievement. If southern Cobb schools are the "stepchildren", therefore I would assume that this actually means the students underperform their north county peers....as opposed to truly being less well funded or administered. Since I give not a rat's *** about political correctness, I will "think outloud" that this must mean south has less extramural affluence and student body homogeneity. Am I getting warm??

Perhaps you should send your administrative suggestiions to the Superintendant. You are preaching to the choir in telling me that schoold should be equally funded and administered. Check the records. I was responding to the person who was suggesting that Smyrna schools are superior to those in Mableton. There is no "Smyrna" school system. "Township", as he suggested for Mableton, would still leave both a part of the Cobb County School system.

While I did respond do his commentary on the schools, what prompted me to write was his statement (not presented as a supposition) that Vinings Estates had been annexed by residents wishing to be in the superior school district. Aside from the fact that that is not true, it is a completely illogical supposition. Again, look at the record.

[casualobserver]

The information on Weiland's corporate gerrymandering is interesting to know, but at this point, water over the dam.

The school issue is not over the dam and I still don't understand..........I have lived in 8 states and in each community, especially those comprised of fairly affluent and educated taxpayer/parents, if their kids' school was underperforming, they would be up the Superintendent's keyster enmasse with other than a blunt instrument. It should come as a surprise to no one that affluent/connected parents can usually "pull levers of influence" through a variety of channels. I don't understand why that very standard influence used effectively in 49 other states has not yet had an impact in bringing south Cobb schools towards parity with north, or I guess you actually call it, east Cobb.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by casualobserver

The school issue is not over the dam and I still don't understand..........I have lived in 8 states and in each community, especially those comprised of fairly affluent and educated taxpayer/parents, if their kids' school was underperforming, they would be up the Superintendent's keyster enmasse with other than a blunt instrument. It should come as a surprise to no one that affluent/connected parents can usually "pull levers of influence" through a variety of channels. I don't understand why that very standard influence used effectively in 49 other states has not yet had an impact in bringing south Cobb schools towards parity with north, or I guess you actually call it, east Cobb.

Atlanta seems to have huge school districts compared to where I came from:



Map of central Twin Cities metro area counties for reference:



Before people get defensive, I'm NOT suggesting that schools in MN are better. I don't know how to objectively compare them. But it's a marvel to me that a singular entity as large as Cobb County is able to manage public schools very well at all.

I don't have kids, either, and I admittedly went to what are generally considered to be excellent schools in the Hopkins, MN independent school district (Independent School District 270 in the map above), but I've always thought that parental involvement could easily override any qualities that a local school might have or not have.

In other words, assuming a properly motivated student and at least one parent actively involved/interested in their education, I would think that just about any student without special needs should be able to obtain a decent education in just about any suburban school regardless of its "quality" measurements.

True or false?