Need input: Atlanta vs Boston (Alpharetta, Woodstock: neighborhood, high school, colleges)

[bizchick86]

Btw, a good thread on city data about the West End that touches on East Point as well. Definitely look into them! Historic West End

Edited to add: I might be a natural realtor, because I love looking up homes and neighborhoods, lol. Anyhoo, I was surprised to see some homes in Inman Park in the 400-500 range that aren't teeny tiny. Inman Park, IMO, is the best Atlanta nabe and plenty of folks seem to agree.

If you can find something in your budget in Inman Park, I'd snatch it up! Here's an example: http://niaknowsrealty.com/find-your-...ID=&PageID=&Z=

[Lady's Man]

It depends on what you ultimatly want. You have money. You could probably live comfortably in either city. Atl obviously offers a cheaper cost of living, but you'll have to determine how important that is to you.

[aries4118]

With a budget of $400,000, I think the OP will have many great intown options--Atlanta style (urban brilliance at its best: dynamic bucolic neighborhoods with quaint single homes...and good schools).

[northwinds]

Originally Posted by aries4118

With a budget of $400,000, I think the OP will have many great intown options--Atlanta style (urban brilliance at its best: dynamic bucolic neighborhoods with quaint single homes...and good schools).

Pray tell where those "great options" with "good schools" might be.......

[mike7586]

Originally Posted by northwinds

Pray tell where those "great options" with "good schools" might be.......

Oh, hmm... I don't know... Buckhead, Midtown, Virginia-Highlands, Inman Park, parts of Decatur, Brookhaven...

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by northwinds

Pray tell where those "great options" with "good schools" might be.......

See mike's post above.

[northwinds]

Originally Posted by mike7586

Oh, hmm... I don't know... Buckhead, Midtown, Virginia-Highlands, Inman Park, parts of Decatur, Brookhaven...

I ain't sending my offspring to Grady High School....and I've got donuts to dollars that the OP would not either......

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by northwinds

I ain't sending my offspring to Grady High School....and I've got donuts to dollars that the OP would not either......

Really? The OP described herself and spouse as a "liberal minded" professional couple, one of them of London, UK origin, who like an urban lifestyle. (Not to discount that they are attracted to some aspects of suburban lifestyle - mostly the bigger house and yard - as well).

This forum gets a steady flow of posts from urban professionals who love their lifestyle in the charming (and expensive) intown neighborhoods that feed into Grady. It's evidently a school that has a socioeconomically mixed population and consequently is not competitive for the top test score average in the state, but Grady's better students do very well and regularly move on to very prestigious colleges, including the Ivy League.

It's abundantly clear that you, northwinds, would never consider exposing any child of yours to as broad a cross section of the city population as attends Grady. However, a good number of well-heeled people do just that. I don't see any reason to assume the OP wouldn't be interested in being among them.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Really? The OP described herself and spouse as a "liberal minded" professional couple, one of them of London, UK origin, who like an urban lifestyle. (Not to discount that they are attracted to some aspects of suburban lifestyle - mostly the bigger house and yard - as well).

This forum gets a steady flow of posts from urban professionals who love their lifestyle in the charming (and expensive) intown neighborhoods that feed into Grady. It's evidently a school that has a socioeconomically mixed population and consequently is not competitive for the top test score average in the state, but Grady's better students do very well and regularly move on to very prestigious colleges, including the Ivy League.

It's abundantly clear that you, northwinds, would never consider exposing any child of yours to as broad a cross section of the city population as attends Grady. However, a good number of well-heeled people do just that. I don't see any reason to assume the OP wouldn't be interested in being among them.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by ollieoxenfree

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply! I don't know if its telling or not, but I cross posted this in the Boston forum and have only had one short response. One of my biggest concerns is finding a group of friends and other families to connect with as we will be all alone down there. Is Atlanta friendly in that respect? Any transplants out there that found it easy or hard to connect with folks on a personal, you get invited places, have them over to your house kind of way??

@Northwinds - thanks for the heads up on the Brit ex-pats, do you know if they have a website or meet-up group??

I am familiar with the history behind the race issues/relations in the South and particularly Georgia, does anyone have any input on what to really expect from this?? Being from London and Seattle we have no idea what that really means in terms of everyday life as these two cities are so liberal and diverse in their own ways. We keep hearing people refer to it but not elaborate. Is Atlanta very segregated? Are we talking just race relations or also social issues? Are some areas worse than others and in what ways? Thanks for any honest candor here.

Simply to the bolded question: Yes. Atlanta is very segregated. Even with the link a PP posted Atlanta ranks high on segregation. I am from a smaller city in Ohio. I am black and am still quite regularly shocked at how segregated it is here. But that is only because I grew up amongst a plethora of people. I had white neighbors, 4th generation Mexican neighbors, first generaton Vietnamese neighbors, and black neighbors in my hometown. I have only ever had black neighbors here in Atlanta. Atlanta is mostly black even though there are more whites moving back to the city, but pretty much all of the neighborhoods you go to in Atlanta outside of the ones mentioned as "good" intown neighborhoods are majority black. Also wanted to mention that many only see a neighborhood as "bad" due to a large amount of black residents in that neighborhood here. Another poster mentioned the Cascade area in the SW part of the city. If you mention SW Atlanta most people think it is filled with crime and really that is not true depending on what part of the SW Atlanta you are speaking of, there are really nice areas of SW Atlanta. The reasons why it is cheap and considered "bad" is because black people live there. I have found anywhere in the city where there is not a trend of gentrification is considered "bad" just because black people predominately live in that area.

That said though I do know white people here and have white friends but pretty much no other demographic. It is very white/black here and very segregated IMO as someone coming from a very integrated community. It takes some time getting used to it IMO as well.

I also feel that many don't want to talk about it and if you do talk about it then people get upset, some do accuse you of race baiting even if you are just telling it how you see it so I agree with ATLTJL in that respect.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Hahahaha, I told you it would open a can of worms! And THAT, is the REAL racism in Atlanta. You aren't allowed to even have a conversation about it without being called a racist.

I was even accused of making nothing but posts about race, when I have never even MENTIONED it before. Truly ludicrous.

So there you have it. There's no racism in Atlanta. So long as you never plan on ever bringing it up, ever. And there are a multitude of other problems you're never allowed to mention either, because if you do, you will be accused of being racist.

I have no intention of opening that can of worms. So listen to the other posters, they are all completely correct. Everything here is great.

ITA with the bolded area.

All that said I do feel Atlanta would have a lot to offer you and your family. Like many have said there are a lot of great intown neighborhoods where you can find housing in your budget. I also agree that your money will go further here in Atlanta versus Boston, which is much more expensive. I have only visited Boston but if I had to chose between Atlanta and Boston based on finances/cost of living, I'd chose Atlanta. Boston has its share of racial issues and segregation as well.

Regarding schools though I would consider Boston over Atlanta. Atlanta schools are not good at all IMO. I have two children and my son currently goes to a wonderful Charter school. I will admit that if he had not gotten into the school he is in right now that we were going to homeschool for a while until we could move back to the Midwest. Schools are just that bad to me and really I don't see the suburban schools as all that great either compared to the city schools. Many try to argue with me about this but I know the levels my nephews are on in my home state and what I was taught in school and I lived in a poor school district. We were similar with the best districts in metro Atlanta. I want more for my kids than that. I felt I got a basic education, here in Atlanta and the metro area it is like I and my nephews who are in public school in my hometown are getting a private school education compared to children of my in-laws. They live in Gwinnet which is supposedly one of the best here in GA and I don't see it as all that great. It is just what I got as a kid in a poor inner-city school.

On the friendliness aspect, I don't have much experience with Boston. There are a lot of friendly people here in Atlanta. If you are open and outgoing you will find a lot of great people here. I will say though that do not come expecting "Southern Hospitality." I feel that it doesn't really exist here. People are nice and usually respectable but it is not what I would consider any better than any other city in the SE or even the Mid West. I also thought it was a shock at how rude and disrespectful workers are here in stores. I will say another controversial statement I'm sure others will not agree with, but if you are white, you will more than likely get treated better, even by black people in businesses. I have noticed that even in majority black neighborhoods here black people go out of their way to be nice to white people. Some have told me, when I questioned it, that it is because they want to make a good impression. Being that I am used to being in environments with every sort of person, I don't understand this reasoning. I and some of my family members who have moved here have been shocked at this as well, that white people are treated better by black people than other black people. It is very interesting to me and that along with how horrible code enforcement is in the city is one of the main things that I have noticed while living in Atlanta. I live in the city BTW not a suburb.