Should we move to Atlanta? (Sandy Springs, Roswell: headhunters, home, neighbourhoods)

[Tarzanman]

The location of the job is right by Georgia Tech?

[padenful]

Originally Posted by Tarzanman

The location of the job is right by Georgia Tech?

Yes.

[cittic10]

There's some really high end properties near there and there's the bottom of the bottom. Not a lot in between.

Most people opt for the longer commute, newer house and nicer new public schools. Right now you can get a 4/2.4/2 in the outermost burbs that is less than 10 years old for as low as $100k for a 1 story in a nice subdivision near conveniences. An extra 10-20k gets you a two story on basement.

It sounds like you might like Decatur because of the whole farmers market thing. That would put you reasonably close to downtown. Dekralb schools are pretty bad but you don't plan on using the schools you said. Wide range of home prices there.

In any case, you should plan to rent first in the neighborhood/area you think you'll like. You'll have to pay a little more than $1k most likely but think of it as an insurance policy in case you don't like the area. You can just leave.

[lorilove]

Smyrna would definitely be one option for you. The commute to GA Tech is about 20-30 minutes. There are so many back roads available you should not have to get stuck in any major highway backup.

As I noted earlier, schools are good but not great. You indicated this was not the major concern.

You should be able to find a 4 bedroom starting at 275K-300K. There are homes under 200K but they tend to be older homes.

We have local, seasonal farmer's markets. As noted above, Decatur is a better location for this type of activity.

Smyrna is close enough in town you can take advantange of many activities for homeschoolers like the Georgia Aquarium, High Museum of Art, Atlanta History Center, Fernbank Museum to name a few.

Lots of outdoor activities in this area including the Silver Comet Trail, Kennesaw Mountain and Chattahoochee River etc.

[bryantm3]

not sure what you mean by a headhunter...

but as for atlanta, if your husband can get a job here before y'all start moving, that would probably be the best.

looking for a full sized home that is under $1000/month is going to be tough, but it definitely is possible. if you plan to buy the home, your options expand even more as it's possible to get a decent-sized home in a good neighbourhood here on a mortgage payment for less than $1000 a month.

as for where you want to live, i know tons of people will be spitting out names like alpharetta, dunwoody, smyrna, even johns creek and dawsonville(!)— but the fact of the matter is that if you want to have a good local farmer's market; be in a place you can walk around with the kids and enjoy yourself; and have reduced traffic and live in a place within a half hour of downtown atlanta— you're going to have to look ITP (inside the perimeter, interstate 285).

since you want a local farmer's market, i can think of three places— the first is 'your dekalb farmer's market' which is an award-winning locally-owned farmer's market with all sorts of fresh food, both local and international; the sweet auburn curb market which i hear has an excellent selection of local goods, and the new ponce city market which is planned to open in 2014— it will be one of the top 4 largest markets of its type in the country. so, if you're planning to move in town, i'd probably recommend you get close to one of those and stay on the east side, east of I-85/I-75.

some neighbourhoods you may want to check out are kirkwood, oakhurst, cabbagetown, reynoldstown, anywhere within the decatur city limits (there are a lot of areas that call themselves decatur that aren't nice), grant park, and possibly ormewood park.

[bsharynu]

A headhunter is a recruiter. Headhunters are the recruiters that work for recruiting firms calling into specific companies looking for people with the right skill set for their clients.

[padenful]

Yes, a headhunter is a 3rd party recruiter....a firm in Atlanta has a spot to fill requiring a fairly specific list of qualifications and hired a company to find applicants that qualify and get them to apply. So a recruiter tracked down my husband as someone who would fit their need and is trying to fill the position. If we don't get the job there we wouldn't move there. But if we don't want to move there we also don't have to take the job. All our family is back east and we have sort of an underlying desire to move that direction which is why we're considering it.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by sofjwp

GA is not as hot as OKC, and it's a prettier terrain, and no F5's. Those are your advantages.

Everything else will be a downgrade.

OKC also has more bodies of water nearer the city with a river through it. Albeit, it is a small river but dammed. For me, that's a big downside to Atlanta. Atlanta should have dammed the Chattahoochee just south of the city years ago.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Tarzanman

The location of the job is right by Georgia Tech?

In that case, MARTA rail is a commute option which opens up the possibilities especially for living in North Fulton.

[FromGA]

padenful, I think you will end up with a few workable options, but you will either be spending more for housing than now (Dunwoody/Sandy Springs), or living in smaller spaces (Dunwoody/Sandy Springs), or spending more time on the road in gridlock (Suwanee/Johns Creek/Alpharetta/Roswell/East Cobb), or may not be in good school districts (Smyrna - I know you home school, but some day you will want to send them to traditional school).