Relocating from Miami to Atlanta

[AllenAtlanta]

Hi,
With the work that you and your husband do (billings and accounting) and the living environment that you described with diversity, you could literally pick just about any neighborhood from the Perimeter/I285 on the NW side of town (I75N) arching over to the NE side past I85N going north for about 45 miles and be okay. The public school systems north of the Atlanta metro area are generally all very good and with newer developments 10 miles (+) north of the Perimeter now being the best. You would generally move this far out if you are wanting a new home and the most house and property for the $. But most of the northern part of the Atlanta metro area is less than 20 years old, so most residential developments are relatively new. If you like closer in living, the Emory/Decatur area is also very good, with the Fairoaks Road area near Clairmont and Lavista having the best schools.

The Atlanta metro area has the main downtown and then several "mini" cities on the northside: Buckhead, Perimeter, Cumberland and Northpoint, which are anchored by large malls and office complexes. There is more business office space in just the Perimeter section of north Atlanta than in the entire Nashville metro area. Perimeter also has a major medical complex anchored by St. Joseph's, Northside and Children's Hospitals. You would have a hard time finding a northern suburb without a combination hospital/medical complex. The northern suburb neighbors are sprinkled in between these shopping/office/medical centers. The entire Atlanta metro area does have heavy traffic, so I think one of the main considerations should be to try and live close to where you work ... but as you can see, the number of good choices are many.

Over the past 34 years I have live in many parts of Atlanta: in town (we call it ITP-inside the perimeter here), Buckhead (the Lenox Mall area near Piedmont Rd and Peachtree Rd), the Emory U area and in Alpharetta/Johns Creek (OTP - outside the perimeter). As a Gay guy I was surprised to be almost as accepted by the straight families in Johns Creek 11 miles north of the Perimeter as in the in town neighborhoods (never had a problem during the 5 years in Johns Creek). The majority of Atlantans are no longer native to Georgia and have moved here from other parts of the US and other countries. Except for pockets of ultraconservatives in Cobb County on the NW metro area, you will probably find most people in the northern suburbs to be very friendly, pretty diversified and great neighbors. I did.