Emory University Job, looking for house!! (Atlanta, Decatur: for sale, townhome, safe neighborhood)

[ATOP]

Hi,
I have been offered a job at Emory University. I am asian descent, married with 2 kids(5year/1year). I am looking to buy house in and around Emory neighbourhood. My price range is upto$600K.My pereferences are in these order
1.Good School District
2.Newer homes.
3.Safe neighbourhood.
4.Commute time less than 30mins( on a regular day)
5.Diverse community.

I have lived in cobb county before and loved the school system. But I think it would be a nightmare to drive from marietta to Emory. So I am planning to make move. Please give your suggestions.
Thanks

[sweettea1]

There is a great neighborhood called Emory Parc Manor that has beautiful newish craftman style homes (less than 10 years old) in this price range. There's also a park with tennis courts walking distance from the neighborhood. Not sure of the school district. You can look it up in the Jenny Pruitt or Harry Norman website under the neighborhood feature. We absolutely loved the homes there but it wasn't convenient for us.

[IntownHomes247]

Emory Parc is in the Sagamore Elementary, Shamrock Middle, Druid Hills High district. It is adjacent to the DeKalb Tennis Center. It's an award-winning development from the early 2000s (2002-2003, I believe) with large 2-story homes (some with basements) plus a townhome component.

There are many neighborhoods near Emory where you can find a nice home in a good school district in your price range. The new home requirement is a bit more difficult since this part of town is well developed. There are new homes being built throughout the greater Emory area, but most builders putting new homes in the nicest neighborhoods have such high costs that they build very high-priced homes.

You might possibly be able to find newer construction within your budget in the Oak Grove area although most of the actual "new construction" (2007) in the neighborhood will be too expensive.

If you're willing to look at renovated homes, that would open up lots more possibilities. You'll want to visit schools to see which ones appeal to you the most. Some people love Morningside Elementary, others think it's too big and impersonal. Some love Mary Lin. Some love Fernbank. It depends on what works for you and your family. All 3 schools draw from neighborhoods where you could find a nice home (not necessarily a new home) for under $600k. You could consider Morningside, Victoria Estates, City of Decatur, Lake Claire, Oak Grove, Lavista Park. There are tons of options very close to Emory in your price range. It's just the new construction that will be the biggest challenge in this part of town -- it's not impossible, but it will give you a much smaller pool of choices.

[ATOP]

I have heard about the Brookwood school district with Brookwood highschool, camp creek elementary to be very good for people who work in emory. I know it might not be very close to Emory, but I dont mind a little more commute to live in a safe neighbourhood with good school district. Any suggestion?

[cmtiger]

ATOP, you need to take a good look at City of Decatur Schools. Decatur has its own school system - separate from the DeKalb system. The schools are very small by Atlanta standards. The elementary schools are about 250-350 kids. The middle school is about 450-500 and the high school is about 700-800. The entire school system is under 2500 which is smaller than some suburban elementary schools.

The schools are very good from K all the way through 12 which is not something that you see much in the intown county systems. The K-3 schools employ Expeditionary Learning (google ELOB) and grades 4-12 are implementing the International Baccalaureate Programme. The two educational models are actually very similar and emphasize hands on experiential learning over rote learning through spreadsheets and textbooks. There are many projects (more group projects for young kids and solo projects for the older ones) and many field trips. CSD also teaches Spanish every day from K through 8 and art and music several times a week. In high school, students can continue in Spanish or choose another language.

Decatur is very close to Emory and we have a ton of Emory and CDC staff living here. There are also a ton of kids and kid friendly things to do. So long as you are in the city limits, you can't go wrong with schools. They are all great.

Decatur is working on becoming a charter system which should be a very good thing for such a small system.

Also... most students in Decatur walk or bike to school which I think is a nice added bonus.

Check the schools out on greatschools.net or here

The Governor's Office of Student Achievement

There are new homes in Decatur in you price range, particularly in Oakhurst, but most of the homes are older (early to mid 1900s). The community and school system are diverse and left leaning.

[globalnomad]

I second the above recommendation for Emory Parc Manor. However, to my knowlege, there's only one house for sale in the entire subdivision at this moment. It's convenient to Emory and it's a very safe neighborhood with newer homes and an active home owner's association. You can walk to the local library, tennis courts, soccer field, etc. Seems diverse.