I regret moving to Fulton County (Sandy Springs, Roswell: power lines, neighborhood, middle school)

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by ashpelham

I'm in Atlanta so much, I feel like I spend 50% of my time there. Birmingham feels like an exurb now. I'm usually there on film/tv/commercial stuff.

I honestly don't know how or why anyone tolerates the traffic. It's just so excessive, and people live so far away from the city center. Furthermore, some of those northern reaches of the burbs are so rural looking. I stayed at a really large house over this past weekend, which was more lovely than anything I could ever imagine. Owned by controller of large multi-national retailer. Great house. But dang, it was forever away from everything else, past Woodstock even.

Just can't imagine.

I've had the opportunity to drive up into the norther reaches of the metro for work a few times, and more than anything the experience of driving on those freeways (85, 75, 400, north of the perimeter) is so stressful and frustrating that I felt like it was taking years off my life. One of my favorite things about my intown neighborhood is that almost everything I've needed in the past year has been either within walking distance or a short drive away.

[Cedar_ATL]

Sandy Springs is only known for Heards Ferry being a great elementary, and Riverwood being a notable high school. None of the other public schools are highly regarded. I don't know but it seems like you are butting up against that. Is your school's greatschools.org rating accurate?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Sandwoody

And now I know why everyone sends their kids to the overpriced private schools around here.

Comcast refused the work twice because it was too big of a project, so after paying on time and consistently for 15 years, we had no choice but to switch to ATT. The product isn't as good, but their service trumps Comcast.

Georgia Power is the holy suck of power companies. I'm fairly sure they weren't even able to read our meter if they still do it on foot, because I couldn't even get to the meter to see it until I had all those bushes cut back. Not to mention that I've stopped setting my oven clock b/c it will go out again within a few days, I'm certain. I've been here since the beginning of June and my power has gone out more times since then than in 12 years with Cobb EMC. I am NOT exaggerating.

Apparently, my old AC units in the attic are too big of a job for Coolmasters HVAC, who I have used for several years now, and VERY happily so, making sure to brag on them at every chance. They installed everything at my old house and it was great. They came here, did a routine check on this house, came out another time (the owner) to see how much it would be to replace the systems here and change out my thermostats. They never got back to me. I called and called and emailed and emailed. I was and still am totally floored on what happened. Even after the owner left that day, I went on and on about how thankful I was to have one good service industry perform so well. I NEVER received an email or call about anything. I had even paid, in full, for a new service contract on this house, because I like to keep good maintenance on my units. So I searched out their last invoice to sadly cancel my service contract, and they had already issued me my money back!! I had never even had a bad thought about them, much less be rude, or disrespectful. I was overboard on graciousness, b/c they were so great before. I guess I will forever remain clueless on why they terminated a really good customer to them. I was about to buy several new units and thermostats. ?!?!?!?

Now for the school.. HOLY ****E!! I've never been so incredibly disappointed in a school system. I knew I was moving into a school that has many transients. I'm a huge supporter of public schools, and I like to be the change I seek. The office manager is horrific. There is NO principal at this school besides an interim one. I didn't receive an electives sheet in my packet when we registered. I can't get anyone to see me at the school. I can't even get an email back from the assistant principal, and here my daughter is missing orchestra because I don't even know who the orchestra teacher is to email him. Beside the names of the staff it just says "teacher". Well thanks a lot.

I am sick and depressed over this entire move. I should have stayed in Cobb County, away from the city I enjoy and just used my money to travel instead of this bullcrap. I guess now I will scramble to find a place for my daughter. Sucks for them because she would be one to help raise their test score average instead of hurt them.

thanks for reading my rant if you made it this far.

Have you reached out to the Sandy Springs Charter Middle School PTA?


They could potentially be a good resource and help alleviate your concerns.


Moreover, telling them about your issues may be a fast way to get some changes made. And I'm sure they would love to have another active, involved parent in the school.


PTA


The Sandy Springs Charter Middle School Foundation (another great parental/community resource):
Sandy Springs Charter Middle School Foundation



I also recommend reaching out to parents at North Springs Charter High School:


https://northspringsspartans.members...m/spartans_PTO

https://northspringsfons.membershiptoolkit.com

https://northspringsspartans.membershiptoolkit.com

Academic Excellence

[lastminutemom]

I am trying to figure out middle or high school?

[Southern man]

Originally Posted by Sandwoody

And now I know why everyone sends their kids to the overpriced private schools around here.

Comcast refused the work twice because it was too big of a project, so after paying on time and consistently for 15 years, we had no choice but to switch to ATT. The product isn't as good, but their service trumps Comcast.

Georgia Power is the holy suck of power companies. I'm fairly sure they weren't even able to read our meter if they still do it on foot, because I couldn't even get to the meter to see it until I had all those bushes cut back. Not to mention that I've stopped setting my oven clock b/c it will go out again within a few days, I'm certain. I've been here since the beginning of June and my power has gone out more times since then than in 12 years with Cobb EMC. I am NOT exaggerating.

Apparently, my old AC units in the attic are too big of a job for Coolmasters HVAC, who I have used for several years now, and VERY happily so, making sure to brag on them at every chance. They installed everything at my old house and it was great. They came here, did a routine check on this house, came out another time (the owner) to see how much it would be to replace the systems here and change out my thermostats. They never got back to me. I called and called and emailed and emailed. I was and still am totally floored on what happened. Even after the owner left that day, I went on and on about how thankful I was to have one good service industry perform so well. I NEVER received an email or call about anything. I had even paid, in full, for a new service contract on this house, because I like to keep good maintenance on my units. So I searched out their last invoice to sadly cancel my service contract, and they had already issued me my money back!! I had never even had a bad thought about them, much less be rude, or disrespectful. I was overboard on graciousness, b/c they were so great before. I guess I will forever remain clueless on why they terminated a really good customer to them. I was about to buy several new units and thermostats. ?!?!?!?

Now for the school.. HOLY ****E!! I've never been so incredibly disappointed in a school system. I knew I was moving into a school that has many transients. I'm a huge supporter of public schools, and I like to be the change I seek. The office manager is horrific. There is NO principal at this school besides an interim one. I didn't receive an electives sheet in my packet when we registered. I can't get anyone to see me at the school. I can't even get an email back from the assistant principal, and here my daughter is missing orchestra because I don't even know who the orchestra teacher is to email him. Beside the names of the staff it just says "teacher". Well thanks a lot.

I am sick and depressed over this entire move. I should have stayed in Cobb County, away from the city I enjoy and just used my money to travel instead of this bullcrap. I guess now I will scramble to find a place for my daughter. Sucks for them because she would be one to help raise their test score average instead of hurt them.

thanks for reading my rant if you made it this far.

Have you compared your GPC service with your neighbors?
Does their power go out like yours?
Have you contacted GPC?

[ATLTJL]

Honestly, almost all of the issues you describe have absolutely nothing to do with what county you live in.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by ashpelham

I'm in Atlanta so much, I feel like I spend 50% of my time there. Birmingham feels like an exurb now. I'm usually there on film/tv/commercial stuff.

I honestly don't know how or why anyone tolerates the traffic. It's just so excessive, and people live so far away from the city center. Furthermore, some of those northern reaches of the burbs are so rural looking. I stayed at a really large house over this past weekend, which was more lovely than anything I could ever imagine. Owned by controller of large multi-national retailer. Great house. But dang, it was forever away from everything else, past Woodstock even.

Just can't imagine.

Exurban areas have a mix of rural and suburban characteristics. Often times many of them were rural just 10-15 years back.

The big thing for most in those areas is that they often work closer to home than you might realize. There are ton of jobs of In North Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett Counties. A few people have those really long commutes, but most are really going closer to home.
One thing I found interesting about Forsyth County is it leads the area in people who work from home by a larger margin (I think it was something like 6%). It sort of makes sense if you don't need to commute. The big down falls seem to be social life for singles and a long commute, but it would be an ideal option for a family with no commute.

Admittedly, I wouldn't want to live past Woodstock.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I am trying to figure out middle or high school?

Middle school.

[cwkimbro]

Sandwoody,

I'm sorry to hear about all you problems. Hopefully things will get better over time once there has been more time to work problems out

I was actually having a conversation with my mother not too long ago about the house I grew up in. When I was really little short power shortages were common, of course back in those days it would have been the edge of suburbia. By the time I was older the power outages were rare. I think it had something to do with the redundancies built into the power grid as growth went past us and new electrical lines were put in going in different directions.

Sandy Springs has many neighborhoods backing up to the Chattahoochee that would be a barrier to the spread of the local grid. I wonder if there are less redundancies, since the smaller neighborhood to neighborhood electrical lines don't cross the river to what would be adjacent development. Just thinking out loud....

I agree you should contact them at some point. Maybe there is a faulty transformer in your neighborhood or something simple.

[JoeTarheel]

Your complaints are not about Fulton County, but about specific things within the county...Comcast? Georgia Power? A private HVAC company? Nothing to do with Fulton County.

And one school is not a school system. If you have a complaint about a specific school you should call the county office. It sounds like the problem is probably due to the principal turnover. Everyone is probably doing the best they can and don't need a nitpicking parent breathing down their backs. I would give them a break...if you need something specific just find someone that can help you rather than freak out over the orchestra teacher or a miscommunication with the assistant principal. It would be silly to remove your child from a school over such trivial issues.