What's the best suburb with tech jobs? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: low crime, house)

[PeteCoder]

What's the best Atlanta suburb (or outskirts of the city) with tech jobs?

Here's what I'm looking for:
-Great schools (I have 2 young kids)
-Suburb with or near commercial areas (business offices), for IT jobs
-Access to downtown (I'm not sure what the public transportation is like there), I'd like to be able to be downtown in 45 minutes or so.
-Great, low crime neighborhood (I'm looking to spend $500k or so on a house)
-Would prefer newer construction homes, but not a requirement

From what I'm seeing Alpharetta seems to have a good amount of IT jobs, but the commute to downtown may be rough.

What areas would best match this criteria?

[sedimenjerry]

Alpharetta does have a lot of IT jobs. You can definitely make it to downtown within 45 except in rush hour. You can exit just north of 285 directly to a MARTA station off 400. It's the start of the Red line and will take you downtown but it'll be slower than driving if there's no traffic. Roswell has some really nice areas as well and puts you marginally closer. Unfortunately the closer in you get you'll have to sacrifice your budget or the safety. You might be able to find a 500K house closer in, but the public schools won't be as nice as what you get in Roswell or Alpharetta.

[PeteCoder]

Thanks! How long do you think it would take in rush hour from Alpharetta driving to the MARTA and then using that to downtown?

At a budget of $750 would you recommend any other areas?

[flyonpa]

Yes, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Forsyth and the I75/I285 area have lots of Tech jobs,

While Downtown/Midtown Tech jobs are growing, Most of the Tech jobs are still north of the city,

A home in Alpharetta, Southern Forsyth, Johns Creek areas would meet you housing price range and education requirements ...

The ride/commute into Atlanta proper can be harder the further north you go, (If you are working over in the i75/i285 area i would suggest looking in the East Cobb County area) .

If you browse back thru the message board, It's Always suggested you find the job first, then look for where to live, to make you commute bearable.

[PeteCoder]

Originally Posted by flyonpa

If you browse back thru the message board, It's Always suggested you find the job first, then look for where to live, to make you commute bearable.

Thanks for those tips!

I'm looking for a more central location, since you never know how long the job is going to last, if I will like it, etc.

[ecuresident]

Sandy Springs, or even parts of Dunwoody would fit your bill. Getting to Marta on 400 isnt terribly bad during rush hour, its more the local streets like 92 that take forever. I do the commute from Roswell about once a month to Buckhead and its about 1 hour.