Best Atlanta Suburb for gay, Colored, Professional Couple w Kids (Sandy Springs: condo, how much)

[souldoc]

Hello, first time posting but some of the past thread seems like theyve been quite helpful.

My partner and I are considering relocating from the California Bay Area to Atlanta for job opportunity.
We are both in the medical field. He's being recruited to run one of the hospitals in North Atlanta and Ive been able to find a job opportunity out a bit past Cumming, GA which is far but has million dollar potential.

Our dilemma is that with us being both gay and of color (Im black, he is southeast asian), the Atlanta suburbs might not be the most friendly, especially considering we are coming from CA...

We also have 3 kids (via surrogacy) and are considering having 1 more and we dont want them to be targets for unnecessary bullying.

Based on location, seems like Alpharetta, Johns Creek or Roswell might be best.

I might also add, that I dont *have* to take the job near Cumming and could potentially look for jobs in the city but the market seems a bit crowded in my specific area and the money out there is almost too good to pass up but I would if I felt like we might have a better time being closer to downtown. I worry though that then we would need to have private school which is a greater expense with only 1 income for the time being.

Any thoughts?

1. Budget - around 2-3 million.
2. House/Condo/Townhome? - House, might consider getting a second house in downtown for weekends.
3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) - commute
4. Children(public school vs. private) - we want the best schools possible
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two - currently living in a very nice suburb but wouldnt mind a residential part of downtown Atlanta
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? No
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood.
Diverse (specifically other professional couples of color) but with good shopping and restaurants and fun for the kids on the weekends.

Thank you!

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[Forhall]

With that budget you can buy a beautiful large home in the city, such as Morningside or Virginia Highland. These are extremely safe, walkable neighborhoods that are extremely liberal, gay friendly, and minority friendly. Half the yards have black lives matter signs and a good portion proudly display pride flags from their front porches. I think you'd be much happier there than way out in Alpharetta.

[Boston-to-Atlanta]

Gosh this is a hard one. Things are conservative outside of a few areas in the city. That being said, people will mostly be friendly in those areas you mentioned, but it depends on what you want to be surrounded with. If you want a liberal area, go to Decatur or Morningside. Both are in the city. Traffic is terrible, so I would never recommend a city to Cumming commute. I am Not trying to make a damning political statement against Trump supporters, but as purely a proxy statistic to highlight how relatively conservative or liberal areas are: Decatur and Morningside both voted about 85%-90% for HRC over Trump. Northern suburbs all went for Trump, with varying margins such as Roswell (52% Trump), East Cobb (58% T), Alpharetta (51% T), Johns Creek (50% T)...

[lorilove]

In most areas of Metro Atlanta no one is going to care if you are Gay or Interracial etc.

The commute to Cumming is not going to be the best from most places - your price range is going to give you a great deal of options. I am assuming your partner will be working at one of the hospitals along GA400 in which case there are lots of options for you along that route starting with Sandy Springs to Roswell, Alpharetta or Cumming.

[arjay57]

Sounds like Buckhead would be a great fit for you. Lots of gay and international folks and tons of beautiful intown homes in your budget range. I'd also give consideration to Ansley Park.

If you want a shorter commute I'd look at Milton or Johns Creek.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much house you can get here for under $2 million.

[BeyondInfinity]

I think Midtown or Decatur will be your best options. Don't rule out Buckhead or Sandy Springs.

[souldoc]

Originally Posted by Forhall

With that budget you can buy a beautiful large home in the city, such as Morningside or Virginia Highland. These are extremely safe, walkable neighborhoods that are extremely liberal, gay friendly, and minority friendly. Half the yards have black lives matter signs and a good portion proudly display pride flags from their front porches. I think you'd be much happier there than way out in Alpharetta.

I agree that in the city might be more friendly but the commute to Cumming would be impossible. I would rather give up the job than commute that far

[dblackga]

You don't have a "dilemma" -- you just have a series of preferences and want to live somewhere where those preferences are accepted. :-)

Frankly, I don't see a problem almost anywhere you'd want to live in the Atlanta Metro area. We have Gay Pride parades, there's an active gay professional community, and no one is surprised anymore when it comes to who is married/partnered to who - or cares, really. The race is a non-issue -- hello? It's Atlanta. In 2010, in the Atlanta Metro area, the population was 1/3 Black. Get out into the rural areas of Georgia, and you may run into some issues, but frankly, you can pretty much say the same of any part of the country -- large cities are more easy-going, the rural areas often have more challenges.

Public schools are terrific in the northern suburbs (several nationally ranked, and most of them in the top 10% of Georgia public schools), so with 3 kids, that's a definite consideration, especially around Alpharetta/Johns Creek/Milton/South Forsyth, etc. (Many of the private schools in the North Atlanta suburbs have a strong religious component, FYI.) The commute to Cumming, while it will be a reverse commute, will very quickly become a grind if you are trying to commute from inside the Perimeter (inside the circle of I-285), because any mishap in car accidents or weather will add significant time to your commute, and there's no convenient public transit options. $2 million will get you just about anything you want -- heading up that way, you can get a beautiful home around the $1 million mark, and still have plenty of cash left over for a nice townhouse/condo in Midtown.

For example, I just ran a quick search and found 32 homes that are currently available between $750K and $1.25 mil. in the northern suburbs with 5 or more bedrooms and it's own swimming pool. :-) most running around 4-6,000 sf, and several 8,000 sf and up. And that's not counting several parcels of new construction that aren't reported to the MLS.

I think you'll love the cost of living here, the proximity to the outdoors with the numerous parks, and the foothills of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains. Come on over!

[ATLTJL]

I'd just look into what is most convenient to work. It really depends WHICH hospital in North Atlanta you are talking about. If it's Northside or St. Josephs, Buckhead/Sandy Springs/Brookhaven would be great...if it's that big one up in Alpharetta, I'd live closer to that.

These days in Atlanta, everybody lives everywhere. Shoot, I think Charlie Brown, the guy who ran the most important drag show in Atlanta for years (Charlie Brown's Cabaret) lives in Lawrenceville or something. I know transgender people that live in Kennesaw. It really doesn't matter anymore, unless you are after the gay lifestyle....going to gay bars, eating at gay restaurants, etc. But since you have a partner and kids, my hunch is you don't care so much about that stuff anymore. If you do, check out midtown/Morningside. But you'll be paying for private school.

Believe me....if your partner runs a hospital and you can afford a 2-3 million dollar home, nobody here is going to care what you do. They'll be happy to have you in the neighborhood. If the neighborhood has more than 100 houses, you also almost definitely won't be the only gay family there.

No doubt about it that that intown neighborhoods have more gay people and more liberal attitudes overall. But if you're worried about outright discrimination, bullying, etc., you're just not going to find it anywhere in the metro that has houses the price you are talking about.

[souldoc]

Originally Posted by BeyondInfinity

I think Midtown or Decatur will be your best options. Don't rule out Buckhead or Sandy Springs.

I should clarify that moving into the city would mean giving up the job in Cumming which also isn't ideal. From the looks of it, it seems like any area will be fine and it's a matter of preference between Milton and Alpharetta.