NW vs NE - Looking To Move And Stay For 30 Years - Kids - Private vs Public Schools? (Atlanta: house, neighborhood)

[needspractice]

Hello,

I am looking to move to either NE or NW of Atlanta soon.

Church, Private Schools, and Activities are important to me.

Considering...

NW

Woodstock, Canton or Acworth

NE

Suwanee, Sugar Hill or Cumming

Out There [Outlier] but might consider...

Peachtree City, Newnan or something else [Lake or Something]

Lets stay on topic though. I do care about resale value, so the Public Schools are kind of important to me as well. For example moving to Suwanee I am sure the resale is going to be great because of the Public Schools.

I want to live somewhere for (30) years. I have a job that is statewide so exact location is not a factor. I would love to give my children something that I never got. I would love for them to grow up in the same location and create friends for life.

We are not interested in keeping up with the John's AKA [Jone's]. Like living in John's Creek. I am sure the people there are great. I am not complaining, however, we just don't want to be subjected to extremely expensive living and feel like we need to keep up.

We are approved for up to 1,000,000.00 but do not want to live in this bracket at all. We would much rather live around 250,000 to 350,000.

We are heavily looking into a neighborhood like:

Barnesmill in Canton GA

However we are leaning towards Woodstock GA because of the hometown feel. My only concern is the Private Schools and Public Schools seem to be much weaker than NE Schools.

I am really just starting and have plenty of time to pick out the perfect house. We are in no rush and currently live south of Atlanta.

Please be kind and please do not take anything the wrong way. We are just trying to be honest and find something nice and quaint and perfect for a growing family for (30) years.

So please let me know what you think and any ideas that you may have.

[Forgot]

Yes. Please comment on Traffic as well, however it will not really apply to me because I am a Road Warrior and drive 24/7 everywhere and leave at all different times of the day. However I do see 575 seems to have something opening up very soon to solve the horrendous traffic.

Have a wonderful day!

[red92s]

Originally Posted by needspractice

Hello,

I do care about resale value, so the Public Schools are kind of important to me as well. However I do see 575 seems to have something opening up very soon to solve the horrendous traffic.

Couple observations:

Planning to buy a house and stay for 30 years pretty much takes the concerns about resale off the board. I understand people want to find that "forever home" and put down roots, but the reality is most homes change hands once every 7 years. Life has a funny way of happening regardless of your plans. Point is, worrying about what areas will have the strongest resale 30 years from now is wasted effort. Homes that work well for families with small kids and homes that work well for empty-nesters nearing retirement are often totally different.

The changes on 575 won't "solve" the traffic issues. It may give you a less congested option if you are willing to pay to use it, but traffic if going to be a way of life in any of these areas. . . particularity in another decade or three.

[needspractice]

Originally Posted by red92s

Couple observations:

Planning to buy a house and stay for 30 years pretty much takes the concerns about resale off the board. I understand people want to find that "forever home" and put down roots, but the reality is most homes change hands once every 7 years. Life has a funny way of happening regardless of your plans. Point is, worrying about what areas will have the strongest resale 30 years from now is wasted effort. Homes that work well for families with small kids and homes that work well for empty-nesters nearing retirement are often totally different.

The changes on 575 won't "solve" the traffic issues. It may give you a less congested option if you are willing to pay to use it, but traffic if going to be a way of life in any of these areas. . . particularity in another decade or three.

Excellent point. I will take re-sale worries out of the equation. However, I do want to stay somewhere for (30) years.

Do you have any more insight or opinions on NE vs NW?

Some of the polls have suggest NW hands down. I am guessing it is because everyone is more comfortable in the NW area.

[erlin168]

Hello OP,

Mirror Lake neighborhood in Villa Rica, GA which is in Douglas county is a very nice place to raise a family.
It is right at I-20 exit 26. Elementary school is Mirror Lake Elementary (good), Middle school is Mason Creek Middle School (good), High school is Douglas County High School (Honor program is good), otherwise you can opt for Alexander High School, or pay little bit money to attend Bremen city High School (Very good).


Happy house hunting!

[AtlJan]

For excellent private schools in northwest Georgia, I'd recommend Darlington School in Rome Ga. It has bus service from surrounding counties, Bartow, Cobb near Brookstone area. . .

[lastminutemom]

Nothing is going to solve Atlanta's horrendous traffic --

Are you interested in private schools because you believe it offers a better education or for religious reasons?

[vtecluder617]

I may be biased, but the Towne Lake area where I live in Woodstock is great. Public schools are great (maybe not as highly rated as Suwanee's) and tons of amenities in the area. Not far from North Fulton to the East, and Kennesaw or Mareitta to the South. Depending on your housing needs, you may have to up the budget a bit for Towne Lake ($350K-$450K).

But honestly, you can't go wrong with either area. Both desirable places to live in Metro Atlanta.

[Born 2 Roll]

Both Northwest and Northeast metro Atlanta suburban areas are great (if not excellent) areas to live in.

The schools may be more highly regarded in the Northeastern suburban areas that you are considering (Suwanee, Sugar Hill and Cumming) but the schools are also still very good in Woodstock, Canton and Acworth.

Like vtecluder stated, you really cannot go wrong with either area.

What you probably should do is visit both areas in person (multiple times, if necessary) and see for yourself which area would be the best fit for you and your family.

[needspractice]

Originally Posted by erlin168

Hello OP,

Mirror Lake neighborhood in Villa Rica, GA which is in Douglas county is a very nice place to raise a family.
It is right at I-20 exit 26. Elementary school is Mirror Lake Elementary (good), Middle school is Mason Creek Middle School (good), High school is Douglas County High School (Honor program is good), otherwise you can opt for Alexander High School, or pay little bit money to attend Bremen city High School (Very good).


Happy house hunting!

Thank you for this outlier option. I am considering other areas in case someone comes up with something way out of the ordinary that sparks my interest. For example I am looking at Lake Homes on Lake Oconee for fun. However, I believe I would like to live more up north than south at this time. Might consider Newnan or Peachtree City.

Originally Posted by AtlJan

For excellent private schools in northwest Georgia, I'd recommend Darlington School in Rome Ga. It has bus service from surrounding counties, Bartow, Cobb near Brookstone area. . .

That is a great choice that I have not researched yet. I am literally just googling private schools and looking at reviews. Thanks for the recommendation. It looks really nice.

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Nothing is going to solve Atlanta's horrendous traffic --

Are you interested in private schools because you believe it offers a better education or for religious reasons?

Thank you for asking, but I am looking for Religious Reasons.

Originally Posted by vtecluder617

I may be biased, but the Towne Lake area where I live in Woodstock is great. Public schools are great (maybe not as highly rated as Suwanee's) and tons of amenities in the area. Not far from North Fulton to the East, and Kennesaw or Mareitta to the South. Depending on your housing needs, you may have to up the budget a bit for Towne Lake ($350K-$450K).

But honestly, you can't go wrong with either area. Both desirable places to live in Metro Atlanta.

We could bump up to 350K to 450K if needed. Thank you for the nice hint on the Neighborhood. I'll check it out.

Any other hints or tips you can give me about the NW, I am feeling that we are leaning strongly on the NW.

Traffic is really no concern to me because I create my own schedule and my wife is probably going to stay at home with the kids per her choice. She doesn't have to but I believe she wants to.

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Both Northwest and Northeast metro Atlanta suburban areas are great (if not excellent) areas to live in.

The schools may be more highly regarded in the Northeastern suburban areas that you are considering (Suwanee, Sugar Hill and Cumming) but the schools are also still very good in Woodstock, Canton and Acworth.

Like vtecluder stated, you really cannot go wrong with either area.

What you probably should do is visit both areas in person (multiple times, if necessary) and see for yourself which area would be the best fit for you and your family.

I have visited NW woodstock area much more than I have NE Suwanee area. We just visited Suwanee a few days ago and then swung back to Woodstock the same day.

We immediately feel the charm more with Woodstock... Suwanee, Johns creek and Alpharetta just feel too much like Destin, FL. A little to rich for our taste. Nothing wrong with it, just not our style.

So far I feel like the Woodstock area is a little bit more family oriented, more activities, I wouldn't mind living real close to Lake Allatoona and getting a boat, putting it in the Marina and driving on Sunday's to church in Woodstock. Just need to find good Christian School to send my future kids to.

However, I just feel like Alpharetta, and Suwanne blow the NW area away with Christian Schools and Public Schools offerings, but just way more pricier/expensive and a tad bit of too much classiness for us.

...

I hope all of this doesn't sound to much like rubbish. I am kind of rambling my thoughts down. If someone can make heads or tails of all this and give me some great feedback and advice that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

[primaltech]

Yeah, probably go with Cherokee County. Canton or Woodstock. It's not ritzy, yet it is a nice area, and the schools are fine.

If/when you need to, you can pretty easily get over to Alpharetta for nice malls and shopping, and office jobs there.

You've got the lake nearby, the NW corridor toll lane project opening in a year or 2 might (slightly) help with the commute to Atlanta, and a lot of people out there go to church, and life out there is more oriented that way. And Downtown Woodstock is small, but it is genuinely really cool.

Cumming has even worse traffic to try to get anywhere else in the metro area. I would never recommend living up there, because of GA-400 southbound being the absolute worst traffic ever.