Relocating - What neighborhoods should I visit?

[3rdbass]

Also, don't forget about the Center for Puppetry Arts. Great play to bring kids and in is on Mass Transit Line if you want to take that. They have special Puppetry shows like Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and Cat in the Hat. It is a great place to bring a kid. I know my niece who was a little older loved it.


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[cheesecheese]

This sounds amazing - thanks!

Originally Posted by 3rdbass

Also, don't forget about the Center for Puppetry Arts. Great play to bring kids and in is on Mass Transit Line if you want to take that. They have special Puppetry shows like Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and Cat in the Hat. It is a great place to bring a kid. I know my niece who was a little older loved it.


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[PeteATL41]

Decatur is definitely a cool place to be. Only issue is traffic depending on where you need to get to for work. Also be careful as there is a big difference between the City of Decatur and unincorporated DeKalb County with a Decatur mailing address...

[red92s]

I think you should center your search in Oakhurst, which is the largest neighborhood within the City of Decatur. It would check most/all of your boxes.

-Your budget won't be much of a constraint there.

-You'll be in one of the best school districts in the state. Decatur's school system is sort of unique in that they are switching to a arrangement where kids go k-2 at one school, then to a 3/4/5 academy, then middle school, and high school. With the exception of some areas on the eastern fringes of Oakhurst, all the schools are a pretty easy walk from most spots in the neighborhood.

-There is a conveniently located MARTA station (East Lake Station).

-There are several neighborhood parks, one of which has a pool and a skate park, and the other has tennis courts.

-The central business district in Oakhurst has a community plaza/park, a market, numerous restaurants, and a coffee shop. A second smaller business district along College Avenue has a doughnut shop, more restaurants, and a craft beer store.

-Oakhurst hosts a couple popular festivals every year, including jazz nights, a BBQ/bluegrass festival, a mardigras parade, and a wine craw. A recent introduction, Oakhurst Porchfest, is a single-day music festival with hundreds of artists playing on neighbors porches. The Madison Avenue Soapbox Derby is an informal gravity race for homebuilt contraptions. On top of all that, you've got a regular circuit of events taking place in Downtown Decatur, which is about a mile walk.

[cheesecheese]

Originally Posted by red92s

I think you should center your search in Oakhurst, which is the largest neighborhood within the City of Decatur. It would check most/all of your boxes.

-Your budget won't be much of a constraint there.

-You'll be in one of the best school districts in the state. Decatur's school system is sort of unique in that they are switching to a arrangement where kids go k-2 at one school, then to a 3/4/5 academy, then middle school, and high school. With the exception of some areas on the eastern fringes of Oakhurst, all the schools are a pretty easy walk from most spots in the neighborhood.

-There is a conveniently located MARTA station (East Lake Station).

-There are several neighborhood parks, one of which has a pool and a skate park, and the other has tennis courts.

-The central business district in Oakhurst has a community plaza/park, a market, numerous restaurants, and a coffee shop. A second smaller business district along College Avenue has a doughnut shop, more restaurants, and a craft beer store.

-Oakhurst hosts a couple popular festivals every year, including jazz nights, a BBQ/bluegrass festival, a mardigras parade, and a wine craw. A recent introduction, Oakhurst Porchfest, is a single-day music festival with hundreds of artists playing on neighbors porches. The Madison Avenue Soapbox Derby is an informal gravity race for homebuilt contraptions. On top of all that, you've got a regular circuit of events taking place in Downtown Decatur, which is about a mile walk.

Pretty sure you literally just described heaven. This sounds awesome.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Gilah G.

If he is dead set on private school.
Google best private schools in Atlanta with your needs, then narrow down your area to schools, area, zip code,neighborhood, then realtor and finally house.
Best of luck.
This is one hell of a gorgeous place to live.

The language immersion probably limits the number of private schools as well. From Decatur, its hard to get to most of the private schools. Paideia, Cliff Valley, Friends and St. Thomas More are the main ones in the area. Paideia is the only one that goes through high school.

And there are a lot of language programs around if you really want to add that to your kid's Saturdays or evenings.

[cheesecheese]

Just wanted to post a quick thank you and an update. We had a GREAT time in atlanta. It was incredibly hot (no surprise) but we really did love the city. We rented an Airbnb near downtown decatur and absolutely loved it. We went to the Fernbank, the Decatur toy park, the puppet show, piedmont park, and probably more things I'm forgetting. We had some great food and generally really enjoyed the vibe of the city.

For neighborhoods, we found many that we liked. Virginia-highlands and decatur are probably top of the list, but we liked many of the others mentioned here as well. We drove through inman park, morningside, ansley park, and probably others I'm forgetting. Overall, we felt like if we moved there, we'd have many great neighborhoods to choose from, and all with options within our budget, which is awesome.

Thanks for all the insight. After our trip, atlanta is definitely the top of our list when we're ready to move in the spring.

[ctinatl]

If you are more set on private, then Decatur only offers Paideia and the Friends School. Paideia is very competitive for admissions. If that is locked in, I would migrate towards Inman Park (which has Mary Lin elem school which is very good), VA-Highlands, and the other neighborhoods listed above. Those other neighborhoods are accessible to the Decatur privates and a few good midtown privates as well. The Buckhead private cluster is also doable, but still a little far.