Alpharetta vs Milton. What are the major differences? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: apartments, houses)

[shamrockfisher]

Just trying to figure out some of the pros/cons. Traffic, schools, neighborhoods, etc... Thank you.

[bUU]

There is a lot of overlap between the two, so info won't be of much value without you being more specific about what specific parts of each city that you want to compare. For example, there's a street ... in Roswell (paying Roswell taxes and getting Roswell trash removal services, for example) ... with an Alpharetta address (and therefore Alpharetta telephone and cable service, incidentally) ... for which the teenagers go to Milton High School. Two streets, one in Alpharetta and one in Milton, not far from each other, may be far more similar to each other than two streets, both in Milton, further away from each other.

[Clayton white guy]

I would think that MOST of the Milton High School WOULD be in Alpharetta (west of Ga 400). That high school's name is a left over from when North Fulton WAS Milton County (Alpharetta was the Milton county seat) The county dissolved and joined Fulton County along with Old Campbell County (present day South Fulton County) is the depths of The Great Depression when both counties became insolvent. Anyway, the high school in Alpharetta was known as Milton High before the merger and ever since (there was a high school in Fairburn, old Campbell county seat, known as "Campbell High School" for decades as well until that school was consolidated with the old Palmetto High School to form Creekside High in the early 1990's. To differentiate it from Campbell High School in Smyrna, they used to say "Campbell-Fairburn" and "Campbell-Smyrna" on state fooball schedules, etc.)

Anyway, many people wonder why Fulton County is SO much larger than most counties here in Georgia, the reason, of course is that it is a combination of THREE counties! The original Fulton County was basically where the current City of Atlanta is, minus, of course, Atlanta in Dekalb, and adding Sandy Springs and the Tri-Cities area (Hapeville, College Park, and East Point) on the southside. Campbell County was basically south of the Tri-Cities including Palmetto, Fairburn, and present day Chattahoochee Hills. Milton County included Mountain Park, Alpharetta, and present day Johns Creek and City of Milton. Most of present day Roswell actually was part of present day Cobb county with a slither of Dekalb. It was the needed "connector" to the rest of Fulton County. My understanding is that Cobb County was relieved to get rid of "broken down mill town" 1930's Roswell; kind of ironic when you consider the affluent sought after suburb that Roswell evolved into.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

I would think that MOST of the Milton High School WOULD be in Alpharetta (west of Ga 400). That high school's name is a left over from when North Fulton WAS Milton County (Alpharetta was the Milton county seat) The county dissolved and joined Fulton County along with Old Campbell County (present day South Fulton County) is the depths of The Great Depression when both counties became insolvent. Anyway, the high school in Alpharetta was known as Milton High before the merger and ever since (there was a high school in Fairburn, old Campbell county seat, known as "Campbell High School" for decades as well until that school was consolidated with the old Palmetto High School to form Creekside High in the early 1990's. To differentiate it from Campbell High School in Smyrna, they used to say "Campbell-Fairburn" and "Campbell-Smyrna" on state fooball schedules, etc.)

Anyway, many people wonder why Fulton County is SO much larger than most counties here in Georgia, the reason, of course is that it is a combination of THREE counties! The original Fulton County was basically where the current City of Atlanta is, minus, of course, Atlanta in Dekalb, and adding Sandy Springs and the Tri-Cities area (Hapeville, College Park, and East Point) on the southside. Campbell County was basically south of the Tri-Cities including Palmetto, Fairburn, and present day Chattahoochee Hills. Milton County included Mountain Park, Alpharetta, and present day Johns Creek and City of Milton. Most of present day Roswell actually was part of present day Cobb county with a slither of Dekalb. It was the needed "connector" to the rest of Fulton County. My understanding is that Cobb County was relieved to get rid of "broken down mill town" 1930's Roswell; kind of ironic when you consider the affluent sought after suburb that Roswell evolved into.

Keep in mind--back then, "Roswell" consisted of a small area around the square, the plantation homes, lower Vickery Creek, the mills, and Canton Street. This was the part in Cobb County--a sliver of an area.

A majority of the current incorporated area of Roswell would've been part of Milton County. Annexation greatly expanded the corporate limits of Roswell.

[Go Blue 99]

My office is on the border of Alpharetta and Milton. Again, very similar areas, so will need more info on exact locations or subdivisions you are researching.

At a high level, Alpharetta has much more corporate offices and shopping/restaurants. It also has a diverse population with a heavily growing Indian population. Milton is much more residential and quiet, and still mostly white.

[Ric 0_0]

I agree that Milton is mostly residential. However, since Alpharetta and Milton are very similar and right next door to each other you can live in Milton and easily access Alpharetta amenities and vice versa.

Budget is another big question. Milton is currently now building mostly 600k and up homes currently. Alpharetta also is building those but is also has many more medium to low priced ranged houses as well.

With schools, you can't go wrong. Cambridge, Milton, and Alpharetta are all top 10 highschools in Georgia so there might be tiny tiny differences but all of the are great.

[Clayton white guy]

Ric 0 0 really makes some good points! ;0)

[David1502]

The biggest difference between Milton and Alpharetta is that the city of Milton has larger estate size lots and doesn't have sewer lines. This is intentional because this area was a semi-rural area of unincorporated Fulton County which did not have sewer lines and as a result this caused the initial neighborhoods to be large estate lots. The only way developers could justify estate lots was to build mansions on them. So, when the incorporation movement hit North Fulton, the residents of the area that is now the City of Milton wanted to keep the same ambiance that they had of estates and didn't want lower priced homes which would have been built if there were sewer lines which would enable higher density smaller lot developments. To achieve this restriction, they didn't have sewers built.


Because of the estate feel of Milton it is similar to the areas of western Buckhead where most of the homes are on an acre or more.


Alpharetta, by contrast has large commercial developments - the biggest being North Point Mall, Avalon and the Windward Parkway corridor of offices and retail. A variety of housing prices and a significant number of apartments are also available in Alpharetta because the city has long had sewer service in contrast to Milton to its west. There is an older downtown area on Highway 9 near Haynes Bridge which gives a small town feel with its shops and restaurants.