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You should take a look at the southernmost portion of Forsyth County spefically the area zoned for Brandywine Elementary, DeSana MS and Denmark HS. They are so close to Alpharetta that they have Alpharetta addresses. The schools are extremely diverse. Asians at 31% are the largest group at Brandywine and the school is 12% AA and the AA share of enrollment is growing. You’ll find more houses in your price range in that area than across the boundary in Fulton County and the property taxes are significantly lower too.
I know the principal at Brandywine since my wife worked with him as an AP at a majority AA and Hispanic school for five years. He’s very attuned to cultural and racial awareness / sensitivity. It may not ultimately be what you are looking for but I think it’s the one part of Forsyth that could potentially meet your needs.
There are so many options that fits the OPs needs in Atlanta that I think Forsyth would be and should be at the bottom of the list. Even Alpharetta is a better option but I completely understand what the OP is trying to say. The OP is looking for a black majority neighborhood, a neighborhood that is completely different from his old neighborhood in Portland.
Since you do not care about schools that much and you don’t really have to commute to Alpharetta that often I highly recommend Lithonia, Stone Mountain and the Shiloh High School area of Snellville in Gwinnett. Lawrenceville’s black communities will be relatively small compared to the black communities in these areas. These areas that I mentioned are 60+% African American and growing. Most of the people that live in those communities are upper middle class African Americans. Lawrenceville tends to skew more Hispanic as more Mexicans and other people of Hispanic origins are moving to Lawrenceville in droves.
The commute to Alpharetta may not be the best but these areas meet the OPs number one priority of being in a huge and strong black community.
There are so many options that fits the OPs needs in Atlanta that I think Forsyth would be and should be at the bottom of the list. Even Alpharetta is a better option but I completely understand what the OP is trying to say. The OP is looking for a black majority neighborhood, a neighborhood that is completely different from his old neighborhood in Portland.
Since you do not care about schools that much and you don’t really have to commute to Alpharetta that often I highly recommend Lithonia, Stone Mountain and the Shiloh High School area of Snellville in Gwinnett. Lawrenceville’s black communities will be relatively small compared to the black communities in these areas. These areas that I mentioned are 60+% African American and growing. Most of the people that live in those communities are upper middle class African Americans. Lawrenceville tends to skew more Hispanic as more Mexicans and other people of Hispanic origins are moving to Lawrenceville in droves.
The commute to Alpharetta may not be the best but these areas meet the OPs number one priority of being in a huge and strong black community.
Ah, I missed the part about not commuting every day. Then yeah, if someone wants a majority black area then they’ve got plenty of places to choose from.
You will say that until you've had to intermingle in the PNW--particularly Portland--as a black person. It's different here. Might be a valid point for the East coast though, so thank you for the reminder. And he won't have to do that commute every day, or even during peak hours. He's the one who really wants to move, and he knows he will probably be sitting in traffic if we do.
But you have to realize, you are posting in the Atlanta forum and you are getting excellent advice from folks here in Atlanta. Get over Portland and embrace what you are being told for this location. This is not Portland. Even in neighborhoods that you may deem majorly white you should understand that here in Atlanta there is a different vibe than other places, like Portland. All races and ethnicities are much more welcoming of integration and each other. This is truly a rich place culturally. It's one of Atlanta's strengths in my opinion.
I personally am against the stance of seeking a dominantly race inhabitted district in one of the most cultural diverse cities in the nation. I mean, you may love that part of living in Atlanta but for me I just never saw the value in it if you pretty much have to struggle to make ends meet in other spectrum of living in the metro (in terms of commuting especially). We can't make it all "my Atlanta my way" - It is a developed city and compromises have to be made by individuals if they want to have a fairly reliable life style...
You can have that personal stance but you at least understand why other do care right?
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Originally Posted by Need4Camaro
You see, lets say the OP moves and about 6 months down the road they either make him come in 5 days a week because either some lay offs to other employees or other employees leave causing them to need his availability for more hours, that or lets say he ends up needing another job altogether after a year...the fascination of moving to another city will QUICKLY fade if a burdensome and necessary commute was imposed on them. Where would you be more likely to find a high paying job, Stone Mountain or Alpharetta? I mean no offense or anything but we can't ignore that the jobs he is seeking are definitely going to be either in N.Fulton, N.Gwinnett or N.Cobb... Moving closer to his job isn't just about the current situation but also future proofing himself in the event that he may need another job in the future...he's already local to them.
If I were to do it all over again.. ..forget about the cultural differences.. I'd definitely move to Alpharetta if it was within my budget and I was working there. Commuting to Alpharetta is not like commuting to Downtown Atlanta or centrally located employment hubs. Alpharetta has limited reachability due to it being cut off from some of the metro by the Chattahoochee River and only so many bridges (usually all congested) that make the jump.
Also during my time working in Alpharetta, while I was mildly concerned about being targeted, I've never run into such issues even while working nights going into the RaceTrac off Old Milton Pkwy and Westside Pkwy for coffee, ALWAYS filled with cops. Never had an issue though. Alpharetta is also no longer dominantly Caucasian from my experience, ALOT of foreigners, visa's, H1B's, African's. Its not as diverse as Gwinnett but its not like you need to go there worrying about social inequality or anything.
I understand to a decree about only going to Alpharetta 2 - 3 days a week, but I've done the Stone Mountain to Perimeter commute as well and thats only about 60% of the commute to Alpharetta. That was also painful.
Just my $0.02 --- trust me when I say, you will find Atlanta ten-fold more enjoyable if you're not spending 6 hours of your day inside of a aluminum cage on 4 wheels..
All that is fine and good but living in Suwanee, Norcross, Duluth, and Peachtree Corners aren't going to be long commutes to Alpharetta, they are cheaper and they are still more diverse ( or at least have more black people), which is why I suggested them first. What would 250K max even get you in Alpharetta? May was well live in north western Gwinnett and add maybe 10-15 mins to their drive.
But you have to realize, you are posting in the Atlanta forum and you are getting excellent advice from folks here in Atlanta. Get over Portland and embrace what you are being told for this location. This is not Portland. Even in neighborhoods that you may deem majorly white you should understand that here in Atlanta there is a different vibe than other places, like Portland. All races and ethnicities are much more welcoming of integration and each other. This is truly a rich place culturally. It's one of Atlanta's strengths in my opinion.
Excellent point. Will absolutely take that into account when we finally land there to visit as a family and check it out. BTW....every place on this planet is going to vibe really differently than we do here in Portland. Our saying is "Keep Portland weird", and it's REAL! Hard to remember that when you're trying to escape it though.
You can have that personal stance but you at least understand why other do care right?
Kinda, I'm African American as well but I'm more about diversity than anything else. I personally don't like developments too focused on one particular race which is why Lawrenceville personally stood out to me. The cultural stuff is okay and all but I see people as people. Nothing more or nothing less. To me dominant race areas (of any kind) -- I see it as a restriction, because you can learn alot more from people outside your social group rather than sticking to a bubble of security.
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Originally Posted by Otakumaster
All that is fine and good but living in Suwanee, Norcross, Duluth, and Peachtree Corners aren't going to be long commutes to Alpharetta, they are cheaper and they are still more diverse ( or at least have more black people), which is why I suggested them first. What would 250K max even get you in Alpharetta? May was well live in north western Gwinnett and add maybe 10-15 mins to their drive.
I really dont think Suawanee and Peachtree Corners are too much cheaper than Alpharetta anymore. I mean, they aren't as high as Alpharetta but the difference isn't as great as it used to be. Suawnee is currently highly sought. Duluth and Norcross probably are still fairly inexpensive but Norcross to Alpharetta is no direct commute, that will also be painful. Duluth to Alpharetta, if you're in the western edge of Duluth its doable but I hate driving down Pleasant Hill / State Bridge / Old Milton Pkwy. Too many lights and too much congestion.
I personally would seek Northern Alpharetta, Southern Forsyth or Johns Creek (expensive) with Peachtree Corners (northern sector) being my last choice.
After taking a apartment CLOSE to my job, I found I didnt really care too much that it was an apartment, the commute and convenience is well worth it. Eventually I'll get a house, but being closer to your job is alot more important than people give it credit for.
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 04-17-2019 at 01:18 PM..
You can have that personal stance but you at least understand why other do care right?
All that is fine and good but living in Suwanee, Norcross, Duluth, and Peachtree Corners aren't going to be long commutes to Alpharetta, they are cheaper and they are still more diverse ( or at least have more black people), which is why I suggested them first. What would 250K max even get you in Alpharetta? May was well live in north western Gwinnett and add maybe 10-15 mins to their drive.
Well, I would not necessarily say for certain that Suwanee, Norcross, Duluth and Peachtree Corners are not going to be long commutes to Alpharetta... They will be shorter commutes to Alpharetta than an area like Lawrenceville, but they will still be commutes that will have some notable challenges during rush hours.
Like Need4Camaro noted in the pictures he posted earlier, McGinnis Ferry Road westbound between Suwanee and Alpharetta can be prone to experience some severe traffic congestion during morning rush hour, including at its major junctions with Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Suwanee/Gwinnett and at Georgia 141 in Johns Creek.
Other major east-west routes like Georgia 120 Abbotts Bridge Road westbound and Pleasant Hill Road/State Bridge Road westbound can also be prone to experience severe traffic congestion during rush hours, including and particularly at and near their junctions with major north-south routes like Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (on the Gwinnett side of the Chattahoochee River) and Georgia 141 (on the North Fulton County side of the Chattahoochee River).
It should also be noted that the traffic congestion on the three east-west routes in question (on McGinnis Ferry Road and ESPECIALLY on Georgia 120 and Pleasant Hill Road/State Bridge Road) is the worst while the PK-12 schools are in session.
A rush hour commute from Norcross 30071/Peachtree Corners 30092 to Alpharetta potentially could be a somewhat more viable option if the OP's husband uses Georgia 141 northbound to State Bridge Road westbound and stays off of Georgia 140 Holcomb Bridge Road westbound during morning rush hour (and stays off of GA 140 Holcomb Bridge Road eastbound during afternoon/evening rush hour)… Though getting through the school zones (Johns Creek High, State Bridge Crossing Elementary, and Ocee Elementary schools) could be a real challenge while commuting on State Bridge Road westbound during morning rush hour while PK-12 schools are in session.
And while the Norcross 30071 area appears to have noticeably more (but not necessarily an overabundance of) detached single-family homes available for sale at the OP's preferred price point of $250k and under, a challenge with the Peachtree Corners 30092 area is that the only housing option on the market (as far as the MLS shows) are townhomes, condominiums and apartments. Detached single-family homes for $250k and under appear to be very scarce in the Peachtree Corners 30092 area at this time.
OP, I am going to have to advice you to ignore some of these comments questioning your reason for wanting a blacker area. Many of these posters are not black or don't simply don't have a nuanced understanding on why this is important to some.
If you are set on Gwinnet and want to be close to Alpharetta the areas I mentioned ; Suwanee, Norcross, Duluth, Peachtree Corners are going to be more diverse.
Since your husband wont be commuting daily and you aren't concerned with school rankings (though many of these areas have some good schools ranking-wise) as much this opens up your option to much blacker areas with a deeper black community/cultural feel. You can look in area of Stone Mountain, unincorporated Decatur/south Deklab, Cascade, West End, Henry County, College Park, Mabelton and even Fayetteville( probably the best schools on the list).
Many of these areas will have black charter schools, black private school, black stem centers, black magnet schools, black community centers, black cultural events, black owned restaurants and other businesses etc in more frequency. It will be like nothing you ever had in PNW.
Areas like Stone Mountain, South DeKalb, Cascade, West End, Henry County, College Park, Mableton and Fayetteville/North Fayette County are all good areas to target for someone who is looking to live in an area with an decidedly majority-black population.
A really big concern (like others have expressed) is if the OP's husband somehow ends up having to commute to (and from) his company's office in Alpharetta more than 2-3 times each week.
We do not want the OP's husband to end up saddled with long and miserable commutes to and from work because they decide to move to a location that is relatively far from his office and he ends up having to commute to and from work each day of the week.
For example, a Henry County-to-Alpharetta commute would be really miserable on many days (including and especially around holiday and vacation periods) when an already congested major roadway like Interstate 75 (which is a massive Interstate/transcontinental travel route to and from the popular resort and getaway areas in Florida) gets packed with even more traffic (and often just outright gridlock) from people traveling to and from Florida (between other parts of the country) en masse on weekends, holidays and around major vacation periods.
Another concern for the OP with areas like Stone Mountain, South DeKalb (unincorporated Decatur, Lithonia), Cascade, West End, Henry County and College Park and even Mableton in some cases, is that the crime rates in those areas will not be as low as the OP has stated a desire for them to be. The OP would basically get the benefit of living in strong majority-black areas in exchange for having to accept living in an area with a noticeably higher crime rate than she might prefer.
Crime rates in general likely will be noticeably higher in a large major Southeastern metro area like Atlanta than in a smaller Pacific Northwest metro area like Portland... Even in Northside areas like Gwinnett and (in some cases even in affluent North Fulton which has very low crime by metro Atlanta standards), the crime rates are going to be higher and the occurrences of crime are going to be more frequent as a whole than in a metro area like Portland.
The noticeably higher crime rates and more frequent crime occurrences, even in more affluent parts of the Atlanta metro area, are just simply something that the OP and her family are going to have to adjust to after moving from Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest to Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeast.
Kinda, I'm African American as well but I'm more about diversity than anything else. I personally don't like developments too focused on one particular race which is why Lawrenceville personally stood out to me. The cultural stuff is okay and all but I see people as people. Nothing more or nothing less. To me dominant race areas (of any kind) -- I see it as a restriction, because you can learn alot more from people outside your social group rather than sticking to a bubble of security.
alright. As I said, that is fine if it works for you, but it's entirely reasonable and valid for a black person to want to live in black area in America and like any other ethnic group it's really not rocket science as to why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Need4Camaro
I really dont think Suawanee and Peachtree Corners are too much cheaper than Alpharetta anymore. I mean, they aren't as high as Alpharetta but the difference isn't as great as it used to be. Suawnee is currently highly sought. Duluth and Norcross probably are still fairly inexpensive but Norcross to Alpharetta is no direct commute, that will also be painful. Duluth to Alpharetta, if you're in the western edge of Duluth its doable but I hate driving down Pleasant Hill / State Bridge / Old Milton Pkwy. Too many lights and too much congestion.
I personally would seek Northern Alpharetta, Southern Forsyth or Johns Creek (expensive) with Peachtree Corners (northern sector) being my last choice.
After taking a apartment CLOSE to my job, I found I didnt really care too much that it was an apartment, the commute and convenience is well worth it. Eventually I'll get a house, but being closer to your job is alot more important than people give it credit for.
This is a whole family looking for a home though. So I don't think an apartment is what they are looking for.
I'd encourage you to look at zillow to see what is actually available in that price range. South Forsyth is really the only place you are pushing that has many decent options under 250k.
Also, OP should keep in mind as far as seeking out a predominately black community, if your kids go to one of the schools in Gwinnett or elsewhere that is racially balanced, like for example 40% Latino, 30% white, 30% black, they will most likely have a group of friends that is predominately black, as the kids tend to group up with other kids who look like them at lunch and after school. Of course, there are exceptions but just something to keep in mind--the school doesn't have to be majority black for the kids to find a community that feels comfortable.
I'm sure someone is going to pipe up and say their kid is in the drama club and has friends of every race, and I'm sure that's true, but if your kid wants to find a friend group based around a shared black experience, it will be there!
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alright. As I said, that is fine if it works for you, but it's entirely reasonable and valid for a black person to want to live in black area in America and like any other ethnic group it's really not rocket science as to why. 
