Commute from Alpharetta to Dunwoody (Atlanta, Roswell: home, neighborhoods, best schools)

[krafty76]

We are relocating to the Atlanta metro area and are interested in Alpharetta because it looks like you get more home for your money and the area has good schools. My worry is the commute. What would a commute be like from Alpharetta to Dunwoody (will be working on Ravina drive close to the perimeter mall)? Are there parts of Alpharetta that are better from a commute standpoint?

I'm assuming I'll be taking the 400 freeway. Will the commute time be a lot longer if we live off of exit 11 versus exit 7 and are there any exits where the side roads are more backed up than others? Basically we're trying to decide if it's better to find a home closer to exit 7 but where we'll need to drive on OLD ALABAMA RD or another side road for several miles or is it better to be off of exit 11 but be fairly close to the freeway?

I'm assuming that the commute would be around 45 minutes during rush hour. Does this seem accurate?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!

[BobKovacs]

Generally, Exit 7 is a mess to try and get to, but it's a bit of a toss-up since you'll spend more time on 400 from Exit 11. I'd look at from a non-commute standpoint too- the area around Holcomb Bridge Road is pretty congested all the time, so even on the weekends you'll deal with traffic just getting around. The area up around Exit 11 isn't as bad in that respect, so you gain some relief on non-commute travel.

We looked at the same thing when we moved to Holly Springs- my commute to work isn't exactly ideal, but my wife can go anywhere during the week or on the weekends without dealing with backups like you have in some of the more congested suburbs.

[CMMom]

I think that it also depends largely on what time you'd be commuting. If you leave for work at or before 7:00, you're probably OK, but after 7:30, it would be much more congested. The other issue is that you must cross the Chattahoochee River to get from Alpharetta to Dunwoody, and there are a limited number of routes to do that. So if there's a wreck on 400, everyone is trying to cross the river on Roswell Rd. or Holcomb Bridge (much worse traffic).

[JennySells]

Holcomb Bridge Road is a mess, if you can go up to Haynes Bridge, Old Milton I would stear you that way. I think you will make it to 400 easier. There are plenty of neighborhoods to choose that are not too far away from the Hwy depending on your price range. As far as schools go we have some great ones - which level are you looking for? In fact Newsweek Magazine has named seven Fulton County schools in its annual list of 1,300 top-ranking public high schools in the United States.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by JennySells

Holcomb Bridge Road is a mess, if you can go up to Haynes Bridge, Old Milton I would stear you that way. I think you will make it to 400 easier. There are plenty of neighborhoods to choose that are not too far away from the Hwy depending on your price range. As far as schools go we have some great ones - which level are you looking for? In fact Newsweek Magazine has named seven Fulton County schools in its annual list of 1,300 top-ranking public high schools in the United States.

*Sigh*. See what false impressions these mislabelled lists cause?

(It's a list of schools which have the best focus on AP programs and the like, not a general "best schools" list)

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

*Sigh*. See what false impressions these mislabelled lists cause?

(It's a list of schools which have the best focus on AP programs and the like, not a general "best schools" list)

RC, I think you're fighting a losing battle on this one. Newsweek itself calls the list "America's Top Public High Schools". Of course, it's according to Newsweek's criteria. But any "best schools" list is inevitably according to subjective criteria, isn't it? We just don't have a generally agreed yardstick of what constitutes a "best school". Is it best test scores? Students from highest income families? Racial diversity? Sense of community? Enrichment programs? Students accepted to prestigious colleges? I've seen all these kinds of things mentioned by people as measures of school quality.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

RC, I think you're fighting a losing battle on this one. Newsweek itself calls the list "America's Top Public High Schools". Of course, it's according to Newsweek's criteria. But any "best schools" list is inevitably according to subjective criteria, isn't it? We just don't have a generally agreed yardstick of what constitutes a "best school". Is it best test scores? Students from highest income families? Racial diversity? Sense of community? Enrichment programs? Students accepted to prestigious colleges? I've seen all these kinds of things mentioned by people as measures of school quality.

Yeah, you're probably right. I think the list being mentioned is valuable; I just wish this list of schools. which ranks schools by a very simple ratio:

(# of AP tests taken) / (# of total graduating students)

would be labelled as such by media sites. A school which requires all graduating students to take 2 such tests per year (passing or not doesn't matter, apparently) would do very well by this measure even if all the students failed and the teachers were otherwise grossly incompetent, and a school which had all students take 9 tests each year and fail each one would still be #1 in the country.

It's a pure volume measurement that says nothing whatsoever about quality.

I won't whine anymore. But the above listing is roughly like measuring American Idol singers based on the number of times they've tried to get on the show. More attempts doesn't always indicate a better experience for the audience.