Places to live surrounding Atlanta (Sandy Springs, Roswell: best neighborhood, real estate, condo)

[divaofpop]

Hello All...I am a self employed mother of 5 (17,16,15,10, and 4) from Philadelphia. I am considering moving to GA within the next few months ( I have family in Sandersville), but know little about the rest of GA, specifically the Metro Atlanta Area. I am looking for information on the best neighborhood to live in no more than 10 miles from downtown Atlanta, housing prices at or below 200k, good schools, and close to shopping with plenty for my teens to do. Diversity in the neighborhood is also very important. Thank you all in advance.

[netdragon]

There is no "best neighborhood". If you are planning to work downtown, and looking for a good neighborhood that can fit all your family and has good schools, then you're going to need to look farther out than 10 miles for the price range you're talking about. Otherwise, if willing to pay in the $200k-$300k range then Vinings, Marietta, East Cobb, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Decatur will have some choices.

[j0ja]

If you are going to enroll your kids in public school, check out greatschools.net and do a comparative of areas. Locate the schools with the best feedback and scores. You can also see how diverse the schools are. After you narrow your search, then go to a real estate website and search by these schools. The schools with the best scores are North Fulton (Roswell & Alpharetta), parts of Cobb (Marietta) county and Gwinnett (Lawrenceville). All of these areas are at least 35min to an hour commute from downtown depending on when you travel. Prices of homes in the Alpharetta area are among the highest of the ones mentioned above. Probably the most affordable of these areas is Lawrenceville. You can get a decent house for 200K.
Living intown in the nicer areas of midtown and Buckhead, you can get a 2 bedroom condo for that price 200K: that is about it. Your options are very limited, even with home prices coming down some. Personally, I would live in-town as an empty nester or as a someone with no kids,, but not choose to live there with children unless I could enroll them in private school or could home school.

[moving123]

Consider the outside areas. Yes your communte will be longer but it will be really worth it for the children. You will also find a home that you could probably afford to purchase in the outside areas. Check out school web sites. Consider the Grayson, Snellville, Lawrenceville areas... 1 hr+ commute but happier children.