Is East Cobb the nicest/safest area to raise a family? (Atlanta: environment, property taxes)

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Yes its even more pronounced towards Buckhead and ITP. My company probably relocates 25-20 people a year making over 250K and 90% move to Buckhead or Vinings.

I am not saying East Cobb isn't good (it is). Just that people such as the orginal poster who said "money is not an issue" overwhelming move/live in the areas mentioned.

Wow, yeah, I live in East Cobb but I'm not in that kind of income bracket.

An interesting thing about this forum is the huge income diversity - everyone from Section 8 through teachers to the "money is not an issue" and "house budget around $1 million" folk. Sometimes it gets confusing keeping straight what people's budgets are.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Yes its even more pronounced towards Buckhead and ITP. My company probably relocates 25-20 people a year making over 250K and 90% move to Buckhead or Vinings.

Vinings and Buckhead are definately the nicest areas though I'd consider Smyrna more "kid-friendly" in terms of neighborhoods full of kids, etc. I recommend joining a mom's club. My s.o. was just elected president of one of Smyrna's clubs. It gives her people to talk to and do things with

Vinings and Smyrna is a "must send your kid to a private middle school" sort of thing (since they are the same middle/high schools ). Both have some good options for public elem. school. King's Springs (Smyrna) and Teasley (mostly Vinings, some Smyrna) are excellent. Nickajack and Russell are pretty good but not great. The middle schools and high schools for Smyrna/Vinings aren't as good as East Cobb.

The most expensive homes in Smyrna are off Cooper Lake Rd (near the E/W connector) and King's Springs, N. Cooper Lake and Concord Rd (near the covered bridge) and go all the way up into the low $1 million range for some 5,000 sq foot homes. Vinings has more homes in the low millions, and Buckhead goes all the way up into the $10 million + range. While your at it, there is Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven as well, with comparable homes.

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Wow, yeah, I live in East Cobb but I'm not in that kind of income bracket.

The nice thing about East Cobb is that you don't need to think about private schools for middle school. I bought a 4br in Smyrna, and have 11 years before I have to worry about my kid going to middle school and I'm happy with where Nickajack Elem. is going so I'm considering going private when she's old enough, but I'll have to see.. Private school would be a little tight for me right now.

Btw, is private school tax deductible on income tax? I know college tuition is, but I don't know about private schools.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Yes its even more pronounced towards Buckhead and ITP. My company probably relocates 25-20 people a year making over 250K and 90% move to Buckhead or Vinings.

A rather broad leap based on a rather limited sample.

My original point was that the metropolitan area offers many alternatives to 'people of means' that weren't there 40 years ago. In 1970, Buckhead, Brookhaven and Vinings were considered the only games in town for the nouveux riche...now Sandy Springs, Alpharetta (esp. the Crabapple area), south Forsyth and Duluth (AAC area) are viable alternatives that didn't really exist before.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Vinings and Smyrna is a "must send your kid to a private middle school" sort of thing (since they are the same middle/high schools ). Both have some good options for public elem. school. King's Springs (Smyrna) and Teasley (mostly Vinings, some Smyrna) are excellent. Nickajack and Russell are pretty good but not great. The middle schools and high schools for Smyrna/Vinings aren't as good as East Cobb.
...
The nice thing about East Cobb is that you don't need to think about private schools for middle school. I bought a 4br in Smyrna, and have 11 years before I have to worry about my kid going to middle school and I'm happy with where Nickajack Elem. is going so I'm considering going private when she's old enough, but I'll have to see.. Private school would be a little tight for me right now.

Btw, is private school tax deductible on income tax? I know college tuition is, but I don't know about private schools.

I'm pretty sure private school tuition is not tax deductible.

My family income is pretty modest, relatively speaking, and we live in a humble home that cost under $200K, but our gifted kid just graduated from one of those superior East Cobb middle schools (Mabry) and will attend Lassiter High in the fall. Works for us.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

now Sandy Springs, Alpharetta (esp. the Crabapple area), south Forsyth and Duluth (AAC area) are viable alternatives that didn't really exist before.

You're leaving a lot out... Smyrna, Dunwoody, midtown, some of Mableton, Cascade, the Kennesaw Mtn area of Marietta and Kennesaw, some areas around lakes in Acworth and Cartersville, Johns Creek, Milton, East Cobb and Roswell, Stone Mountain (near the country club), Druid Hills/North Decatur/Virginia Highlands and also some lakes in Jonesboro, etc (private schools a must).

However, of all that we just named, only Sandy Springs, Smyrna, and Dunwoody, Cascade, midtown, Druid Hills/North Decatur, Virgina Highlands and the previously named Vinings, Buckhead, and Brookhaven are either ITP or almost ITP.

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Vinings and Smyrna is a "must send your kid to a private middle school" sort of thing (since they are the same middle/high schools ). Both have some good options for public elem. school. King's Springs (Smyrna) and Teasley (mostly Vinings, some Smyrna) are excellent. Nickajack and Russell are pretty good but not great. The middle schools and high schools for Smyrna/Vinings aren't as good as East Cobb.

I have to disagree about the "must send your kid to a private middle school" comment. While Campbell High may not be as high in the rankings as Lassiter or Walton, they still have a great program, as I evidence from students here at Georgia Tech (I am a TA). I have also tutored students in the Smyrna/Vinings area who go to Paces Academy, Lovett, and Campbell, and I don't see any difference in terms of the capacity of learning at either school. It's all about the student and the parents wanting the best for their kids. That is the major part of success in a decently good school system. Campbell even has an IB program that I have heard great things about.

So don't count out the Smyrna public school system in its entirety. Sometimes the experience is what you make out of it.

[netdragon]

Definately... mid/high students can get a good education in Smyrna schools. They offer the same resources as East Cobb schools. There just won't be as many peers who perform well since many are disadvantaged Smyrna residents (mostly from the North end, but also some that previously lived in older neighborhoods). I'm not sure if there influence of peers is overplayed, but I think there's something to it... The 4 years I went to at Glastonbury High (public) in Glastonbury, CT were really competitive and we had the best students ever in the history of the school. It was cool to be smart, and I can't imagine going to a school where students didn't perform well. It's hard for me not to consider that distracting, no matter how good the school's resources were. I was in some elective classes with dumber students, and I found their attitudes distracting.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by netdragon

You're leaving a lot out... Smyrna, Dunwoody, midtown, some of Mableton, Cascade, the Kennesaw Mtn area of Marietta and Kennesaw, some areas around lakes in Acworth and Cartersville, Johns Creek, Milton, East Cobb and Roswell, Stone Mountain (near the country club), Druid Hills/North Decatur/Virginia Highlands and also some lakes in Jonesboro, etc (private schools a must).

However, of all that we just named, only Sandy Springs, Smyrna, and Dunwoody, Cascade, midtown, Druid Hills/North Decatur, Virgina Highlands and the previously named Vinings, Buckhead, and Brookhaven are either ITP or almost ITP.

I was just giving a sampling...didn't mean to consciously omit any communities. Even my old neighborhood of Oak Grove had some 'heavy-hitters' income-wise.

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Definately... mid/high students can get a good education in Smyrna schools. They offer the same resources as East Cobb schools. There just won't be as many peers who perform well since many are disadvantaged Smyrna residents (mostly from the North end, but also some that previously lived in older neighborhoods). I'm not sure if there influence of peers is overplayed, but I think there's something to it... The 4 years I went to at Glastonbury High (public) in Glastonbury, CT were really competitive and we had the best students ever in the history of the school. It was cool to be smart, and I can't imagine going to a school where students didn't perform well. It's hard for me not to consider that distracting, no matter how good the school's resources were. I was in some elective classes with dumber students, and I found their attitudes distracting.

To be honest with you, I think that the effects are fairly negligible, unless one is truely living in a ghetto school environment where the PREDOMINANT culture is one of under-achievement. The reason I say this is b/c every educational environment I've been in (and I'm a product of public schools from beginning to end) there was definite classism with regard to performance and "track" of development, to the point where most high-achieving students were fairly well insulated from the poorer performers in most classes that truly matter (ie, math, english, science). In my mind, as long as the school actually offers the opportunity, then it is 100% on the child and the parents. This is why I laugh, to some extent, over the haggling over SAT scores and acheivement scores, b/c statistically, the differences are so small from a % standpoint. Additionally, I feel that kids that attend a school with diversity - both cultural and intellectual - are better prepared for dealing with people in the real world. A lot of the kids that I met in college who attended private schools were shell-shocked when they had to room with kids from "the other side of the tracks" and some couldn't cope.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Definately... mid/high students can get a good education in Smyrna schools. They offer the same resources as East Cobb schools. There just won't be as many peers who perform well since many are disadvantaged Smyrna residents (mostly from the North end, but also some that previously lived in older neighborhoods). I'm not sure if there influence of peers is overplayed, but I think there's something to it... The 4 years I went to at Glastonbury High (public) in Glastonbury, CT were really competitive and we had the best students ever in the history of the school. It was cool to be smart, and I can't imagine going to a school where students didn't perform well. It's hard for me not to consider that distracting, no matter how good the school's resources were. I was in some elective classes with dumber students, and I found their attitudes distracting.

They're going to eventually run into that sort of thing in any context, really, be it education or business. Not everyone is white, conservative, religious, or wealthy ... or completely focused on grades, career, or the whole idea of "success" in general.

Maybe it's better to get their immune systems built up early?

If a person can't achieve except in a sheltered/optimized environment, then how on earth will they succeed in the real world?