Moving to Atlanta from Wash. State (Roswell, Marietta: daycare, homes, find a job)

[kphin]

Hi - Yet another mail about someone moving to Atlanta Are there any of you from or familiar with the suburbs east of Seattle, Wash? We are considering a move to the Atlanta area from Redmond, Wa (actually we are a bit outside of Redmond). The main reason for our move is the cost of living--mostly housing prices here in our area compared to wages. Our housing prices are starting to rival that of California, but salaries are not rising at nearly that rate. From what I've seen on the various job websites, the salaries in the Atlanta area are similar or higher than ours and there seem to be a lot of jobs in our fields (my background is Accounting/Finance for a large software company and my husband is a Network Engineer/Manager).

We would like to find a nice home in a suburban area (between 400-500K) outside of Atlanta and find jobs that are NOT in downtown Atlanta (the only reason we go to Seattle now is for sporting events, the zoo or aquarium--and that doesn't happen often). Our plan is for one of us to find a job, then move. I'd love to get some feedback on great companies to work for in the Atlanta area and nearby cities (when I say great ,the things I'm looking for are family friendly, flexible start/end times, good benefits, good work/life balance)--just NOT the downtown area. Or feedback on areas out of Downtown, where there are a lot of professional jobs. If anyone is familar with our area, we'd like to find someplace similar to Redmond or Bellevue in Atlanta where we could work and live within a reasonable commute (45 min to 1 hr).

Others stuff: we have two kids (6 and 2 so good public schools are important), we are white/caucasian (not sure that that matters, but others have indicated ethnicity), like to golf once or twice a month, and would like to live in a family community with a pool and have nearby activities for kids--dance, soccer, daycare, etc.

Please provide any suggestions you have on companies, areas to look for work and live, etc.

Thanks!

[lolamom]

We moved here from Newcastle in 2005. We do miss Washington state quite a bit, but really enjoy the warm weather.

I don't think I can answer that many of your questions but can share with you some things we learned. One is that this is a much bigger city than Seattle in its actual size and feel. It does not have as much natural beauty as Seattle and we miss that. People here are generally nice but it is a more competitive environment than Western Washington. And while my kids were not and are still not old enough for school, I hear a lot more dissatisfaction here with the public schools. Many of our friends end up opting for private although we do know people very happy with the school.

Given what you have said--and my limited knowledge of the area--I would try and secure a job working near the Perimeter vs. Atlanta. That area is on the Northeast side of Atlanta out of city limits. There are a lot of office parks etc. As to where to live, Alpharetta public schools are considered very good. I also hear that Marietta, East Cobb public schools are decent. I think you will find subdivisions in your price range in both locations. A nice golf community in Alpharetta is White Columns but I believe the homes start in the 700K range. I also hear Roswell and Dunwoody are both very nice communities but the public schools are so so. We moved here determined to live in a good public school system but we are not sure we would so again. Knowing what we know now, we probably would have opted to look around more and not limit our search by the schools..... We now accept that private school is probably in our future.

Best of luck
Lola

[jxu66]

If you live Outside of perimeter (I-285 loop), East Cobb (Walton, Pope), John's Creeks (NorthView and Chattohoochee), Alpharatta (Milton) and Peachtree city (Starr's Mill and McIntosh) are very popular suburbs and have top ranked schools in Atlanta. IMO, even those schools are not up to standard compared to North schools.

If you live inside of perimeter or even Dunwoody/Sandy Spring, private schools are very popular by locals. Marist, Paces Academy, Woodward are some of popular private schools. Those private schools are very excellent, even by north standard.

Most job center are located northern portion of city: Midtown, Buckhead, Dunwoody, Marietta and Alpharatta are some of job centers.

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by kphin

Hi - Yet another mail about someone moving to Atlanta Are there any of you from or familiar with the suburbs east of Seattle, Wash? We are considering a move to the Atlanta area from Redmond, Wa (actually we are a bit outside of Redmond). The main reason for our move is the cost of living--mostly housing prices here in our area compared to wages. Our housing prices are starting to rival that of California, but salaries are not rising at nearly that rate. From what I've seen on the various job websites, the salaries in the Atlanta area are similar or higher than ours and there seem to be a lot of jobs in our fields (my background is Accounting/Finance for a large software company and my husband is a Network Engineer/Manager).

We would like to find a nice home in a suburban area (between 400-500K) outside of Atlanta and find jobs that are NOT in downtown Atlanta (the only reason we go to Seattle now is for sporting events, the zoo or aquarium--and that doesn't happen often). Our plan is for one of us to find a job, then move. I'd love to get some feedback on great companies to work for in the Atlanta area and nearby cities (when I say great ,the things I'm looking for are family friendly, flexible start/end times, good benefits, good work/life balance)--just NOT the downtown area. Or feedback on areas out of Downtown, where there are a lot of professional jobs. If anyone is familar with our area, we'd like to find someplace similar to Redmond or Bellevue in Atlanta where we could work and live within a reasonable commute (45 min to 1 hr).

Others stuff: we have two kids (6 and 2 so good public schools are important), we are white/caucasian (not sure that that matters, but others have indicated ethnicity), like to golf once or twice a month, and would like to live in a family community with a pool and have nearby activities for kids--dance, soccer, daycare, etc.

Please provide any suggestions you have on companies, areas to look for work and live, etc.

Thanks!

Not exactly sure why you're so against working in Downtown Atlanta, it would only be for work, you wouldn't be living there. I can't really make any suggestions about companies to chose, as I am in the nursing field.

Good schools are here, just not the majority. East Cobb, Gwinnett County, Fulton County (some) and Peachtree City schools are excellent and a good amount of private schools to work with. I have been to Washington State, (Moses Lake, Spokane) and nothing here really rivals those views. If you really want scenery, there are plenty of short (1-2 hours) weekend road trips to remedy that. You will easily find a lovely home in suburban Atlanta for $500k, and I mean brand new with a yard.

Family friendly, kid friendly communites aboud here, so don't worry; and in that price point for home purchase, you'll generally be in a safe, attractive neighborhood anyway. I want to make some suggestions, but finding out where you'll be working, and going from there just makes more sense.