We may be moving to the ATL, GA area. What are some beautiful suberbs with excellent schools? (Atlanta: low crime, new house)

[barrydanni]

My husband may be working at a hospital in Decator, GA (Dekalb county). I looked at the greatschools website and the majority of the schools there did not have a very good rating. In the past, we have used that website and our own investigative work to find a school with great success.

We want to move to a city no more than 20-25 min outside of Atlanta. We want to move somewhere with excellent schools, nice scenery (trees, etc...), family feel... We would like to walk/bike around on quiet streets or walk to a little town area with shops, but still have Atlanta close for the big city feel. Like I said, excellent schools are a must. As far as price range, that isn't a huge deal for us-so if it's pricier-that's ok.

Any help, would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[TakeAhike]

I'm surprised that the City of Decatur Schools didn't receive a high rating. The DeKalb School System is separate from the City of Decatur School System.

Suwanee, GA sounds like it would be a good match for you but it is located north of Atlanta, approximately an hour/40 miles. I believe the commute to Decatur would be gruelling.

Have you investigated the intown neighborhoods?

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by barrydanni

My husband may be working at a hospital in Decator, GA (Dekalb county). I looked at the greatschools website and the majority of the schools there did not have a very good rating. In the past, we have used that website and our own investigative work to find a school with great success.

We want to move to a city no more than 20-25 min outside of Atlanta. We want to move somewhere with excellent schools, nice scenery (trees, etc...), family feel... We would like to walk/bike around on quiet streets or walk to a little town area with shops, but still have Atlanta close for the big city feel. Like I said, excellent schools are a must. As far as price range, that isn't a huge deal for us-so if it's pricier-that's ok.

Any help, would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

As TakeAHike said, the city of Decatur and DeKalb County have two separate school systems...the city's school system is highly regarded.
Neighborhoods that meet your parameters:

Anywhere in the city of Decatur (Great Lakes, Glennwood Heights, Winnona Park, MAK, Oakhurst, Chelsea Heights)
Candler Park
Inman Park
Druid Hills
Virginia-Highland
Morningside
Brookwood
Ansley Park
Sherwood Forest
upper Midtown

[GF72]

Originally Posted by barrydanni

My husband may be working at a hospital in Decator, GA (Dekalb county). I looked at the greatschools website and the majority of the schools there did not have a very good rating. In the past, we have used that website and our own investigative work to find a school with great success.

We want to move to a city no more than 20-25 min outside of Atlanta. We want to move somewhere with excellent schools, nice scenery (trees, etc...), family feel... We would like to walk/bike around on quiet streets or walk to a little town area with shops, but still have Atlanta close for the big city feel. Like I said, excellent schools are a must. As far as price range, that isn't a huge deal for us-so if it's pricier-that's ok.

Any help, would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

The best schools are all on the north side. By high school district (the elem. and middle schools in these districts are just as good):

East Cobb (Walton, Pope, Lassiter)
Johns Creek (Northview, Chattahoochee)
Alpharetta (Alpharetta, Chattahoochee, Centennial)
Roswell (Roswell, Centennial)
Milton (Milton)

Centennial is a little worse than the others in the group, but these are the best schools in the state and they are all in the top 5% in the country.

Sandy Springs (Riverwood, North Springs) and Dunwoody (Dunwoody) also fall within this group, except that their schools aren't quite as good (still good, not exceptional).

All of these areas are upscale residential suburbs with big trees, nice houses, lots of parks, etc. The only downside being these are all car-oriented areas and you won't be walking anywhere. What I mean is you can certainly walk and bike around your neighborhood or the parks, but you won't be going anywhere without a car.

The small town vibe, "walking around the city block" areas are all closer to the city, and the nicer areas have very nice houses and lots of trees and so on, the only problem is the schools in the inner areas are nowhere near as good as the outer suburban schools. LovinDecatur's post above is a good list of these areas, but trust me the schools won't compare. These are very nice areas though, otherwise.

Crime is also less in the outer suburbs, pretty much nonexistent in many of them.


The best school district in the state is the Walton High area. Walton is the best school in GA and ranked in the top 1% in the country. Houses here are around a million for new houses and between $400,000 to $800,000 for most older houses. This area has been fully developed for decades, so most houses are older and the landscaping is very mature with lots of big trees, etc. The Northview, Chattahoochee, Roswell, Pope, Lassiter, Alpharetta, and Milton districts round out the rest of the best schools in GA and are all excellent. The Roswell and Pope districts are a little older in terms of development, while the Northview, Chattahoochee, and Alpharetta districts have much newer development. This is kind of a "problem" since newer houses tend to be identical and ugly looking until you get into the higher price ranges, and the cheaper new subdivisions tend to have less big trees and so on. Finally the Milton area is the farthest north and is still developing... the southern half is upscale residential but the northern area is still rural with horses and farms.

All of these areas are low crime and every zip code in these cities has an average household income of $100,000+. Home prices are usually between $300,000+ for the entire area, with hardly any below that and plenty of neighborhoods that are $1 million+.

[ramblinwreck17]

Decatur puts you in a tough position to commute to that type of suburb. The commute to any of those northside locations in Cobb or Roswell will be well over 25 minutes. Peachtree Corners might be an option for a suburb that is still reasonably close and has good schools. Other than that you might have to look at more intown living. Granted, Virginia Highlands/Morningside would be intown and still give you that walkable, bikeable feel with shops and restaraunts etc.

So, my choice for true suburb would be Peachtree Corners- just look into the commute (~30minutes??). I would also look at city of Decatur, Virginia Highlands and Morningside.

[GF72]

Didn't notice he was working in Decatur. Yeah, commutes would be high (30 minutes to an hour in rush hour, depending on the area).

Depends on if you are willing to take that commute.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by GF72

The best schools are all on the north side. By high school district (the elem. and middle schools in these districts are just as good):

East Cobb (Walton, Pope, Lassiter)
Johns Creek (Northview, Chattahoochee)
Alpharetta (Alpharetta, Chattahoochee, Centennial)
Roswell (Roswell, Centennial)
Milton (Milton)

Centennial is a little worse than the others in the group, but these are the best schools in the state and they are all in the top 5% in the country.

Sandy Springs (Riverwood, North Springs) and Dunwoody (Dunwoody) also fall within this group, except that their schools aren't quite as good (still good, not exceptional).

All of these areas are upscale residential suburbs with big trees, nice houses, lots of parks, etc. The only downside being these are all car-oriented areas and you won't be walking anywhere. What I mean is you can certainly walk and bike around your neighborhood or the parks, but you won't be going anywhere without a car.

The small town vibe, "walking around the city block" areas are all closer to the city, and the nicer areas have very nice houses and lots of trees and so on, the only problem is the schools in the inner areas are nowhere near as good as the outer suburban schools. LovinDecatur's post above is a good list of these areas, but trust me the schools won't compare. These are very nice areas though, otherwise.

Crime is also less in the outer suburbs, pretty much nonexistent in many of them.


The best school district in the state is the Walton High area. Walton is the best school in GA and ranked in the top 1% in the country. Houses here are around a million for new houses and between $400,000 to $800,000 for most older houses. This area has been fully developed for decades, so most houses are older and the landscaping is very mature with lots of big trees, etc. The Northview, Chattahoochee, Roswell, Pope, Lassiter, Alpharetta, and Milton districts round out the rest of the best schools in GA and are all excellent. The Roswell and Pope districts are a little older in terms of development, while the Northview, Chattahoochee, and Alpharetta districts have much newer development. This is kind of a "problem" since newer houses tend to be identical and ugly looking until you get into the higher price ranges, and the cheaper new subdivisions tend to have less big trees and so on. Finally the Milton area is the farthest north and is still developing... the southern half is upscale residential but the northern area is still rural with horses and farms.

All of these areas are low crime and every zip code in these cities has an average household income of $100,000+. Home prices are usually between $300,000+ for the entire area, with hardly any below that and plenty of neighborhoods that are $1 million+.

Ok i'm tired of all you northern suburb people acting like there's nothing good on the south side. There are great schools in Fayette and even Coweta county. The best schools in metro Atlanta tend to be south of Atlanta, in Fayette County.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Ok i'm tired of all you northern suburb people acting like there's nothing good on the south side. There are great schools in Fayette and even Coweta county. The best schools in metro Atlanta tend to be south of Atlanta, in Fayette County.

LOL, I noticed that, too...it sounded totally dismissive of any schools that might lie inside the perimeter (or in your case, south of it).
For the OP's edification, to suggest that any of the places mentioned besides mine are 20-25 minutes from the central city is reeeeaaaaallllly optimistic...

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

LOL, I noticed that, too...it sounded totally dismissive of any schools that might lie inside the perimeter (or in your case, south of it).
For the OP's edification, to suggest that any of the places mentioned besides mine are 20-25 minutes from the central city is reeeeaaaaallllly optimistic...

Yeah i know, northern suburbians tend to think they are a little better than anyone else and think that nothing exists outside the northern suburbs. I do know of some people who live in the northern suburbs that tend to stick their nose up at people who live ITP or the southside. That's why I try to avoid the northern suburbs at all costs.

[GF72]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Ok i'm tired of all you northern suburb people acting like there's nothing good on the south side. There are great schools in Fayette and even Coweta county. The best schools in metro Atlanta tend to be south of Atlanta, in Fayette County.

Actually I just mentioned Star's Mill and McIntosh High Schools in Fayette county as being really good in another thread, as well as Brookwood in Snellville.

However, the OP wanted the best and said price wasn't an issue, and while Star's Mill and McIntosh are good, they aren't as good as the schools I mentioned in my post.