question about sandy springs/ Marietta (Atlanta, Roswell: new house, landscaping, neighborhoods) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

runnergrl · 09-12-2008, 12:30 PM

I have a question about Riverside drive that runs south from Johnson Ferry Rd. I have been down that road before yrs ago and remember it being very pretty and windy with upscale neighborhoods. Could anyone tell me if this is still a good area? and if the schools for this area are good. I do notice that it is just over into Fulton county...so is it still considered North Fulton?

Now my question about Marietta...if one were go northwest of the area of my original inquiry....like west of the Chattahoochee in east cobb...what are some kid friendly neighborhoods in that vicinity? I am not too concerned over schools so much because of east cobb's reputation. Unless someone has input that would say otherwise.

Is the local traffic in the areas I mentioned really congested? I have heard horror stories about Roswell....didnt know if these areas are much of the same. Thanks for any helpful feedback.

Iconographer · 09-12-2008, 12:42 PM

Yes, Riverside Drive is still lovely and as you describe...I believe that is in the Riverwood HS District...my friends have two sons there and are happy with it (she is a former educator).
Across the river on Johnson Ferry Rd is East Cobb, and it is also a very nice area...not sure of the school district there. The one negative is the horredous traffic problem on Johnson Ferry crossing the river...it's a real bottleneck.

RainyRainyDay · 09-12-2008, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Across the river on Johnson Ferry Rd is East Cobb, and it is also a very nice area...not sure of the school district there. The one negative is the horredous traffic problem on Johnson Ferry crossing the river...it's a real bottleneck.

The school district would be Walton, oft-cited as the best public high school in the state. Whether or not it exactly merits this standing, it's doubtless satisfactory.

I commute over the bridge mentioned daily and yes, the traffic is pretty bad. It backs up a long way at peak hours.

GF72 · 09-12-2008, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runnergrl

I have a question about Riverside drive that runs south from Johnson Ferry Rd. I have been down that road before yrs ago and remember it being very pretty and windy with upscale neighborhoods. Could anyone tell me if this is still a good area? and if the schools for this area are good. I do notice that it is just over into Fulton county...so is it still considered North Fulton?

Now my question about Marietta...if one were go northwest of the area of my original inquiry....like west of the Chattahoochee in east cobb...what are some kid friendly neighborhoods in that vicinity? I am not too concerned over schools so much because of east cobb's reputation. Unless someone has input that would say otherwise.

Is the local traffic in the areas I mentioned really congested? I have heard horror stories about Roswell....didnt know if these areas are much of the same. Thanks for any helpful feedback.

Hi, I live in this area, on the East Cobb side of the river, and I drive up and down Riverside Drive every single day pretty much. They just repaved Riverside Drive, which is great, as well as Johnson Ferry on the East Cobb side.

Yes, Riverside Drive is still a very nice, upscale area. There are a lot of mansions and upscale neighborhoods in the region.

On the Sandy Springs side, it is the Riverwood High School district. Riverwood is a pretty good school. The student population isn't that big because a large number of families in the area send their kids to private school. Riverwood has many students that are bused in from poorer areas of the county. Riverwood's school performance is pretty high, but not exceptional.

On the East Cobb side, anything within a large distance of the river is either the Walton or Wheeler High school district. Most of it is Walton, but if you go farther west, closer to Marietta city limits, it's in the Wheeler district.

On the East Cobb side everybody uses the public schools. Wheeler is pretty good. Better than Riverwood. Walton is the best school in Georgia. All of Walton's elementary and middle schools are exceptional, however many of Wheeler's elementary and middle schools are very bad.

Traffic - in the peak of rush hour, Johnson Ferry is congested at the bridge, and Riverside Drive is congested in the stretch between Johnson Ferry and I-285. Other than that, traffic is fine.

You asked about good, kid friendly areas on the East Cobb side of the river. Well that is pretty much every single area, so it really just comes down to your budget.

Basically, the farther north you go the cheaper it gets. New houses are usually double the price of older houses. The nicest areas, in terms of mature landscaping, development, etc. are closer to the river - Columns Drive, Atlanta Country Club Drive, Paper Mill Road, Lower Roswell Road, Woodlawn Drive, Timber Ridge Road, Little Willeo Road, that whole area.

The farther up Johnson Ferry you go the more value you get, but East Cobb goes up very far, to the point that commutes can get bad. Close to the river, it takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to get to Atlanta. However, I don't usually have to deal with peak of rush hour, when the bridge is bottlenecked.

[Note: It is the Riverwood High School district in Sandy Springs for most of the area, but on the northern side of Johnson Ferry it eventually becomes the North Springs High School district. Very similar to Riverwood, a little worse.]

runnergrl · 09-12-2008, 01:59 PM

GF72,

Your answers are just what I looking for...thank you...I used to live north of Atlanta up along 400...so I dont have experience living in the more established burbs of Atlanta. I need to ask you.... for I am doing research for a family that will be moving there from CA in a couple of months...the husband's drive to work will be to NW atlanta... so the area in question was the area I am recommending to them....I wanted to research it more thoroughly on their behalf. It sounds like the east cobb area would be a better fit for them because of the schools and family friendliness. I am wondering how that would affect the husband's commute into NW Atlanta. Would he have to deal with the bottle necked areas on his commute?

Those areas you named in East cobb...are those streets or neighborhoods? This family would be looking for upper range housing (coming from CA)...so 700's? Any neighborhoods in that price range? What areas of east cobb would be included in the walton schools? Would they be the areas you mention (white collumns, etc etc)?

CMMom · 09-12-2008, 02:09 PM

FYI: I know a handful of parents in Dunwoody (DeKalb County) who are paying tuition so that their kids can attend Riverwood HS (Fulton County). I'm not sure how widespread that practice is, but I think that it says something good about Riverwood and something not-so-good about Dunwoody HS and North Spring HS (the HS that serves Fulton county just over the line from Dunwoody).

runnergrl · 09-12-2008, 02:47 PM

So then if Riverside is decent...enough for those families in Dunwoody to pay tuition to go to a public school...that's pretty incredible since Dunwoody used to have pretty good schools, but it is Dekalb...so go figure. What middle schools are good in the Riverside HS area? I noticed on the Great schools ratings...it ranked an 8.

CMMom · 09-12-2008, 03:52 PM

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe some of the families chose Riverwood b/c it has an International Magnet Program as well as an IB program. I don't believe Dunwoody or North Springs do.

GF72 · 09-12-2008, 04:26 PM

They probably wanted a special program. North Springs has an arts and science magnet program by the way.

Either way Wheeler and Walton in East Cobb are both better. Wheeler has a magnet program as well, and like I said Walton is excellent.

$700,000 will buy a nice house in the Walton High district. Those areas I mentioned are road names, if you look on Google Maps you'll see they are across the river from the Riverside Drive area.

The main zip code for the Walton High area is 30068. The northern part of the school district is 30062, and a lot of the southern part near the river is 30067. However you can't just go by zip codes since all of these zip codes go well into other areas.

I'll send you a private message with some more info.

aries4118 · 09-13-2008, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Yes, Riverside Drive is still lovely and as you describe...I believe that is in the Riverwood HS District...my friends have two sons there and are happy with it (she is a former educator).
Across the river on Johnson Ferry Rd is East Cobb, and it is also a very nice area...not sure of the school district there. The one negative is the horredous traffic problem on Johnson Ferry crossing the river...it's a real bottleneck.

The elementary school for the Riverside Drive areas is Heards Ferry. The middle school is Ridgeview.

Both are excellent.

(Plus, they are doing some great, innovative things over at Ridgeview...check it out!)