Relocating to Atlanta suburb (Sandy Springs, Dunwoody: good credit, loan, neighborhood)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lcsigmon

I feel like I'm back where I started. I'm now leaning towards Alpharetta. The schools I seem to like what I read about are Cogburn woods, Alpharetta, Crabapple Crossing, New Prospect, Dolvin, Barnwell, and Summit Hill. The Middle schools I like are Northwestern, Hopewell, and Autrey Mill.

Does anyone know anything about the schools, or subdivisions I could live in that put me in those schools? Price range 200k - 250k. I know that's low for the area, but I'd like a good location more than a big fancy house.

Or should I not consider this area and go back to square one again?

Thanks everyone

Check out the Parkview cluster as well (in Gwinnett). Very close to Tucker and great schools.

Also look into the Norcross High cluster (the Peachtree Corners area) and the Centennial High cluster (east Roswell, south Johns Creek, south Alpharetta).

[GF72]

Centennial is actually east Roswell/south Alpharetta

Norcross is hit or miss... Peachtree Corners is nice but other areas in the high school district aren't, and the school isn't that great.

I think Brookwood might be the best choice actually.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by GF72

Centennial is actually east Roswell/south Alpharetta

Norcross is hit or miss... Peachtree Corners is nice but other areas in the high school district aren't, and the school isn't that great.

I think Brookwood might be the best choice actually.

Thanks...I actually meant to say "east".

But, some of southern Johns Creeks does feed into Centennial (as well as sliver of southern of Alpharetta).

You know how those city limits in North Fulton intertwine.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by GF72

Centennial is actually east Roswell/south Alpharetta

Norcross is hit or miss... Peachtree Corners is nice but other areas in the high school district aren't, and the school isn't that great.

I think Brookwood might be the best choice actually.

I don't know what you always mean by "best" in your postings (test scores, ratings list, low minority percentages, etc.), but I can say there are many "goods", "greats", and "bests" outside of southern East Cobb, North Fulton, and the Brookwood area of Gwinnett.

All of these "pretty bads", "terribles", "goods, but worse", etc. seem like arbitrary, superficial opinions...a la a real estate agent.

Be careful.

[RoslynHolcomb]

My husband works in Chamblee (not far from Tucker), and we live in Dunwoody. We're zoned to Kingsley Elementary which is very small (300 students?), and by all accounts is a very good school. It's in the Dunwoody high school cluster. My son is not in school yet, he's only four.

I think you should be able to find a house here in the $400k range. Our house (brick 3/2) was well under $300k. However, it does need updating. We have a large fenced-in backyard as well. I would imagine that with the economy tanking the way it has you could probably do even better than we did. We just moved here in May. We like Dunwoody very much. My husband can be at work in 15 minutes or less and comes home for lunch a few times a week. Shopping is very convenient for me, as I can more or less get wherever I need to be on surface roads. I'm rarely on the interstate. My husband is only one exit up from his job, so that works out very well for us.

If you need the name of a good real estate agent, DM me.

[GF72]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Thanks...I actually meant to say "east".

But, some of southern Johns Creeks does feed into Centennial (as well as sliver of southern of Alpharetta).

You know how those city limits in North Fulton intertwine.

yeah, although it's actually just a sliver of Johns Creek (around Country Club of the South) and a large portion of Alpharetta (the entire North Point mall area, and everything between the mall and Johns Creek). And of course, east Roswell.

Alpharetta city limits is about about 40% Alpharetta, 20% each Milton, Chattahoochee, Centennial. Johns Creek, Roswell, Sandy Springs are basically 50-50 for their schools, and Milton is all Milton. Check out the zoning maps here.

[GF72]

Originally Posted by aries4118

I don't know what you always mean by "best" in your postings (test scores, ratings list, low minority percentages, etc.), but I can say there are many "goods", "greats", and "bests" outside of southern East Cobb, North Fulton, and the Brookwood area of Gwinnett.

All of these "pretty bads", "terribles", "goods, but worse", etc. seem like arbitrary, superficial opinions...a la a real estate agent.

Be careful.

My opinions come from my personal experience (I went to school here, have family members in school here, know families all over the metro area, and at GA Tech meet students from everywhere and they tell me all about their schools) as well as statistical data, which I do know how to interpret properly and what is important and what is not. I am personally familiar with most schools and their students, I'm not just looking at rankings, if I even mention these rankings it's only to show something to a newbie as supporting evidence because they really don't have any reason to take my word for it and I don't always have the time to explain everything in detail.

And I'm not just comparing among Atlanta but in the US as a whole, and my standards are high - I don't consider what most people consider average to be acceptable at all, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't go with the popular opinion about what's great and what's good and what's bad or excellent.

From personal experience, I can see that students from the East Cobb, North Fulton, Brookwood, Star's Mill, and McIntosh school districts are consistently at a very high level not just for Atlanta but the entire country - not to mention the vast majority of GA Tech, Emory, and UGA's in-state students come from these schools. It's quite tangible the difference between the average schools and the schools that really push average students into the next level - smart kids will do well anywhere but average kids only do well at good schools. That's why it's exceptional for a school like Walton to have an SAT average hundreds of points above national average, with 100% of its very large student body taking the exam.

[lcsigmon]

I've checked out the areas all of you have suggested. Snellville seemed to be a possiblility, but I'm still leaning toward E.Cobb and Alpharetta. The only negatives people have suggested is the commute to Doraville/Tucker would not be enjoyable. I'm not concerned about that, the job would only entail my husband going that way 2 or 3 times a week, if that. Plus his company pays for gas and the car, so time spent in the car would be the only issue, and he can suck it up to ensure we are in an area we like. It also seems we wouldn't get much for our money as far as a house goes, again, I'm okay with that. I don't want to feel like I live in Atlanta, I want to be far enough away, despite a brutal commute.

GF72....thank you for the great links, they are extremely helpful.

[GF72]

To put the commute into perspective, for several months I commuted from East Cobb to Avondale Estates/south Clarkston. Specifically, from southern East Cobb (around intersection of Johnson Ferry/Lower Roswell) to Memorial Drive, which is exit 41 on 285 south. That's a couple of miles past the Tucker area.

During rush hour, the commute would take 45 minutes, during free traffic it would take 30 minutes. Most of the commute is on I-285, and Atlanta's highway traffic moves very fast whenever it's not congested. During rush hour it is not congested the whole way, certain sections are congested, then it will free up until the next problem area, etc.

Google Maps estimated travel time is pretty accurate for non-rush hour travel times. To see what ballpark your travel time would be, click here and type in "mt bethel ga to tucker ga" or "mt bethel ga to anywhere ga" and you'll see the distance in miles and estimated travel time. To Tucker it says 29 minutes which from my experience is correct for non-rush hour. Mt. Bethel is the name of southern East Cobb, online maps recognize it as the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Lower Roswell so you can use that point to see distances from place to place.

[matt8325]

I just laugh at parents that make such a big deal about where their kid goes to school. I've heard of parents living 30-40 miles away from work just so their precious kids can go to the best school. I guess it's a status thing or something, they like for everyone to know their kids go to a great school. It's a bunch of nonsense if you ask me. You can find good schools in just about every school in metro Atlanta. I went to Douglas County High School, which I'm sure the uppity people in North Fulton and East Cobb would consider a horrible school, and wouldn't dare even considering letting their children attend and I graduated from a great university and have a great job. If your kid is a good student, it doesnt matter where he/she goes to school. I'm just guessing that most parents who want their kid to go to school in North Fulton or East Cobb think their children aren't bright enough to do well in one of those "lesser" schools.