Woodstock vs Sugar Hill (Atlanta, Duluth: renting, house, buying)

[melham]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking to relocate from New Jersey to the Atlanta area and wanted to know if anyone knew anything about either Sugar Hill or Woodstock? My husband and I are going next week to check out both areas, but if anyone has any tips or opinions please let me know. I've heard that Woodstock isn't as built up as Sugar Hill. We have a 1 year old baby so we are looking for a good community where we can make some new friends easily because we won't know anyone. Which place has a better school system?

Any help or opinion would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[jxu66]

Do you and your husband have home office or home based business? Woodstock and Sugar Hill are so far apart.

[melham]

No, my husband would most likely be working downtown Atlanta. I have heard that Sugar Hill and Woodstock are approx. 45 minutes apart. Is that true? I know that traffic is horrible going to Atlanta as well. Any advice?

Thanks.

[jxu66]

I have a co-worker who live in East Cobb (10 minutes south of WoodStock). It took him about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to work at Duluth, GA in the morning. That's why I thought Sugar Hill (15 minutes north of Duluth) is so far away from WoodStock.

In either case, driving to downtown will be very difficult.

I don't know about WoodStock besides it is in the north of Cobb county. But Sugar Hill, Suwanee and South Forsyth (just west of Sugar Hill) are booming due to reasonable costs and good by Atlanta standard school system.

[applejuice]

Woodstock is nice, however, if your dh will be working in downtown it will be a very long commute!! I am guessing...at least an hour.

[tracyjacobs]

I would recommend renting first. It is much better than purchasing a home and then discovering what all Atlanta drivers know. Some things you can't imagine. We rented in the beginning (our house had not sold in TN). Thank goodness! Our kid's school was only a few miles from the apt but it took forever because we had to cross I-75. Yes "cross" not get on it!! We could not get over because the traffic was backed up getting on. It can take over an hour to go 20 miles during rush hour with the flow of traffic. I would not purchase until you have been here and driven it during the rush hour. Good luck.

[GoodScout]

I live in downtown Woodstock (really nice development) but it's an hour commute to downtown. Plan on it. That said, I think the charm of Woodstock is far superior to Sugar Hill. When you're in downtown Woodstock, make sure to check out either Hot Dog Heaven or the Serene Bean coffeehouse. Both are on the square. Oh, and we have a little festival on the square this weekend so you can check that out. Very quaint.

[ready2move]

Goodscout,

I just moved to Woodstock, east of 575. I love downtown Woodstock, you are right, it is quite charming...The serene bean has the best red velvet cake according to my sister in law who just visited.

What kind of festival is this weekend?

[south-to-west]

Coming from New Jersey, it seems that the area around Woodstock would be a good fit for you because it is surrounded by horse country, which characterizes a lot of the countryside in NJ also. I don't know much about Sugar Hill, but its proximity to Lake Lanier is a plus. Also, the Gwinnett convention center and arena are close by and host major events.

But one word of caution...traffic is a nightmare! If your husband works downtown, then he will have a heck of a time commuting because both I-85 and the I-575/75 Corridors, southbound in the AM and northbound in the PM, are atrocious. Unlike many major metropolitan areas such as NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, and even Miami, we have no commuter rail system that makes travel from the exurbs to the city easy. Renting for one year before buying, as one earlier post suggests, is highly recommended in order to learn the layout of the area, as well as to become accustomed to traffic patterns.

Needless to say, I think that you'll really like Georgia. Good luck!