Candler Park/Lake Claire vs. Sandy Springs/Perimeter Area (Dunwoody: 2009, houses)

[equinox63]

Which is a better place (in your own person opinions) for a cultured minority couple to raise a child between the Candler Park/Lake Claire Area and the Sandy Springs/Perimeter Area? What are the pros and cons of each option?

[LovinDecatur]

We're talking two neighborhoods that have a completely different vibe.
CP came up in the 00's, 10's and 20's, LC in the 40's.
SS came up in the 60's, 70's and 80's.
CP and LC have relatively small lots and feel a lot more 'snug'.
SS has larger lots and a more spread-out, suburban feel.
CP and LC's architectural style is dominated by Craftman and Faux-Tudor (popular in that era).
In older parts of SS, you will mostly find ranch style houses; in the newer parts, large, expensive homes in a variety of architectural styles.
Very generally, the average CP/LC resident is oriented to academia/science/the arts.
SS residents are white-collar and more oriented to business and law.

[cmtiger]

CP/LC folks are more left leaning and hip too.

30307 - It's not just a zip code, it's a lifestyle.. pretty much says it all.

[equinox63]

Thanks, but in which area would "you" prefer to live in and why?

[lastminutemom]

Apples and oranges and I would guess that not many people choose between the two.

Are you a suburban type of person or more urban? Do you want to stroll to the local coffee shop or hop in your car and drive through Starbucks?

I think the intown schools are up and coming... the Sandy Springs High Schools have arrived and the middle schools really struggle. Public education is not a priority for many (especially K-8th grade) in Sandy Springs. Lots of private school options in and near Sandy Springs. Riverwood High, for example, adds a minimum of 120 9th graders a year from private school. So, if you want to go public k-12, your child may not have a ton of neighbors in their class especially in elementary.

My children are old, and I am public (most of the time) school person so intown wasn't an option back then. I cried and cried when we purchased our first home in the suburbs. But I had visited at least a dozen public schools back then and just didn't feel like we had any other option.

Now, I can hardly wait till the kids are gone, so we can head in town. I think it would be awesome to live near all the cultural amenities.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Apples and oranges and I would guess that not many people choose between the two.

Are you a suburban type of person or more urban? Do you want to stroll to the local coffee shop or hop in your car and drive through Starbucks?

I think the intown schools are up and coming... the Sandy Springs High Schools have arrived and the middle schools really struggle. Public education is not a priority for many (especially K-8th grade) in Sandy Springs. Lots of private school options in and near Sandy Springs. Riverwood High, for example, adds a minimum of 120 9th graders a year from private school. So, if you want to go public k-12, your child may not have a ton of neighbors in their class especially in elementary.

My children are old, and I am public (most of the time) school person so intown wasn't an option back then. I cried and cried when we purchased our first home in the suburbs. But I had visited at least a dozen public schools back then and just didn't feel like we had any other option.

Now, I can hardly wait till the kids are gone, so we can head in town. I think it would be awesome to live near all the cultural amenities.

Would you raise your kids intown now? Y'know, if you were just having them in 2009...

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

My children are old, and I am public (most of the time) school person so intown wasn't an option back then. I cried and cried when we purchased our first home in the suburbs. But I had visited at least a dozen public schools back then and just didn't feel like we had any other option.

Now, I can hardly wait till the kids are gone, so we can head in town. I think it would be awesome to live near all the cultural amenities.

Yep, the schools are great and it's green and safe but boring out here in the suburbs. We too hope to revert to being city folk when our child-rearing days are over.

[lastminutemom]

I think I would, but my husband's businesses have always been in the burbs and we live very close. He isn't a fan of city gov't but DeKalb is just as bad and the school system is now worse.

I still wish that we had "chanced" it and lived in Virginia Highlands. Back then all our friends who lived in town moved to Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, East Cobb, etc, about the time their first child reached preschool age. Many of them sold homes to make this move -- it was just what you did. I think my children would have done great at Grady High School, but I couldn't have predicted that 20 years ago. When I was in graduate school at GA Tech, Paideia changed its tuition policy which had sort of been pay what you can to pay what we say, and many professors had to make other school choices. There was much angst and distress about Inman Middle and Grady High, in particular. Times have really changed -- but this was over 20 years ago.

The other factor is house size. Only you know what you think you need to be comfortable. I know that I can move intown in a few years because we will be empty nesters and won't need quite as much room. I am not sure we could have raised our children comfortably in those cute bungalows in town. We have a bunch of kids.. and the extra space has been nice.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by equinox63

Would you raise your kids intown now? Y'know, if you were just having them in 2009...

I certainly would...it would be totally different from my suburban upbringing - better in some ways, not better in other ways.

[lastminutemom]

So I was speaking to my husband about this question last night and he reminded me that about a decade or go, he was being courted by a major company whose headquarters were intown. If he had taken the job, we would have moved intown because commute distance has always been an important quality of life issue to him and our family.