Peachtree City vs. Woodstock area (Atlanta, Savannah: crime, houses, established neighborhood)

[rozio]

We are considering a move to either of these cities. We have 2 boys, 5 & 3, and a girl on the way. Obviously we want good schools, etc. We are relocating from So Fl, and will run our biz down here, from up there. Hubby will be looking for pt work in a church. We are looking for a place that has a small town feel, but close to larger shops and restaurants etc, and has good moral and family values. My parent are in their 60s and may also buy a place up there, so we need an area to accomodate our growing family with small kids, and a retirement age couple. I've been to both places and like them both, and was attracted to peachtree city's golf carts, but would it be too slow paced for us? We don't want anything too rural......
any info is greatly appreciated.

[cessnaairplane784]

I don't know much about Peachtree City, but I can tell you a lot of information about Woodstock because I used to live there for 19 years since 1988, but now I live out further east near the Savannah River area. Overall, Woodstock is a nice place to live. The weather is quite humid in the summer, and the air is usually bad in the summer too due to the smog, but you're rarely going to find snow here. There are jobs in Woodstock, but mostly, people travel to Atlanta for their jobs. Woodstock has, however, gotten more congested, but that's metro Atlanta for you.

I could tell you several things if you want to know more about Woodstock. First is the traffic. Traffic is horrible here, so if you want to go anywhere with ease, you're out of luck. I heard that it could take up to 2 hours to go to work from Woodstock to Atlanta because of the traffic. I don't want to scare you about not coming to Woodstock, but it is the truth. Traffic in the metro Atlanta is horrible.

If you are looking for a house in the Woodstock area, the place is filled with new development. Prices for housing has gone up considerably in this area during the past several years, and you will be lucky to find a house that is under 180,000 dollars. All of the houses are around the 200,000 to 400,000 range, and some are even higher. I can remember when houses were around 85,000 back then, but due to inflation, you're not going to find houses this cheap.

For churches, there are many good churches in Woodstock depending on your faith and denomination. I can't say anything about the community feeling because different people will have different opinions, but you're easily going to find at least a friend here in Woodstock.

For schools, if you're talking about elementary schools, you will find no problem finding a good school. Pretty much, most to all of the schools in the northern metro Atlanta area are good. For middle schools, Dean Rusk is suppose to be a wonderful school. Several years down the road, if you're looking for a high school, I would suggest Sequoyah High School over Woodstock High School. Why? I heard a lot of bad things about Woodstock High from parents who live close to the school. You might have to research these schools even more.

Other facts about Woodstock and the metro Atlanta area.

If you're into music, Atlanta is a great place for musical events regardless if you like symphonies, grassroot bands, etc. If you're looking into radio stations, though, you ain't gonna find any radio station that is good with the exception of some Christian stations. There used to be some good radio stations back then (I remembered 94.9 FM used to be a good radio station), but the radio blunder called Clear Channel pretty much destroyed all of those good radio stations. (FYI, you can find many funny comments about individuals blasting Clear Channel in some Atlanta newspapers). I would suggest buying an mp3 player or CD player and listening to your songs. That's how bad radio stations are in Atlanta.

There are plenty of shopping around Woodstock. In fact, every 4 miles, there's a Kroger or a Publix grocery store, so convenience is not a problem. Going to work in the morning and coming home in the evening will be a problem due to the enormous traffic here. Malls are within 10 miles or less around Woodstock. So finding good shopping isn't really hard here.

If you're talking about standard of living, although it is generally less compared to Florida, New York, Illinois, or California, prices have gone up on everything. If you're making a very minimal family income, you will barely survive here due to the moderate to high cost of living in Woodstock. Most families who live here make on average around 65,000 to 70,000 dollars a year.

For crime, crime is generally low in Woodstock compared to other parts of Atlanta, but it doesn't mean that you can unlock your doors at night everyday. Crime can and does happen everywhere. Overall, living in Woodstock for 19 years, it has been generally safe.

I know I said a mouthful here. I said some general facts about the place, but you have to live in Woodstock to actually experience living here. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best place to live, I would probably rate it a 6.5 and no more than a 6.5 due to the horrible traffic, somewhat high cost of living, and the decrease of open spaces, but that is my opinion. You might find Woodstock better than what I have said. I hope I helped you in some way and good luck if you decide to move to Woodstock

[jxu66]

PTC is more established neighborhood overall than Woodstock. PTC has two wonderful school systems in McIntosh and Starr Mills which ranked top fifteen in the Atlanta metro. If you work in airport or downtown, it is shorter drive. It depends on where you work. If you work in the north side of Atlanta, Woodstock is probably better commute option.

[Spree]

We have friends that live in PeachTree city and they love it! We visited a couple of years back, really neat place - tons of families and good schools.

[rozio]

thank you so much for all the info! I really appreciate it!

[applejuice]

I love Woodstock. There is a beautiful master plan community with two golf courses-Towne Lake. Eagle Watch and Towne Lake Hills East are gorgeous subdivisions.

Schools are good...Bascomb and Etowah are rated well.

You have a quaint downtown area and you are near everything. The key is to work near where you live. Traffice is average imho.

You are near 575 and 75. This area is beautiful!