Atlanta Newcomer Questions (Roswell, Alpharetta, Dunwoody: townhomes, neighborhoods, best school)

[CToGA]

Hi guys, I'm relocating from Greenwich, CT to metro Atlanta in two months with my wife and two children and I was hoping some of you guys could help me out by giving me a sense of commute times, schools and housing options around town. In a nutshell, my wife will be working at Northside Hospital and I'm not too far away in Buckhead. Ideally, we'd like an older established area with good public schools, housing in the 650-750k range with commutes not exceeding 30 minutes. From what I've read so far, East Cobb and possibly North Fulton seem like good choices. In particular, I've heard great things about schools in those areas. Can anyone chip in their thoughts here?

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by CToGA

Hi guys, I'm relocating from Greenwich, CT to metro Atlanta in two months with my wife and two children and I was hoping some of you guys could help me out by giving me a sense of commute times, schools and housing options around town. In a nutshell, my wife will be working at Northside Hospital and I'm not too far away in Buckhead. Ideally, we'd like an older established area with good public schools, housing in the 650-750k range with commutes not exceeding 30 minutes. From what I've read so far, East Cobb and possibly North Fulton seem like good choices. In particular, I've heard great things about schools in those areas. Can anyone chip in their thoughts here?

East Cobb and North Fulton (Roswell and Alpharetta) certainly sound like a good start. There will be some commute involved (residents of these areas can chime in on that), but they will certainly give you the best school options without putting you too far from work.
There are other options that I would suggest, but the weak link will generally would be schools. There are DeKalb County neighborhoods ie Oak Grove and Brookhaven that have good elementary schools (Oak Grove, Sagamore, Briarlake, Ashford Park) and are convenient to your work, but I would be more than a little concerned about the middle and high schools in that area; in addition, there are increasing concerns about the county school system itself.
Same goes for Buckhead. Good elementary schools (Jackson, Morris Brandon, Sarah Smith), but iffy middle and high school situations.
I really like the Vinings area, but I know little about the public school situation there.
One intown area that seems to fit your criteria is Morningside. It is certainly older and more established than N Fulton and East Cobb, and the one here along with Buckhead and Brookhaven that would be most reminiscent of the Greenwich area. I also bring up Morningside because it arguably has the best school cluster in the city of Atlanta (Morningside Elem/Inman Middle/Grady High). Upper Morningside neighborhoods such as Johnson Estates and Lenox Park would put you about 15 min from central Buckhead and 30 min from Northside Hospital.
Good luck!

[ramblinwreck17]

Looking for something more in the the city or suburbs? I agree with LD's suggestion of Morningside. Granted, it is in the city but has a ton of trees and nice community feel to it while being close in. Much different community vibe here and neighbor vibe as opposed to East Cobb or Roswell.

[waronxmas]

North Buckhead would be a good option as well. There are some SFHs that you can get at your price range, and some nice newer upscale townhomes for that price.

In terms of commute times, it'll be a breeze. There is a surface street (Peachtree-Dunwoody Rd) that runs all the way from Buckhead to Northside hospital that never has traffic. Also, there is a MARTA subway station underneath the Hospital, so she can take the train from the Buckhead station and be there in less than 10 minutes (this is the total commute).

Hope this helps!

[schayban88]

Alpharetta is the best place to raise a family. Alpharetta is pretty much the most north you can go in Fulton County. Great homes, great people and just a nice area to live in. No matter where you go in Atlanta it is a very long commute so plan on taking the MARTA.

[noah]

Yes, Alpharetta is a very long commute because it is 30 miles outside the city.

Originally Posted by schayban88

Alpharetta is the best place to raise a family. Alpharetta is pretty much the most north you can go in Fulton County. Great homes, great people and just a nice area to live in. No matter where you go in Atlanta it is a very long commute so plan on taking the MARTA.

[ramblinwreck17]

Alpharetta has as much character and charm as a piece of drywall though.

[IntownHomes247]

A lot will depend on what type of environment you prefer. There are good schools intown as well as out in the suburbs, but the intown environment offers more in terms of the arts, intellectual "vibe" (due to the proximity to major universities), and "energy." If you prefer to be out at a distance from the city and drive in to the city to go to the museum, for example, or to sporting events or artistic performances, then either East Cobb or North Fulton will probably suit you well. They certainly have good schools and plenty of shopping (and the new Cobb Performing Arts Center provides some of what you'd find in Midtown's entertainment district).

If you want to be closer to the action (and your work), then LovinDecatur's suggestion of Morningside is a very good one. Morningside is a great historic neighborhood (as is neighboring Druid Hills, but the prices in Druid Hills might be prohibitive and you'd need to pay special attention to the school district because the neighborhood is zoned for several). There are certainly also very good schools (both public and private) in Buckhead, which would probably be the most convenient location for you in terms of commute.

To get some idea of what's available in the intown areas, you might want to search Realtor.com in your price range for zip codes 30306 and 30307 (Morningside & Druid Hills + other neighborhoods) and 30305 and 30327 (Buckhead).

[sweettea1]

With your budget you can have the pick of the draw. Tell us more about your family, the type of community you're looking for and overall impressions of 'burbs vs. intown. This will give us a better idea of which communities to suggest!

[CToGA]

Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone. Really appreciate all the help/advice that I could get. Coming from the NYC metro area, when I think city I tend to think high rises or row-houses but it seems Atlanta is built very differently. I will take a look at Morningside and Buckhead. Alpharetta does seem a bit too far out for us for now.

I did hear Buckhead has great private schools but both our children (one is in middle and the other elementary) have always been in public schools up here and I don't want them to have culture shock by switching them into private schools once we get to Atlanta. Since the move is hard enough on them, ideally I wanted to pick a school district and have them stay in it until they graduate so East Cobb/North Fulton were areas I thought to look at first. Our older kid is pretty ambitious (he's very edgy about this move, thinking that going to school in the south will ruin his future... yes I know this is ridiculous but kids are kids) but our younger son is much more laid back about it (he actually thinks living in a different house is going to be "really cool").

Up here, we both commute into the city for work and entertainment so I was originally thinking the same for Atlanta. Our family isn't artsy but we're not conservative either - we enjoy having access to entertainment venues but don't necessarily have to live right next to them. The area we currently live in is pretty similar to many Northern suburban areas (older home 1980s or before although I would be fine with a house built more recently) with most people pretty socially liberal/moderate and economically moderate/conservative politically (although an area's politics are not important to me as long as people don't shove it down your throats). My thought process on this whole move, is if I can find something that satisfies everyone (good schools, commute, house, etc.) it will make the move easier on the entire family so thanks for the help!

One final note, does anyone know anything about Dunwoody? It looks like a good area to live but I am not sure about the schools there.