Tell Me About Johns Creek! (Atlanta, Dallas: crime rate, best schools, university)

[Philagirl]

Did you mention, BostonBaby, where you will be working? If you'll be working in the City of Atlanta and working traditional hours, personally, I would not live in Johns Creek. The commute would be awful.

Also, I have to disagree with an earlier statement made about a "ton of natives" in Johns Creek. I don't know the statistics, but I've met only one native in the five trips I've made there. Your best bet is to tour the area extensively, drive around during rush hour, and find out for yourself.

[OhioNative]

That attitude is changing in some areas like Gwinnett where tons of transplants from other areas of the country are taking over the neighborhoods, but places like John's Creek still have tons of native southerners in them, so the racial tensions are stronger there than in other areas.

I have yet to meet a native southerner in John's Creek. Also, the idea that native southerners are more of a source of racial tensions is not valid. Many places up north are much more segregated that the south - even today in the large suburb in Ohio where I grew up, you have to drive 20 minutes to see a nonwhite face. As I have said on other posts, my Suwanee neighborhood would not exist in northeast Ohio, with white, black, Asian, hispanic, etc. in a neighborhood with $400,000 homes. This diversity sometimes makes our visitors from up north very uncomfortable. We had one say, "what kind of place is this that you live in??"

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

I have yet to meet a native southerner in John's Creek. Also, the idea that native southerners are more of a source of racial tensions is not valid.

Well we have several customers at work from the John's Creek area and they take very great pride in mentioning they are native to the area, so you apparently aren't meeting the same people. Likewise, I never truly heard "certain words to describe black people" until I moved to the South, so yes, it is valid to say there are certain tension that exist more strongly here than there are in other areas of the country (not all areas I'm sure, but other areas definately that aren't in the South). Sorry.

If someone wants to live in an all-white area, they are entitled to it, likewise if someone wants to live in an all-black area they are entitled to that, too. We've programmed ourselves to think that people who wish to be exclusively "with their own" are "bad people" or racists, and I don't judge someone based on that criteria alone. But you have to be realistic as well. John's Creek is VERY white, VERY upper crust, and this is my personal opinion only, VERY snooty-hooty old South with a modern yuppie twist. Again, just my opinion. That doesn't mean that it's a bad area for all - I've met plenty of people that I actually think SHOULD live in that area because it fits their personality very well. But folks who are coming from other areas should realize what type of area in general it is in case they are the magnetic opposite of that type of mindset, too.

[jxu66]

Johns Creek is large area. 30097 (Northview high district) tends to have a lot more transplants and Asians while 30022 (Chattohoochee high districts) tends to have more white population. Northview high area demographic change rapidly since many people move to that area for its schools. Maybe both philgirl and greg are both right in a way. Also, 30097 is very close to new Koreatown which is in Duluth.

You can check georgia report card.

http://reportcard2006.gaosa.org/k12/...e=demographics

Shakerag Elementary School has 48% white, 41% asian, 9% black + hispanic.

[OhioNative]

Well we have several customers at work from the John's Creek area and they take very great pride in mentioning they are native to the area, so you apparently aren't meeting the same people. Likewise, I never truly heard "certain words to describe black people" until I moved to the South, so yes, it is valid to say there are certain tension that exist more strongly here than there are in other areas of the country (not all areas I'm sure, but other areas definately that aren't in the South). Sorry.

I didn't say that there were no natives in John's Creek, just that I had not met any, in other words, there aren't that many. Second, while racism may be more prominent in certain good old boys, with some terms that are more openly used in the south, I would argue that racial tension is just as strong in other areas of the country. Go to the suburbs of Cleveland, except for a few east side cities - you will in most cases not find a single nonwhite face. The high school that I went to is still basically all white, with 3000 students in a large suburb. Go to the suburbs of Detroit. It's the same thing. They may not openly use racial slurs, but they segregate themselves to a greater extent, in my opinion, than in the Atlanta area. The point is that I find some hypocrisy among some of my fellow northerners, acting if they are superior than southerners in terms of racial attitudes when they don't live anywhere close to anyone who is not white.

[Philagirl]

I am a person of color who lived in a virtually all white, Civil War-loving, small city in Tennessee for over a decade. I also lived in North Carolina for four years.

I've also lived in St. Louis, Detroit, Baltimore, Houston and Philadelphia.

The cities I experienced the most racism/racial tension by far were the suburbs of St. Louis and Detroit, hands down. Those 'burbs were downright scary for me. That little town in Tennessee had plenty of racists, too, but I never had any problems.

[bostonbaby]

Wow, interesting topics.

From what I've read I think I belong more into Buckead! ha ha, just to think I have to drive to find a mall makes me sick! I like more nightlife and people and see people.. and you know city atmosphere!

[buckhead mom]

I live in buckhead, very close to Lenox and Phipps. I think you would be happy in the Sarah Smith district, which draws children from the following buckhead neighborhoods: North Buckhead, Ridgedale Park, Pine Hills, and some of Brookhaven. (some of zip codes 30342,30324, and 30319) From some streets in Pine Hills, it is less than 1/2 mile to Lenox (and the Lenox Marta station). From some streets in North Buckhead, it is less than 1/2 mile to Phipps. Most single family homes in the area range from 500,000 to over 1 million.

As for Sarah Smith, it is an incredible school. The parental involvement is very strong and the test scores are high. It earns awards every year from the state. It has some diversity in the student population. It has an IB program and students get 1/2 hour of French every day from kindergarten onward. The 5th grade class goes to Paris over Spring Break. (This trip is optional, as parents must pay.) Most parents are well educated and value education. Many mothers stay at home or work only part time, so you often see many of them helping out at the school or in the classrooms. The school currently has a huge enrollment due to its success, (more families move into the district for the schools) so some redistricting is coming in the next few years. The school handles the overflow well -- they had a small expansion and added a kindergarten annex that is great!

Sutton, the middle school, is drawing more students from Sarah Smith than in the past. Many parents are very happy with it now. They have a brand new facility and more parents are involved. I think it is an option. However, some parents still opt for private school for middle school. The high school, North Atlanta, does not seem to draw a huge number of former Smith students. Most opt for private high schools.

[bostonbaby]

Great to hear from Buckhead mom! I was starting to think Buckhead moms are inexisting!\V]
I love the cities so I was just thinking not to be to close to the suburbs, I may get bored there.'ll check into the areas you have posted, at the beginning I would rather \

[North_Parent]

Johns Creek is a nice area and does have good schools. But GA is ranked 46 in SAT scores nationwide, so being good in GA is nothing to be proud off. We live in Johns Creek and are sending our children to Woodward Academy. We moved from Ann Arbor, MI.