The Cascade Area (Atlanta, College Park, Washington: apartments, foreclosures, renting)

[iowantribal]

Hi. I'm new to the forum. My husband's job may be transferring him to Atlanta this summer and we are looking at the Cascade area (30331). We are from Brooklyn, NY. A bit of information:
* We would probably be renting when we first arrive, but we are definitely interested in a single family home. Our budget is 250k for a house/up to $1000 for a rental.
* He has to do a lot of air travel so I'm wondering how is travel time/traffic flow to and from the airport.
*We have a 9 year old boy, so I'm wondering if anyone one has any first hand experiences with the elementary schools in this area (plus & minuses)
*Even coming from the city, we have no problem experiencing a nice suburban lifestyle. Anytime we need a urban fix, driving to city of Atlanta will not be a problem for us. We understand that Atlanta isn't NYC (no city is ever like NYC ) but I'm sure Atlanta has it's own appeal that stands out on it's own.
*Access to public transportation is no big deal. We have 1 car already and if the hubby do get the transfer, there will be a 2nd car for me.
*Demographics: middle class, mostly homeowners, low crime (well, sometimes I believe almost anywhere else has low crime compared to the neighborhood we are living in now), parks/playgrounds/dog parks (we have a chihuahua & a rat terrier),good veterinarians (for my pooches) family/community oriented.
I think that is it for now. Any information/help/insight would be greatly welcomed.
Thanks all!

[ATLtransplant2]

Cascade is really close to the airport so you shouldn't have any issues there. You can find plenty of apartments/single family homes in your price range especially now with all the foreclosures. Elementary schools in the area can bit hit or miss - definitely check greatschools.com for that zip code. I'd also check crime statistics for that zip code through the Atlanta Police Department website.

[iowantribal]

Thanks so much for the info.

[PKCorey]

Check out 30331, 30311 and 30349. Pretty much, the same general area.

Both have easy access to the airport (Camp Creek Parkway/Tuskegee Airmen Parkway) give you quick access to the airport.

It's a few parks in the area. Not sure of any dog parks though.

You will be just 15-20 mins from the city itself so it shouldnt really be an issuing coming into town for events.

[residinghere2007]

We considered moving to the Cascade area before buying our house. There are a lot of nice houses there and most of the elementary schools in the 30331 area of APD are pretty good.

We have some good friends who live in Ben Hill in a subdivision and they like their neighborhood. They are childhood friends of my husband. The wife is an elementary teacher in their area and was even featured on Oprah once. Oprah re-did her classroom because she was one of the teacher of the year receipients that year.

Cascade is really close to the aiport, probably a 10 minute drive, depending on the time of day. I'm not sure about the crime there, but I wouldn't think it was too bad.

[iowantribal]

To PKCorey and Residinghere2007, thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. I really hope my hubby does get the transfer because we are ready for a definite change in pace.

[NYPeach]

Just a thought about zip code 30349: that zip also includes College Park which has good areas and not so good areas. I have friends that live in that zip code and some of them live in very nice areas and some of them due to financial circumstances live in the "sketchy" areas of 30349. Sketchy areas, in my opinion, would include parts of Old National Hwy, parts of Washington Road for example.

But again there are some very decent areas within 30349 so for this zip code that I would consider living in certain parts of it and other parts I'd run.

I'd really suggest a driving around to get feel of streets, etc to consider and those to avoid.

Good luck in your search.

[iowantribal]

To NYPeach: thanks for the suggestions. I really appreciate it. I will look into that area as well.

[iowantribal]

Just an update: my hubby got the transfer from his job in the beginning of April. Last week we flew from NYC to ATL to meet with our Realtor to see a line up of about 10 homes in the Camp Creek/Cascade area. With the help of the gps, we saw nearly every last home, found one we both loved and placed a bid on it. We are now officially under contract and my hubby just flew down to ATL this morning to meet with the Home Inspector. If all goes well with the inspection, appraisal and closing, we'll be moving in our new home at the end of June. We are happy and excited about the move. Thanks again for the input.

[PKCorey]

Congrats and welcome to Atlanta.

If you don't mind, what area/zipcode did you find your home in?