Marietta, Smyrna, Alpharetta or Mableton to move to? help! (Atlanta: real estate, apartments)

[tracerall]

we may be moving to the Atlanta area within the next few months, we are just doing research and need to know what are the nice areas to live. we are looking for a good family neighborhood, safe of course!!! middle class or upper class to raise a family with good schools, close shopping, not country but not city either. we will be renting a house since we are in no position to buy one right now. we looked at some in mableton that seemed nice. we will eventually have to go and visit but it would be nice to see whoever can give me some advice to start with. thanks so much!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by tracerall

we may be moving to the Atlanta area within the next few months, we are just doing research and need to know what are the nice areas to live. we are looking for a good family neighborhood, safe of course!!! middle class or upper class to raise a family with good schools, close shopping, not country but not city either. we will be renting a house since we are in no position to buy one right now. we looked at some in mableton that seemed nice. we will eventually have to go and visit but it would be nice to see whoever can give me some advice to start with. thanks so much!

Well, Marietta, Smyrna, and Mableton sort of form a line from north to south along the eastern half of Cobb County, and much of the "East Cobb" area in the northeast corner of Cobb has a Marietta mailing address, so there are probably several (if not dozens) of viable areas to choose from just between those three and surroundings.

There are so many variables involved that it's hard to know what you might be interested in without knowing a little more about what you're looking for, and the whole area is suburban with a mix of housing types (dense with small lots, sparse with large lots, mixed-use communities like One Ivy Walk and West Village in Smyrna, etc. And of course there's also Vinings which is located just to the east of Smyrna on the other side of 285.

I can't speak for Alpharetta, since I only visit that area infrequently.

If you're going to be renting initially, I would recommend that you find a local real estate agent, give them a list of specific requirements, and let them do a lot of the footwork. Use their expertise to your advantage ... that's what they get paid for.

[tracerall]

thanks for your advice. we want to have a house that has a nice size lot, we are in florida now and we have no front or back yard and we can basically touch the neighbors house. we have a 3 year old that needs room to run, and a nice big frontyard would be nice too since we like the holidays and decorating the yard. we want to be somewhat near Six Flags since we like theme parks, near shopping would be good too. we pretty much want to be safe. ive heard that Atlanta is not the place to live!! good schools too! i have a daughter going into high school so thats another thing we have to consider. I would just like to be pointed in the right direction. it would be nice to have a map of GA and with one click on any area you can find out crime rate, school ratings, etc!!! its so hard when you are not familiar with the area at all!

[Abe1968]

Mableton is a great place to start a family, depending on how long before your kids have to be in school. But, you aren't going to find any top rated public schools in Mableton, Smyrna, or around Six Flags, unfortunately. The very best public schools in the State are located in East Cobb and because of the downturn in real estate, there are a lot of nice new houses you can rent cheaply! Walton, Wheeler, Lassiter, Pope, and Sprayberry all recently scored exceptionally well nationally.

[GAPeach83]

I know this wasnt one of your options but another area for you to look into is Kennesaw. It is in cobb county has a local mall and plenty of local buisness centers to find a job. It is a nice area with low crime and plenty of houses and apartments for rent. It is also very convient to the interstates I75 and I575 that run north to south and I75 goes straight to Atl which would be about a 20-30 commute from kennesaw.

I hope this helps!