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I have been looking for a great area to buy a house, and I finally narrowed it down to Alpharetta and East Cobb. I am looking for a house that we’ll live in for many years, hopefully forever. So I want the whole package: good schools, educated affluent neighbors, basically a solid investment. Which one of these areas do you think is a better choice? (I work in Buckhead)
I personally prefer East Cobb. I am trying to find something there myself because there are several school districts that are really good. However, if you're looking for a house you can stay in forever, I would look in both areas to see if you find some really good possible houses. Both towns have very affluent areas and good schools, but if you can't find the right house then it's not going to work anyway. Once you find a few possibilities you can go onto GreatSchools.net to see how the schools are rated. I know from prior experience that all the recommendations in the world for a particular area don't do any good if you can't find the right house.
I personally have this hang-up about Cobb County in general, but setting that aside I think it'd probably be a good choice from what I know about your situation. It's a little closer to Buckhead than Alpharetta, and while neither has a wealth of alternative routes if 400's backed up, Johnson Ferry works a bit better for East Cobb than it does for Alpharetta, or than Holcomb Bridge or Medlock Bridge/Peachtree Industrial does for Alpharetta (getting across the river's the hard part -- there's only a few bridges). The one reason for preferring Alpharetta might be if you really want a newer/bigger house in a newer subdivision -- comparably priced places in East Cobb are going to be somewhat older and (as a result) mostly somewhat smaller than in Alpharetta. There will be plenty of exceptions both ways, however.
They're probably the two most highly regarded areas of metro Atlanta as far as schools go, so I don't think it much matters from that standpoint. You'd do less driving to get to Congregation Etz Chaim (Conservative) or Temple Kol Emeth (Reform) from most of East Cobb than you probably would to get to Congregation Gesher L'Torah (Conservative) or Congregation Dor Tamid (Reform) from many of the places that are considered "Alpharetta". East Cobb would also be closer to Temple Beth Tikvah and Temple Kehillat Chaim (Reform) in Roswell, though Kehillat Chaim would be convenient to much of Alpharetta as well. The East Cobb shuls and Kehillat Chaim are older and better-established; Gesher L'Torah and Dor Tamid are both still in start-up mode, which can be good or bad -- in an established institution, you can sometimes feel like you're walking in on someone else's party, but the services and facilities are in place and functioning and there's more stability. A new synagogue will often be more eager to involve newcomers, but may also lack some programs or facilities and you may have to help build the things you want to see there rather than just using what's already there. East Cobb would definitely be more convenient if you decide one of the Dunwoody or intown shuls is more to your taste.
Thank you so much for your help. Honestly being near a synagogue is not really a priority for me, I haven’t been to one since my wedding. I am really interested in an area that’s not likely to go downhill in the next 10-20 years. My house is still one of the largest investments that I will ever make, I just want to make sure that it’s a good one…
Thank you so much for your help. Honestly being near a synagogue is not really a priority for me, I haven’t been to one since my wedding. I am really interested in an area that’s not likely to go downhill in the next 10-20 years. My house is still one of the largest investments that I will ever make, I just want to make sure that it’s a good one…
That shouldn't be a problem in either area. But keep in mind that your house is also the only one of your investments you actually have to live in. Don't sentence yourself to being unhappy every day of the time you live there simply because it's appreciating 10%-15%/year more than someplace you'd actually want to live. It's still your home first, an investment second. It sounds like you'd be really happy in either one, but if you visit and don't like them, there's plenty of places with different character that are still solid investments, even if they don't appreciate as fast as those.
I worked in East Cobb for a few years and I will tell you that the area won't be going down hill anytime soon....if ever. They're not building new homes for under $300k, so you're not likely to get section 8 (though the northern part of East Cobb has some....near Sandy Plains Road north of Piedmont Road).
East Cobb and Alpharetta are both very big areas comprised of multiple other areas, certain parts should be concentrated on.
When people say "East Cobb" they are referring to a large unincorporated area (100,000 to 130,000 population depending on where you put the western border). East Cobb residents have Marietta or Roswell addresses. There are several different areas in East Cobb... you can sort them by high school district, or you can look at the local area names:
--- Sandy Plains - the northwest part, between Roswell and Kennesaw, covering part of the Sprayberry and part of the Lassiter school districts; the "poorest" part of East Cobb, but not actually poor at all... but this area has more older, smaller houses remaining compared to the rest... but not for long... Lassiter is very, very good school district, Sprayberry is not so good, mainly because it also serves a lot of unincorporated Marietta and also Town Center.
--- Shallowford Falls - the northeast-middle part, around Shallowford and Johnson Ferry, served by Lassiter and Pope school districts. Both school districts are very good and this area is great all around.
--- Mt. Bethel - the south-middle part around Roswell/Johnson Ferry, Lower Roswell/Johnson Ferry, that whole area, served by Walton (most) and Wheeler (some) school districts. This is the "main" part of East Cobb because Johnson Ferry and Roswell Road are the biggest commercial districts, not to mention tons of parks, churches, and other things are in this area. Walton is the best school in the state. Wheeler is average but only serves some of East Cobb. This area is mostly 30068 zip code and new houses are very expensive ($950,000 avg. last year according to AJC) but older houses can still be found from 300k to 800k typically. The Shallowford Falls area will probably get you more house for the same money, but the Mount Bethel area is much better for commutes.
--- Chattahoochee Plantation - The southernmost part, bordering Sandy Springs at the river, served by the Walton school district. This is the area around Paper Mill Rd, Columns Drive, ACC Drive, etc. This is the wealthiest, nicest part of East Cobb, with mansions and estates forming a significant chunk of the area. In Atlanta Country Club they tear down very nice houses and replace them with very huge houses (there's one under construction right now, it's like 4 times bigger than our 5 bedroom, not-small house). This is one area that will never go down hill.
"Alpharetta" also covers many areas (around 120,000+ population total). The north fulton county area used to have the historic city of Alpharetta as well as unincorporated land east and northwest of Alpharetta - all these areas were given Alpharetta addresses. Recently, the east and northwest areas official became cities (Johns Creek and Milton) but since that was a year or so ago, the addresses and zip code names haven't really been changed fully.
--- Milton - the whole north and northwest chunk of the Alpharetta area, served by Milton high school. Most of this area is rural, but the southern part is nice suburban residential area. A nice area but out in the middle of nowhere so expect long commutes. Schools are excellent.
--- Alpharetta - the actual city limits of Alpharetta, served by Alpharetta school district, as well as Centennial and I believe Chattahoochee, which are shared with Roswell and Johns Creek. All three are excellent (Chattahoochee best, then Alpharetta, then Centennial; most of the city is Alpharetta district). There are three main areas of Alpharetta, the downtown area to the west, the Windward area to the north, and the North Point area to the south. A large part of the city is comprised of commercial and office areas (all of it is new-ish and very nice looking). Overall a very nice city but not entire residential, and the parts that are residential are 60% houses and 40% townhouses/apartments (East Cobb is like 98% houses, 2% condos/townhouses), but it's all nice to very nice.
--- Johns Creek - everything between Alpharetta/Roswell and Duluth/Gwinnett, basically the northeastern nose of Fulton County. This city was newly incorporated (though fully developed already) last year so most of the area has either an Alpharetta or Duluth address, and small parts have Roswell and Suwanee addresses. This area is served by Chattahoochee and Northview school districts. Northview is the second best school in the state and Chattahoochee is in the top ten if not top five. Johns Creek is a fully residential area similar to East Cobb; the main differences being it's newer and has more northern/western transplants and also that there are noticeable numbers of townhouses/apartments, unlike East Cobb which is all houses. Johns Creek is still mostly houses though and it's a very nice area with many country clubs. Johns Creek is actually comprised of several communities such as Warsaw, Ocee, Shake Rag, etc. The Shake Rag area is like 40% Korean and they're all wealthy.
Overall the Alpharetta and East Cobb areas are both nice and both great places to settle down. The whole Alpharetta area has a much newer vibe whereas most of East Cobb has a more established feel.... not to say Alpharetta isn't developed or lacks mature landscaping, but it's noticeably newer. There are more subdivisions in Alpharetta and many of them have houses that look identical on small lots. East Cobb subdivisions are older and tend to be more varied in architecture, though of course not all of Alpharetta is like that, there are a lot of country clubs in the area that are very nice and varied, but it is disappointing to see cookie cutter subdivisions. There are some of those in East Cobb (mostly in the Sandy Plains area) but not many. East Cobb has many more houses that are not part of any subdivision, whereas most of Alpharetta has a "planned" feel with lots of subdivisions.
As far as schools go, Walton in East Cobb and Northview in Johns Creek are the two best schools in the state. Chattahoochee and Milton (Alpharetta area) and Lassiter and Pope (East Cobb) closely follow and these four are all in the top 10 in the state in my opinion. Centennial in Alpharetta is a little lower on the scale but still a good school. Small parts of East Cobb are served by Wheeler and Sprayberry areas - both average schools, Wheeler is the better of the two but neither is as good as any of the other schools.
What are the best bets? The southern of East Cobb (basically everything north of the river, south of Shallowford Rd, east of Old Canton Road). Walton High area is the best bet. For the Alpharetta area I would say Johns Creek is the best bet, followed by certain parts of Alpharetta itself. Milton is just too far away... Either way both East Cobb and Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek are very nice. Every single one of these areas has an avg. household income of $120,000+ which is impressive consider both of these areas are 100,000+ population.
As for commuting to Buckhead, East Cobb is definitely the winner there, especially the southern (Walton) area. The only thing seperating East Cobb from Buckhead about 10 miles or so of Sandy Springs - easy enough. From the Alpharetta area on the other hand you have to first make your way to GA-400 or I-85 which can take a while, then make a long trip down to Buckhead that is usually going to be filled headaches do to the fact that that GA-400/I-85 from Alpharetta first leads to Perimeter (huge job center), then Buckhead (huge job center, then Midtown (huge job center), then Downtown (huge job center), then the Airport. From East Cobb on the other hand, you only have to deal with a very small stretch of GA-400, if you even bother to go that way.
To the guy that said neither has a wealth of alternate routes if 400 gets backed up - actually East Cobb has a ton of ways to get to Buckhead, and most of them are traffic-free. The one thing that you have to do no matter what is cross the river using Johnson Ferry Road (the only bridge) but this usually not a problem except for a certain 30 to 60 minute period early the morning. After that you can do all sorts of things - you can go east on Abernathy which gives you many options for going south into Buckhead (Peachtree Dunwoody, Roswell Road, GA-400) or you can go south on Riverside which will then allow you to take Powers Ferry south which takes you straight into Buckhead.... these are the easiest routes but theres many more, you can basically take any road you want through Sandy Springs most of them end up in Buckhead.... from Alpharetta on the other hand taking back roads to Buckhead would take over an hour and be very difficult unless you have memorized the map.
East Cobb and Alpharetta are both very big areas comprised of multiple other areas, certain parts should be concentrated on.
When people say "East Cobb" they are referring to a large unincorporated area (100,000 to 130,000 population depending on where you put the western border). East Cobb residents have Marietta or Roswell addresses. There are several different areas in East Cobb... you can sort them by high school district, or you can look at the local area names:
--- Sandy Plains - the northwest part, between Roswell and Kennesaw, covering part of the Sprayberry and part of the Lassiter school districts; the "poorest" part of East Cobb, but not actually poor at all... but this area has more older, smaller houses remaining compared to the rest... but not for long... Lassiter is very, very good school district, Sprayberry is not so good, mainly because it also serves a lot of unincorporated Marietta and also Town Center.
--- Shallowford Falls - the northeast-middle part, around Shallowford and Johnson Ferry, served by Lassiter and Pope school districts. Both school districts are very good and this area is great all around.
--- Mt. Bethel - the south-middle part around Roswell/Johnson Ferry, Lower Roswell/Johnson Ferry, that whole area, served by Walton (most) and Wheeler (some) school districts. This is the "main" part of East Cobb because Johnson Ferry and Roswell Road are the biggest commercial districts, not to mention tons of parks, churches, and other things are in this area. Walton is the best school in the state. Wheeler is average but only serves some of East Cobb. This area is mostly 30068 zip code and new houses are very expensive ($950,000 avg. last year according to AJC) but older houses can still be found from 300k to 800k typically. The Shallowford Falls area will probably get you more house for the same money, but the Mount Bethel area is much better for commutes.
--- Chattahoochee Plantation - The southernmost part, bordering Sandy Springs at the river, served by the Walton school district. This is the area around Paper Mill Rd, Columns Drive, ACC Drive, etc. This is the wealthiest, nicest part of East Cobb, with mansions and estates forming a significant chunk of the area. In Atlanta Country Club they tear down very nice houses and replace them with very huge houses (there's one under construction right now, it's like 4 times bigger than our 5 bedroom, not-small house). This is one area that will never go down hill.
"Alpharetta" also covers many areas (around 120,000+ population total). The north fulton county area used to have the historic city of Alpharetta as well as unincorporated land east and northwest of Alpharetta - all these areas were given Alpharetta addresses. Recently, the east and northwest areas official became cities (Johns Creek and Milton) but since that was a year or so ago, the addresses and zip code names haven't really been changed fully.
--- Milton - the whole north and northwest chunk of the Alpharetta area, served by Milton high school. Most of this area is rural, but the southern part is nice suburban residential area. A nice area but out in the middle of nowhere so expect long commutes. Schools are excellent.
--- Alpharetta - the actual city limits of Alpharetta, served by Alpharetta school district, as well as Centennial and I believe Chattahoochee, which are shared with Roswell and Johns Creek. All three are excellent (Chattahoochee best, then Alpharetta, then Centennial; most of the city is Alpharetta district). There are three main areas of Alpharetta, the downtown area to the west, the Windward area to the north, and the North Point area to the south. A large part of the city is comprised of commercial and office areas (all of it is new-ish and very nice looking). Overall a very nice city but not entire residential, and the parts that are residential are 60% houses and 40% townhouses/apartments (East Cobb is like 98% houses, 2% condos/townhouses), but it's all nice to very nice.
--- Johns Creek - everything between Alpharetta/Roswell and Duluth/Gwinnett, basically the northeastern nose of Fulton County. This city was newly incorporated (though fully developed already) last year so most of the area has either an Alpharetta or Duluth address, and small parts have Roswell and Suwanee addresses. This area is served by Chattahoochee and Northview school districts. Northview is the second best school in the state and Chattahoochee is in the top ten if not top five. Johns Creek is a fully residential area similar to East Cobb; the main differences being it's newer and has more northern/western transplants and also that there are noticeable numbers of townhouses/apartments, unlike East Cobb which is all houses. Johns Creek is still mostly houses though and it's a very nice area with many country clubs. Johns Creek is actually comprised of several communities such as Warsaw, Ocee, Shake Rag, etc. The Shake Rag area is like 40% Korean and they're all wealthy.
Overall the Alpharetta and East Cobb areas are both nice and both great places to settle down. The whole Alpharetta area has a much newer vibe whereas most of East Cobb has a more established feel.... not to say Alpharetta isn't developed or lacks mature landscaping, but it's noticeably newer. There are more subdivisions in Alpharetta and many of them have houses that look identical on small lots. East Cobb subdivisions are older and tend to be more varied in architecture, though of course not all of Alpharetta is like that, there are a lot of country clubs in the area that are very nice and varied, but it is disappointing to see cookie cutter subdivisions. There are some of those in East Cobb (mostly in the Sandy Plains area) but not many. East Cobb has many more houses that are not part of any subdivision, whereas most of Alpharetta has a "planned" feel with lots of subdivisions.
As far as schools go, Walton in East Cobb and Northview in Johns Creek are the two best schools in the state. Chattahoochee and Milton (Alpharetta area) and Lassiter and Pope (East Cobb) closely follow and these four are all in the top 10 in the state in my opinion. Centennial in Alpharetta is a little lower on the scale but still a good school. Small parts of East Cobb are served by Wheeler and Sprayberry areas - both average schools, Wheeler is the better of the two but neither is as good as any of the other schools.
What are the best bets? The southern of East Cobb (basically everything north of the river, south of Shallowford Rd, east of Old Canton Road). Walton High area is the best bet. For the Alpharetta area I would say Johns Creek is the best bet, followed by certain parts of Alpharetta itself. Milton is just too far away... Either way both East Cobb and Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek are very nice. Every single one of these areas has an avg. household income of $120,000+ which is impressive consider both of these areas are 100,000+ population.
As for commuting to Buckhead, East Cobb is definitely the winner there, especially the southern (Walton) area. The only thing seperating East Cobb from Buckhead about 10 miles or so of Sandy Springs - easy enough. From the Alpharetta area on the other hand you have to first make your way to GA-400 or I-85 which can take a while, then make a long trip down to Buckhead that is usually going to be filled headaches do to the fact that that GA-400/I-85 from Alpharetta first leads to Perimeter (huge job center), then Buckhead (huge job center, then Midtown (huge job center), then Downtown (huge job center), then the Airport. From East Cobb on the other hand, you only have to deal with a very small stretch of GA-400, if you even bother to go that way.
To the guy that said neither has a wealth of alternate routes if 400 gets backed up - actually East Cobb has a ton of ways to get to Buckhead, and most of them are traffic-free. The one thing that you have to do no matter what is cross the river using Johnson Ferry Road (the only bridge) but this usually not a problem except for a certain 30 to 60 minute period early the morning. After that you can do all sorts of things - you can go east on Abernathy which gives you many options for going south into Buckhead (Peachtree Dunwoody, Roswell Road, GA-400) or you can go south on Riverside which will then allow you to take Powers Ferry south which takes you straight into Buckhead.... these are the easiest routes but theres many more, you can basically take any road you want through Sandy Springs most of them end up in Buckhead.... from Alpharetta on the other hand taking back roads to Buckhead would take over an hour and be very difficult unless you have memorized the map.
GF72,
Thank you so much for the detailed info. You covered many questions I have in mind. I too, have been looking and learning from this forum before decide a starting place. I'm from Southern California (San Fernando Valley) where housing is way too expensive. Again, thanks so much.
Both areas have a lot to offer. Both have beautiful neighborhoods, good schools, shopping, parks, restaurants, etc. IMO it's a six in one in one situation, other than the commute. Do you have the opportunity to make one last visit here before making a decision? If so, I'd take two days and do dry runs from each area to your office (both at 7 am and at 5 pm). See which one makes you less unhappy (sorry about the double negative but I can't think of any other way to word this) and go with that. Your daily commute will make the difference between sort of liking it here and loving it. Might as well factor that into your decision.
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