Relocating to Atlanta from Orlando - Neighborhood Guidance? (Sandy Springs, Roswell: for sale, condos)

[mandip867]

We currently live in the Downtown Orlando area, and are relocating to Atlanta for my husband's job. He will be working in Duluth (Satellite Blvd near Boggs Rd) and I hope to work at either Northside Hospital Atlanta or North Fulton Hospital. We would like to keep our commutes under 30 minutes.

If anyone is familiar with the Orlando area, we would love to live somewhere with a Winter Park vibe: Kind of a historic feel, community festivals and farmers markets but with an urban influence, nice parks, interesting restaurants, etc...

1. Our budget is $300K ($350 max).
2. We are ok with upscale townhomes or nice single family homes (2000sqft+). No condos. Newer construction preferred, but if it's an older home, have major renovations complete.
3. We have a young child currently in a private Montessori preschool, and we would like to continue that.
4. We like to at least be close to a walkable community (like Eola/Thornton Park area Downtown Orlando or Park Ave in Winter Park,), although I know homes that are actually walking distance from these areas come at a premium. So easy access, at least, is ok.

One thing that is important to me my "day-to day activity radius." For example, where we live now, Publix, Target, our gym, preschool, lots of parks, and basic shopping are all within a mile of the house. (I wish there was a Whole Foods in there!) Not quite walkable, but I don't have to take busy roads to do errand-running and/or keep the munchkin entertained. Maintaining this (and perhaps adding Whole Foods/Trader Joe's/another natural food market) is very important to me.

Neighborhoods on our radar:
Sandy Springs, Decatur, Morningside-Lenox Park, Virginia Highland... We might be priced out of Brookhaven and/or Buckhead...

Thanks for suggestions!

[westau]

Why would you want to live in town if you both work on the north side of town? The only one you listed that you should look at really is Sandy Springs. I would also look at Roswell, Dunwoody, and Johns Creek. Most of those places have enough density that they all have the shops and parks you would be looking for nearby.

[ATLTJL]

You're looking in the right places for what you want, but the commute isn't going to work.

Areas like Peachtree Corners, Norcross, and Duluth are going to straddle the line of being between where your husband works and pill hill.

[mandip867]

Thanks for the feedback.

Currently, we are in the scenario where my husband's office is in the "burbs" (Lake Mary) and we live in the city, about a 30 minute commute. What we have found in the Orlando area - and maybe this in not the case in Atlanta, which is why I'm asking for guidance - is that the suburbs farther out from the city are either...hick? country? or completely residential where the only thing you can do without driving is grocery shop. The caliber of the people declines, and sure, you can get more house for your money, but it doesn't feel like a nice area to us. Thoughts on that?

John's Creek is another area we are looking into. I meant to add that to our list.

[lorilove]

Originally Posted by mandip867

Thanks for the feedback.

Currently, we are in the scenario where my husband's office is in the "burbs" (Lake Mary) and we live in the city, about a 30 minute commute. What we have found in the Orlando area - and maybe this in not the case in Atlanta, which is why I'm asking for guidance - is that the suburbs farther out from the city are either...hick? country? or completely residential where the only thing you can do without driving is grocery shop. The caliber of the people declines, and sure, you can get more house for your money, but it doesn't feel like a nice area to us. Thoughts on that?

John's Creek is another area we are looking into. I meant to add that to our list.

That would not be true in Atlanta.

The northern suburbs speciically Roswell, Dunwoody, Johns Creek and Peachtree Corners are some of the most desirable areas in Atlanta.

On average, in town neighborhoods are more liberal vs. conservative in the suburbs. In town neighborhoods are also more walkable than the suburbs.

FYI, I grew up in Orlando (Conway area) and my sister lives in the Johns Creek area. I assure you that the northen suburbs are far more sophisticated than the average Orlando neighborhood.

[red92s]

I closed on a house about an hour ago, after looking in many of the areas you mentioned, with an extremely similar budget. So I've got a pretty good sense of what going rates are in these communities area.

For a lot of the areas you listed you are going to need to drop your expectations of square footage and age/renovation status, or increase your expectations of price range. It's hard to find 2,000 square feet without looking at 4 bedrooms homes in places like Decatur, Candler Park, and Va-High. There are older neighborhoods with typically older homes and smaller lots, so the rooms are smaller than stuff built in recent decades. With the level of updating you are expecting to see, those homes are going to start in the mid-high 300's or low 400's. Recently updated 3/2's SFH's in the City of Decatur can be had for $325-350k, but you are looking more around the 1,500 SF mark, and inventory is extremely limited. It gets worse than that when you move into some of the closer neighborhoods like Lake Claire, Candler Park, and the Highlands. When cute houses show up in that price range with no major deficiencies, they are usually under contract in days, at (or above) asking price.

But as others have said, the commutes from those areas just won't be under 30 minutes. Decatur has lousy highway access, so it'd take you 10-15 minutes just to be on the freeway and headed towards work. The northern suburbs are pretty nice, but you might sacrifice some of that historic vibe in favor of space.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

Arent you going to miss the ocean? There is really no water life in atlanta

[lorilove]

Originally Posted by DONNIEANDDONNA417

Arent you going to miss the ocean? There is really no water life in atlanta

The ocean is an hour away - what she is going to miss are the lakes and just driving over or past water on a daily basis.

[red92s]

Originally Posted by lorilove

The ocean is an hour away - what she is going to miss are the lakes and just driving over or past water on a daily basis.

I know of a cute 3/2 for sale in Decatur right next to a sketchy storm culvert . . . that's practically waterfront property, right?

http://www.redfin.com/GA/Decatur/312.../home/23711635

[lorilove]

That is adorable - and I love the pink bathroom!