1st time home buyers- looking to buy close to city, unsure about schools (Atlanta: how much)

[Louise321]

My husband and I have just started looking into buying a home and want to buy a place (house preferably) that isn't too far OTP. I work in Smyrna and my husband works in Inman Park, and ideally we want to find a home that isn't too much of a commute for either of us. We don't have kids yet, but plan to start trying soon.

I'm not from Atlanta and am still trying to wrap my head around this whole private vs. public school debacle. We are trying to weigh how important it is to be in one of the "better" school districts versus finding a home that suits our lifestyle right now.

We're still like 6-7 years out from even having a child ready to go to elementary school, but I wanted some perspective from you all as to how much weight the school district should carry as we are looking to buy. We could probably afford private school (mind you I haven't researched it a ton), but I do think its nice to have the option of some decent public schools too for later on down the road.

We want to spend under 300K on a home, and have looked some at Smyrna (King Springs Elem), but all of the negative feedback we've been hearing about schools recently has gotten us concerned. For example, the elementary school seems good, but then the middle and high school doesn't...so then what do you do? Sell and move again or put them in private school?

We both love to run, so proximity to green space and running trails are important (love the trails at Cochran Shoals, Silver Comet, Roswell, etc), and we're big foodies and enjoy cooking too so having some good restaurants, and maybe a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods nearby would be great. I know there probably isn't the perfect location to meet all of our needs, but at least some of them would be nice.

Any perspective on school districts or locations to explore that aren't too far OTP is more than welcome.

Thanks for your help in advance!

[researchnerd]

I can't help with schools, but you might take a look at the Riverside neighborhood. It's intown, just below the river on the west side, so would be an easy commute to both Inman Park and Smyrna.