Suggestions on Northern Atlanta relocation

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[quote=Born 2 Roll;31466569]...Finding a single-family home on 1 or more acres for under $200k could be somewhat of a challenge in an Atlanta-area real estate market that has been increasingly hot with intense activity from both domestic and foreign investors with huge sums of cash over the past years.

Originally Posted by tharris00

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) I will be working from home. I will need to attend ~weekly meetings on Sugarloaf in Lawrenceville.
4. Children(public school vs. private) We have 2 children. Would prefer good public schools, but private is a possibility if necessary.
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two: Strange mix of the two.... we really enjoy natural settings but would prefer to be not too far from quality food stores (we're vegetarians and only eat organic food). In fact, places that allow backyard chickens would be ideal.
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? Not particularly important. I will occassionally need to drive to Raleigh/Durham, NC to visit wife's family, so access to 85 would be nice but not required.
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood: Not sure how to take this... If you mean racial/ethnic demographics, we are white but would prefer diversity in the neighborhood (wouldn't want to be in a minority though). If you mean political leanings we're libertarian (neither left nor right).



...The closest areas to Metro Atlanta that get more wintry weather than average in the Southeastern United States are in the Southern Appalachian Mountains (the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee) which are at-least about an hour's drive away from Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County and most of Metro Atlanta by way of GA Hwy 400 from North Fulton County and Interstate 985 from North Gwinnett County, with the most wintry areas of the Southern Appalachians/Blue Ridge Mountains being about 2-3 hours or more away in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, Western Virginia and Eastern West Virginia where the mountain peaks are the highest and the snow and winter weather is the most intense.



...There are at-least 5 farmers markets in Gwinnett County in the cities of Berkeley Lake (Duluth area), Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Suwanee and Norcross, and there is a 6th farmers market just outside of Gwinnett County in Auburn in neighboring Barrow County.
Gwinnett County Convention and Visitors Bureau; GCVB; Gwinnett County Visitors; Visitors Bureau; Metro Atlanta Hotel Information; Official Marketing Organization for Gwinnett County;



...The same relatively-nearby Southern Appalachian/Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia, Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee where you might be prone to find the most opportunity for winter weather in the Southeastern U.S. is the same place where one would be the most likely to find the greatest opportunities for outdoor activities like hiking and camping.

For the really hardcore hikers, the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain in Dawson County in North Georgia is only about 1-2 hours or so away from Metro Atlanta, as is also the Chattahoochee National Forest which contains many hiking and camping areas.

The closest opportunities for swimming, boating and fishing can be found at the close-by recreational area at relatively very nearby Lake Lanier, which is a large manmade lake that is very-popular with landlocked Metro Atlantans.



...Gwinnett County has a highly-regarded major library system that is fairly-extensive with 15 branches throughout Gwinnett County.
Hours&Locations | Gwinnett County Public Library



Since you are not all that fond of homeowners' associations and like areas with historic downtowns, you could take a look in and around the historic downtown areas of Roswell and Alpharetta in North Fulton County, and you could also take a look in and around the rising and increasingly-popular historic downtown areas of Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee and Buford in Gwinnett County.

Dacula is okay, but Dacula's historic downtown is relatively very-small, underdeveloped and under-utilized at this juncture, and the area with a Dacula mailing area that is north of the incorporated small City of Dacula proper is full of the type of homeowners' associations-dominated subdivisions that you seem not to be the most-comfortable with.

In particular, the area with a Dacula mailing address north of the small City of Dacula proper is home to 2 large and expansive golf course communities (around the Hamilton Mill Golf Club and the Trophy Club of Apalachee) that somewhat dominate the area.

Dacula is also home to a public library branch of the highly-regarded Gwinnett County Public Library system, but the Dacula library branch has at times had issues with unsupervised wild and unruly schoolchildren in the not-too-distant past.

Because of the Dacula area's relative lack of political pull within Gwinnett County government in relation to some of the more politically-dominant and politically-powerful areas of Gwinnett County, the Dacula library branch also is often the first library branch to be threatened with closure whenever the Gwinnett County government experiences substantial budget issues, which has been a frequent occurrence throughout the down economy of the last several years.



...Alpharetta is just as nice and congested as it looks because it is home to a very fast-growing cluster of high-tech and white-collar businesses, which along with the fast-growing residential and commercial development generates A LOT of traffic.



...The reasons why Lawrenceville is congested and overcrowded during daylight hours is because Lawrenceville is the county seat of mega-suburb Gwinnett County (whose current population is about 843,000 and growing, FAST) and is also the home to Gwinnett County's largest hospital (Gwinnett Medical Center).

In addition to being the county seat of mega-suburb Gwinnett County, Lawrenceville also has a fast-growing cluster of industrial development, a very-large amount of residential development and is also home to the fast-growing recently-created four-year university Georgia Gwinnett College.

With Lawrenceville being the county seat of dominant mega-suburb Gwinnett County, with Lawrenceville being home to the fast-growing Georgia Gwinnett College, with Lawrenceville being slated to receive some kind of high-capacity rail transit as a future stop on a future passenger rail line between Atlanta and Athens, and with Lawrenceville being located convenient to GA Hwy 316 (which is the extremely heavily-used and often severely-congested major connecting road between Atlanta and Georgia's flagship university at the University of Georgia at Athens that is in the process of being converted from a deadly high-speed surface road to an Interstate-quality expressway between Lawrenceville and Athens), Lawrenceville has a historic downtown area that is on the rise with much potential and upside over the long-term.



With you needing to attend weekly meetings on Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville and with you wanting to have access to I-85 so that you can more easily travel to and from the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, Gwinnett County (which straddles I-85) seems like it might be a good fit from a logistical standpoint.

With you desiring to live in area of much diversity, Gwinnett County would also likely be a good fit as the county is one of the most-diverse counties in the entire U.S.

In regards to the public schools, the best areas for you to consider would be within the feeder zones for Norcross High School in the Norcross/Peachtree Corners area, Duluth High School in the Berkeley Lake and Duluth areas, North Gwinnett and Lanier high schools in the Suwanee/Sugar Hill areas, Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville/Buford areas, Mill Creek High School in the Buford/Dacula/Hoschton/Braselton, and Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville/Suwanee areas.

You could also look around within the attendance zone for Buford City Schools, which is an excellent small city school district in the small village-like city of Buford that is independent of Gwinnett County Public Schools.

You could also look around in the feeder zone for Flowery Branch High School, which is an area with good schools just north of Gwinnett County along the I-985 corridor in Southern Hall County.

I couldn't add a word to this, B2R. Another thorough and well-considered post. Sorry I can't rep you right now.

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Originally Posted by AtlJan

What about Monroe Ga? Or Watkinsville? Both would be 30 to 45 minutes away and would give you the good downtown, nice yard. Monroe would be cheaper, Watkinsville--near Athens--would be more expensive, but more vegetarian restaurants.

Both good suggestions. My niece and her DH got a great deal on a house with acreage in the Monroe area and they love it.
I can't speak to the quality of Barrow County schools, but I hear the Watkinsville area schools are quite good.