Stone Mountain? Maybe another area? (with SPACE) Any help would be appreciated (Atlanta: renting, how much)

[upallnite]

Hi Folks,

We moved to the Atlanta area about two months ago and have been renting just outside of the perimeter (Duluth). On the weekends we've been driving around, looking at homes to buy - here is something we've noticed, ratio of how much a house costs vs. what you get (sq footage etc.) seems pretty good in the Stone Mountain area...

Now, I've heard "oh man that place sucks!" but I'm not sure how accurate that is OR if it's simply a knee jerk reaction.

A little bit about us:

We just moved from NYC, I'm born and raised but my wife is from here (but has been gone for 8 years so she's not sure what's what anymore) which is why we are moving. We are not interested in living "Downtown", or inside the perimeter, I've been saying, if I wanted lots of people I would've stayed in Brooklyn. Here is what we want... space. I've looked in Monroe, GA. a Victorian on 5 acres and it was insane (in a good way). However, Monroe seemed just a little far out and we are debating commute vs. space and have not come up with any front runners.

So here are my questions for GA. natives and/or folks who know these things from experience:

1. How is Stone Mountain? Is it a bad place to live? Why? The prices are great and I have yet to see any uprisings while driving the area.

2. How are Cumming & Acworth? Maybe up to Woodstock / Buford? I know a few recruiters who work with other programmers who live in those areas and say they've never complained about their commutes into John's Creek/Sandy Springs and even inside the perimeter

3. What about Lawrenceville/Lilburn/Snellville? Seems to have nice, QUIET spaces, is that an okay place from your POV?

4. Lastly, which areas that offer space would you suggest that is not TOO too far out? "Space" being 1-2+ acres along with good schools?

Any info would be great. Thank you!

[ATLTJL]

1. How is Stone Mountain? Is it a bad place to live? Why? The prices are great and I have yet to see any uprisings while driving the area.

It is considered a quite bad place to live. Terrible schools, crumbling infrastructure, and bad planning have crippled Stone Mountain, among other factors I am not familiar with. That's why it's so cheap, nobody wants to live there. Are there uprisings? No, but it's not a place most people recommend.

2. How are Cumming & Acworth? Maybe up to Woodstock / Buford? I know a few recruiters who work with other programmers who live in those areas and say they've never complained about their commutes into John's Creek/Sandy Springs and even inside the perimeter

Listening to a recruiter on where to live is like listening to a realtor on where to work. Anybody who says someone would live in Acworth and not complain about a commute into town is a complete moron. This isn't to say that it can't be done by some people, but nobody would do it and not complain unless they, too, are complete morons. Cumming to Johns Creek is no big deal, but Woodstock to Sandy Springs would be quite tough. The areas are fine, but the commutes can be deadly.

3. What about Lawrenceville/Lilburn/Snellville? Seems to have nice, QUIET spaces, is that an okay place from your POV?

Each place has hit or miss areas. I probably wouldn't live in most parts of Lilburn, parts of Snellville and Lawrenceville are ok depending on your needs.

4. Lastly, which areas that offer space would you suggest that is not TOO too far out? "Space" being 1-2+ acres along with good schools?

Milton.

[upallnite]

Hey thanks - I've heard that about Lawrenceville (hit or miss) I will look into Milton.

[MattCW]

Where is your work (roughly, we don't need an exact address) and how far are you willing to commute?

[upallnite]

I'm in I.T. and currently work from home... which makes things more difficult. I've been doing this for almost a year but one never knows when they will be searching for a new job and that's the issue. I don't want to get so crazy that I purchase a great house 50 miles from the nearest office (should I have to work in one).

I was looking in Lawrenceville and some other areas because they *seemed* like they weren't too far out but I've never commuted in Atlanta before so I'm really not sure.

[lastminutemom]

No to St. Mountain on the DeKalb side for schools.

If I were in IT, I would be looking off 400 (Alpharetta, Milton, Cumming etc) or the Suwanee area...

[MattCW]

South Rockdale County (Conyers) might be ok for you. There are some decent size houses down there, but you're not terribly far away from the highway and Atlanta. Just be advised there is no real transit in Rockdale County should that become necessary for you.

[ATLTJL]

Like lastminutemom said, if you work in IT and eventually have to commute to an office, odds are it will be somewhere in North Fulton.

If it's intown, at least you'd be near GA 400.

The problem with places like Lawrenceville and Snellville are they really aren't very close to good arteries to get into town, unless you are in west Lawrenceville near 316.

[jeoff]

In the Lilburn-Stone Mountain-Snelville area--the Brookwood and Parkview school clusters are generally considered to be good, and the Shiloh cluster is probably worth a look also. If public schools are a major consideration, I would rule out the Dekalb part of Stone Mountain and probably Tucker as well. I have lived in both Lilburn and Stone Mountain, and I actually enjoyed my time in both places, I felt pretty safe in Stone Mountain, and was more social with my neighbors when we were in Stone Mountain (but, we were younger and more social then)--just for most quality of life issues--most folks would consider the Dekalb part of a Stone Mountain inferior to the other places mentioned. Homes in Lilburn can be found in the low 100s. A nice home with a couple of acres can occasionally be found for less than 200K. But, I hear that supply is going down in the sub- 140K range.

[netdragon]

Have you looked at Powder Springs?