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I am in Orlando currently and originally am from Lawrenceville. My wife and I are considering relocating. We have family in Lawrenceville (that are trying to get out) and Kennesaw so are familiar with those areas but our professional lives have been spent 100% in Orlando. We have one child who is not yet elementary school age.
I have been looking at a specific opportunity on the west side of the perimeter but have not been encouraged by the school ratings in Smyrna or Vinings. I've looked at the areas north of Atlanta but would probably not want to work in west Atlanta if I lived there. In the north area we are looking at Alpharetta, Johns Creek, and Roswell. We've also talked about Peachtree City but I'm concerned about job opportunities there. I am a GT engineer and would be looking at opportunities in industrial engineering, revenue management, supply chain, statistics/optimization, etc. There seems to be 10 times the opportunity in these areas in Atlanta vs. in Orlando.
This is an unordered list of what we are looking for:
-4 bedrooms, 2200+ sq ft, space between houses if possible, basement/bonus room would be nice
-290k budget
-very good school ratings
-job opportunities without needing to move or commute through extreme traffic - this is one of my main concerns in ATL. I'm worried about moving for one specific job and then, if something happens or I want to change companies, all the other opportunities will be a long commute away.
-anywhere in ATL will be closer to family than we are now, but we don't want to be too close if possible
-things to do...we are used to having theme parks and beaches close by which are also great for kids so this would be an adjustment for us
Can anyone comment about the areas I've mentioned and how they fit what we are looking for? I think my primary concerns are living close to multiple job opportunities in my field as well as excellent schools.
We've also talked about Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Knoxville, and Nashville if anybody has comments on those as well. I've found it harder to find jobs in those areas that match what I am looking for.
This is fairly general at this point as we are just starting to think about this. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
I have been looking at a specific opportunity on the west side of the perimeter but have not been encouraged by the school ratings in Smyrna or Vinings.
Are you looking for suburban or urban or a mix?
How old are your kids?
I personally would look at Smyrna before passing judgement. I'm not sure why when you have a job opportunity you are looking at areas in the NE, there's plenty in the NW. Even if you aren't too fond of Smyrna, there's Due West and East Cobb, for instance. East Cobb is almost identical to Roswell, just in a different county with lower taxes. However, I think you're making some unwarrented assumptions about Smyrna based on statistics...
I come from Connecticut, from a school better than pretty much anything in Georgia, and went to a top university. Fast forward to a decade later, and my daughter is in Smyrna's Nickajack school and I really am very happy with it. You'll notice that the parent rating for Nickajack is high. I'm active with her and the teachers are responsive and proactive.
Cobb schools are Cobb schools, for the most part (except Marietta city proper, which has its own good system). School ratings are misleading in an older inner-ring city suburb like Smyrna, since sites like GreatSchools usually go off test scores, and pretty much nothing else. There are some older apartment communities mixed in, where some transient students are on subsidized lunches, or ESL, which tend to bring down test scores a little. There are a lot of new homes in Smyrna, and I mean a lot. Most new homes have reasonably wealthy people moving in. Many of those parents send their kids to public schools. Whereas, in the past, more well-off students would be sent to private schools. That's just not the case any more. So it's becoming increasingly uncommon for wealthy parents to send their kids to private schools, and the public schools have improved a lot in terms of the quality of students around your children. In the process, there's also been better administrators moving in to some of the schools.
Now, the percentage of students in poverty is a significant minority. Nevertheless, you're going to see a little more diversity in Smyrna than some new suburb that was recently thrown up like some of the other areas you are looking at. That doesn't say much about the schools, but it does effect test scores.
Anyway, when it comes to test scores and school ratings for elementary schools, Kings Springs ranks the highest. It's unnecessary, but if you want to play it safe, then just move to the Kings Springs district. The other good schools are Teasley, Nickajack, and Smyrna Elementary (replaced Brown). Cobb does its best to keep all schools equal. The advantage Kings Springs has on the others is it's a smaller school. To people who know Smyrna, all four of theses schools are considered relatively comparable.
If you ignore test scores, Cobb schools are Cobb schools. In fact, the most improved school right now in Smyrna is Belmont Hills Elementary in the North end.
For middle schools, Campbell Middle has significantly improved and has actually won awards.
Smyrna/Vinings also has some of the best private schools in the metro area.
By the way, there's a school thread on the forum, which is a sticky.
-4 bedrooms, 2200+ sq ft, space between houses if possible, basement/bonus room would be nice
-290k budget
In Smyrna, newer 4brs are typically in the mid $300ks, but you should be able to find some under $300k, especially older colonials and contemporary homes from the 70s and 80s.
-very good school ratings
Covered above
-job opportunities without needing to move or commute through extreme traffic - this is one of my main concerns in ATL. I'm worried about moving for one specific job and then, if something happens or I want to change companies, all the other opportunities will be a long commute away.
Depends where you work. Live generally within 20mi
-anywhere in ATL will be closer to family than we are now, but we don't want to be too close if possible
I hear ya
-things to do...we are used to having theme parks and beaches close by which are also great for kids so this would be an adjustment for us
In the NW: Six Flags, Six Flags Whitewater, Lake Allatoona's Red Top Mtn and Acworth Beach. Kennessaw Mtn
Additionally, Smyrna has the Silver Comet Trail, a major paved trail that runs from Smyrna all the way to the Alabama border.
Last edited by netdragon; 06-26-2014 at 12:07 PM..
Get the job first. everything else can fall in place later.
Exactly. Wherever you get the job, I 100% guarantee we'll be able to find you a good place to live. I would prioritize the job, and let the job determine what corner of the metro area you live. Not the other way around.
Due to the fragmentation of job markets and commute ability in the metro area, there's nice areas for people with children on every corner of the metro area and ITP as well.
The biggest reason for this is that if you imagine the metro area being a big circle, you don't really want to commute more than a 1/4 turn around the circle. Furthermore, you don't want to live way out and commute very far in. So, there are enclaves everywhere where people with families congregate.
Thank you for all of the detail in your response. I will look into everything you have listed.
Probably looking for more suburban than urban. Would consider living inside the perimeter but it probably would not be a first choice. We have one kid that is around 1 year old. Private school is out unless some employer triples my salary I haven't passed any judgment on Smyrna, just said I wasn't encouraged by the ratings I've seen. But it will probably be useful to find other rating sources as well that may tell a different story.
I haven't ruled out the NW area but am not looking too closely at it despite the nice areas there. That's where we might be about 10 minutes from family. Not that that's the end of the world, but you know...
I wasn't clear about my process here...I would consider Smyrna if I worked on the west perimeter, but I would likely rule out that opportunity and look for other jobs if I wanted to live north of the city rather than commuting to the west side.
Related to the other comments, it's good to know there are good places to live at each corner. However, my preference is to not let the job opportunity to completely dictate the area we will live in. I'd rather decide on which areas would be best and specifically job search in places within a reasonable commute of those areas. No plans to move without a job. I just don't want to take a job and then be limited later on by a small selection of similar opportunities in that area. In other words, I don't want to take a job in west Atlanta if 90% of opportunities in my field are north of Atlanta (just for example). Orlando is obviously smaller but that has been an issue here. For instance, we have talked about moving to one of the coasts here, but usually there is only one big employer, maybe two, where I could work and I'd rather have more flexibility in job options. It's great if that's not an issue in Atlanta...if that's so then the job could dictate the area...but I would hate years down the road to be looking for a job change and see that every good opportunity is in another part of town.
If you see moving around in your job likely, you might consider renting, or if you do buy-- buy at an amount that, even if you take a loss on the sale, it won't be too painful.
I say this because in Atlanta it can be difficult to find a reasonable commute even when you know exactly where you plan on working for the next ten years, but if you think you may want to change jobs within the city in a couple of years---I wouldn't want to be tied to a house with a big payment and a long commute.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M_M
I am in Orlando currently and originally am from Lawrenceville. My wife and I are considering relocating. We have family in Lawrenceville (that are trying to get out) and Kennesaw so are familiar with those areas but our professional lives have been spent 100% in Orlando. We have one child who is not yet elementary school age.
I have been looking at a specific opportunity on the west side of the perimeter but have not been encouraged by the school ratings in Smyrna or Vinings. I've looked at the areas north of Atlanta but would probably not want to work in west Atlanta if I lived there. In the north area we are looking at Alpharetta, Johns Creek, and Roswell. We've also talked about Peachtree City but I'm concerned about job opportunities there. I am a GT engineer and would be looking at opportunities in industrial engineering, revenue management, supply chain, statistics/optimization, etc. There seems to be 10 times the opportunity in these areas in Atlanta vs. in Orlando.
This is an unordered list of what we are looking for:
-4 bedrooms, 2200+ sq ft, space between houses if possible, basement/bonus room would be nice
-290k budget
-very good school ratings
-job opportunities without needing to move or commute through extreme traffic - this is one of my main concerns in ATL. I'm worried about moving for one specific job and then, if something happens or I want to change companies, all the other opportunities will be a long commute away.
-anywhere in ATL will be closer to family than we are now, but we don't want to be too close if possible
-things to do...we are used to having theme parks and beaches close by which are also great for kids so this would be an adjustment for us
Can anyone comment about the areas I've mentioned and how they fit what we are looking for? I think my primary concerns are living close to multiple job opportunities in my field as well as excellent schools.
We've also talked about Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Knoxville, and Nashville if anybody has comments on those as well. I've found it harder to find jobs in those areas that match what I am looking for.
This is fairly general at this point as we are just starting to think about this. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
We have one kid that is around 1 year old. Private school is out unless some employer triples my salary I haven't passed any judgment on Smyrna, just said I wasn't encouraged by the ratings I've seen. But it will probably be useful to find other rating sources as well that may tell a different story.
My advice is go out there, talk to parents and PTAs, see the schools, see the area.
The nice thing about Smyrna, as well, is that you can work pretty much anywhere as long as it's West of 400 or intown. That opens up Cumberland, midtown, downtown, airport, perimeter center for short commutes and even Windward in Alpharetta @ 45 min through E. Cobb.
I commute to midtown, but at one time when she was working (before she was on bed rest with our first kid), she used to commute to Windward Parkway in Alpharetta. My father is a doctor living in Smyrna, and until he retired commuted to Emory by cutting through Buckhead on W. Wesley. That's a bit of a trek, but he still made it back by 6pm almost every day.
Smyrna is trending more urban than suburban, with increasingly dense, expensive urban lots. But still has a family-friendly, village vibe to it. The further South you go in Smyrna towards Vinings, the more suburban in nature it gets. Though it's never hard-core suburban like East Cobb, Roswell or Johns Creek, and we pride ourselves on striving to be more walkable and new-urbanist than other suburban areas of Atlanta. Smyrna even won a liveable centers initiative award a few years back.
Last edited by netdragon; 06-26-2014 at 01:37 PM..
M_M- Be warned about Smyrna & Cobb as a whole, the Braves are moving there and are expected to make already bad traffic in the area much worse and result in higher taxes.
Related to the other comments, it's good to know there are good places to live at each corner. However, my preference is to not let the job opportunity to completely dictate the area we will live in. I'd rather decide on which areas would be best and specifically job search in places within a reasonable commute of those areas. No plans to move without a job. I just don't want to take a job and then be limited later on by a small selection of similar opportunities in that area. In other words, I don't want to take a job in west Atlanta if 90% of opportunities in my field are north of Atlanta (just for example). Orlando is obviously smaller but that has been an issue here. For instance, we have talked about moving to one of the coasts here, but usually there is only one big employer, maybe two, where I could work and I'd rather have more flexibility in job options. It's great if that's not an issue in Atlanta...if that's so then the job could dictate the area...but I would hate years down the road to be looking for a job change and see that every good opportunity is in another part of town.
orlando must be small. the reason everyone's telling you to get a job first and then locate near it is because of the traffic. you can't get from one side of town to the other during rush hour. my dad drives from alpharetta to dunwoody (both suburbs along GA 400), which are about 8 miles apart, and it can take him 45 minutes some days.
the only exception to this is MARTA (the subway), which can get you anywhere along its route pretty quickly, but it only covers areas inside fulton and dekalb county, and the subway lines are limited to a north-south line and an east-west line, with spurs.
long story short, if you buy a house in lawrenceville, you simply won't be able to work in smyrna unless you work odd hours. you'll spend 3 hours in traffic.
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I haven't passed any judgment on Smyrna, just said I wasn't encouraged by the ratings I've seen. But it will probably be useful to find other rating sources as well that may tell a different story.
