Moving to the Suburbs very soon- please help! (Atlanta, Peachtree City: school district, subdivision)

[Gabrielle855]

Thanks everybody! Im excited to fly down this weekend? Should I contact a realtor to have them show us some neighborhoods or wait until we are ready to buy?

[LovelySummer]

Why does everyone put down Peachtree City and Fayetteville as being far from the city and then commence to recommend Forsyth County and Canton and Suwanee, all of which is by far more remote and worse traffic into downtown than Peachtree City and Fairburn?

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Why does everyone put down Peachtree City and Fayetteville as being far from the city and then commence to recommend Forsyth County and Canton and Suwanee, all of which is by far more remote and worse traffic into downtown than Peachtree City and Fairburn?

Folks should not put those places down, in part due to your exact point. More importantly, those are great places.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Why does everyone put down Peachtree City and Fayetteville as being far from the city and then commence to recommend Forsyth County and Canton and Suwanee, all of which is by far more remote and worse traffic into downtown than Peachtree City and Fairburn?

Because they don't need to commute to downtown. It's just whenever they want to go see something. There's much more activity on the north side. Other than the Airport and Downtown the south side has no advantage over the northside.

[andy1324]

You will have no problem finding the house your looking for in northwest cobb/Cherokee/Paullding/Bartow. And the non-rush hour drive into the city isn't bad because of good access to 75/575. The fact that both of you work from home is a big blessing.

You'll struggle with the budget in east cobb/north Fulton, if you do find something it will be older. I'm not very familiar with the eastearn or southern suburbs.

[lgb6]

We moved to Peachtree City and hate it!!! We do not like the school district and have limited access to good medical services unless you drive to Atlanta. Very transient area not what we expected and what was pictured to us on this forum. Please be ware and do your homework. We relocated from the Tampabay area.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Why does everyone put down Peachtree City and Fayetteville as being far from the city and then commence to recommend Forsyth County and Canton and Suwanee, all of which is by far more remote and worse traffic into downtown than Peachtree City and Fairburn?

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Folks should not put those places down, in part due to your exact point. More importantly, those are great places.

Originally Posted by sedimenjerry

Because they don't need to commute to downtown. It's just whenever they want to go see something. There's much more activity on the north side. Other than the Airport and Downtown the south side has no advantage over the northside.

LovelySummer asks a great question as to why many detractors will criticize South Metro Atlanta suburban areas like Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Fairburn as being far from the city and then recommend North Metro Atlanta suburban areas like Cherokee County, Forsyth County and Gwinnett County to newcomers despite those Northside suburban areas being farther from the city in almost all cases and having worse traffic and longer commutes than the aforementioned South Metro suburban areas.

sedimenjerry makes a great point that the Northern suburbs often get recommended more than the Southern suburbs because the Northside of the Atlanta metro region has more amenities than the Southside of the Atlanta metro region.

Ansley Park makes an excellent point that South Metro suburban areas like Peachtree City and Fayetteville are great places to live.

But one of the factors that places Southern suburbs like Peachtree City and Fayetteville at a great disadvantage to Northside suburbs (much to the dismay and frustration of Southside supporters) despite the Southern suburbs having a very high quality-of-life and being closer and having less-painful commutes to and from Downtown Atlanta is all of the activities and amenities that the Northside has that sedimenjerry noted.

Because the Northside has much more population, much more development, more areas of better schools, many more retail amenities and outdoor and recreational amenities than the Southside, the Northside will often be recommended to new residents much more often the Southside.

like sedimenjerry noted, the Southside (the part of the Atlanta region below I-20) has the closeness to the Atlanta Airport and Downtown Atlanta (along with better affordability and less traffic) as its biggest advantages and biggest selling points over the Northside.

But the Northside (the part of the Atlanta region above I-20) has Midtown, Piedmont Park, Emory University, Buckhead, Cobb County (Cumberland, new Braves stadium, Smyrna, Cobb County Schools, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw Mountain area, etc), Chattahoochee River Recreational Area, Perimeter Center, North Fulton County (GA 400 corridor, North Fulton Schools), Gwinnett County (Gwinnett County Schools, ultra-diverse community, Mall of Georgia, etc), Lake Allatoona, Lake Lanier, convenient location to the Blue Ridge Mountains, etc, etc, etc....

By no means is it fair that the Atlanta metro region is so lopsided towards the north side of the region. But with so many more amenities being located on the north side of the region than on the south side of the region, the Northside and the Northern suburbs are often going to be recommended and promoted much more than the Southside just simply because there is so much more of the Northside than there is of the Southside.

Which, I guess is the reason why it is so important the Atlanta forum have some hardcore Southside supporters and boosters around to at least attempt to neutralize some of the Northside boosterism that often seems to run completely amok on the forum...

...So that newcomers and new residents to the Atlanta area will at least know that the Southside is an option that, 1) exists, and 2) so that newcomers to the Atlanta area will know that the much more affordable and less crowded Southside can be a very high-quality alternative to the much more crowded (overcrowded), more severely congested and more expensive Northside in some cases.

[chimama1]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Why does everyone put down Peachtree City and Fayetteville as being far from the city and then commence to recommend Forsyth County and Canton and Suwanee, all of which is by far more remote and worse traffic into downtown than Peachtree City and Fairburn?

Originally Posted by sedimenjerry

Because they don't need to commute to downtown. It's just whenever they want to go see something. There's much more activity on the north side. Other than the Airport and Downtown the south side has no advantage over the northside.

LovelySummer, it's probably because the same people are not stating both opinions. Different people, different experiences.

On more of a macro scale (and very relevant to the OP!) posters may seem to favor the northern 'burbs because of what sedimenjerry said

[sammae]

Check out Tyrone or Sharpsburg, GA. Sharpsburg has got some deals in your range right now - search homesnap.com on zipcode 30277

[Clayton white guy]

The northern suburbs have more what? Traffic, Northern transplants? Sprawl? Really this cite is so northside-centric. The diversity comment is hilarious. North Fulton/ Dunwoody/ Cobb more diverse than South Fulton/ Clayton/ Fayette/ Coweta/ Henry...laughable. Northside more hilly than the Southside (Only if you really do go WAY up 400 or 85.) South Fulton, Clayton, and Fayette are full of rolling terrain. No larger lakes South of Atlanta....Lake Jackson is about as far out as Lanier or Alatoona and if you buy a home on Clayton County's Lake Spivey you can also have a gasoline powered boat for fishing or water skiing up to a certain length MUCH closer to downtown (although you would have to be a homeowner in a lake front neighborhood). You may have proximity to the mountains (although ALL of Metro-Atlanta is technically in the foothills to the Blue Ridge (Appalacians) but we really are closer to the Beaches (even if it is only by a few miles) and Callaway Gardens. There are also MANY great schools on the Southside both public (McIntosh, Starr's Mill, Union Grove) and private (Woodward Academy) Also, I must point out that the best shopping and dinning options are in the City of Atlanta and although they are mostly north of I-20 (really mostly right AT I-20) the commute from ANY Southside County to get there is so much easier with less congestion/ headaches via the less crowded interstates (especially from the I-85 corridor) or MARTA. I am not saying that the northside is horrible, but to say, "There are only two half decent areas on the entire southside" and they are "isolated bubbles" surrounded by country/ ghetto (would you say ghetry) is a ridiculous assertion. I appreciate the fact that you LOVE your hemisphere of Atlanta, but don't dump on other areas just to make your side seem better. Just share what you think makes your neighborhood better without being dismissive of other areas that also have their various strengths that you with your limited experience may be unaware of.