Where to move in North Georgia w/good schools, commute not important (Atlanta: appointed, spring break)

[ElleKaye]

When it comes to schools, I'll first have to say take a look at the much touted Marietta in East Cobb. You'd have a variety of residences in styles that would be as pleasing as Alpharetta.


The previous post about PTC would be a great idea except you want to live in the north.


Check out parts of Gwinnett like Lawrenceville, Suwannee, Duluth, and Buford.

[PTC Dad]

The previous post about PTC would be a great idea except you want to live in the north.


I thought the OP said North Georgia not North Metro Atlanta. Pretty much all of metro Atlanta is considered North Georgia, but if they are looking North of Atlanta, then PTC would definitely be out. Also I agree East Cobb (Walton, Pope, Lassiter) does have outstanding schools as well as North Fulton (Roswell, Milton, Alpharetta, John's Creek) and all of Forsyth County.

[Mattie]

North Fulton checks a lot of your boxes. You can find a house on 1-2 acres in several towns. There is an active hiking group out of Milton, and they don't seem to have a problem finding good hikes without too far a drive. But, north of the city and safe roadways to run and bike are not compatible. You would have the option of the Greenway to run and bike on, but you would have to drive to one of the access areas (there are several).

eta: lots of transplants in this area.

[casaminc]

Wow - thank you for all the comments and suggestions! I really appreciate it.
PTC Dad - I've never considered PTC, but I will definitely check it out. First choice will be the north side of Atlanta, closer to mountains. Are you familiar with Tampa Palms? I keep reading about how horrible the local traffic is around John's Creek/Alpharetta and I'm wondering if it's comparable to the Tampa Palms/New Tampa area. I guess we're trying to find the place with the least amount of traffic and congestion, but still within the good schools.

Mattie, thanks for the info about Milton hiking group and your honest opinion regarding running and biking on roadways in North Fulton.

Ellekaye, I am checking out parts of Gwinnet as you suggested. Is the traffic any better in these areas?

Oconee looks great as well, but I think Athens seems a little too far out to us. Researching Wakinsville too. You all gave me some great starting points!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by casaminc

Wow - thank you for all the comments and suggestions! I really appreciate it.
PTC Dad - I've never considered PTC, but I will definitely check it out. First choice will be the north side of Atlanta, closer to mountains. Are you familiar with Tampa Palms? I keep reading about how horrible the local traffic is around John's Creek/Alpharetta and I'm wondering if it's comparable to the Tampa Palms/New Tampa area. I guess we're trying to find the place with the least amount of traffic and congestion, but still within the good schools.

Mattie, thanks for the info about Milton hiking group and your honest opinion regarding running and biking on roadways in North Fulton.

Ellekaye, I am checking out parts of Gwinnet as you suggested. Is the traffic any better in these areas?

Oconee looks great as well, but I think Athens seems a little too far out to us. Researching Wakinsville too. You all gave me some great starting points!

The traffic is not really any better in Gwinnett.

If you want to live in area with the least amount of traffic congestion, Atlanta's often severely-congested and overcrowded Northern suburbs likely are not going to be that area in most cases.

Because the schools are popular and because of the amenities (like lakes Lanier and Allatoona, recreational areas, shopping, dining, entertainment, social activities, the close proximity to the mountains, etc), the traffic congestion on the Northside is really challenging on most days (even on many weekends) as almost everywhere north of I-20 (both city and suburbs) experiences a very high volume of traffic during peak hours.

If you want to live closer to the mountains on the north side of the Atlanta region, chances are that you are going to have to deal with some very heavy traffic and overcrowding on a frequent basis when out and about because the area is just that popular....The Northside is especially popular for newcomers because of the very high quality of the aforementioned amenities in areas like North Atlanta, Cobb, Cherokee, North Fulton, North DeKalb, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties.

Living on the Southside will put you in an area with a high quality-of-life with many amenities and less severe traffic congestion but will also put you further away from the mountains that you seem to desire to be near.

[PTC Dad]

Originally Posted by casaminc

Wow - thank you for all the comments and suggestions! I really appreciate it.
PTC Dad - I've never considered PTC, but I will definitely check it out. First choice will be the north side of Atlanta, closer to mountains. Are you familiar with Tampa Palms? I keep reading about how horrible the local traffic is around John's Creek/Alpharetta and I'm wondering if it's comparable to the Tampa Palms/New Tampa area. I guess we're trying to find the place with the least amount of traffic and congestion, but still within the good schools.

Mattie, thanks for the info about Milton hiking group and your honest opinion regarding running and biking on roadways in North Fulton.

Ellekaye, I am checking out parts of Gwinnet as you suggested. Is the traffic any better in these areas?

Oconee looks great as well, but I think Athens seems a little too far out to us. Researching Wakinsville too. You all gave me some great starting points!

Traffic in John's Creek/Alpharetta is generally worse than New Tampa or Tampa Palms. The Atlanta area has about 2.5 times the population of Tampa, and about 70% of the population in Atlanta is north of the city making the North Metro area home to some of the worst congested highways in the country. If you want to go north away from the traffic, you should consider Northern Forsyth County, but unfortunately the best schools in Forsyth are in the southern part of the county which is more congested. Also look at Bridgemill in Canton. Canton is in Cherokee county. The schools are good, and it's North of most of the congestion in Atlanta, and close to Ellijay and the mountains.

You should definitely consider Peachtree City. You can walk out your front door and go jogging on about 100 miles of cart paths that trek through heavily wooded areas, nature preserves, and lakes. Peachtree City is also about 45 minutes from Pine Mountain, Warm Springs, and Calloway gardens. Pine Mountain isn't comparable to the North Georgia Mountains, but does have some great hiking and camping areas. The North Georgia Mountains are about 2 hours from PTC. Hope that helps.

[Mattie]

Originally Posted by PTC Dad

Traffic in John's Creek/Alpharetta is generally worse than New Tampa or Tampa Palms. The Atlanta area has about 2.5 times the population of Tampa, and about 70% of the population in Atlanta is north of the city making the North Metro area home to some of the worst congested highways in the country. If you want to go north away from the traffic, you should consider Northern Forsyth County, but unfortunately the best schools in Forsyth are in the southern part of the county which is more congested. Also look at Bridgemill in Canton. Canton is in Cherokee county. The schools are good, and it's North of most of the congestion in Atlanta, and close to Ellijay and the mountains.

You should definitely consider Peachtree City. You can walk out your front door and go jogging on about 100 miles of cart paths that trek through heavily wooded areas, nature preserves, and lakes. Peachtree City is also about 45 minutes from Pine Mountain, Warm Springs, and Calloway gardens. Pine Mountain isn't comparable to the North Georgia Mountains, but does have some great hiking and camping areas. The North Georgia Mountains are about 2 hours from PTC. Hope that helps.

Since the bolded is important to the OP, I have to agree. The mountains are not that far from anywhere within commuting distance of the city, and the areas north just aren't designed for running and biking out the door.

[BR Valentine]

Originally Posted by casaminc

Wow - thank you for all the comments and suggestions! I really appreciate it.
PTC Dad - I've never considered PTC, but I will definitely check it out. First choice will be the north side of Atlanta, closer to mountains. Are you familiar with Tampa Palms? I keep reading about how horrible the local traffic is around John's Creek/Alpharetta and I'm wondering if it's comparable to the Tampa Palms/New Tampa area. I guess we're trying to find the place with the least amount of traffic and congestion, but still within the good schools.

Mattie, thanks for the info about Milton hiking group and your honest opinion regarding running and biking on roadways in North Fulton.

Ellekaye, I am checking out parts of Gwinnet as you suggested. Is the traffic any better in these areas?

Oconee looks great as well, but I think Athens seems a little too far out to us. Researching Wakinsville too. You all gave me some great starting points!

You may want to look in the West Forsyth HS cluster. The schools are good, and I think you can find what you're looking for in your price range. You mentioned wanting to be near a place to run and the Big Creek Greenway runs through that area. It's a great place for running and cycling.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by BR Valentine

You may want to look in the West Forsyth HS cluster. The schools are good, and I think you can find what you're looking for in your price range. You mentioned wanting to be near a place to run and the Big Creek Greenway runs through that area. It's a great place for running and cycling.

West Forsyth and Forsyth County in general are good places for the OP to look.

That's because, along with having good schools and the Big Creek Greenway, Forsyth County is located relatively very close to the recreational areas of the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian mountains of North Georgia that the OP desires to be near. Forsyth County is also located on the western shore of Lake Lanier, landlocked Metro Atlanta's most popular recreational body of water.

[casaminc]

Thanks Br Valentine and Born2 Roll. The Big Creek Greenway looks really nice!
PTC Dad - I really appreciate your detailed replies. Based on this information, we are planning another trip up there to look at PTC, Forsyth, and possibly Canton/Woodstock.
I've been looking at PTC on google maps - this place looks very nice....