In PTC, want to go further north—help? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: house, neighborhood)

[tara78]

We moved to Peachtree City 2 years ago from Europe. It's not a good fit.

I work in Brookhaven, my husband works in midtown but this may change, and we have 2 kids in middle school. A great school is a priority, but we often work from home and also need good internet where we don't have to spend a lot of time dealing with painful customer service. (It's come to this. Internet is now a top 2 priority. )

We like to go to parks, non-chain restaurants, movies, libraries, and museums regularly. We like to socialize. We are not church people. We like to come home after a long day and sit on the deck with a glass of wine and enjoy a peaceful backyard and some trees, but would still like to limit our commute times to approximately 30-45 minutes. We work in semi-creative fields, and PTC has just been too quiet, and a little too conservative for us.

Our home price range is between 200k-400k. Do you have any recommendations of where we might start to look for a house?

On a side note, this may be a silly question, but are there any schools on the northside of ATL that have gardens, or outstanding arts/music programs? We had this previously, and would love for the kids to have something like this again.

Thank you!

[aries4118]

What kind of house do you want? What kind of neighborhood do you want?

And what do you want, more specifically, in a middle school and a high school?

[jsvh]

Grant Park / Ormewood Park could be perfect for you.

[bryantm3]

I would want to move further north too. I was driving through there the other night and it is basically the last outpost of the Atlanta metro before you're out in the forest wilderness. I am not a "normal" person and I didn't feel completely safe there. If I were you, I would start looking for homes inside the perimeter on the east side, between downtown and Decatur; if you can afford it, that is the best area in the metro.

[ElleKaye]

I'd look at East Cobb, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody. The pricing might be a little tricky, but the schools are good.

I am not sure whether the schools have gardens, but there are community gardens in the area.

A lot of families seem be fond of areas in Gwinnett, and they definitely have lovely parks. It wouldn't be that far from where either of you work, but the traffic is some kind of horrible.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by tara78

We moved to Peachtree City 2 years ago from Europe. It's not a good fit.

I work in Brookhaven, my husband works in midtown but this may change, and we have 2 kids in middle school. A great school is a priority, but we often work from home and also need good internet where we don't have to spend a lot of time dealing with painful customer service. (It's come to this. Internet is now a top 2 priority. )

We like to go to parks, non-chain restaurants, movies, libraries, and museums regularly. We like to socialize. We are not church people. We like to come home after a long day and sit on the deck with a glass of wine and enjoy a peaceful backyard and some trees, but would still like to limit our commute times to approximately 30-45 minutes. We work in semi-creative fields, and PTC has just been too quiet, and a little too conservative for us.

Our home price range is between 200k-400k. Do you have any recommendations of where we might start to look for a house?

On a side note, this may be a silly question, but are there any schools on the northside of ATL that have gardens, or outstanding arts/music programs? We had this previously, and would love for the kids to have something like this again.

Thank you!

I can't help you with your request for schools with gardens as I cannot at this exact moment think of any Northside schools that have gardens.

Though when it comes to outstanding arts/music programs, North Springs High School in close-in, ATP (At-the-Perimeter) suburban Sandy Springs is one of the first schools that comes to mind.

The Visual & Performing Arts Academy at North Springs High School:
The Visual & Performing Arts Academy

North Atlanta High School (which just recently moved into a refurbished multi-story office building on a refurbished campus that was once the site of an IBM office complex) also seems to have a good arts program...

North Atlanta High School Fine and Performing Arts:
The Arts / Fine and Performing Arts

DeKalb School of the Arts is also a school with a very strong arts and music curriculum...
DeKalb School of the Arts

Other places that you could look for a strong arts/music curriculum on the Near-Northside might be Grady High School and Chamblee High School.

[lastminutemom]

DeKalb School of the Arts is a school of choice that has certain requirements, including living in DeKalb. It also is very small so there is no guarantee of admission. I would not advise moving to DeKalb for that program. That said, you might look at the housing stock in Avondale Estates that feeds into Druid Hills High School. (Be aware though that redistricting is coming to the norhtern half of DeKalb in the near to mid future and Avondale High may very well be reopened). How old are your kids?

Since you have passed elementary school, you very well might be able to find housing in your price range, with suitable middle and high schools, in the city of Atlanta. North Atlanta and Grady will likely work well for what you are looking for.

Keep in mind, that in high school, kids can not only take art,drama and music as electives but can participate in them as extracurricular activities as well. Additionally, by high school, there are outside of school opportunities as well, should kids want to pursue them.

North Springs high school might work as well. Though given what you have said, I am not sure I would move from one suburban setting to another. Same goes for Chamblee. Additionally, in both these school districts, the lower end of your price range would put you in areas that simply aren't very nice and aren't necessarily showing any signs of gentrification. You aren't likely to find your peers there. (You may very well find professionals, but they are likely to be young and childless.)

Harry Norman dot com allows you to search by high school. I think it is a great feature and allows you to add in your other criteria as well. (price, bedrooms, etc)

As to gardens, those tend to be initiated by parent volunteers. So, if your chosen school doesn't have one, you can work with the PTA/PTSO to make it happen.

[tara78]

Originally Posted by aries4118

What kind of house do you want? What kind of neighborhood do you want?

And what do you want, more specifically, in a middle school and a high school?

I would like a freestanding house with a garage, 3+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, finished basement a plus. Neighborhood should be safe with some trees. We would love to be able to walk to local businesses, but I'm not sure if that's possible. It's not so important what type of house it is. I would prefer not to look into my neighbor's bathroom from my kitchen window. I would prefer a city where it would be ok to eventually build a small studio in the backyard.

In a middle school and high school we're looking for a strong academic program, engaged teachers, good art programs would be nice. We want schools where the majority of students go on to college. We like to get involved, but it's not a must.

We've seen more schools here where it seems the schools are driven by state or national academic scores - I'm not sure if that's a Georgia thing, or a Peachtree City thing. I'm hoping for the kids to go to schools where it's human; there's a strong but not impossible workload, where they're seen as people, where it's ok that the kids are a range of different personality types, and not everyone needs to wear the same Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirts all the time and pose for group Facebook photos where all the girls have one bended knee.

I think we're really looking for a community where the family's "image" isn't so important. We don't take family photographs in matching outfits, I don't need my children to look a certain way, and I don't expect or hope that people see us positively based on how often I bake for the parent-teacher association, or how nicely my sweater set matches. I'm not a housewife who magically keeps it all together, and my husband doesn't golf or grill. We're not subversive or anti-social, we just don't want to fit a mold. This is why PTC hasn't been a good fit for us. We just want a bearable commute to work, a comfortable home to come home to, and places we can wander off to when the mood strikes.

If there's a great taqueria in the neighborhood and we never have to deal with Comcast, then we will never leave.

[tara78]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

DeKalb School of the Arts is a school of choice that has certain requirements, including living in DeKalb. It also is very small so there is no guarantee of admission. I would not advise moving to DeKalb for that program. That said, you might look at the housing stock in Avondale Estates that feeds into Druid Hills High School. (Be aware though that redistricting is coming to the norhtern half of DeKalb in the near to mid future and Avondale High may very well be reopened). How old are your kids?

Since you have passed elementary school, you very well might be able to find housing in your price range, with suitable middle and high schools, in the city of Atlanta. North Atlanta and Grady will likely work well for what you are looking for.

Keep in mind, that in high school, kids can not only take art,drama and music as electives but can participate in them as extracurricular activities as well. Additionally, by high school, there are outside of school opportunities as well, should kids want to pursue them.

North Springs high school might work as well. Though given what you have said, I am not sure I would move from one suburban setting to another. Same goes for Chamblee. Additionally, in both these school districts, the lower end of your price range would put you in areas that simply aren't very nice and aren't necessarily showing any signs of gentrification. You aren't likely to find your peers there. (You may very well find professionals, but they are likely to be young and childless.)

Harry Norman dot com allows you to search by high school. I think it is a great feature and allows you to add in your other criteria as well. (price, bedrooms, etc)

As to gardens, those tend to be initiated by parent volunteers. So, if your chosen school doesn't have one, you can work with the PTA/PTSO to make it happen.

This is fantastic, thank you so much!

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by tara78

I would like a freestanding house with a garage, 3+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, finished basement a plus. Neighborhood should be safe with some trees. We would love to be able to walk to local businesses, but I'm not sure if that's possible. It's not so important what type of house it is. I would prefer not to look into my neighbor's bathroom from my kitchen window. I would prefer a city where it would be ok to eventually build a small studio in the backyard.

In a middle school and high school we're looking for a strong academic program, engaged teachers, good art programs would be nice. We want schools where the majority of students go on to college. We like to get involved, but it's not a must.

We've seen more schools here where it seems the schools are driven by state or national academic scores - I'm not sure if that's a Georgia thing, or a Peachtree City thing. I'm hoping for the kids to go to schools where it's human; there's a strong but not impossible workload, where they're seen as people, where it's ok that the kids are a range of different personality types, and not everyone needs to wear the same Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirts all the time and pose for group Facebook photos where all the girls have one bended knee.

I think we're really looking for a community where the family's "image" isn't so important. We don't take family photographs in matching outfits, I don't need my children to look a certain way, and I don't expect or hope that people see us positively based on how often I bake for the parent-teacher association, or how nicely my sweater set matches. I'm not a housewife who magically keeps it all together, and my husband doesn't golf or grill. We're not subversive or anti-social, we just don't want to fit a mold. This is why PTC hasn't been a good fit for us. We just want a bearable commute to work, a comfortable home to come home to, and places we can wander off to when the mood strikes.

If there's a great taqueria in the neighborhood and we never have to deal with Comcast, then we will never leave.

Your best bet is clearly intown, but you may have to make some sacrifices in terms of yard style, etc. And likely the studio may be out, depending on lot size. Start with the Grady High school zone. See if you like that.