Moving with 2 young kids to Atlanta - any thoughts? (Sandy Springs: real estate, homes)

[TheTraveler_]

Hi all,

My wife, two daughters (aged 3 and 1), and I will be moving to Atlanta from the West Coast towards the end of the summer. We are totally unfamiliar with the area and of course plan to visit a lot and get to know the area before we choose where to live. I'll be working in Midtown but we are flexible on where to live. I thought I'd get some thoughts from folks here.

If possible, we'd rather live in the City of Atlanta proper. Also, the quality of schools is a factor (don't have to be the very best in the city, but also not the worst). We'd prefer a single family home but it'd be nice to be close to an area that's fairly walkable to shops, restaurants, etc. and that has a decent connection to MARTA so I could potentially commute without driving - or at least could drive to a park and ride and take the train into the center of the city.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks much!!

[lorilove]

What price range are you looking for? Also how big of a home - 3 or 4 bedrooms and/or square footage.

There are lots of options available to you but this will help narrow down our recommendations

[TheTraveler_]

Originally Posted by lorilove

What price range are you looking for? Also how big of a home - 3 or 4 bedrooms and/or square footage.

There are lots of options available to you but this will help narrow down our recommendations

We don't want to spend more than 600K, if possible. 4 Bedrooms would be great because are considering having 1-2 more kids.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by TheTraveler_

We don't want to spend more than 600K, if possible. 4 Bedrooms would be great because are considering having 1-2 more kids.

You might be able to find something in the Morningside and Lenox Park areas. Highly recommend that you speak with a real estate agent.

[TheTraveler_]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

You might be able to find something in the Morningside and Lenox Park areas. Highly recommend that you speak with a real estate agent.

Yeah, that is the plan, but thought I'd get thoughts and do some online and google maps research first. I;m very excited about this and anxious to learn more about the city.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by TheTraveler_

Hi all,

My wife, two daughters (aged 3 and 1), and I will be moving to Atlanta from the West Coast towards the end of the summer. We are totally unfamiliar with the area and of course plan to visit a lot and get to know the area before we choose where to live. I'll be working in Midtown but we are flexible on where to live. I thought I'd get some thoughts from folks here.

If possible, we'd rather live in the City of Atlanta proper. Also, the quality of schools is a factor (don't have to be the very best in the city, but also not the worst). We'd prefer a single family home but it'd be nice to be close to an area that's fairly walkable to shops, restaurants, etc. and that has a decent connection to MARTA so I could potentially commute without driving - or at least could drive to a park and ride and take the train into the center of the city.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks much!!

Morningside, Lenox Park, Midtown, Virginia Highland, Ansley Park (may be too expensive), Poncy Higland, Inaman Park, Candler Park-Lake Claire. Cost of everything is going up--under 600K should get you in most places, but is on the low-end for SFH. I think Morningside, north-part of Virginia-Higland, and Candler Park-Lake Claire are more child-friendly (child-centric?) neigborhoods. A little further out you could go Kirkwood or City of Decatur --Kirkwood's schools are improving, and is a little less expensive than the other neigborhoods listed, worth extra consideration with younger kids, City of Decatur--which is its own city, but as far as home-shopping goes--it is pretty much another expensive Atlanta neighborhood with great schools. Further to the north and northeast of midtown are neigborhoods that you could consider, but I dont really know those too well.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by TheTraveler_

Hi all,

My wife, two daughters (aged 3 and 1), and I will be moving to Atlanta from the West Coast towards the end of the summer. We are totally unfamiliar with the area and of course plan to visit a lot and get to know the area before we choose where to live. I'll be working in Midtown but we are flexible on where to live. I thought I'd get some thoughts from folks here.

If possible, we'd rather live in the City of Atlanta proper. Also, the quality of schools is a factor (don't have to be the very best in the city, but also not the worst). We'd prefer a single family home but it'd be nice to be close to an area that's fairly walkable to shops, restaurants, etc. and that has a decent connection to MARTA so I could potentially commute without driving - or at least could drive to a park and ride and take the train into the center of the city.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks much!!

Very important question:

Where (in what city or town or zip code) in the Atlanta metropolitan area will you be commuting to (and from) for work?

This is very important because good-paying jobs are not necessarily just concentrated along transit lines and around transit stops in the Atlanta metro area.

Many good-paying jobs in the Atlanta metro area are not accessible by transit.

If you already know that you will be commuting to work at a job that is located immediately or very close to a rail transit stop in a major Central Atlanta business district and/or employment center that is accessible by transit (Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, Airport and/or Perimeter), then planning to use transit to get to and from work in the city will be practical.

But Atlanta is not a city/metro area that has necessarily been built with transit access in mind like might be the case in a major West Coast metropolis like the Bay Area.

Heck, up until very, very, very recently there has been a raging public hostility to transit that has led to many developments being built to be inconvenient and/or less-accessible for transit users.....So one should not necessarily assume that their place of work will be easily and/or conveniently accessible by transit, particularly if they may not yet know exactly where they will be working after moving to the Atlanta area.

[TheTraveler_]

Originally Posted by jeoff

Morningside, Lenox Park, Midtown, Virginia Highland, Ansley Park (may be too expensive), Poncy Higland, Inaman Park, Candler Park-Lake Claire. Cost of everything is going up--under 600K should get you in most places, but is on the low-end for SFH. I think Morningside, north-part of Virginia-Higland, and Candler Park-Lake Claire are more child-friendly (child-centric?) neigborhoods.

We could probably go up to 750K max but it would be a lot tighter - however if it would get us into a neighborhood that better fits what we want it would probably be worth it. Are these neighborhoods you suggested somewhat walkable or more car-oriented?

[TheTraveler_]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Very important question:

Where (in what city or town or zip code) in the Atlanta metropolitan area will you be commuting to (and from) for work?

This is very important because good-paying jobs are not necessarily just concentrated along transit lines and around transit stops in the Atlanta metro area.

Many good-paying jobs in the Atlanta metro area are not accessible by transit.

If you already know that you will be commuting to work at a job that is located immediately or very close to a rail transit stop in a major Central Atlanta business district and/or employment center that is accessible by transit (Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, Airport and/or Perimeter), then planning to use transit to get to and from work in the city will be practical.

But Atlanta is not a city/metro area that has necessarily been built with transit access in mind like might be the case in a major West Coast metropolis like the Bay Area.

Heck, up until very, very, very recently there has been a raging public hostility to transit that has led to many developments being built to be inconvenient and/or less-accessible for transit users.....So one should not necessarily assume that their place of work will be easily and/or conveniently accessible by transit, particularly if they may not yet know exactly where they will be working after moving to the Atlanta area.

I'll be working in Midtown so it should be very accessible by transit from what I understand.

[dblackga]

I did a quick search of homes served by Morris Brandon, Jackson, and Morningside -- there's 28 homes that are under $600,000, ranging in age from 1910 to 1993 -- with most being in the 1950-60's. Many of them have not be updated/renovated. Those are top-rated by GreatSchools.org.

If you were open to stepping just outside of the City of Atlanta, you'd be able to find some good schools close to pubic transit in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody -- like, 194 homes, as opposed to 28. :-)