Relocation help (Seattle to Atlanta) (Roswell, Smyrna: city hall, townhome, neighborhoods)

[vtasorl88]

My DH was just offered a work promotion that would require us to move to Atlanta (his company is located in Midtown). We've been doing some research on the area and are interested in Lilburn GA. It seems pretty diverse, has good schools and reasonably priced homes. How would the commute be from Lilburn to Midtown? DH does have flexibility in his start/end times, so he can adjust them if needed. I currently work full time from home so no commute for me. We have a 3 month old daughter and want to be in a good school district. We also want to be near shopping, restaurants, etc. We love Costco & Target! Does Lilburn sound like a good fit for us? Any other areas we should consider? We just had an appraisal on our home here in Seattle and are estimating a profit of a little over $100K after realtor fees (thank you Seattle housing market). Our housing budget in Atlanta would be $350,000. Any other areas we should consider?

Thank you!

[Calm Down ATL]

That's going to be a tough commute, probably 45 minutes to an hour. I would look in Smyrna or NW Atlanta (i.e. West Midtown or Upper Westside). Your husband would have a 15-20 minute commute. You can get in the Buckhead cluster of schools (Bolton Academy, Sutton, North Atlanta) for your budget. There are also a number of good charter schools in the area.

[primaltech]

Where in Midtown? Within walking distance to a MARTA station? One option for him would be to park&ride at Doraville MARTA station which is near enough to (parts of) Lilburn, and then take the train in. May or may not save time, but it might be less stressful. And then also there is an Xpress bus at the Indian Trail park&ride near Lilburn, with a direct commuter bus that I believe goes to MARTA or Midtown somewhere.

As far as driving in, if he is willing/able to leave for work really early in the AM, or post- rush hours in the late morning, then it could work. Rush hours are going to be really rough on I-85, though.

You could also look at Peachtree Corners, and Norcross proper- which are closer to the Doraville end of the line station. Norcross High School is the district there, which I believe is pretty good.

Other options might be Smyrna (I believe you can still get a house in the pretty good and improving Campbell HS district for 350k), and Dunwoody has good schools but is expensive as far as single family house. You could look at more of a townhome around Dunwoody. Dunwoody has their own MARTA station which also connects with Midtown.

Your other good school areas are going to be Decatur, but that's going to be out of your price range, and further out OTP north (East Cobb, Roswell, Duluth, etc)- all of which have great schools but a horrid long commute into the city.

If you gave us maybe a little more about what kind of surroundings/environment and lifestyle you're looking for, we could give more detailed suggestions. Lilburn is sort of a middle of the road suburb area.

For some reason there is no Target in Lilburn, but there's one in Tucker and one in Norcross. And there's a Costco up near the Gwinnett Place area.

Smyrna and Dunwoody both have Targets and Costco's.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by Calm Down ATL

That's going to be a tough commute, probably 45 minutes to an hour. I would look in Smyrna or NW Atlanta (i.e. West Midtown or Upper Westside). Your husband would have a 15-20 minute commute. You can get in the Buckhead cluster of schools (Bolton Academy, Sutton, North Atlanta) for your budget. There are also a number of good charter schools in the area.

That's a good suggestion, too.

[Iconographer]

vt, I moved back from Seattle to the Atlanta area a couple of years ago, so I have a pretty good handle on both cities. Where did you live there? Did you like it? That might help steer you in the right direction.

[AtlantaMove]

Parts of Lilburn offer a good quality of life and the commute into Midtown might be OK. But you mentioned Costco and Target in your post. You'll find those conveniently located close together further north here in Northern Gwinnett County, more particularly, the Mall of Georgia area near Buford. This area offers a minor league baseball team, (the Gwinnett Braves), a variety of free festivals, free movies, childcare and a wide variety of dining and shopping venues, including Kroger (the same company that owns Fred Meyer), a Costco and Target. We have nationally recognized, award-winning public schools, lots of childcare options, worship facilities, and diversity among other families and professionals who are new here and call this county home just like we hope you will.

There are also plenty of access points into Atlanta, including multiple direct rapid (bus) transit options and four+ lane highways in case one prefers to drive. It is a little further out, but you'll enjoy it here. Please have a look at Buford, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Sugar Hill, and Suwanee. Have a look at the high school performance in those areas (some are better than others), and then you can search for areas by school. For instance, there's a difference in high school performance at both Berkmar and Parkview High Schools, the two that serve Lilburn. You'll often find other elements of a good life quality in the areas served by better schools in my humble opinion.

Welcome!

[vtasorl88]

Thank you all for the suggestions. We will look into all of these cities and take your advice into consideration!

@LovinDecatur - We currently live in Kent, WA. It's about 20 minutes south of Seattle.
@AtlantaMove - Do all of the cities that you listed in Northern Gwinnett County have buses and/or trains into Midtown? If so, can you tell me where to find more info on that? Thanks!

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by vtasorl88

Thank you all for the suggestions. We will look into all of these cities and take your advice into consideration!

@LovinDecatur - We currently live in Kent, WA. It's about 20 minutes south of Seattle.
@AtlantaMove - Do all of the cities that you listed in Northern Gwinnett County have buses and/or trains into Midtown? If so, can you tell me where to find more info on that? Thanks!

Kent struck me as a very family-friendly community that was also very oriented to intermural sports, right?
There are also a lot of corporate headquarters there and because of its' proximity to SeaTac, it had a lot of residents that worked in the airline industry. So, the communities that I would deem closest to it in Atlanta (and have good schools) are:

Alpharetta
East Cobb
Peachtree City
Fayetteville
Roswell

Lilburn has some great neighborhoods, too.

Gwinnett has it's own transportation system (GCT).

https://www.gwinnettcounty.com/porta...esandSchedules

It does run into downtown Atlanta and to the MARTA rail station (your husband's best bet). If using this option as a commute is tantamount, you might consider the community of Peachtree Corners. It's fairly close to the Doraville MARTA station, is a lovely neighborhood with a good school cluster.

Here's a typical house in the neighborhood in your price range:

https://www.redfin.com/GA/Norcross/3.../home/25042361

[primaltech]

The other cool thing about Peachtree Corners is you have the river nearby, with nice parks like Jones Bridge Park.

[AtlantaMove]

Originally Posted by vtasorl88

@AtlantaMove - Do all of the cities that you listed in Northern Gwinnett County have buses and/or trains into Midtown? If so, can you tell me where to find more info on that? Thanks!

Sugarloaf Mills is a big, single-floor outlet center about nine miles Southwest of the Mall of Georgia with even more things to do here near Lawrenceville in North Gwinnett County (I-85 at Sugarloaf Parkway). Do you see that Lifetime Fitness on the map to the North? There's a park and ride adjacent to the Southeast side of it that offers direct stops into both the City of Atlanta and the Doraville Hub. Some prefer to drive there from Hamilton Mill (a luxury golf community in Dacula, Buford, Hoschton <- huush'tun), Lawrenceville and Suwanee to this stop to connect with both the City of Atlanta and the Doraville Hub where a train can be taken into Atlanta. There's a train that we take there that puts us off right near the former Georgia Dome to see the Falcons beat the Seahawks. You'll see the Sugarloaf Stop referenced on Routes 101 and 103.

This area is served by Walmart Supercenters too. XPress operates a park and ride next to the one at 3250 Sardis Church Road in Buford (Hamilton Mill) and another in Dacula at Hebron Baptist Church. Hamilton Mill is convenient to Buford and Dacula. Dacula (pronounced Duh Q' La) is also convenient to Auburn.

There's one at the intersection of Highway 20 and I-985 that serves Buford, Sugar Hill and points Northeast, Gainesville, etc. And of course, there's the Indian Trail Park and Ride a little further Southwest on I 85.

I probably missed some, but these are the ones that may be most convenient to North Gwinnett. I know of no trains that serve Gwinnett County, but the Doraville Stop is a MARTA stop just South of Gwinnett County in Dekalb County.

I agree that Peachtree Corners is a charming area and there are tons of things to do right now in nearby Duluth and Norcross. The city just broke brown this week on a new city hall to host even more community events. It is convenient to rapid transit. But if proximity to better schools, Costco and Target is a priority, North Gwinnett has all of that and more.