Relocation help! (Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Roswell: apartments, rent, big house)

[ArielJ]

I have to decide on a location in Atlanta to move to in a very short amount of time. There's so many different neighborhoods it's a very hard decision. I cannot decide between counties let alone cities/towns. I have considered Dekalb, Cobb, North Fulton, and Gwinett. I am
an AA single mother so diversity, good schools, no crime, are important but I also would like to be able to meet people and I'm assuming I'll need easy access to the city to do that. The burbs sound like they're full of families and no singles. I CANNOT do traffic, not all the time. I am a hairdresser so it's easy to find work where I live and not have to commute. I'll be renting for now but in the future I would like a big house with a big yard, preferably not so close to other houses but with lots of space, on the inexpensive side. I'm not into moving a lot so wherever I land I want to stay put. My child is in middle school so a place with good middle/high school with performing arts will be great. I know it's a lot to ask but I have faith that there's a place that meets all needs.

[AtlJan]

Originally Posted by ArielJ

I have to decide on a location in Atlanta to move to in a very short amount of time. There's so many different neighborhoods it's a very hard decision. I cannot decide between counties let alone cities/towns. I have considered Dekalb, Cobb, North Fulton, and Gwinett. I am
an AA single mother so diversity, good schools, no crime, are important but I also would like to be able to meet people and I'm assuming I'll need easy access to the city to do that. The burbs sound like they're full of families and no singles. I CANNOT do traffic, not all the time. I am a hairdresser so it's easy to find work where I live and not have to commute. I'll be renting for now but in the future I would like a big house with a big yard, preferably not so close to other houses but with lots of space, on the inexpensive side. I'm not into moving a lot so wherever I land I want to stay put. My child is in middle school so a place with good middle/high school with performing arts will be great. I know it's a lot to ask but I have faith that there's a place that meets all needs.

What is your budget?

[ArielJ]

Renting no more than maybe $1200 for a decent two bedroom apartment buying no more than $250k. I forgot to include that if OTP I prefer a place thats not boring and has things to do to prevent having to go to the city for entertainment. Easy access to good vegetarian restaurants is a big plus.

[Born 2 Roll]

If you are looking for a really good performing arts program, two schools that you might want to look into are the DeKalb School of the Arts in Avondale Estates in DeKalb County, and the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs in North Fulton County.

Here is the link to the website for the DeKalb School of the Arts:
DeKalb School of the Arts

Here is the link to the website for the Visual and Performing Arts Academy magnet program at North Springs Charter High School:
Visual & Performing Arts

[ArielJ]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

If you are looking for a really good performing arts program, two schools that you might want to look into are the DeKalb School of the Arts in Avondale Estates in DeKalb County, and the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs in North Fulton County.

Here is the link to the website for the DeKalb School of the Arts:
DeKalb School of the Arts

Here is the link to the website for the Visual and Performing Arts Academy magnet program at North Springs Charter High School:
Visual & Performing Arts

Thanks

[jeoff]

If I was an AA parent, I would look at diverse schools with high test scores where AA students perform similar to white students (you will find quite a few “high-performing schools” with large gaps between AA and other students). Parkview High and Brookwood clusters in Gwinnett are two that I would suggest. Not much as far as apartments go, but you probably still could rent a home within your budget, or buy a home within your budget. And Parkview is about as close as you can be to the city and still be in Gwinnett.

[Born 2 Roll]

The Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School is also another great (excellent) performing arts program that the OP could look into for her child.

Here is the links to the website for that stellar performing arts program at Pebblebrook High School in the Mableton area of South Cobb County:
https://www.cccepa.com/
https://www.cccepa.com/about/

Here is the link to another extremely highly-regarded arts program in the Visual and Performing Arts Magnet Program at Tri-Cities High School in East Point in South Fulton County:
https://school.fultonschools.org/hs/...VPAMagnet.aspx (TCHS Visual & Performing Arts Magnet Program)
https://school.fultonschools.org/hs/...PA-Magnet.aspx

[Born 2 Roll]

Here is a link to another highly-regarded high school performing arts program in the "Clayton County Public Schools Performing Arts Center" in Jonesboro in Clayton County in Atlanta's southern suburbs:
https://www.clayton.k12.ga.us/cms/one.aspx?pageId=84401

[ArielJ]

Very helpful info. The CCCEPA school seems to be wonderful and a perfect option for high school only thing is I'm uncertain about Cobb county. Does anyone know how North Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett compare for my situation? All I can think about is traffic lol. Seems to be the worst in North Fulton. I'm leaning more towards Gwinnett though with fingers crossed. Their public schools have performing arts programs, and so does their private school Greater Atlanta Christian Academy. I also like the Brookwood school but I don't believe they have performing arts.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ArielJ

Very helpful info. The CCCEPA school seems to be wonderful and a perfect option for high school only thing is I'm uncertain about Cobb county. Does anyone know how North Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett compare for my situation? All I can think about is traffic lol. Seems to be the worst in North Fulton. I'm leaning more towards Gwinnett though with fingers crossed. Their public schools have performing arts programs, and so does their private school Greater Atlanta Christian Academy. I also like the Brookwood school but I don't believe they have performing arts.

Brookwood High School has a performing arts program. Here are some links to the Brookwood High School performing arts program:

(BROOKWOOD PERFORMING ARTS BOOSTERS)
https://www.bpaperforms.com/

(Brookwood High School Fine Arts Overview)
https://www.brookwoodhighschool.net/...pREC_ID=923902

I think that most, if not all, high schools in Gwinnett County (including Buford High School which anchors the independent Buford City Schools system in far-northern Gwinnett County) either have or provide access to performing arts programs.

Just research any middle or high school where you might be interested in enrolling your child to see if they have a performing arts program that will meet your child's unique set of educational needs.

Here is the link to the Gwinnett County Public Schools Fine Arts website:
GCPS | Fine Arts

That is a good assessment that North Fulton County is home to some of the worst rush hour traffic in the Atlanta metropolitan area... That is because of the high concentration of commercial and residential development and jobs in North Fulton County areas like Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Roswell.

Though, the hard reality is that traffic is going to be a challenge during rush hours and peak hours throughout much (if not most) of the Atlanta suburbs... And traffic will particularly be a challenge during peak hours in North Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties because that is the part of the Atlanta suburbs where most of the development, population and economic growth occurs.

It likely could prove to be very challenging to avoid traffic congestion in suburban areas like North Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.

Here is also a link to the performing arts program at North Atlanta High School which serves Atlanta's uber-upscale Buckhead district:

(North Atlanta High School Fine and Performing Arts)
https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/Domain/9899