Where to live - schools, commute, community? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: renting, big house)

[shamrock847]

Considering a move to the Atlanta area next summer and looking for recommendations about where we should live...

Top priority is finding a really strong high school for our soon to be 9th grader. We are open to either public or private. He's really strong academically and completed Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II in middle school so we want to make sure he will continue to be challenged. He's active in Boy Scouts, Soccer, and several academically oriented clubs at school.

My spouse is an elementary school teacher. How hard or easy is it to get a job teaching elementary school in the Atlanta area? Any particular areas that would be best to look at?

My work will be a combination of a lot of travel, going to an office in midtown, and some work from home. I work 60+ hour weeks so I don't want to be more than an hour from either the airport or midtown and ideally would be closer. Commute for my spouse is an issue too since they're responsible for most of the kid activities when I am traveling.

We'd like a community where we can run and bike (we're all avid runners) and can walk to some restaurants / bars. And of course safe.

Comfortable going up to $1M for a house but would rather stay lower, especially if we end up paying for private school, since we already have a kid in college. Looking for 4 bedrooms and a room for a home office. Renting could be an option as well.

If it matters, we are Catholic and politically moderate. My spouse is originally from the southeast and I'm from the midwest.

Where should we be looking?

[Forhall]

I think you'd be happy in this Eastside neighborhoods of Atlanta. Some people might mention the wealthy burbs of Alpharetta or John's Creek, but with 60 hour work weeks you don't need to add 10 hours a week of commuting in my opinion. The Eastside neighborhoods will let you get the amenities of the big city and commute to midtown without highway in 15 mins or so. Look at the higher end neighborhoods, like Candler Park, Virginia Highland, Lake Claire.

[Born 2 Roll]

Peachtree City in Atlanta's southern outer suburbs seems to be one of the first places that comes to mind because it is relatively very close to the Atlanta Airport (closer than many upscale Northside suburbs) and because it also features a commute to Midtown Atlanta that may often be slightly less-challenging (and often noticeably slightly less-painful) than commutes to Midtown Atlanta from the much more severely congested northern suburbs.

Peachtree City is an affluent (but not too pricey) Southside suburb with a series of trails that might appeal to runners and bikers like you.

Peachtree City also features very high-quality public schools in the very highly-rated and highly-regarded Fayette County school system.

With population growth continuing to be fairly very robust throughout much of the Atlanta metropolitan region, it should be fairly easy for a qualified teacher like your wife to get a job teaching in an elementary school in the area. Just about every school system within about a 15-20 county core of the Atlanta metro area should be hiring teachers. Your wife should start looking for employment opportunities in the local school system that will be closest to where you all will be living and branch out from there into what ever type of environment she would like to work in.

[Soccernerd]

I would strongly consider Decatur. Good commute to Midtown and is the airport which will also be accessible with MARTA. The public are rated highly and you’re in close proximity to many of Atlanta's public schools.

If you’re looking for a more suburban area, Peachtree City will offer much of the same as desirable ITP neighborhoods. I’m not sure about private schools there, and it will won’t as close to Midtown of course.

[LTCM]

Vinings.

Public highschool isn't the best but plenty of good private schools. Wife could try to get a job at Teasley, a great elementary school. Commute to mid town, downtown and the airport are all very reasonable.

[citidata18]

I would also suggest Smyrna / Vinings, which would give you a relatively easy drive to both Midtown and the Airport.

Peachtree City, while offering the best commute to the airport, would be pretty difficult commute to/from Midtown.

Also, by choosing Smyrna / Vinings, you'll be near all of the upscale amenities in Cumberlend.

Decatur and Sandy Springs are also good options, because of MARTA access.

[Citykid3785]

Decatur
Sandy springs
Dunwoody

[ctinatl]

I second or third Vinings. It’s a great community.

[ATLTJL]

You have more than a few options. What has been stated so far is pretty good. Since you want to be able to walk to restaurants and have a good school, Decatur fits very nicely as it definitely satisfies these needs. I'd say it's on the liberal side, if that matters. The good think about Decatur is unlike most people, you can afford a good area. However, you may very well end up saying, "Well, I afforded it, but I'm pretty shocked this is all I got for a million bucks!"

That's why I'm going to say what nobody else on this board says because of how it leans, but what most reasonable people in Atlanta outside of here would tell you: consider the northern suburbs. They're the preferred place to live for a reason. You'll get the best schools in the area if you stick to the Milton/Alpharetta/Johns Creek area. You'll be able to live in the kind of house someone with $1 million should be able to live in, instead of a $50,000 house on a $950k plot of land. You'll be in what I would call a moderate area chock full of overachieving kids and the parents who support them. You'll be able to have a pool, if you want one, and you'll almost definitely live in a neighborhood with a community pool. Golf if you like it.

It's such an obvious choice and where most people in your situation go. So, why wouldn't it be suggested here? Well, there are a few reasons....

1) These areas are not what one would consider walkable. I'm assuming you want to be able to walk to restaurants and bars, but you're willing to give that up for an amazing area. If you're not, the northern burbs probably aren't for you.

2) You said you want to be an hour from midtown and the airport. Believe it or not, that's a really tall order in Atlanta. Yes, there are tons of areas you can live in for this if you're willing to give up on other things. For example, Vinings will probably fit the bill, but you're stuck sticking your kid in a snooty private school. Peachtree City fits, but then you're pretty much in the middle of nowhere with not much else around you.

3) Because the northern burbs have been so good for so long, there's a bias against it on boards like this where everybody thinks everybody else wants to live in the city above all else. Maybe you do, and if so, the advice you've received is perfect.

I'm just telling you this because I'd hate for you to take the above advice as gospel, then get here and say, "Wow, I bought a house in Vinings and send my kid to Lovett, but all my co-workers are up in Milton in their 5,000 square foot houses with swimming pools, playing golf or going boating on weekends, and being part of their communities centered around top notch schools."

OR....if you'd be like, "Why am I wasting this money on a big house I don't need in a regular family oriented suburb when I could be in Decatur living in a cool Craftsman house on an urban street walking to neat restaurants and bars while my kids enjoy open-minded teachers and have transgender classmates," then that's the right decision for you.

It's up to you, and neither is better or worse than the other. Just letting you know the options!

[arjay57]

Sounds like Brookhaven might be a good fit for you.