Johns Creek area (Atlanta, North Atlanta, Alpharetta: private school, universities, to live in)

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by NorthAtlanta

Indians are not homogeneous but the Indians you see in North Atlanta especially Alpharetta/South Forsyth/Johns Creek are all mostly from 2 to 3 states in Southern India along the IT corridors of Bangalore and Hyderabad. They are mostly homogeneous. Look similar, eat similar foods and follow the same customs. A lot of importance to academics is being given in these families. There is a joke I read a while ago, when a kid from one of these families shows a report card to his parents where he scored 99% on a recent test at school, the parents instead of feeling happy about him scoring 99% question him about why he was not able to score a 100%

Good comments. I have spent a fair amount of time in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai and understand the regional similarity.

[VJP]

Originally Posted by NorthAtlanta

Indians are not homogeneous but the Indians you see in North Atlanta especially Alpharetta/South Forsyth/Johns Creek are all mostly from 2 to 3 states in Southern India along the IT corridors of Bangalore and Hyderabad. They are mostly homogeneous. Look similar, eat similar foods and follow the same customs. A lot of importance to academics is being given in these families. There is a joke I read a while ago, when a kid from one of these families shows a report card to his parents where he scored 99% on a recent test at school, the parents instead of feeling happy about him scoring 99% question him about why he was not able to score a 100%

This is accurate. Also, scoring 90-99% growing up, I was definitely asked "what happened to the remaining %?" A high level of excellency in academics is ingrained in the culture. It's not going away, and it's atypical compared to your normal American middle/upper middle class family.

Every time this topic comes up there are also people here who complain that Indians aren't integrating into society in the US. I'll leave two topics for folks to think about - imagine you had to go live in India/Korea/China where you knew the end opportunity was greater but you didn't speak the language comfortably and didn't understand local customs and cuisine. You bet you'd find another American somewhere to talk to. I know I would (I was born in NYC). Second, you'll probably find no large immigrant group better assimilated to this country than Indians. They pick up the language, they work corporate jobs, they pay (high amounts of) taxes, they start businesses that employ others, and they buy a lot of real estate. And since they used to all live on top of each other, living next to their friends on 1/4 acre lots is like living 'spread out'. If you and your friends and family can all live within walking distance, why wouldn't you? That's some of the thought process..

[NorthAtlanta]

Originally Posted by VJP

This is accurate. Also, scoring 90-99% growing up, I was definitely asked "what happened to the remaining %?" A high level of excellency in academics is ingrained in the culture. It's not going away, and it's atypical compared to your normal American middle/upper middle class family.

Every time this topic comes up there are also people here who complain that Indians aren't integrating into society in the US. I'll leave two topics for folks to think about - imagine you had to go live in India/Korea/China where you knew the end opportunity was greater but you didn't speak the language comfortably and didn't understand local customs and cuisine. You bet you'd find another American somewhere to talk to. I know I would (I was born in NYC). Second, you'll probably find no large immigrant group better assimilated to this country than Indians. They pick up the language, they work corporate jobs, they pay (high amounts of) taxes, they start businesses that employ others, and they buy a lot of real estate. And since they used to all live on top of each other, living next to their friends on 1/4 acre lots is like living 'spread out'. If you and your friends and family can all live within walking distance, why wouldn't you? That's some of the thought process..

I agree... Indians are similar to Jewish people in this aspect, they assimilate as much as they can but at the same time maintain their distinct identity and prefer living in enclaves of their own. The drive to excel in academics, careers and businesses is another similarity.

[Go Blue 99]

Originally Posted by NorthAtlanta

I agree... Indians are similar to Jewish people in this aspect, they assimilate as much as they can but at the same time maintain their distinct identity and prefer living in enclaves of their own. The drive to excel in academics, careers and businesses is another similarity.

Agreed, Indians and Jews are very similar. Even down to the mothers wanting to set up their daughters with doctors

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by My_opinions

Main Language in India = English.
It was a colony of Britain for many years.
Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Punjabi, etc. are also their language depending on which region they originate.
However, English is the PRIMARY LANGUAGE in India. Anyone with high school education from India is completely fluent in English. If you're in IT field (which the majority residing in North Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth and Gwinnett are), one would have at minimum a Bachelor's degree if not more. Thus, the competition for IT jobs in ATL becomes steeper year over year while the salary goes down year over year due to many willing to work for less. And, corporate America being very happy to pay less.

BUSINESS language in India = English.

It might have been true in the days of IIT schooling (Indian Institute of Technology - a handful of universities) that English was mandatory, or required fluency, but nowadays I know quite a few Indians who came to the US with English as their third language behind their regional language and Hindi. Their English was at a functional level.

And for many IT people I've managed who were based in India their English was anything from functional to fluent.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by My_opinions

They have BILLIONS - BILLIONS in that one country. Fact is that it was a British colony; and, the influence and exposure of English language & British culture are prevalent unlike other countries in Asia or Southeast Asia (except for Hong Kong where English is also prevalent). All IT workers from India to US speak and know English. That's why Microsoft keeps fighting to keep H1-Visas alive so that they can forever continue bringing in cheap labor to sustain their business profits. Why would Microsoft teach ESL as a part of their recruitment? Or, any other IT firms in Atlanta like Equifax or IT firms in Alpharetta where the majority are being hired? So, my point is that other Non-Indian Asians had to work much harder if they didn't come equipped with the English language. This disproves your point that Indians had to "learn the language" in US. That is NOT true. The ones here and working in IT already learned the language there so there was no learning curve required. However, for all other "Asians", that may not be the case.

We're not talking about "few Indians" that you were exposed to. We're talking only about the IT Workers in Alpharetta /metro Atlanta. They all came equipped with English which gave them a competitive advantage over the other Asians who may be just as competent or even more competent but have had language barrier that prevented them to either ace the interview and/or to not get promoted.

Language barrier is a HUGE ROADBLOCK for many Asians regardless of how many years they may have "tried to learn" it. Once past certain age, the brain capacity for learning a new language gets limited.
Because Indians from India have learned all of this in their youth Language Barrier is NOT a barrier for them. At least not for the IT workers. And, certainly not for the doctors - another profession where there are more and more Indian doctors around metro Atlanta.

Thanks for the history lesson. I’ve been to India nearly a dozen times over the past 20 years and have worked closely with the service providers, banks and telecom companies there.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by allak

Hi everyone...
We live in upstate New York area and would really like to move to the warmer climate. Good schools are very important. Johns Creek area schools look pretty good. Would really appreciate any response, would like to know the good and the bad of any surrounding areas. We are very open minded. Looking for good schools and low crime.
Thank you in advance for any feedback

You couldn't live in a bad area of Johns Creek even if you tried. The worst bit of living there is probably the traffic due to the way that roads are built in the area (lots of subdivisions that you cannot cut through, traffic forced onto main arteries that get clogged).

The pace of life is slower, and the summers are much hotter. The trick is finding a job and house within a reasonable commute.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by NorthAtlanta

Indians are not homogeneous but the Indians you see in North Atlanta especially Alpharetta/South Forsyth/Johns Creek are all mostly from 2 to 3 states in Southern India along the IT corridors of Bangalore and Hyderabad. They are mostly homogeneous. Look similar, eat similar foods and follow the same customs. A lot of importance to academics is being given in these families. There is a joke I read a while ago, when a kid from one of these families shows a report card to his parents where he scored 99% on a recent test at school, the parents instead of feeling happy about him scoring 99% question him about why he was not able to score a 100%

I love the fact that Indians are moving here and I hope they will stay and apply their skills and abilities in the ATL.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I love the fact that Indians are moving here and I hope they will stay and apply their skills and abilities in the ATL.

I’ve been noticing a lot of vehicles with Texas plates being driven by Indians lately, especially in the Alpharetta area. An influx of IT workers from Austin and DFW?

[Go Blue 99]

Originally Posted by markjames68

I’ve been noticing a lot of vehicles with Texas plates being driven by Indians lately, especially in the Alpharetta area. An influx of IT workers from Austin and DFW?

I’ve had a few people tell me that metro Dallas has even more Indians than metro Atlanta. Maybe they are moving to Atlanta to get away from that