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Which if the counties listed about are more rural? I definite would prefer not to be in a rural environment. Chores and business close by are what I would be more comfortable with. Doesn’t have to be walking distance of course.
I also some some nice homes in McDonough. What is that area like for millennials? What would the drive look like going to downtown Atlanta? Does McDonough have a walkable downtown area? Diversity is a plus for me.
I also some some nice homes in McDonough. What is that area like for millennials? What would the drive look like going to downtown Atlanta? Does McDonough have a walkable downtown area? Diversity is a plus for me.
I'm NOT an expert on that city, only know that it is a huge DC/warehouse hub for lots of businesses.....so you have to deal with a lot of nuisance semi traffic all the time.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,351 posts, read 8,567,170 times
Reputation: 16693
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebestteach
I’ve asked them also and maybe you don’t need understand. And I’m not asking for anyone t find me a house so my my budget wouldn’t matter. I am asking about neighborhood and counties. Did you read the post??? Maybe it’s best you go find something else to reply to.
Well you can see my question of housing budget certainly did come into play here. Right off the bat areas recommended to you had to be eliminated because after stating your housing budget they won’t work.
So you may yet not like my next statement. Once you narrow an area down consider renting instead of buying. That gives you a trial period to see if you like the area.
As a transplant myself I was going to buy, but rented first. I explored many areas and looking back I am so glad I waited. I bought in an area I never even considered before.
Well you can see my question of housing budget certainly did come into play here. Right off the bat areas recommended to you had to be eliminated because after stating your housing budget they won’t work.
So you may yet not like my next statement. Once you narrow an area down consider renting instead of buying. That gives you a trial period to see if you like the area.
As a transplant myself I was going to buy, but rented first. I explored many areas and looking back I am so glad I waited. I bought in an area I never even considered before.
I did think abt renting for a while but we have a house now so I really didn’t want to have to do the whole storage thing but I wld consider it.
Which if the counties listed about are more rural? I definite would prefer not to be in a rural environment.
With the seeming exception of core metro Atlanta areas like the City of Marietta, much of Cobb County, much of DeKalb County and much of Gwinnett County, just about all of the aforementioned areas in metro Atlanta are going to feel heavily rural in nature after coming from an area like Baltimore.
Because of its location and geography (in a very-heavily outer-suburban/exurban/rural-oriented part of the country in Georgia and the Southeastern U.S.) and topography (in the heavily-wooded level-to-rolling-to-hilly-to-mountainous terrain of the Piedmont Plateau and Blue Ridge foothills of North Georgia), much (most) of the Atlanta metropolitan area has a very suburban/outer-suburban/exurban/rural feel.
Even areas that many metro Atlantans and North Georgians consider to be 'urban' (like Marietta, Cobb County, DeKalb County and Gwinnett County) really are extremely suburban and likely will feel extremely outer-suburban and even exurban/semi-rural to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebestteach
Chores and business close by are what I would be more comfortable with. Doesn’t have to be walking distance of course.
Don't worry. Almost all chores/errands you run and businesses you run to will most assuredly have to be driven to in an Atlanta metropolitan area that is extremely automobile-oriented, especially when compared to the comparatively much more compact environment that you likely may currently live in near Baltimore.
With your desire to live in an area of great schools with a housing budget of under $225k, the reality is that you likely are going to be looking at homes that might be a little farther removed from the most active parts of the city/metro than you might prefer.
If you do not like living in decidedly suburban environments with an exurban and even semi-rural feel, Atlanta and North Georgia potentially might not be the best place for you to consider relocating to.
… That is in addition to teaching and law enforcement salaries that are likely to be noticeably lower in Georgia than they likely are where you currently may live in Maryland.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebestteach
I also some some nice homes in McDonough. What is that area like for millennials?
The best areas for Millennials will be located in and closer to the I-285 Perimeter Loop, in areas like Intown Atlanta (Midtown, West Midtown, Old Fourth Ward, Little Five Points, East Atlanta Village, etc.), the City of Decatur, Brookhaven, Smyrna, the City of Marietta, etc., are the best for Millennials and will either be somewhat transitional in nature (with higher crime rates and more transitional schools than you might like) or beyond the $225k constraints of your housing budget.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebestteach
Does McDonough have a walkable downtown area? Diversity is a plus for me.
On the positive side, McDonough has the kind of walkable downtown area that you like.
McDonough also is a diverse area that is currently in the advancing stages of an ongoing transition from being an overwhelmingly majority-white community to being a predominantly majority-minority community where racial and ethnic minorities make up a growing majority of the population of the overall area (Henry County).
McDonough and Henry County also has good-to-decent outer-suburban shopping options along I-75 at the Jonesboro Road, GA-20/81 and Locust Grove exits where services have popped up to cater to motorists driving between Florida and the Great Lakes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebestteach
What would the drive look like going to downtown Atlanta?
One noticeable drawback to an area like McDonough is that the drive into the city can often be a challenge because of the extremely heavy traffic that uses a roadway like I-75.
Which, I-75 (runs directly through the heart of Henry County) is a major intercontinental route that not only carries much commuter traffic into and out of the city during morning and afternoon rush hours, but also carries an extreme amount of interstate and intercontinental traffic during much of the week... That's especially on weekends and around holiday and vacation periods when there is a massive amount of traffic heading to wildly popular vacation and getaway spots in Florida and along the Georgia/South Carolina coast.
I-75 is also an extremely major route for freight trucks carrying heavy loads to and the major international seaports at Savannah and Brunswick on the Georgia Coast and to points south in Florida.
Because I-75 is such a major and extremely heavily used route, it is prone to frequent and lengthy traffic delays, especially through the McDonough area south of the I-75/I-675 merge/split "Y" interchange in Stockbridge... Frequent and lengthy traffic delays that sometimes can make getting into and out of the city a challenge.
Last edited by Born 2 Roll; 12-23-2019 at 10:20 PM..
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,351 posts, read 8,567,170 times
Reputation: 16693
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thebestteach
I did think abt renting for a while but we have a house now so I really didn’t want to have to do the whole storage thing but I wld consider it.
I rented a house in Marietta that had a ground level walk out basement. It was a 3/2 about 1600sq ft not including the basement. It was an older house, maybe not what you want long term, but I was quite happy there. Really pretty wooded neighborhood, diverse, going on walks was nice. Within 2 miles I had multiple supermarkets and shopping and eateries. Within 5 mile radius I had access to Costco, Target, a few malls, pretty much everything. I think the home is worth about 290K now. Close by were homes from similar to up to 10K sq feet, so a nice hood. It would rent today for about 1700 to 1850. The basement was usable as living space. Teens would love having their own separate space.
The point is I had way more stuff than I think you might have. I moved from Ca. with two 26 foot semi trailers completely stuffed to the top.
In addition I towed a 20 foot enclosed trailer and packed a large pick up truck towing it.
Storage fees aren't fun, but that house easily accommodated all my stuff in the basement so I paid no storage fees.
If you don't have employment I would wait until you did before I bought. That will help you choose a hood you like and works. Now that I know the area and how traffic is I badly underestimated how time consuming it is and look back thinking I must have been crazy to think I could live in some areas I picked originally.
I lived there for almost two years renting and wound up learning about the area and moving to an whole different area I really like. My first choice was to buy a house and in hind sight I am so thankful I rented.
Last edited by aslowdodge; 12-23-2019 at 10:28 PM..
I also some some nice homes in McDonough. What is that area like for millennials? What would the drive look like going to downtown Atlanta? Does McDonough have a walkable downtown area? Diversity is a plus for me.
The drive from McDonough to Downtown Atlanta will be an utter pain. They do have Toll Lanes which you can skip some of the congestion during commute hours for a price but not always is the congestion during commute hours, often times its also during off-peak.
I personally feel given your criteria Gwinnett County will be your most likely fit. It carries the most urban feel while retaining somewhat affordability. I personally am not sure that you will score a 4 BR home at or under $225k even there however. Paulding you might get closer to that mark but you're going to sacrifice alot in urban amenities as well as reach-ability to the rest of the metro.
Gwinnett is one of the most diverse counties in not only the Metro Atlanta area but also the country. Like Born2Roll previously mentioned - also sustains some of the best schools.
Downtown Lawrenceville is pretty walkable (just don't exactly expect to walk 'to' it), Downtown Buford also has a fairly walkable downtown and plenty to of shoppes / restaurants in both.
To be honest, given your circumstances (4 BR's so I assume 4 kids) and the salaries paid in your respective fields, no offense but I would not advise making this move. You have alot more support in both salaries and the social system in the event something were to go wrong where you are than you will obtain here.
If you do decide to make the move however, I recommend visiting first, taking a look around for awhile, see if you can stay with family for a week or two while scouting around a bit.
Forsyth County has the best schools while also having low property taxes. Great parks too. Start by looking the Lambert High School footprint. Lambert is on the Forsyth County side of the Chattahoochee River. North Gwinnett High school across the river is very good too, but property taxes are higher, and parks over-crowded (North Gwinnett is where we lived for 15 yrs...upto 2 years ago).
The Suwanee mailing address is located on both sides of the River. Lambert has a Suwanee mailing address but is not in the City of Suwanee which is a good thing.
See if you can find a home in your price range in the Lambert HS footprint, but not near the perimeter of the footprint (in case they ever redistrict and re-write the Lambert High School boundary's). Stay as close to the high school as possible.
The cluster schools that feed in to Lambert are excellent.
Shopping..you have the Peachtree Parkway corridor for shopping, or you can travel Northeast towards the Mall of Georgia. Or, drive down Hwy 400 to a beautiful outdoors mall called Avalon which is in Alpharetta. Closest is Peachtree Parkway corridor.
With this location near the river, you could work at Forsyth County Schools, or Gwinnett County because you'd be right along the County line seperating both County's.
Your husband could work for either County, or the city of Cumming, or City of Suwanee.
I dont think you'll find much in the Lambert footprint for <$300k though. Nearly everything is new or near new there.
In case it matters to you, this area is very Conservative, and mostly White, with 1/4th Asian (mostly affluent Koreans).
If I were to move back to Georgia, and had school aged kids, that is where I'd go.
Forgot to say, our Sons baseball coach was Sargent at Gwinnett County Police, is still there, and no complaints, but he does patroll some rough areas in Southern Gwinett County. I'd stick with Forsyth, City of Cumming and City of Suwanee for police work.
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