U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Georgia > Atlanta
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-23-2008, 05:29 AM
 
9,124 posts, read 35,154,428 times
Reputation: 3618

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118 View Post
If you are interested in new homes and will be working in Kennesaw, I recommend that you also start looking at houses and school districts in Bartow County, Cherokee County, and Paulding County. These three counties will still offer a good commute to your job. The counties have good schools and many, many new houses in your price range (since they are a little farther out).

Exactly! Everyone thinks Cobb has the only good schools in the metro area, and in reality, most of their schools have gone down hill recently. You can do as good or better in Cherokee County and get much more for your money. Instead of increasing your house budget, increase your commute by 15 minutes and you'll get more house and great schools.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-23-2008, 08:09 AM
 
Location: NW Arkansas
304 posts, read 1,380,671 times
Reputation: 156
I would also recommend looking at schools that feed into Harrison High. We looked at Frey, Ford, Vaughan, Due West, & Bullard elementaries when we relocated here. Ultimately we ended up at Ford and currently have two kids in kindergarten there. We have been very pleased so far. The commute to Wellstar Cobb wouldn't be bad from this area.

Be sure to check Cobb County School District's website though to verify school boundaries. A redistricting takes place this fall that will change some of the school boundaries that were mentioned in this thread. I would recommend making sure you would be happy with other schools nearby too in case another redistricting in the future could change which school you attend. We were originally districted to Vaughan when we purchased our home but now attend Ford. Some homes I looked at were once in Vaughan, redistricted to Bullard, and are now to attend Due West this fall.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 09:32 AM
 
16,127 posts, read 27,168,924 times
Reputation: 6851
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobKovacs View Post
Exactly! Everyone thinks Cobb has the only good schools in the metro area, and in reality, most of their schools have gone down hill recently. You can do as good or better in Cherokee County and get much more for your money. Instead of increasing your house budget, increase your commute by 15 minutes and you'll get more house and great schools.
Mr. Kovacs, I did not suggest the other counties because I think Cobb County schools are lacking in any kind of way. The suggestions were just to give the OP more options. To say Cobb schools have "gone down hill recently" is misleading and incorrect.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 09:35 AM
 
16,127 posts, read 27,168,924 times
Reputation: 6851
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiefs fan View Post
I would also recommend looking at schools that feed into Harrison High. We looked at Frey, Ford, Vaughan, Due West, & Bullard elementaries when we relocated here. Ultimately we ended up at Ford and currently have two kids in kindergarten there. We have been very pleased so far. The commute to Wellstar Cobb wouldn't be bad from this area.

Be sure to check Cobb County School District's website though to verify school boundaries. A redistricting takes place this fall that will change some of the school boundaries that were mentioned in this thread. I would recommend making sure you would be happy with other schools nearby too in case another redistricting in the future could change which school you attend. We were originally districted to Vaughan when we purchased our home but now attend Ford. Some homes I looked at were once in Vaughan, redistricted to Bullard, and are now to attend Due West this fall.
But remember...right now, gerrynyc prefers a new home with a price range of $200,000-$270,000. There are not many options with this criteria in the Harrison High School district.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 09:38 AM
 
Location: NW Arkansas
304 posts, read 1,380,671 times
Reputation: 156
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118 View Post
But remember...right now, gerrynyc prefers a new home with a price range of $200,000-$270,000. There are not many options with this criteria in the Harrison High School district.
Sorry, I thought that they said they would possibly consider resale if they couldn't get new. My mistake.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 09:40 AM
 
9,124 posts, read 35,154,428 times
Reputation: 3618
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118 View Post
Mr. Kovacs, I did not suggest the other counties because I think Cobb County schools are lacking in any kind of way. The suggestions were just to give the OP more options. To say Cobb schools have "gone down hill recently" is misleading and incorrect.
Then why is it that some of the schools that used to be touted as being so good, like Sprayberry, McEachern, etc., aren't being touted so much anymore? The only schools anyone raves about anymore are Lassiter, Pope, and Walton, and even they aren't all that much better than schools in surrounding areas. Maybe "gone down hill" isn't the correct phrase- instead it should be "nothing extraordinary anymore" since they're just keeping pace with everyplace else.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 09:49 AM
 
16,127 posts, read 27,168,924 times
Reputation: 6851
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiefs fan View Post
Sorry, I thought that they said they would possibly consider resale if they couldn't get new. My mistake.
Yes, he did mention that...Harrison High would have many options in the price range for resale.

I just didn't want him to get confused, since he is trying to this initial search from out of state.

New homes are the preference for right now.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 10:09 AM
 
Location: a warmer place
1,748 posts, read 5,318,255 times
Reputation: 768
Okay I have to put my plug in for East Cobb schools (again sorry everyone). We moved here from an excellent MA school district. The elementary school my child attends is so much better. Many if not all elementary schools in East Cobb have excellent teachers, enthusiastic active parents, smart boards in every classroom, Spanish beginning in Kindergarten or 1st grade, huge computer labs, science labs, math labs and awesome test scores. Neighbors with high school students send off their children to top colleges (UVA, Duke, Smith, GA Tech etc.).

We could have gotten a brand new home in another area (our home is very nice but not over the top) but I had to go with what points towards the best schools. Yes a lot of it has to do with test scores (you find out about the other perks once inside) because that is all there is to go on.

If it were me I'd buy an older home with access to these kinds of schools. You can always renovate as time goes on.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 10:49 AM
 
Location: East Cobb
2,206 posts, read 6,604,628 times
Reputation: 923
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaday View Post
Okay I have to put my plug in for East Cobb schools (again sorry everyone). We moved here from an excellent MA school district. The elementary school my child attends is so much better. Many if not all elementary schools in East Cobb have excellent teachers, enthusiastic active parents, smart boards in every classroom, Spanish beginning in Kindergarten or 1st grade, huge computer labs, science labs, math labs and awesome test scores. Neighbors with high school students send off their children to top colleges (UVA, Duke, Smith, GA Tech etc.).

We could have gotten a brand new home in another area (our home is very nice but not over the top) but I had to go with what points towards the best schools. Yes a lot of it has to do with test scores (you find out about the other perks once inside) because that is all there is to go on.

If it were me I'd buy an older home with access to these kinds of schools. You can always renovate as time goes on.
I agree with kaday. Here's a post that lists the Cobb high schools by SAT scores: //www.city-data.com/forum/3088125-post8.html
As noted in this post, test scores may not be the best criterion for comparing schools, but they are certainly one measure.

I'm reading "Cobb schools have gone downhill" from Scraper Enthusiast (who seems unhappy about some of the schools in the southwest part of the county in particular) and from folk who live in other counties, like Cherokee, and are wanting to share their enthusiasm for their local schools. However, I don't know of any reason to think the well-known East Cobb trio of Walton, Pope and Lassiter have gone downhill at all. Nor their near neighbors Wheeler and Sprayberry, preferred by Aries for diversity et al.

Like kaday, I'm living in a relatively modest house in part so I can send my child to good East Cobb schools. This is more important to me than having a brand-new home. Others choose differently. In fact, some neighbors of ours who moved here from the UK, subsequently sold up and moved out to Cherokee county because they'd discovered they could get more house for the money up there. I spoke to the mom of this family and sympathized over trying to sell a home in current market conditions. She said "Oh, it's not bad, this area is always in demand because the schools are the best." Clearly, keeping her kids in the "best" schools (her words) was not as important to her as having a nicer house. We all make choices and this is not to say the Cherokee schools aren't good.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-23-2008, 01:18 PM
 
1,755 posts, read 5,447,294 times
Reputation: 554
I'd wait to see if this bill passes for $7K towards purchase of a foreclosed home. There's plenty in these areas that are nice homes, new, and fairly new.

example: Arthur Hills has 7 new homes (look finished) that are foreclosed on, guessing the builder went under. $330K+, go offer $270. Right over Cobb line in Paulding
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Georgia > Atlanta
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2023, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top