Looking to relocate, HELP!! (Atlanta, Savannah: condo, low crime, homes)

[love45]

I am a wife and mother to 4 children. My husband is in Accounting/finance and is wanting to relocate to the Savannah or Atlanta area. We currenty live in a very small town in southwest VA, have been in this area all of my life and I love the feel of a small town. My husband wants to work in the city, however, I will NOT live in the city, so we have came to an agreement that he would have to commute (well, I told him he would have to). I am looking for a great area to raise kids, good schools, low crime rate. I am a nurse and would love to work for a private practice (family doctor or pediatrician). A surburan area would be fine. Looking for a housing price range of 190,000-250,000. This move is going to be a huge change and shock to my family so I would love to keep my children feeling safe. My oldest child is 13 and VERY unhappy with this move, so she will need this more than the others. Can anyone please give me some ideas on where to start?

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by love45

My husband wants to work in the city...

I am looking for a great area to raise kids, good schools, low crime rate...

Looking for a housing price range of 190,000-250,000.

______________________________

Ok....

1) If your husband wants to work "in the city" (as in downtown), then he's going to have to do the commute-from-hell thing that the other zillion people here do every morning and afternoon. Your best bet would be to live intown, but then you run into the problems in some areas of crime, school issues, and then of course, home prices which intown are mostly way out of your price range. So inform husband to psych up for long commutes each way.

2) The definition of "great area" and "low crime" is completely relative, depending on the person. You're not going to find a place anywhere in the metro area here (most likely unless you're darn lucky) where you can say, leave your doors and windows unlocked or your car unlocked. Atlanta does not have centralized crime - it's actually higher in some of the suburbs as it is in some of the inner city areas - crooks here have SUVs, so, they take their activities to the burbs, or these days, actually live in the burbs or are just passing through since we do have one of the most extensive interstate systems in the U.S. passing through here.

Safe-ER areas include: Kennesaw, Acworth, and Alpharetta (NW and Northern burbs, further out). Vinings (NW burb, close in). Dunwoody (closer in, Northside). Suwanee, Buford, Winder (NE burbs, further out). Brookhaven (Northern suburb, inside I-285). Fayetteville or Peachtree City (South burbs, far out).

I'm sure I'm missing a couple, but those are generally my picks. Others will add more. The issues will be that in order to find a GOOD home in the price range you specified, you'll have to pick one of the further out burbs, and then you have to deal with our "L.A. of the East Coast" traffic. There will also be little if any public transit options in those areas other than a few scattered "express" buses into town, so, you'll be chained to a car.

If you come closer to town in the nicer areas, you're talking about twice your mentioned budget for a good home (unless you're willing to go condo, in which case you'd still be pushing it in some of the areas). You'll gain access to transit options, city ammeneties, better choices of things like restaurants, etc., but crime will go up a bit as will general area congestion. There is a school thread dedicated to school topics at the top of this Atlanta forum which will give you ideas about school systems, and I'm sure others will comment on those as well.

As far as Savannah goes - my opinion only, but, it's a great place to visit and a photographer's dream, but if you're concerned about good schools and crime, I'd nix it from consideration (unless you WANT a mini-me version of New Orleans in those regards).

[TakeAhike]

love45,

Atlantagreg has some good ideas.

The employment opportunities are definitely greater in the metro Atlanta area in comparison to Savannah. I lived there for a while and it is less hectic environment and a very beautiful area but I think you have more choices for your children in Atlanta.

If your DH could find employment in the Duluth/Alpharetta area which has many high tech companies you could live in Buford or Suwanee--and avoid a grueling commute. A growing area and there should be numerous medical positions. too. I think Suwanee offers a lot for families and kids. Its located in Gwinnett/Forsyth county.
Suwanee>>
Welcome to Suwanee, Georgia

CD threads/Suwanee and surrounding area>>
//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...t-suwanee.html

Smyrna/Kennesaw/Acworth in Cobb county/NW metro Atlanta are also good for families and there is a more direct commute to downtown Atlanta. There is also some 'ferocious' traffic along the route, I75S/285 and surrounding surface streets.
Smyrna/Acworth/Kennesaw>>>
//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...0-acworth.html

[mccance]

This:

" I am looking for a great area to raise kids, good schools, low crime rate. "

And this:

"My husband wants to work in the city..."

Are mutually exclusive!



Rob

[plessthanpointohfive]

Rob, my entire intown neighborhood would be VERY surprised to find out that we live in a bad area for raising kids...

I don't think you really know what you're talking about.

[mccance]

Let them know, ASAP!!

Just kidding. Are you in new construction, 3 car garage, master plan community with swim/tennis/(golf?) ?

Crime rate?

Schools?

Taxes?

Also, what is the size of this "neighborhood?" Enclave of 50 homes with zero lot lines?

I've been inside the perimeter many times and always head out wondering who lives here and why..

RM

[plessthanpointohfive]

Nope...I live in a historic neighborhood. Most of the homes were built at the turn of the last century. So, almost no garages. No "master plan", just a really nice city part with swim/tennis/golf.

Crime rate? I don't know the exact # but it's not very high compared to the rest of the metro area.

Schools? Mary Lin ES, Inman Park MS, Grady HS are very excellent.

Taxes? High..but that's what pays for the schools.

This neighborhood is a real neighborhood....it's called Candler Park. There's another one nearby called Inman Park. And another one called Lake Claire. Altogether you're taking about probably 6000 homes.

There are many of us who live and raise our families here. Why? Higher quality of life. Same reason you live "out there".

Your horse is too high for you.

[love45]

Thank you all very much. You have given me some places to start looking.

[TakeAhike]

There is a 'Schools' thread at the top of the Atlanta forum that is a good place to post more indepth questions about education and specific school districts.

Here's a list from that thread, <'Top High Schools'>, (it's probably time for an update but this will give you a general idea). Once you find a good high school then you can check for elementary and middle schools and go from there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(I attempted to list the county/district --other posters can provide more accurate FYI.)

http://irhst40.irp.uga.edu/html/eFac.../S03Admiss.pdf (broken link)

For Atlanta metro high schools

Walton 79/Cobb
Brookwood 76/Gwinnett
Pope 73/Cobb
Milton 68/Milton? Fulton?
South Forsyth 68/Forsyth
Collins Hill 64/Gwinnett
Lassiter 64/Cobb
Northview 62/??
Chattoohoochee 59/Fulton??
Parkview 55/Gwinnett
Roswell 53/City of Roswell??
Duluth 47/Gwinnett
North Springs 47/Fulton?
Centennial 47/Roswell
Harrison 45/???
Kennesaw Mountain 45/Cobb or other???
Peachtree Ridge 45/Gwinnett???
Marist 43/private parochial school
Wheeler 40/Cobb

Georgia Institute of Technology :: FACT BOOK or Tech web site

Northview High School Duluth 51
Chattahoochee High School Alpharetta 42
Brookwood High School Snellville 41
Starr's Mill High School Fayetteville 41
George Walton Comprehensive HS Marietta 39
Roswell High School Roswell 34
Collins Hill High School Suwanee 34
Alan C Pope High School Marietta 32
Parkview High School Lilburn 31
Kennesaw Mountain High School Kennesaw 31
Duluth High School Duluth 30
Lakeside High School-Atlanta Atlanta 30
Chamblee High School Chamblee 28
Milton High School Alpharetta 27
Norcross High School Norcross 26
North Gwinnett High School Suwanee 26
South Forsyth High School Cumming 26
Centennial High School Roswell 25
Harrison High School Kennesaw 25
Wheeler High School Marietta 24
Lassiter High School Marietta 22
>>>

[mccance]

What town in VA?

I've lived in both South Hill and Blackstone! Ever heard of those?

Rob