Possible family move to Atl area (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: cliquey, rental, school district)

[FLfam5]

Possible move to Atlanta (Dunwoody is the work area) from Colorado (originally from Florida)
We will have a middle schooler and high schooler (8th and 10th)

My high schooler is into color guard (though she has no outside dance background)
Middle schooler into Boy Scouts and band.

Our area schools were very good academically and really safe but really really really really not diverse (coming from central Florida it was quite the culture shock however it’s been 3 years so the kids are probably in a weird bubble now).

I’d love a school with a friendly culture. We are totally in love with our principals and the school campuses are very open and relaxed. School dress code is super super relaxed. Academically it was intensely competitive and it could be very cliquey but for the music department was super friendly and like a giant family. We came from (Orlando) schools were much fast paced, more disruptive and a lot more fighting and etc. I have not missed it at all.

We had been loosely looking toward Suwannee, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Buckhead

Any ideas of what areas would be a better fit. I’d love a pool/tennis community. I’d love to be near nature (granted inknow we are moving toward more city area) and I’d love a great town atmosphere with a pretty quick access to restaurants and entertainment.

[Born 2 Roll]

If you want to live in an area with decidedly above-average schools with a short commute to and from work, Dunwoody probably should be the first area that you should look at first.

Sandy Springs would provide a short commute to and from your job in Dunwoody, but the schools (while above-average and good in quality) are more transient (particularly in the North Springs HS cluster and even into some parts of the much more affluent Riverwood HS cluster) because of the very high amount of rental housing in the area, particularly along the GA-9 Roswell Road corridor.

Buckhead is a good area to look in if one is looking for a very close-in inner-suburban/urban lifestyle. Though, many of the public schools in the area will feature higher numbers of transient students and families like in much of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody.

Suwanee (on both the Forsyth County and Gwinnett County sides of the Chattahoochee River) is a good area to look in if one is seeking a very high quality outer-suburban lifestyle with extremely/exceptionally highly rated public schools in the Lambert High School cluster of the Forsyth County Schools system and in the North Gwinnett HS and Peachtree Ridge HS clusters of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system.

The downside to Suwanee is that it may (and often will) ofter a significantly longer commute to and from your job in Dunwoody.

Brookhaven and Chamblee may also be good options to consider because of their good inner-suburban public schools and because of their relatively very close proximity to your job in Dunwoody... But Brookhaven and Chamblee will also feature high numbers of transient students and families because of their very close-in suburban locations.

Three more areas that you should add to your list of areas to consider are the exceptionally highly rated schools of the Walton HS, Pope HS and Lassiter HS clusters of the Cobb County School District, because they provide a somewhat relatively short commute to and from your job in Dunwoody and because of the exceptionally high quality of the schools in those areas.

With maybe the exceptions of the Lassiter HS (roughly 68% white) and Pope HS clusters (roughly 73% white), all of the aforementioned areas feature increasingly racially and ethnically diverse populations.

[Born 2 Roll]

All the areas in question will also provide you with good access to nature and outdoor recreational areas along the Chattahoochee River corridor from East Cobb County and Sandy Springs up to the Buford Dam and Lake Lanier area, and the foothills, ranges and federally-protected forest wilderness areas of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee north of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Swim/tennis communities are also numerous as that is an extremely popular living option in the North Atlanta suburbs and exurbs.

[Citykid3785]

2 questions:

1) what’s your budget?

2) when you “diversity”, are you meaning ethnic diversity?

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by FLfam5

Possible move to Atlanta (Dunwoody is the work area) from Colorado (originally from Florida)
We will have a middle schooler and high schooler (8th and 10th)

My high schooler is into color guard (though she has no outside dance background)
Middle schooler into Boy Scouts and band.

Our area schools were very good academically and really safe but really really really really not diverse (coming from central Florida it was quite the culture shock however it’s been 3 years so the kids are probably in a weird bubble now).

I’d love a school with a friendly culture. We are totally in love with our principals and the school campuses are very open and relaxed. School dress code is super super relaxed. Academically it was intensely competitive and it could be very cliquey but for the music department was super friendly and like a giant family. We came from (Orlando) schools were much fast paced, more disruptive and a lot more fighting and etc. I have not missed it at all.

We had been loosely looking toward Suwannee, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Buckhead

Any ideas of what areas would be a better fit. I’d love a pool/tennis community. I’d love to be near nature (granted inknow we are moving toward more city area) and I’d love a great town atmosphere with a pretty quick access to restaurants and entertainment.

I have some bad news and some ok news. Atlanta, Georgia is a downgrade geographically from Colorado and Florida. The beaches are 4.5 hours away, and only nice to visit about half the year. The mountains (hills, really) are short, don't go past the treeline and are filled with hillbillies instead of mountain men. Traffic is just as bad as both those cities. Our river is narrow, shallow, muddy, polluted after rains or cloudy days, and dammed. If you ski, hike, fly kites, surf, or fish then you might need to pick up new hobbies.

The good news: Its a bit of a cultural upgrade over central Florida. By and large schools in the more affluent northern metro are not as disruptive. Due to sprawl, suburbs here go on for miles upon miles. Except for parks, nature is a bit of a drive (1-2 hours away depending on what you're looking for). There are lots of tennis courts, a good number of pools (of varying quality... this is not Florida) and most of the amenities found in any of the other top 10 metros in some capacity.

Dunwoody/Sandy Springs would be a good area to start your search. What areas work for you will depends more on what kind of living arrangement and surroundings you would prefer.

[seussie]

Move to Brookhaven.