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Hello everyone! Thank you in advance for your insight. We are a Black family early 30s moderately liberal professionals with a 2 year old and 2 dogs. We are wondering which Atlanta neighborhoods and suburbs we should look into that have excellent schools, very safe, at least 30% Black population, walkable areas, dog parks, great restaurants, coffee shops, and nice outdoor spaces. We would be looking to move into a 4br+/2.5+bath house with a yard under 550k. Inside the perimeter would be ideal but it’s not a must.
Hello everyone! Thank you in advance for your insight. We are a Black family early 30s moderately liberal professionals with a 2 year old and 2 dogs. We are wondering which Atlanta neighborhoods and suburbs we should look into that have excellent schools, very safe, at least 30% Black population, walkable areas, dog parks, great restaurants, coffee shops, and nice outdoor spaces. We would be looking to move into a 4br+/2.5+bath house with a yard under 550k. Inside the perimeter would be ideal but it’s not a must.
I don’t t think you can get everything on your list, but my best guess would be neighborhoods in the Parkview High and Brookwood High clusters in Gwinnett County (parts of Lilburn and Snellville). Very good diverse schools and some diverse neighborhoods. Great parks—you can get nice 1980s-1990s homes in very good shape in your price range. Walkability? It’s the suburbs—but not the far out suburbs. It is one of the preferred suburbs for commuting to CDC-Emory-VA (especially in your price range), but folks who work downtown live there, too. Has good rec sports and more serious sports.
Hello everyone! Thank you in advance for your insight. We are a Black family early 30s moderately liberal professionals with a 2 year old and 2 dogs. We are wondering which Atlanta neighborhoods and suburbs we should look into that have excellent schools, very safe, at least 30% Black population, walkable areas, dog parks, great restaurants, coffee shops, and nice outdoor spaces. We would be looking to move into a 4br+/2.5+bath house with a yard under 550k. Inside the perimeter would be ideal but it’s not a must.
A very important question is: Will a commute to and from a job be a factor for any members of the household, and if so, where (what town/neighborhood/district in the Atlanta metropolitan area) will the commutes be taking place to and from?
That is an important question to answer because Atlanta metropolitan job commutes can be very challenging at times, particularly if the commutes have to be made during peak traffic hours (including during morning and/or afternoon/evening rush hours).
And the longer the distance of the commute, the more challenging the commutes often can be, particularly during periods when lots of people may be commuting to and from their places of in-person work (including offices), during periods of inclement weather, during the time around vacation and holiday periods when people are traveling to and regional getaway and tourist spots (Florida, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Atlantic Coast, etc.)
Outside of the peak-hour commute factor, there’s a somewhat very wide geographical range of neighborhoods on the compass that may offer the quality-of-life that you are looking for from Southwest (I-85 Southwest corridor), to West (I-20/GA-6 West corridor), to Northwest (I-75 Northwest corridor) to North (GA-400 corridor), to Northeast (I-85 Northeast corridor), to East (US-78 East corridor) to Southeast (I-75 South corridor).
The somewhat wide geographical range of neighborhoods and oft-challenging peak-hour commutes is a major reason why you probably should know, consider and keep in mind where you will be commuting to and from for work before deciding on where to purchase a home.
Otherwise, also keep in mind that you will be looking for a home in a housing market that has been increasingly competitive over the last 6-7 years and has been particularly competitive at times over the last 2 years.
So finding a 4BR+/2.5Ba+ home for under $550k in areas with the highest-quality amenities may not necessarily be as easy of a task as it seemingly might have been in years and decades past.
If you do find something that you like within your budget that fits (all or most or much of) your criteria, you will have to be prepared to act decisively against what often may be a good amount of competition for the same and similar homes... Competition that often may include many cash buyers (with higher home-purchasing budgets from other of the country where homes are significantly higher in price) who may be prepared to bid up the price and pay the full price of the home in full in cash.
Given the current highly competitive state of the Atlanta metropolitan housing market, you probably should be prepared to include upscale townhomes, new construction homes and maybe even upscale condominiums as part of your housing search, particularly if you want to live in areas of the highest-quality amenities.
You probably should also be prepared that you potentially might have to expand your housing search into outlying areas that potentially might be farther out away from the city than you might desire if you want to increase your chances of finding the type of home that you are looking for within your budget in what often can be a highly competitive Atlanta metropolitan housing market.
Another challenge that you may have in finding a home within your budget that fits all of your criteria is that unfortunately, the highest-rated schools (the schools considered to be excellent with 8-10 out of 10 ratings, A+ ratings, etc.) most often are not going to be located in the most walkable areas (if they are considered to be walkable at all).
The cities of Buford proper (inside the boundaries of the Buford City Schools system) and Decatur proper (inside of the boundaries of the Decatur City Schools system) are two communities with highly-rated/excellent schools that both contain a high degree of walkability (by metro Atlanta’s notably automobile-oriented lifestyle standards).
Buford is located decidedly OTP (in Atlanta’s northeast outer suburbs), while Decatur is located ITP (basically on Atlanta’s near-Eastside), but black residents make up significantly less than 30% of the population in both municipal jurisdictions (Black residents make up about 15% of the population of Buford proper and about 20% of the population of Decatur proper).
And while racial and ethnic minorities as a whole only make up about 34% of the population of the City of Decatur proper (though, the City of Decatur proper is a decidedly left-leaning community that particularly stands out in a state of Georgia that has been increasingly conservative, red and right-leaning until very recently), racial and ethnic minorities as a whole do make up about 47% of the population of the City of Buford proper.
The City of Marietta proper is a community that features a good amount of walkability (by metro Atlanta/Georgia/Southern standards), particularly in and around the downtown village area that surrounds the popular community gathering spot that is the historic Marietta Square. Marietta proper also makes an effort to maintain a fairly close-knit community even though the city has basically been completely swallowed up and surrounded by the development patterns of the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Along with a good degree of walkability, the City of Marietta proper features good quality public schools (in the Marietta City Schools system) in a jurisdiction where African-American residents make up just under 31% of the population and where racial and ethnic minorities as a whole make up about 52% of the population.
But because of the fairly high population of transient residents (which pulls on academic scores), the Marietta City Schools system only features slightly above-average academic ratings.
About 14% of the population of the City of Marietta proper currently lives below the poverty line... Though, it should be noted that that figure has come down from about 21-22% a decade ago because of the ongoing gentrification of many areas within the corporate boundaries of the City of Marietta proper.
If you are willing to forgo the walkability requirement, areas of higher-rated schools with higher black populations that you could look at include:
> The Grayson High School cluster of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system, where black students make up more than 52% of the student population and racial and ethnic minorities as a whole make up more than 78% of the student population. As recently as 15 years ago, the Grayson HS cluster was majority-white, so the area features a very fast-growing black and minority population. Many schools in the Grayson HS cluster feature ratings of 8 out of 10 or higher on the Great Schools website and A or higher on the Niche website...
> The Wheeler High School cluster of the Cobb County School District system, where black students make up about just under 40% of the student population and racial and ethnic minorities as a whole make up 74% of the student population. Wheeler HS has a good regular curriculum but is known for having one of the best STEM magnet programs in the entire nation...
> The Brookwood HS cluster of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system (as jeoff recommended). The highly-rated Brookwood HS cluster currently features a about a 30% black student population and about a 68% minority student population as a whole...
> The Collins Hill HS cluster of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system, which features a black student population just a hair under 30% along with a total minority population of just under 79%...
> The Peachtree Ridge HS cluster of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system. African-Americans appear to be the largest group of students at PRHS with a roughly 29% plurality. Minorities appear to make up at least about 81% of the student population as a whole...
> The Hillgrove HS cluster of the Cobb County Public Schools system (roughly >34% black, >55% minority total)...
> The Archer HS cluster of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system (roughly 48% black, 70% minority)...
> The Parkview HS cluster of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system (roughly 26% black, 73% minority)...
> The Kennesaw Mountain HS cluster of the Cobb County School District (roughly 29% black, 60% minority)...
> The North Cobb HS cluster of the Cobb County School District (black plurality: roughly 37% black, 67% minority)...
> The Union Grove HS cluster of the Henry County Schools system (roughly 38% black, 54% minority)
> The Fayette County HS cluster of the Fayette County Public Schools system (60% black, >86% minority)...
> The Sandy Creek HS cluster of the Fayette County Public Schools system (roughly 60% black, >83% minority).
Hello everyone! Thank you in advance for your insight. We are a Black family early 30s moderately liberal professionals with a 2 year old and 2 dogs. We are wondering which Atlanta neighborhoods and suburbs we should look into that have excellent schools, very safe, at least 30% Black population, walkable areas, dog parks, great restaurants, coffee shops, and nice outdoor spaces. We would be looking to move into a 4br+/2.5+bath house with a yard under 550k. Inside the perimeter would be ideal but it’s not a must.
The other responders are correct in that you'll have to pick your poison on this, but to give an ITP option, consider 30318 north of the railroad tracks. The area is zoned for North Atlanta high which is seen as the best in APS and has a lot of the characteristics you're looking for in the restaurants, commute, outdoor spaces, etc. $550 for 4 beds will be tough in that area though.
Edit 2:
I'll add that traditionally, the areas in 30331 (Midwest Cascade) are seen as the upper class black area of ATL, but that area is lacking most of what you're looking for as far as restaurants, walkability, etc. But for example that is where the former mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms lives.
Last edited by Datdudebrah; 01-11-2022 at 07:33 AM..
10 years ago, you trim off only two things from the list. Today, it's three, and that's being conservative. Boring big-ish houses deep in West Cobb are clearing $800,000 these days. And you want a trendy McMansion ITP for $500,000? Lol
A bad studio loft in a meh part of East Atlanta is $400,000
10 years ago, you trim off only two things from the list. Today, it's three, and that's being conservative. Boring big-ish houses deep in West Cobb are clearing $800,000 these days. And you want a trendy McMansion ITP for $500,000? Lol
A bad studio loft in a meh part of East Atlanta is $400,000
It really depends on the things you are willing to trim, and how you read the post. Assuming OP is not flexible on price, then looking ITP is pretty much DOA (they would probably have to about double their budget or butcher their list). But, going outside of the perimeter, you can get nice older 4/2.5 with big yards and good schools (OP didn’t say anything about a McMansion)—really most new homes have small yards anyway—so going older is pretty much a must. I don’t know what passes for walkable in the suburbs—I wouldn’t want to be walking distance to a strip mall. There are some old town areas that are walkable (Norcross, Lilburn, Marietta, etc.), but I don’t know that they are worth the trouble. Really, in the suburbs, if you can get one nice feature that is walking distance from your home, you are doing well. When we lived in Lilburn we were close to the rec soccer fields and the elementary school and that was nice—and Old Town Lilburn, parks, pools, and the library were easy short drives. Other suburban homes may have swim-tennis or a park that are a short walk. We live in the city now, and the walkable aspects of our neighborhood are nice—but suburban life was nice, too—really we moved for the commute. You might want to look for neighborhoods that have kids your kids age in it—good neighbors are even more important than ticking every box.
I should add.. this is definitely our wish list. I’m willing to forego nice restaurants and coffee shops if necessary to have the other neighborhood qualities. I can cook and have a Keurig lol we will both likely continue to work from home, so commute isn’t an issue. Would like to go to an event or two ITP monthly though.
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