Relocating to East Cobb-advice needed (Atlanta, Roswell: new house, landscaping, neighborhoods)

[Lee15]

Any advice? My husband and I are thinking about relocating to the East Cobb County area. We have two daughters - one in middle school and one in elementary school and currently live in the northeast. We have been told to look for homes that are zoned for either Pope or Lassiter high schools. Any suggestions on which developments to consider? We would like to spend between $500,000 - $600,000. Any advice appreciated!

[scgraham]

Good schools indeed. You will probably have to get a resale home in that price range; take a look at North Hampton.

[GF72]

The best school zone in East Cobb is the Walton High district, followed closely by both the Pope and Lassiter districts.

In terms of location, think of East Cobb as vertically aligned, with the Walton district farthest south (closest to Atlanta), the Pope district in the middle, and the Lassiter district farthest north in East Cobb (farthest from Atlanta).

The commercial heart of East Cobb is in the Walton district (some spillover into the Pope area), while the Lassiter district is more newly developed. The Walton area is more well established and expensive, whereas the Lassiter area will get you more house for the same money, with the Pope area in between.

Personally, the Lassiter area is kind of far away for my taste, and your budget is high enough for me to recommend the Walton and Pope areas first.

What kind of houses are you looking for? If you want a new house, Walton area can be quite expensive, I think average new home is somewhere around a million. But older homes are easily within your budget.

The newer houses tend to be more cookie-cutter subdivision style houses. The Walton area, especially the southern parts of the district, close to the river, have very nice older neighborhoods with more architectural variety and landscaping. It's more rare in the Pope area, which is more subdivisions...

My advice would be to look around the Walton area, specifically the more southern portions along Columns Drive, Paper Mill Road, Lower Roswell Road, Woodlawn Drive, etc. These are the nicest parts of East Cobb and you should find good homes for your budget.

East Cobb is also home to some of the best schools in the state (and country). Walton High is ranked #103 out of the 27,000 high schools in the US (highest in GA) and Pope and Lassiter are up there too. These are all the top ranked schools in East Cobb, I would advise sticking to these school districts:

Elementary (map here (http://www.cobbk12.org/Planning/2008-09AttendanceZones_Elementary.pdf - broken link))
Mount Bethel
Sope Creek
Timber Ridge
East Side
Tritt
Murdock
Mountain View
Shallowford Falls
Garrison Mill
Davis
Rocky Mount

Middle (map here (http://www.cobbk12.org/Planning/2008-09AttendanceZones_Middle.pdf - broken link))
Dodgen
Dickerson
Hightower Trail
Simpson
Mabry

High (map here (http://www.cobbk12.org/Planning/2008-09AttendanceZones_High.pdf - broken link))
Walton
Pope
Lassiter

I suggest you take a look at that high school map. You'll notice the high achieving schools are all on the very eastern border. The Sprayberry and Wheeler areas (in between East Cobb and Marietta) are both decent, but not exceptional. The South Cobb areas are flat-out awful. The western areas are decent.

[RainyRainyDay]

GF's advice is accurate. I'm up in the Lassiter zone (indeed, my daughter is now a freshman at Lassiter) and although we're new to the school, certainly its reputation and test scores are stellar. Academics in 9th grade "gifted" programs seem excellent, so far. I don't doubt Walton (always slightly the leader in test scores etc.) and Pope are excellent too.

As GF says, my area is further out from town, and that's definitely a consideration for commuting. If I had your (OP's) housing budget I'd prefer a resale in the southern part of East Cobb.

However... just in case you're one of those people who set a lot of store by having a new home, it looks to me as if the builders up in our area are getting hungry enough, in present market conditions, that prices on new homes may be coming down to approach your price range. For example, one of the two remaining new homes in The Reserve at Mabry (just up the road from my much more modest subdivision), is now being offered at $649K, down from the original $729K. That will buy you a rather grand six-bedroom residence. So if you really want new construction, you just might be able to swing it in the Lassiter school district.

[GF72]

you should note that many new houses, while they are very nice, come with rather barren property... nothing compared to the massive trees you'll get on older properties. But then that's just something I personally really value....

[Lee15]

Thank you so much for all of the advice - I really appreciate it! It is great to hear from people who live in the area. I don't mind a re-sale house, I would just like a community with swimming and tennis.

[ramblinwreck17]

Check your pm.

[Roswell/Alpharetta Homes]

I 100% agree with the recommendations but personally I think Walton homes are overpriced. Lassiter, Pope zoned homes are perfect for you. Good luck

[kaday]

check your private messages

[cmsmom]

Walton homes are definitely overpriced. Over the long term, Walton may not ALWAYS be the number 1 school. I grew up in Gwinnett which were the BEST schools in the country at the time... and now... well things are not so great in the schools I grew up in. There is another very detailed blog regarding E Cobb schools which was definitely informative, and I am now glad that we did not choose a home in the Walton district, but chose a home in Lassiter district BEFORE I even read that blog about how only the college level academic students are treated well at Walton. As others have mentioned, for the most part a good student will be a good student, and as a substitute teacher and parent of two elementary school children, parents MUST be involved in their childrens schoolwork / homework. This has not so much to do with the teachers but the fact that we as a society / nation are expecting SO much out of our kids, teachers & schools these days there is NO WAY that can all be accomplished and reinforced at the same time during your average school day. During the time most of us parents were in school, we did not have the additional classes of Foreign Language in elementary.. nor did we have homework in Elementary. It is unrealistic. At the same time, it is very challenging to maintain family time and instill family values. How many working parents go to work for 7-8 hours and then come home and do homework? I am hearing it can be 3 hours+ as they get older. I know many working parents are working more hours and this is horrible in regards to family time... but we are talking about KIDS!! It is sad as a nation that our children have as little time to play and be KIDS because we now start them off with homework in PreK and Kindergarten. Research shows that the parents that are more involved have better students. Possibly the parent being involved teaches the "importance" of doing your best. All in all, looking at the test scores and the demographics of schools to make sure you are placing your children in an environment that will have the same values as your family. Visiting the websites for test information and then the schools, churches and talking with parents from the community on blogs such as this will help you to make an informed choice. Good Luck!