Have I missed any good neighborhoods in my house search? (Sandy Springs: houses, high schools)

[gumboula]

We are looking for a larger house and have been exploring neighborhoods for months. We started out with neighborhoods in or around city of Decatur, but we have expanded our search as far north as the Northlake area. With our focus on the east side of town, I wonder if we have missed any neighborhoods that fit our criteria in other parts of the metro area. Here is what we are looking for:

1. reasonable commutes (<40 minutes) to both downtown and Buckhead (although the downtown commute can be non-peak times)

2. acceptable schools (I define acceptable broadly)

3. under 400k

We are familiar with all of the neighborhoods around Decatur (city of), north up Clairmont, and east/west along Lavista. Does anyone have suggestions in other areas?

[Iconographer]

I would consider:
older neighborhoods of Dunwoody
Tucker
Smyrna
older neighborhoods of Sandy Springs

[gumboula]

Any specific neighborhood names you would suggest? I am not at all familiar with these areas (I know where they are, but nothing beyond that).

[TakeAhike]

For Tucker, Cofer Park is good and if you head west on Tucker-Norcross Rd there are some similar little houses.

Dunwoody--'Happy Hollow', IIRC. Where several roads converge. That's all I've got.

Toco Hill/Executive Park--'Briarcliff Heights'--not many school aged children here. Those that live here attend Sagamore Hills Elementary---Shamrock Middlle--Lakeside. sigh--Pretty sure that the quality will remain 'high'/good/excellent--DeKalb is now considering closing some schools next year. That may not be a 'bad' thing. I wouldn't get 'frantic'. That's just me.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by gumboula

Any specific neighborhood names you would suggest? I am not at all familiar with these areas (I know where they are, but nothing beyond that).

In Dunwoody, there are several neighborhoods along Mt Vernon Rd (between Chamblee-Dunwoody and Tilly Mill Rds), Chamblee-Dunwoody Rd (between Mt Vernon and I-285), Vermack, and Peeler Rds. that might fit your criteria. I used to live in The Branches, a large community between Spalding Drive and Mt Vernon Rd...I loved it there, and you may be able to find something in there (although 400k is probably the low end of the range in TB). It is very convenient to Dunwoody Village, the Perimeter area and the North Springs MARTA station.
In Tucker, check out the neighborhoods around the Evans Rd area. They are served by Evansdale Elementary, Henderson Middle and Lakeside High Schools. My stepsister lives in Wembley Forest (off Chamblee-Tucker Rd, actually a Doraville address but closer to Tucker) and likes it there. You could easily get in there for under 300k.