Suwanee, Alpharetta, Cumming????? (Atlanta, Lawrenceville, Duluth: transplants, houses, job transfer)

[ohiomomof3]

My husband is being transferred to Atlanta area (Duluth) and we are now in the house hunting process. We have visited once, and based on internet recommendations, and visiting, we like the above towns. Our top priority is the quality of the school system. We will have one in college, but will also have one in high school, and one in elementary school. For high schools we have it narrowed to Northview, South Forsyth and North Gwinnett (which was our least favorite of the 3). Our price range can go up to $500,000. Also, we would like to live in a more "liberal" community (if there is such a thing)... or at least an area where a democrat would not be stoned!! Any thoughts??? Any other towns/schools we should consider??? THANKS!!

[infamousx]

Suwanee has been ranked in the Money Top 100 towns twice and is a perfect place to live if you're looking for a boring, suburban kind of life. It's very family friendly, with a distinctive town center and many parks. Your children would either be in the North Gwinnett or Peachtree Ridge schools districts, which have decent to good schools. There's a lot of development going on in Suwanee right now, which often makes for terrible traffic. You probably have seen all of the posts praising Suwanee in this forum, but to me it feels a little bit too Stepford and it's actually pretty far from Atlanta if that's a concern.

Alpharetta covers a pretty big area, but is mostly affluent. Better schools compared to Gwinnett. Houses here will tend to be more expensive - many will be right around your maximum price. There are a lot of northern transplants there, so you might find a more liberal community there. It is also convenient to Atlanta and has major shopping centers like North Point Mall.

Cumming is growing very quickly. I figure you'll be looking in the South Forsyth area, which is very white and affluent, full of people who moved there from other areas of the metro and also Northerners. It has been a conservative stronghold and though many people are moving in, it remains that way.

I am not sure if you considered Duluth or Johns Creek, but I'll just add that to the mix. There are nice areas of Duluth primarily to the west along Peachtree Industrial. Berkeley Lake and Peachtree Corners (near Norcross) are two other areas that jump out. Schools are all pretty solid in these areas. Johns Creek which is right west of Duluth in Fulton County has some of the best schools in the state and also has lots of displaced northerners, along with many Asians.

[ohiomomof3]

Thanks so much for your thoughts... so much to think about... I will look into those areas!!!

[BobKovacs]

You're not going to "get stoned" as a democrat, but you're going to be in the minority, that's for sure. I've found it best just to stay out of political discussions altogether, which alleviates the issue. It'll be something that you'll deal with at work more than at home, IMO, anyway, so I wouldn't base my decision on where to buy on my political views.

Regarding Alpharetta and Cumming, the important thing to look at is his route to work. There aren't many great east-west roads heading toward Duluth, so he could be in for a crappy commute.

[billl]

Originally Posted by ohiomomof3

For high schools we have it narrowed to Northview, South Forsyth and North Gwinnett (which was our least favorite of the 3). Our price range can go up to $500,000.

Northview is in Johns Creek. If you buy in Alpharetta you child will probably be going to Alpharetta or Milton High. There is also a brand new school opening up in Johns Creek called Johns Creek High School. This fall will be its first year.

All of North Fulton contains excellent schools: Northview, Chattahoochee, Alpharetta, Milton. It's hard to go wrong. South Forsyth is also getting some notoriety as an excellent school.

Of course I'm going to say that our neighborhood, Cambridge, is the best.

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Regarding Alpharetta and Cumming, the important thing to look at is his route to work. There aren't many great east-west roads heading toward Duluth, so he could be in for a crappy commute.

When my wife worked in Lawrenceville her commute was reasonable. Alpharetta/Johns Creek to Duluth is a "reverse" commute. Most of the traffic is heading in the other direction (unless that has changed significantly in the past year or two). There are of course still congestion points, but it isn't bumper to bumper for the whole drive.

[ohiomomof3]

Thanks Bob and Bill... so glad I found this forum. How lucky north Atlanta is to have so many excellent schools/great neighborhoods, but it makes our work to narrow it down, so much harder. Curious... where is the Cambridge neighborhood you live in, Bob?

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

You're not going to "get stoned" as a democrat, but you're going to be in the minority, that's for sure. I've found it best just to stay out of political discussions altogether, which alleviates the issue. It'll be something that you'll deal with at work more than at home, IMO, anyway, so I wouldn't base my decision on where to buy on my political views.

I agree with Bob's first couple of sentences. About the last part, I would be inclined to factor political views into the decision-making mix, particularly because the OP has children in school.

When we moved to metro Atlanta from Canada due to a job transfer, we had no idea of the political views down here, and that the population of some areas is much more liberal than others. We're definitely on the liberal side of the spectrum. It dawned on our child during middle school that our family's opinions on a whole lot of serious matters are positively outlandish in the view of virtually all her schoolmates' families. In our part of East Cobb it seems like over 90% are religious conservatives who wouldn't vote for a Democrat if hell was freezing over. They won't stone you, of course, but it can make a teen, in particular, feel a bit isolated if they aren't buying into that mindset.

House price range, features, school and community amenities and commuting are all very important when making a home buying decision. If I knew then what I know now I still might not be living in one of those liberal intown areas. But I'd consider it.

[ohiomomof3]

We are pretty active in the political community, here (and we're in OH, where there aren't too many Dems here either). I do think we need to at least move to a more "open" area, that is why Alpharetta is in the mix (among other reasons) as we were told Alpharetta has a lot of transplants. In your time in the area, could you recommend some towns that seem to be a little more open minded? Thanks so much!!

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by ohiomomof3

We are pretty active in the political community, here (and we're in OH, where there aren't too many Dems here either). I do think we need to at least move to a more "open" area, that is why Alpharetta is in the mix (among other reasons) as we were told Alpharetta has a lot of transplants. In your time in the area, could you recommend some towns that seem to be a little more open minded? Thanks so much!!

Since I wrote on this point I'll share what I know, but I'm hoping others better informed about the north-east metro will contribute, since I'm not going to be a whole lot of help. Atlanta has some decidedly "blue" areas ITP ("inside the perimeter") including gentrified eastside areas such as Candler Park and Inman Park, and the City of Decatur. From what people write about them on this forum, those places sound really attractive. However they have pricy housing and I think the reverse commute to Duluth would be too much.

Of the three choices in the thread title (Suwanee, Alpharetta and Cumming) I think - as another poster mentioned - that Cumming is probably very conservative. I don't know at all about Suwanee. Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Duluth sound like they probably have more of population mix, with many transplants.

[billl]

Originally Posted by ohiomomof3

Thanks Bob and Bill... so glad I found this forum. How lucky north Atlanta is to have so many excellent schools/great neighborhoods, but it makes our work to narrow it down, so much harder. Curious... where is the Cambridge neighborhood you live in, Bob?

Actually that was me (Bill). Here's a link to the main entrance:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...,0.014527&z=16