Living in North Fulton vs North Gwinnett (and lets throw in South Forsyth) (Atlanta: sale, house)

[EastCoast2GA]

Hi everyone,

I'm a northerner looking to move down to the Atlanta area with my family. I've hooked up with a local Realtor who's trying to help me out.

I'm looking for good schools, good area for families, and close to I-85. Not sure where I will work but I'd like to be under 15 miles or so and seems like many companies are in Alpharetta/Norcross. I'm keeping the search restricted to the following high school clusters:

North Fulton- Northview, Alpharetta, Chatachoochee, Milton, Centennial

North Gwinnett- Duluth, Peachtree Ridge, North Gwinnett, Collins Hill

and my agent is pushing me to look into South Forsyth (Cumming- Lambert HS) but I read there were some racial tensions there before.

What do you all think of those HS and areas, in particular Alpharetta and Suwanee?

[herr bear]

A friend of mine recently moved from suwanee to Alpharetta. He says that he likes the Alpharetta schools better.

[Mattie]

Alpharetta is great, but not if you regularly need to get over to 85. The rule of thumb in picking a neighborhood is, job first, house second. That can save you a world of commute pain.

[ericsonga]

The schools in northern Gwinnett and Fulton are both excellent. Some prefer one over the other, but that's a choice you would have to make. As far as being close to 85, obviously Gwinnett will be much faster. Most of the highways that cross the river, and I believe all in north Fulton are two lane and back up beyond belief in the mornings. However, you don't have a job? So that point may be moot if you get a job in Alpharetta/John's Creek.

[OhioNative]

Originally Posted by EastCoast2GA

What do you all think of those HS and areas, in particular Alpharetta and Suwanee?

If you need to be close to I-85, I would stick to the east side of the river, meaning the Gwinnett side. I would recommend Suwanee, the North Gwinnett cluster, which is on the west side of I-85. Just make sure that if you buy a house in the North Gwinnett cluster that you are not in an area that will move to the new high school cluster (Lanier) in the fall. BTW, the racial issues in Forsyth are from years ago when it was rural - now it is very suburban and largely indistinguishable from North Fulton.

[EastCoast2GA]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

If you need to be close to I-85, I would stick to the east side of the river, meaning the Gwinnett side. I would recommend Suwanee, the North Gwinnett cluster, which is on the west side of I-85. Just make sure that if you buy a house in the North Gwinnett cluster that you are not in an area that will move to the new high school cluster (Lanier) in the fall. BTW, the racial issues in Forsyth are from years ago when it was rural - now it is very suburban and largely indistinguishable from North Fulton.

Thanks for commenting on Forsyth. You were the only person to even reference it.

Here's the deal. I'm probably going to be working from home and my wife will most likely have to commute. We still own a house here so we need to sell that. We didn't want to start the sale process here yet until we found a place to make an offer on. Since my wife will have to commute (and maybe even me if I change my job) we looked at where most of the companies are hiring.

Correct me if I'm wrong but there seems to be quite of bit of jobs in Alpharetta. Not much in the city of Atlanta and everything seems spread around the perimeter. So we're assuming if we do get jobs, it would most likely be in the Alpharetta/Norcross area. That's why we're looking at the areas I mentioned in my first post.

[brettk]

I am not sure of what your wife's job is, but there could be jobs anywhere really- depending on industry, profession, timing, etc. My wife and I moved when I got a job- and she hadn't had one at the time. We moved near my job and so she essentially had to look for jobs in that area and essentially rule everything else out (based on traffic). We were living in Duluth, so she basically concentrated on Gwinnett county only.

You're obviously in a little different situation as you work from home, but if you're going to move down here before she has a job I would just target an area you like- and then look for jobs around that area.

I would also add that the problems in Forsyth are a thing of the past.

[EastCoast2GA]

Originally Posted by brettk

I am not sure of what your wife's job is, but there could be jobs anywhere really- depending on industry, profession, timing, etc. My wife and I moved when I got a job- and she hadn't had one at the time. We moved near my job and so she essentially had to look for jobs in that area and essentially rule everything else out (based on traffic). We were living in Duluth, so she basically concentrated on Gwinnett county only.

You're obviously in a little different situation as you work from home, but if you're going to move down here before she has a job I would just target an area you like- and then look for jobs around that area.

I would also add that the problems in Forsyth are a thing of the past.

Thanks Brett. I think that's what we'll have to do. So now just trying to figure out exactly what areas to narrow it to. Seems like anywhere I go, traffic is going to bite me. Thats part of the reason we're moving from NY. 30 miles takes it toll on you. But then again, thats only 30-45 mins. From what I'm reading, 30-45 mins might only get me to travel 5-10 miles in atlanta traffic hehe.

And about South Forsyth, quite honestly I guess I'm just not feeling it. I guess I dont feel comfortable enough with the racial tolerance. I feel like North Fulton and North Gwinnett might be more tolerant. But again, thats just a gut feeling.

[OhioNative]

Originally Posted by EastCoast2GA

Thanks Brett. I think that's what we'll have to do. So now just trying to figure out exactly what areas to narrow it to. Seems like anywhere I go, traffic is going to bite me. Thats part of the reason we're moving from NY. 30 miles takes it toll on you. But then again, thats only 30-45 mins. From what I'm reading, 30-45 mins might only get me to travel 5-10 miles in atlanta traffic hehe.

And about South Forsyth, quite honestly I guess I'm just not feeling it. I guess I dont feel comfortable enough with the racial tolerance. I feel like North Fulton and North Gwinnett might be more tolerant. But again, thats just a gut feeling.

There is really not any difference between North Fulton, the Suwanee area of North Gwinnett, and South Forsyth - they are all basically suburban areas that run into each other - in fact, a large part of the Suwanee (30024) zip code is in Forsyth County. All of these areas were very rural and segregated not too many years ago - Forsyth was just more blatant about it. The rural aspect of these areas is long gone. Also, when you say the "Alpharetta/Norcross" area, realize that they are two very different areas that aren't really that close to one another, Norcross being in West Gwinnett, near DeKalb County.

[Carolinagal1995]

I like Suwanee, because it is close to I85 and easily accesible to other parts of the Atlanta Metro. The schools in Peachtree Ridge are top notch and are always in the news receiving recognition. Also, Suwanee was named one of Money Magazine's top 10 places to live. Also, it costs less than Alpharetta and South Forsyth.