If Buford/Dacula are exurbs... (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: good schools, live, safe)

[AJ1972]

...then which cities here are considered suburbs (not exurbs), and also safe with good schools? Thanks.

[aries4118]

Buford and Dacula are no longer "exurbs." They are bona-fide suburbs now (since the late 1990's).

[AJ1972]

Oh ok, thanks

[FromGA]

I would say Buford and Dacula are far out suburbs of the city of Atlanta. They are both over 35 miles from city center. On the Buford/Dacula side of Atlanta metro -- Lawerenceville, Duluth, Alpharetta, Marietta, Snellville are closer suburbs. However Buford and Dacula are probably self sufficient areas.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by AJ1972

...then which cities here are considered suburbs (not exurbs), and also safe with good schools? Thanks.

Originally Posted by aries4118

Buford and Dacula are no longer "exurbs." They are bona-fide suburbs now (since the late 1990's).

Yes, but on another thread the OP, who's in the area on a look-see visit from out-of-state, I believe, was expressing surprise that Buford and Dacula seemed a bit rural for their expectations. In the context of the other thread, OP is most likely needing directions to some closer-in type suburbs.

AJ - Asking about "cities" may not get you quite the answer you're looking for, in the metro Atlanta area. Substantial portions of our closer-in suburbs are unincorporated. This doesn't mean they're less desirable or less well serviced. They simply get all the usual city type services from the county. I'm thinking particularly of the East Cobb (eastern Cobb county) area where I live, and which is widely considered a very desirable suburb. East Cobb mailing addresses variously have Marietta, Roswell or Kennesaw as the "city" name, but the addresses are outside those incorporated cities.

If you're looking for northside suburbs a little closer-in and more urbanized than Dacula and Buford, I'd add Roswell, East Cobb, John's Creek and (further in) Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Smyrna and Vinings to the list provided by a previous poster.

[DeadInSuburbia]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Buford and Dacula are no longer "exurbs." They are bona-fide suburbs now (since the late 1990's).

Chamblee is a suburb. Dacula is an exurb.

Holy cow, do you believe what you wrote? Seriously?

Atlanta is way too %#$% $%@ big.

[noah]

Based on what has been said so far I guess you'd have to define exburb. It seems to some to mean more rural then suburbs and to others to mean further out (ie 35 miles from town). I've always thought it to mean far out, distance from town.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by DeadInSuburbia

Chamblee is a suburb. Dacula is an exurb.

Holy cow, do you believe what you wrote? Seriously?

Atlanta is way too %#$% $%@ big.

Your statement is correct (see highlighted above)...if it's 1995.


Dacula is now a suburb...people (and you) may not like it and it may not be a good thing, but it is. Atlanta expanded out there...especially in the late 1990's/early-mid 2000's.


(And Chamblee is an inner suburb.)

[DeaconJ]

Some other Atlanta suburbs: Alpharetta, Marietta, Smyrna, Douglasville, Conyers, Stone Mountain, Riverdale, Stockbridge, McDonough, Peachtree City, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Mableton, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Canton.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by noah

Based on what has been said so far I guess you'd have to define exburb. It seems to some to mean more rural then suburbs and to others to mean further out (ie 35 miles from town). I've always thought it to mean far out, distance from town.

In this day and age, we're all really talking about two sides of the same coin. An "exurb" is often just defined as an outer suburb. Other definitions mention the outer band where people live that commute to the inner/quasi-inner metro core. And still other definitions say that there must be an expanse or band of rural countryside between the suburbs and exurbs.

I personally think that exurbs are really just outer suburbs. Here's an idea--maybe, as an official thing for us Metro Atlantans , we can call the truly rural-like areas of the outer Metro Atlanta counties exurbs(where the closer-in parts of these counties/adjacent counties are definitely suburban). Thinking along the lines of North Cherokee, North+Central Bartow, West Paulding, Carroll County, South Coweta, Meriwether County, Spalding County, Butts County, Jasper County, East Newton, Central+East Walton, Barrow County, Jackson County, Central+North Hall, North Forsyth, Dawson County.


Commuter town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Blurb about exurb)

Commuter town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia