Dunwoody and or Duluth to Downtown ATL commute? (Atlanta, Decatur: fit in, home)

[irobot]

Hello All,

My wife and I are thinking about relocating to either Dunwoody or Duluth from California (Job relocation). Can anyone give us a relistic communte time projections from either or both communities? I am thinking 30 - 35 minutes from Dunwoody to downtown ATL 8 - 9 AM and the same going back 5 - 6 PM. I have no idea on the Duluth to Downtown ATL trip. I am also thinking the MARTA vrom Dunwoody would be a good option wereas there is no direct MARTA option iwht Duluth. Any thoughts would be welcomed.

IROBOT

[wxjay]

The Duluth - Downtown Atlanta commute will be very tough at 8 AM. Depending on where in Duluth you relocate, it could be anywhere from 40-60 minutes at rush hour, and the same or even worse for going back, particularly on a Friday.

IMO, Dunwoody would be a much better option for you.

[irobot]

Thank you for the input. I trust google / yahoo maps projections if I am driving at 12:00 midnight on a Sunday. Hence no traffic.

Again thank you for your opinion.

IROBOT

[lastminutemom]

I am curious (having seen your price range on the other post) why you aren't considering in-town locations like Morningside, Buckhead, etc.

[irobot]

Lastminutemom,

Thank you for doing a great job on policing posts. We looked at Buckhead early on from a commute perspective, but found the public school system in that zip code to be less than what we were willing to pay for near California prices. In short the upside of a short downtown drive / public trans wouldn't be worth it in the long range if my kids education situation is sub par.

As per Morningside, we didn't look at it all. Thank you for the head up that city community. Doing a very quick internet search I found several good points. Such as:

Morningside's elementary school scores well at 93.7 and it also has an excellent student teacher ratio 12.6.

Piedmont park was a good selling point as well. It is a little small, but twice around the big loop via the jogging map can give me the 3.x miles I need for sanity, and the pool is a plus from a weekend activity standpoint for the kids.

Lastly, the home prices from a square footage perspective was fair. Again I only performed a few quick internet based searches. My wife and I will spend some time looking at the city again

Thank you,

IROBOT

[lastminutemom]

I am going to send you a PM, but if you want that kind of run in Dunwoody (and probably Duluth) you will be running on sidewalks not though green spaces, unless you get in your car to drive. I am not sure what schools in Buckhead you looked at but the elementary schools are excellent and the middle school is becoming stronger each year and has a fabulous IB programme.

I also need to make sure your expectations are in check about public education in GA. We have many excellent schools. We spend less dollars than many places (again the lower taxes thing) and that shows. Our extras in elementary schools are often few and far between, though the City of Atlanta schools, with their higher taxes and tax base, seems to offer the most in the metro area.

Like everywhere else, GA is in the middle of a huge economic crisis and cuts to education here seem to be worse than many other places (though not CA?).

[tonygeorgia]

Just take Marta to work

[irobot]

Lastminutemom,


As per school quality I did a simple search on elementary schools in the 30307, 30342 and came up with[/font]

Garden Hills poor at 77

Smith good at 94

Sutton bad at 73

This isn't an exhaustive list but the trend isn't all that good. In general I believe suburban schools perform / test better than city schools. This is a general observation, and isn't a hard rule. Conversely, large city school districts in general have more extra enrichment programs. Nothing is perfect. If you find a good pocket in a city, you get all of the benefits of a larger park and rec system, larger libraries and plenty of Starbucks to pop into. As per taxes, CA has problems just like most other states. For me it isn't an ideological question, but a Goldie Lock's challenge. You know "This location's taxes are too high, and this location’s taxes are too low..... ahh...This community's taxes are just right!" The hard part is finding that just right location.


Again Lastminutemom you have been a wealth of information. Thank you for the trails link in another post. I'm fine with driving a bit to get the chance to burn a few calories.

Regards,

IROBOT

[FromGA]

In the midtown area, Inman Middle is a 10 on greatschools. Grady High might be the high school and it is an 8. Make sure you check into these as well.

I live not too far from Duluth, but in-town I have found Piedmont Park to be a very nice open space. (And I think Piedmont Park is close to the above mentioned schools. And I noticed your other post asking about rec spaces.)

[lastminutemom]

Generalities are never a good idea. To get the best suburban schools you really need to look at East Cobb or N. Fulton. However, I would put up STUDENTS at many in town schools against students at Walton or Northview High school anyday.

I happen to think that City of Decatur is one of the best run school systems in GA and might really be a good fit in terms of access to open spaces and recreational opportunities.

In Buckhead you left off E Rivers Elementary and Morris Brandon.

Sutton is becoming stronger each year. There has been a real sea change in attitudes about public school in Buckhead. Where people were using public only k-5 for many years, more and more people are using public k-8 and there is starting to be a trend of more and more families using N. Atlanta as well. The N. Atlanta students in the IB programme seem to be thriving and very successful and getting into great colleges.

For the record, I don't live intown, but from what you are looking for, I think you might be surprised that intown might be a good fit.