Alpharetta GA Traffic, best suburb, and childcare (Atlanta, Woodstock: 2014, apartments) - Georgia - City-Data Forum

Bellainoz67 · 12-25-2013, 05:34 PM

Hi All,

I'm considering moving to Alpharetta due to the amount of jobs there and well it is close to the mountains and Disneyland ect. I've already found a few jobs I can apply for. Talks of nightmare traffic have me wondering though. Is it really that bad within the city itself? I have a 11 year old who will be attending middle school and I like the thought of just being a few minutes away if something were to happen as opposed to say commuting from Cumming or Suwanee.

Also, are the neighbourhoods safe enough to let him ride his bike to school? I'm looking for a Mayberry type of place but with lots of shopping.

I've heard Windward is pretty nice and I like the swimming pool and slide and all the tennis courts...although the dues seem pretty steep.

Anyway, any help on the traffic angle would be great. I think I would be willing to put up with a bit of a hassle with traffic in town as opposed to being 15 miles away from my job and my son's school.

Also, what do people do with the kids that are 11 years old during the summer time as far as childcare in Alpharetta. Are there any good programs for them there?

Thanks for your help!

Barb

flyonpa · 12-25-2013, 05:56 PM

If you are going to work in the "City" You will be 45min from work back to Windward/Suwanee Area. (Going up to Suwanee there is a Toll lane for (HOT) on I85 you can pay to be on that theoretically will move you a bit fast on I85.
GA400/I85 is slow during rush hours 3p-7p. I would look for work in the North Fulton/South Forsyth/Gwinnett areas

Forsyth (Cumming) does 100% busing to School, Middle school Starts at 9a, I think all the MS have drop off starting between 730-745a, The kids can go to the library (With a pass gotten day before) or sit in the cafeteria and have breakfast and hang out with friends, Also Club/Sports/Extra Help are also done before school Classes end @ 415p.

There are Summer camps/Sports Camps (Day) run by Parks/Rec, YMCA, Private (ie soccer club, football club etc). That target the middle school market. Slots on them fill up fast, so you need to get the signup as soon as the set the schedules, (I think mid Feb/March). School end around 5/23/2014 and Starts 8/7/2014

Opps... I saw "City" I Thought in the "City" of Atlanta area. Going from Any of the North Fulton Cities (Alpharetta, Johns Creek etc. ) would not be a problem getting up to school in 15 mins or so. You learn the back road/ Side roads to get around most of the choke points.

flyonpa · 12-25-2013, 05:58 PM

btw: Disneyland is in California (Orange County) 3,000 miles away, DisneyWorld is in Orlando FL, about 500 miles away.

rianaardis · 12-25-2013, 07:45 PM

We just moved to Alpharetta from NY this summer, and love it here. DH works on Windward, and I work from home (love my commute, lol!), so due to what we were hearing about traffic, we looked for a house in Alpharetta/John's Creek/Suwanee. It's a great area, tons of families, lots of kids, great shopping and a lot of activities, it's a very family oriented area. I didn't have time to look into day camps and things like that over the summer as we moved right in the middle, but will be looking for that type of thing for this summer, I think from what I have heard, there are a lot of 1-2 week programs (mainly sports related), and then some camps, like the ones run by the YMCA. My husband's coworker put her two middle school boys in the camp run at Lifetime Fitness, they loved it, but I know it was pretty expensive for her. I don't know about biking to school, just because of the traffic volume, but my oldest is only 5th grade, so maybe for older kids? The community we live in, the kids bike and skateboard all over though, it's very safe within the subdivisions for the most part. Good luck!!

gerrythesnake · 12-25-2013, 08:01 PM

Where will you be working?

Bellainoz67 · 08-03-2014, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rianaardis

We just moved to Alpharetta from NY this summer, and love it here. DH works on Windward, and I work from home (love my commute, lol!), so due to what we were hearing about traffic, we looked for a house in Alpharetta/John's Creek/Suwanee. It's a great area, tons of families, lots of kids, great shopping and a lot of activities, it's a very family oriented area. I didn't have time to look into day camps and things like that over the summer as we moved right in the middle, but will be looking for that type of thing for this summer, I think from what I have heard, there are a lot of 1-2 week programs (mainly sports related), and then some camps, like the ones run by the YMCA. My husband's coworker put her two middle school boys in the camp run at Lifetime Fitness, they loved it, but I know it was pretty expensive for her. I don't know about biking to school, just because of the traffic volume, but my oldest is only 5th grade, so maybe for older kids? The community we live in, the kids bike and skateboard all over though, it's very safe within the subdivisions for the most part. Good luck!!

Hi,

Just wondering how you are finding living in the Alpharetta area? We decided on Florida and I have been living here a couple of months and, while the area is nice…it's just not what I am looking for. There are no jobs to speak of other than retail really unless you drive to Orlando which is a good 45 minute drive away or Melbourne.

So I am looking at moving up to Alpharetta GA end of May next year once my son finishes 6th grade. I work in data entry and there seem to be so many jobs there which has me excited. I've been reading up on Stone Mountain and Blue Ridge Mountain and it looks really beautiful!

Did you manage to find a good, safe family area and are there any that you recommend? How are you finding the traffic around Alpharetta/Johns Creek/Milton?

I would love to get to know someone before we moved up! :-)

flyonpa · 08-03-2014, 12:39 PM

What Price range are you looking for? Buy/Rent Apt/TownHouse/House?

What other income do you have coming in? My Feeling is SingleParent, with a DataEntry / Retail job would be hard for you to be in Alpharetta. There are Apartments, but I'm Not overly up on them.

Traffic can be busy/heavy depending on where you are and where you are going and time of day.

Bellainoz67 · 08-03-2014, 01:14 PM

Hi, no not a single parent..my husband works in Australia for the moment. I'll be supplementing our income with full or part-time work. My main concern would be not being bored as I am here….although I suppose its relative isn't it as to what you like. I love walking in the evenings…which the humidity here right now in Florida is cramping my style in that regard. I feel quite trapped as it is humid in the morning as well as evening. I'm thinking the cooler temps in Alpharetta (in the Fall and Spring) might be more my cup of tea as it will be similar to Kansas where I'm originally from but not quite as cold.

I'm not a beach person or a city person…rather festivals up in small country towns would be my type of pace (I love the photos of the festivals in Helen, GA). Being able to drive a few minutes to see a concert would be great….I would love to see Blake Shelton.

I think when I heard about that ice storm earlier this year in Alpharetta that put me completely off going there. But there are hurricanes that come close to Florida so they each have their drawbacks in that regard.

I will be driving up to Alpharetta in a few months to spend a few days there and possibly have a drive up through the mountains. I think that will be probably my best bet as far as knowing whether the area is going to be a good fit for our family. As Rian moved to Alpharetta,….I was just wondering how she was settling in and if she liked the area. :-)

flyonpa · 08-03-2014, 01:37 PM

Sorry, In your Post your wrote "My" son. Generally that mean SingleParents.

Alpharetta and the general area, are good family places. The school are very good. Rush hour traffic (and lunch time in some areas) can be a issue but outside of that the traffic is not bad, after a while you learn the patterns, and back roads to avoid most of it.

IceStorm are normally 1 day thing comes in, everything shuts down for the day, next day everything is back to normal.

netdragon · 08-04-2014, 04:58 PM

Get the job first, then find a place to live.

Btw, Alpharetta is not "best" depending on what you're looking for. It's a bit on the cheap side for the North metro. Pretty much everything on the perimeter and ITP is more expensive. It's also farther from things to do AND there are less jobs than, say, in the NW metro despite there being some corporate HQ there (there's a lot more in Cumberland/Vinings, Buckhead, midtown, downtown, and Perimeter Center). That's why big homes in Alpharetta, Cumming and Woodstock are so cheap for the land and square footage, btw.

So, my advice is ignore hype and find your job first, then move.