Tell Me About Johns Creek! (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: transplants, to rent, home)

[bostonbaby]

Hi dear chata friends! we have decided we would like to rent for a while close to our friends in Duluth.

Is Johns Creek ok? I've seen the postings and they say it has good schools, is this a nice area? is not? we are from Boston so we don't know a thing!

We have 2 boys one 10 and one 2 years old, we need something with good schools for the oldest.

Question: is Johns Creek the same as Duluth or is another city?

Thanks!

[jxu66]

Johns Creek just became official city last year. Right now, its zipcode are Duluth 30097 and Alpharatta 30022. But in June, it will have Johns Creek 30097 and Johns Creek 30022.

It is highly desirable neighborhood since it has two highly ranked high schools (Chattohoochee and Northview, both schools are top ranked five in Atlanta area) and they are in process to build third new high school between those two.

Very wealthy neighborhood and sometimes people called them "Yuppies heaven". If you come from boston, think Newton, MA.

There is whole's Food on the border Duluth/Johns Creek. Another trader's Joe is in Peachtree Corner (West Norcross) that's just south of Johns Creek. There is another healthy upscale Korea store called Super H Mart that plans to open on Abbotts Bridge Road. There are a lot of shopping options: NorthPoint Mall, Perimeter Mall (Dunwoody) is not very far away.

[bostonbaby]

Thanks for the comparison! Newton is a wonderful area to raise your kids here in Boston. We live in the North Shore of Boston, beautiful and expensive.

As far as adult activities, is it fun for the parents as well? How far away is it from Buckhead? we like city life as well.

Also are this nice schools public? or is like Florida that people talk about good schools but most of them are private ones?

How about health care in Johns Creek?

thanks for the advice,. I'm happy that I found this place, we where checking into Snady Springs and looks way more expensive.

Are schools in Sandy Springs better? thanks

[jxu66]

Northview and Chattohoochee are public schools. I means to say they are ranked top five public schools in Atlanta. Most parents in that area sent their kids to those schools. The only private school near that area is Woodward Academy which is only K-8.

Emory just opened Emory Johns Creek last year. There is Northside hospital within its limit. There is new Gwinnett Duluth hospital nearby. There are many medical professionals. Both my family doctor and eye doctor are located in Johns Creek.

The downside is traffic. It is going to be long drive to Buckhead.

I could be wrong. I believed many Sandy Spring parents sent their kids to private schools since there are more private schools on that side. It is also shorter drive to Buckhead.

[bostonbaby]

Thanks for answering, so this means that one night if we want to go out to Buckhead it will be a looongg drive?

What about if we want to go to the theater ( is there a theater in Atlanta??) or a concert...

Is it too far if we live in Johns Creek?

[jxu66]

The good thing is that there is Concert venue called Arena at Gwinnett nearby. That's also within 30097 zipcode. There are many big names concerts performed there (http://www.gwinnettcenter.com/, Kelly Clarkson, Justin TimberLake). Alpharatta/Johns Creek also plans to create a performance art center. Don't know what's latest on that.

As for Buckhead, I image that's 40 to 45 minutes drive. Another option is to take train at North Spring station. I know many people who work in downtown (that's 1 hour+) and live in this neighborhood due to its convenience and its schools.

[bostonbaby]

My son is 10, he is in 4th grade. What are exactly the names of the A schools I should be looking for?
Every time I see the listings they send me they have different schools, we want but the best!
thanks

[jxu66]

You should visit several elementary schools and find a match for your kid. Most schools that feed to Northview and Chattohoochee high are pretty good. All of them are among top 50 elementary schools in Georgia (Wilson Creek, Abbott Hill, Findley Oak, Shakerag, Medlock bridge, Barnwell, Ocee).

I don't have personal experience, but I hear from friends that Shakerag elementary is the best in Johns Creek. But don't take that as gospel. Visit the schools and find the right match.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by bostonbaby

As far as adult activities, is it fun for the parents as well? How far away is it from Buckhead? we like city life as well.

I had to laugh when I read this part because it reminds me of the biggest thing about John's Creek - controversy.

Right before they officially became a city, a guy opened up a store (part of a chain) called the "Love Shack". Now it's not an adult porn shop, but it's more like one of those novelty stores that sells love lotions, gag gifts, adult greeting cards, naughty nighties, and stuff like that. It's in a brick shopping center and doesn't stand out as an adult business other than the sign with their name.

It was all over the news and still is to this day. The Mayor of John's Creek has made it his personal goal in life to make sure this place gets shut down (but so far it's still open). The controversy is that they made such an incredibly huge deal over it and still do to this day. The very moment they became an official city and their council was in effect - at midnight on the first day - they held an "emergency meeting" (with media) to try to figure out how to close the Love Shack. Not about public services. Not about setting up their own police and fire departments, or not about park space or anything else... just how to shut down an adult novelty shop. One of my friends told me that a joke about it was even cracked on the Jay Leno show but I didn't see it so can't confirm that, but basically the point is that they started off being a city with the image of being full of uppity prudish type people who have their priorities extremely out of whack (and maybe still do since it's an ongoing controversy?).

So if you're going to rent and plan to move to a home later it really doesn't matter about local politics that much. But if you plan on buying you have to decide if you want your tax dollars supporting a town that puts more emphasis on closing an adult novelty store than it does on public services. They also voted recently on discontinuing their 1% tax support for MARTA (Atlanta's public transit) in a few years rather than to continue it... once that goes into effect if they don't change their minds, public transit service will stop in that area.

Not meant to be political. It's just when stuff like this makes media attention around the country it is a valid thing to consider when moving into an area regarding whether you want your tax dollars supporting city leadership like that. If you do it's a great place, but if it seems a bit odd, then the money is best spent elsewhere like Roswell. Also consider the Dunwoody, or if your budget allows, Brookhaven areas which are nice.

[Philagirl]

I'm moving to Johns Creek this summer, so I can only tell you what I've learned in my past visits, and what people who live there have told me.

First, definitely visit the schools. I must have talked to at least a dozen or so parents at several elementary schools that feed into Northview. They all love them. I don't recall hearing one complaint, and this impressed me because they were all transplants who had moved from states with pretty good public schools. Shakerag happened to be my favorite, so that's where we bought and where our kids will go. But people I talked with rave about all the schools that feed into Northview, so I really don't know if you can go wrong.

I don't know what schools are like in the Boston area, but I can tell you how Shakerag (I remember most from my visit to Shakerag) compared to my highly rated elementary school in suburban Philadelphia. First, the class size was much smaller. (A full day kindergarten class I saw at Shakerag had 18 students - with one teacher, one assistant, compared to the half-day K class here that has 26 students and one teacher.) Second, in our local elementary school there are no extracurricular activities, at Shakerag there were several. I was also more impressed by the curriculum at Shakerag than our elementary school here.

If you plan on sending your little one to preschool, start calling around now. There aren't enough preschools to go around, and several of them have very long wait lists. The good news is that there is a lot of turnover due to job relocations, so I'm sure you'd get a spot somewhere by the time school starts.

Hope this helps some.