Moving to Atlanta / Alpharetta?? (Smyrna, Mableton: for sale, rent, condo)

[JamesDay]

We might be moving from British Columbia to Atlanta for a job offer.

The job is in Austell, we were thinking of moving to Alpharetta, which is roughly a 50km / 30mi commute to the place of work in question. I estimated that it would take 45 min to drive to work.

I see the property values are half those of the Lower Mainland suburbs on a $/sqft basis.
But I also noticed that if we were to move from the greater Atlanta area to another area, it would take very long to actually sell the house there.

Crime rate seems manageable in Alpharetta. It looks like the closest quality of life to where we currently live.
I've read many horror stories about Atlanta itself. But I have a feeling that living in Alpharetta, and not having to commute into Atlanta, is not bad at all.

I read a sticky thread recommending the following to be specified for better feedback:
1. Budget
If you mean offered salary, in the 65-70K range.

2. House/Condo/Townhome?
House, or maybe a townhome.

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home)
Mentioned above, a 30mi / 50km commute.

4. Children(public school vs. private)
Private.

5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two
Suburban, family-oriented, safe.

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not?
Easy access to public transit is much preferred, but not mandatory.

7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood.
We prefer nice and polite people, regardless of age, race or religion.
People we prefer to avoid are violent/aggressive, not minding their own business, creepy, etc.
We're a peaceful family that try to live with as much peace of mind as we can.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Emily314]

If I'm not mistaken, it will take you much longer than 45 mins to get to work in Austell from Alpharetta. It takes 45 mins. just to get from Alpharetta to 285 some days--especially if it's raining. Hopefully someone on here has first-hand experience commuting that route every day, but I believe it would take you an hour-and-a-half on a good day; if there's an accident or if it's raining, probably closer to 2 hours. That gets old real quick (for me, anyway).

[Mattie]

Yup, although the quality of life in Alpharetta is good, the commute would kill you. Stick to Cobb County.

[RainyRainyDay]

James, your idea is like accepting a job in Port Coquitlam and deciding to move to Richmond (the west side) -- except the traffic in metro Atlanta is much worse than in metro Vancouver, and PoCo-to-Richmond is a little shorter than Austell-to-Alpharetta.

OK, so maybe you wouldn't want to live in Austell, but just as in my Lower Mainland analogy, there are plenty of places as nice as Alpharetta, that are one heck of a lot closer to Austell. As Mattie suggested, consider other parts of Cobb County, i.e. (depending on your wish list), Smyrna/Vinings, West Cobb, East Cobb.

Take a look at the first couple of posts on the "sticky" thread about moving, and then reply to this thread giving us the answers to the questions there (budget, children, etc.) and we can give you some better suggestions.

BTW, my screen name is because I moved to metro Atlanta from Prince Rupert. I've spent more of my life in metro Vancouver than anywhere else (lived in the West End, Richmond and Coquitlam at different times). I really do know whereof I speak. Moving down here is quite a change, but I and others here are happy to answer questions.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by JamesDay

The job is in Austell, we were thinking of moving to Alpharetta, which is roughly a 50km / 30mi commute to the place of work in question. I estimated that it would take 45 min to drive to work.

Unless you're going to be driving off hours or doing a lot of telecommuting, I suspect an Alpharetta<->Austell commute would be an interesting one.

I-285 (the perimeter freeway) may not be that bad westbound towards I-75 and isn't too bad once you get past the I-285/I-75 junction and head south, and the E/W Connector and/or Veterans Memorial Highway from 285 to Austell will probably not be that bad either (you'll be doing a reverse commute between 285 and Austell itself), but I suspect as others have said that the segment from Alpharetta to 285 will be a more challenging one, since you will be travelling south to access the perimeter freeway just like everyone else, and that area is *packed* with commuter traffic.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

James, your idea is like accepting a job in Port Coquitlam and deciding to move to Richmond (the west side) -- except the traffic in metro Atlanta is much worse than in metro Vancouver, and PoCo-to-Richmond is a little shorter than Austell-to-Alpharetta.

OK, so maybe you wouldn't want to live in Austell, but just as in my Lower Mainland analogy, there are plenty of places as nice as Alpharetta, that are one heck of a lot closer to Austell. As Mattie suggested, consider other parts of Cobb County, i.e. (depending on your wish list), Smyrna/Vinings, West Cobb, East Cobb.

Take a look at the first couple of posts on the "sticky" thread about moving, and then reply to this thread giving us the answers to the questions there (budget, children, etc.) and we can give you some better suggestions.

BTW, my screen name is because I moved to metro Atlanta from Prince Rupert. I've spent more of my life in metro Vancouver than anywhere else (lived in the West End, Richmond and Coquitlam at different times). I really do know whereof I speak. Moving down here is quite a change, but I and others here are happy to answer questions.

Listen to this lady, James...she is dead on in her observations. And her suggestions as far as suburbs that are commutable to Austell are as well.

[BobKovacs]

Yeah....Alpharetta to Austell is a really bad idea. On the best day you're likely looking at an hour+ commute,and on many you could be closer to 1.5. There's no easy way to "get there from here".

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by JamesDay

1. Budget
If you mean offered salary, in the 65-70K range.

2. House/Condo/Townhome?
House, or maybe a townhome.

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home)
Mentioned above, a 30mi / 50km commute.

4. Children(public school vs. private)
Private.

5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two
Suburban, family-oriented, safe.

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not?
Easy access to public transit is much preferred, but not mandatory.

7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood.
We prefer nice and polite people, regardless of age, race or religion.
People we prefer to avoid are violent/aggressive, not minding their own business, creepy, etc.
We're a peaceful family that try to live with as much peace of mind as we can.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Hi again, I see you added some info to your first post.

"Budget" on the sticky actually refers to purchase price of a home, or monthly budget for renting, I believe. However, since you provided salary instead, I think unless there's a second family income or substantial capital resources, you likely could not afford to put even one child in private school. Sorry to be blunt, but right here on City-Data you can read that median household income for Alpharetta in 2008 was $96K, and around $90K or above for all the "nicer" zip codes in Cobb.

On the other hand, housing costs here are vastly less than in the Lower Mainland. If you are selling a home up there, that may yield a relatively large downpayment for a home in the Atlanta suburbs. Also, if you really do intend to put your child(ren) into private school, then locations of suitable schools would be a factor as well. Would you be looking at any particular kinds of private school (e.g. Roman Catholic, non-religious, etc.)?

[sportsterjohn]

As others have mentioned, Alpharetta to Austell would be undoable. The Austell area itself is pretty undesirable. You may consider going a bit west and look at Douglasville or Hiram.

[JamesDay]

Sounds like Alpharetta is a bad idea.

Are any of you familiar with Mableton?
It's just north of where I'd be working.

For example, if you do a google maps search for this address:
5631 VININGS PLACE TRL
Which is a house for sale, that would be a nice location in terms of commuting (6 miles from work), and the house is nice and affordable.

Would this be a family-oriented area, with a very low crime rate, no risk of floods, etc. I read about last year's flood in Austell, would this area have been affected? It seems a bit higher in altitude, around 600 ft.
How about the Blackhawk Hills or Cherokee Hills areas, which are nearby, and even a bit closer to where I'd work.

Thanks again for your help!