Boston to Atlanta relo (Sandy Springs, Marietta: condo, townhome, employment)

[BostontoAtlanta]

Job opportunity for my husband in downtown Atlanta has us seriously considering a relocation from Boston suburbs. I would welcome some feedback given our info below on areas that would be best fit. Thanks so much!

1. Budget: Under $475K
2. House/Condo/Townhome?: Single family house
3. Employment Status(commute/work from home): Commute to downtown (near Phillips Arena)
4. Children(public school vs. private): Children ages 7 and 5 (preferably public schools)
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two: Mix of the two ideally, not too cookie cutter but do want such amenities as two car garage, nice yard (room for kids and dogs to play), safe neighborhood, not out in the country but not too urban either.
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? I don't know if public transportation is an option but willing to consider if traffic is unbearable; nice to have the option.
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. Not looking for any specific demographic; just safe and friendly community with lots of recreational opportunities for an active family.

What else? We like bike riding, tennis, swimming, parks, dog walks, access to restaurants that aren't all chains; excellent public school system is key. Commute is a consideration of course so keeping it under an hour door to door is goal; want to be realistic about it.

Some folks have recommended Sandy Springs and Dunwoody; another recommended Marietta; another said Virginia Highlands?

[Iconographer]

Based on your criteria, I think Virginia-Highland would be kind of tough on your budget...you'll get the least bang for the buck, and amenities such as a two-car garage and a large yard are hard to come by there.
I would rank the rest as follows:

Marietta (IF you are concentrating on the East Cobb area of Marietta)
Dunwoody
Sandy Springs (really about a tie w/Dunwoody)

All are good places to conduct your search.

[BostontoAtlanta]

Thanks for the feedback and rankings. What kind of commute would those options entail to downtown (Phillips Arena) during peak and off-peak times?

[bikefrontier]

Fellow Boston-ish to Atlanta person here. Grew up in Attleboro. Moved here a few years back.

I second what LovinDecatur says. Finding something under 475k with 2 car garage and a large yard in Virginia Highlands would be almost impossible (although that neighborhood is my favorite). Marietta, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody would all be good choices for you. About a 35 - 40 minute commute (with traffic) for any of those locations (Dunwoody might be a little bit shorter).

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by akress

Fellow Boston-ish to Atlanta person here. Grew up in Attleboro. Moved here a few years back.

I second what LovinDecatur says. Finding something under 475k with 2 car garage and a large yard in Virginia Highlands would be almost impossible (although that neighborhood is my favorite). Marietta, Sandy Springs, and Dunwoody would all be good choices for you. About a 35 - 40 minute commute (with traffic) for any of those locations (Dunwoody might be a little bit shorter).

Not to mention that from Dunwoody and North Springs you will have the option of commuting by train, whereas you won't from Marietta OP.

[neil0311]

BostonToAtlanta...what town do you live in now? Using Mass as the example, what town in Mass would you like to live in? I moved here from Mass and can try to make a comparison for you.

Most of the Atlanta area is similar to parts of Framingham and Natick around Route 9, or parts of Norwood around Route 1, or New Hampshire around Nashua and DW Hwy. You don't have the true bedroom communities here as you do in New England. You have a suburban setting in places like Dunwoody and Marietta, with subdivisions and planned communities. Not much of that in New England.

I live in the west Cobb side of Marietta, which doesn't have the very high end homes like east Cobb has, but has a nice mix of newer homes built in the last 5 to 10 years, many very nice and every bit as nice as east Cobb. One of the high schools in east Cobb is very good and better than west Cobb but very competitive, while the other high schools are very good and pretty much on a par. Kennesaw is another community just north of Marietta that is a little more suburban but also has some very nice homes and many northern refugees.

Dunwoody is a more established community that grew up in the 1970s as ex-NYers started moving south. Homes are a bit smaller and older (30+ years) for the Atlanta area but very nice and fewer subdivisions with homes being single homes with street frontage. The area just incorporated into a city and has its own city government, with a decent high school. You have public transit very close as well.

[BostontoAtlanta]

Presently live in south shore area but not beach front; not that there's much of that in Atlanta I suppose. We do like the area and size of homes in established neighborhoods where trees are a bit more mature, but admit that the cost of living is exorbitant.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by BostontoAtlanta

Presently live in south shore area but not beach front; not that there's much of that in Atlanta I suppose. We do like the area and size of homes in established neighborhoods where trees are a bit more mature, but admit that the cost of living is exorbitant.

Yeah, you won't find the same type of neighborhoods as places like Braintree, Weymouth, and you'd have to go further out to be like Abington, Whitman, Hanson, etc. It's really apples and oranges.

[DreamKeeper]

I have lived in Sandy Springs for almost 5 years now and really like it. There are a lot of people around the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody area that are originally from the North East. Both Sandy Springs and Dunwoody are pretty safe and there are a lot of nice established neighborhoods. Also, lots of nice restaurants and shopping around the those areas. I'm not sure what the commute time would be from Sandy Springs to Philips arena, but I can commute to the heart of Buckhead during rush hour in about 20 minutes so I'm thinking maybe about 40 minutes to Phillips Arena. I usually don't do the freeway though, I take a lot of back roads that are much less traveled and it works out pretty well for me. The other thing is from Sandy Springs/Dunwoody you can catch the Marta train and take it all the way to Phillips Arena if your husband would rather do the train thing.

Also, to me Sandy Springs kind of has a slight urban suburban feel to it where as Marietta is full on suburban. To me there is just a little more going on and a slightly cooler vibe in Sandy Springs compared to some of the more northern suburbs. Also, the neighborhoods are more established here and not as cookie cutter as you find when you go further out.

[DreamKeeper]

Also, you might want to check out the Sandy Springs/Perimeter Guide Book here:

Sandy Springs Guide Book (http://www.pubman.net/imags/ss2009/start.htm - broken link)

It might give you an idea of what the area is like. Unfortunately, they put the book in one of those 3d flip page formats which I kind of find annoying but it is readable and you may also be able to contact the Sandy Springs Chamber of Commerce and get a hard copy of the guide book.