To move to Atlanta from Michigan?

[Momto8]

Welcome to Georgia!!

I live in Forsyth County also but in the southwestern part of the county in the Vickery Creek area. I would recommend this area as it is very convenient to the Alpharetta area. The schools are great - Vickery Creek Elementary and Vickery Creek Middle School. Right now my kids are going to S. Forsyth High School, but they will be building a new high school a couple of miles from our house, so they will be redistricting in a couple of years. I work on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta. It's about an 8 mile drive and it takes me about 15-20 minutes taking the back roads. I would get there probably 5 minutes sooner, but there is one back up that causes me about a 5 minute delay and I'm going during peak rush hour (7:30). I definitely try to stay off of 400 as that traffic just backs up pretty much every day (Fridays are usually the exception). I would definitely stay out of Fulton County because of the taxes.

We originally moved here from Chicago in 1993 (lived there our whole lives), and we will never go back. As much as I love Chicago, I love the weather here much better and I think it is prettier here with all the trees, etc. What everyone has told you is true, it doesn't really get much hotter here in the summer. It just lasts longer but it is very humid. Our air conditioner runs from spring till fall. You never turn it off. However, spring and fall have great weather. We have been having 80 degree weather up until about a week or so ago and then it did get cooler. Today was in the 70's!

Lake Lanier is also great. We spend just about every weekend there on my DD and son-in-law's boat and our wave runners. We start in late April and we were going up until a couple of weeks ago - mid-October.

One good thing about living in the Atlanta area, we now go to Disney all the time because it is so much closer!! We get PAPs and go 3 to 4 times a year. We only went 3 times in all the years we lived in Chicago. I would hate to go back and give up all our trips. We've also taken a lot of trips to historical towns that weren't as convenient when we lived in Chicago, like Savannah, Charleston, St. Augustine, Asheville, NC. We also went to Williamsburg and this October to Washington DC, though these cities are further.

I would look at what area your husband will be working in Alpharetta and then pick an area that is more convenient for commuting and as well as good schools. Find out also if there are alternate routes so he won't have take 400.

Good luck in whatever you decide!!

 

[4theloveofdisney]

Help! I need some input from people who have relocated with children or are living in Atlanta. My DH has received a great career oportunity in Atlanta. We would have to move our 4 DS's ages 10, 7, 6, 4. I have never seen Atlanta. The area we are looking into is Alpharetta. We have to give an answer, and I am so torn. Both our families live up here. I don't know what the weather is like down there in the summers. How are the schools? Then there's the whole selling our house this time of year and him being down there working until it sells and me being on my own with the kids until then. If anyone can give me some advice or tell me about relocating with children I would GREATLY appreciate it!!

We live just outside Atlanta. Alpharetta is a very nice area but it's also very crowded and expensive when comparing housing dollars. If at all possible, I would highly suggest you looking into the West Cobb area. Cobb schools are highly rated and the quality of life here is better than in east Cobb - just my opinion. I might get flamed for saying that - lol! You also get a better value house wise on our side of town and there are still great shops, golf courses, schools and so on. As far as weather - we have a very mild climate. We experience the change of seasons but our snow days can usually be counted on one hand. Summers are hot but don't last all that long - compared to say, Miami. It's beautiful here and as a girl who was born and raised in Ohio, I would move here in a heartbeat again! HTH~!

 

[dsanner106]

Moved from Midland Mi, 20 years ago, supposed to be here 2 years, but loved the area, weather and people.

Drew

 

[JPN4265]

You could move to either Cherokee County or Forsyth County, which are the surrounding counties to Fulton County. I actually reside in Cherokee County and not only are the property taxes less, but the county sales tax is less expensive (I think Fulton is 7% and Cherokee is 5%).


Actually the taxes in Cherokee County are 6%.

 

[JPN4265]

Thank you all for your information. I knew the friendly people on these boards would help me. Yes, the best part of moving is the proximity to the Mouse!!

What ever you do, stay away from Georgia 400!

 

[Jenn]

We are also in the process of moving to the Alpharetta area. My sister and her husband moved there from Massachusetts a year and a half ago. My mom and step-dad joined them this past summer. Now, it's our turn. My husband is taking a job that allows him to work from home, here in MA, until the school year finishes in June. Hopefully, by then we will have sold our house here and put a deposit on new construction down there. Once we move, his job will be in Norcross, but he will work from home a couple days a week. We are looking at several towns - Cumming, Duluth, and Buford for sure.

We have already seen Cumming and really like it - specifically the Vickery Creek area Momto8 was just discussing.

MomTo8 - if you are still reading this - we looked at the new Pulte Development on Drew Campground Road and also the new Ashton Woods Development just starting further down on Post Rd. Both neighborhoods would go to Vickery Creek for middle school, but not elementary. The elementary school was Sawnee. Do you know anything about those neighborhoods or schools?

Back to the OP - we are moving for several reasons, climate and financial security being the main ones. Real estate is very expensive in MA and we will sell our home and walk away with quite a substantial down payment for a home in GA. We will probably end up with a very small mortgage - which we plan to finance over 10 years and will be paid off the year my oldest starts college. We will end up with a very nice home for $300K that would probably be in the $800K range here in MA.

It's funny when people say the real estate taxes are high in certain areas - I am paying $4,800/yr for a 2,000 s.f. 4 bedroom colonial now.

 

[TiggerDaisy]

I agree.

What ever you do, stay away from Georgia 400!

 

[momw/4boys]

I have been checking out all of the areas you all have recommended on real estate web sites. They all seem to have nice homes in our price range. My two main criteria are a basement and within 10 miles of my DH's office. Everyone says the traffic is bad, so I want to be close. Right now he works 18 miles away and it takes him 1 hour to get home. Provided we don't have snow, then that can take up to 2 hours! Thank you all again!

 

[Momto8]

We are also in the process of moving to the Alpharetta area. My sister and her husband moved there from Massachusetts a year and a half ago. My mom and step-dad joined them this past summer. Now, it's our turn. My husband is taking a job that allows him to work from home, here in MA, until the school year finishes in June. Hopefully, by then we will have sold our house here and put a deposit on new construction down there. Once we move, his job will be in Norcross, but he will work from home a couple days a week. We are looking at several towns - Cumming, Duluth, and Buford for sure.

We have already seen Cumming and really like it - specifically the Vickery Creek area Momto8 was just discussing.

MomTo8 - if you are still reading this - we looked at the new Pulte Development on Drew Campground Road and also the new Ashton Woods Development just starting further down on Post Rd. Both neighborhoods would go to Vickery Creek for middle school, but not elementary. The elementary school was Sawnee. Do you know anything about those neighborhoods or schools?

Unfortunately, I don't know much about Sawnee Elementary. I do know that a lot of parents were upset when they changed the districts and their kids had to go to Sawnee and not Vickery. I know that Vickery Creek has very good schools, not that Sawnee doesn't (I just don't know enough about it as my kids are now in high school). I do know they were upset about having their kids having to travel further when Vickery was so much closer. I was very happy with Vickery Elem and Middle school. My kids were there the first year they opened.

We live right off of Post Road (in the other direction) in a subdivision about a mile from Highway 9 (Atlanta Highway).

I looked at the houses in the Pulte subdivision last year (my sil was looking to buy a home there). She was looking in the lower end homes but I know they go all the way up to $700,000 range but I don't know too much about the higher priced homes. They are supposed to have a nice swim/tennis there with walking trails, etc. She ended up buying a new home in Thorngate, which is down Kelly Mill Road, closer to Cumming, which are different schools altogether. My daughter and her husband live in that subdivision and I really like the homes there. They run in the $250,000-$350,000 range

Since your husband is going to work in Norcross, you might want to look closer to that area (I wouldn't live in Norcross but maybe Buford) as traffic is very bad in the Atlanta area. It will probably take him over an hour to get to work during rush hour if you live in Cumming. If he doesn't have to drive during rush hour, then it would probably take 40-45 minutes to get there.

I don't know if I'm much help, but good luck with your decisions!