no worries

plusses and minuses everywhere, that’s the great thing about this job is you have flexibility to do what is best for you. FL has some positives (and I like living here) but things like homeowners insurance and vehicle insurance can eat into savings you are getting from 0 income tax and may disappoint you if you are only moving here to avoid GA state taxes.

When our kids grew up and left the nest, we were looking around several states and areas within. We decided on southeastern Tennessee. It best suited our requirements. Obvious tradeoffs but we like it here.

Terrible might be a bit dramatic. My wife is a teacher in Cobb and most of the Smyrna schools are average to above average. (At least in for the places a pilot is probably searching in). The main high school has an IB program that is very comptetive, Not as “good” as East Cobb, but much better than many places in the metro.

From Cumming, traffic is bad, day trips would be hard, but 4 day trips it’s no big deal.

We thought a lot about Milton and Alpharetta but wanted no part of Fulton county (or Dekalb or Gwinnett) in any way even though those two areas have some really nice homes. We went further north to Forsyth.

Forsyth is a funny place though. It was once home of the KKK for the state. Even Oprah did a show on it. Now it’s just full of people who escaped to the suburbs or they’re from India. But when the fair happens, it’s a great mix of India, Mexico, suburbs and deliverance. It’s awesome.

Just say go dogs ruff ruff ruff and they’ll leave you alone. Seriously. They do that.

It’s good all things considered, just fwiw the state of Georgia is kind of a dump and the city of Atlanta is a dumpster fire. PTC seemed really weird and houses were old and expensive for what they were.

Further out the better. I’ve always liked the northwest side of the state though. If you’re looking for 1-3 acres of land btw don’t think about it within a 50 mile radius.

The lake homes are super expensive.

Excellent advice. You’d also be 5-10 minutes from Downtown Roswell, a hugely popular place for dining and entertainment.

Why not the other counties?

Born and raised in Cumming. Love it. Only issue is driving through the city to get to the airport. I am currently with my girlfriend near Glennwood park in an apartment it is a nice lively area for younger people, but definitely no place to raise kids imo, but we plan on moving back north of the perimeter in a year or so.

The issue with Georgia is that Lake Lanier is super nice to be near, same with Lake Allatoona, but they are north of the city. Mountains? North of the city. Everything that is great about GA is located north of the perimeter and the south side is just flat and dull imo.

Being at F9, Its mostly day trips and 2 days. Living 15 mins from the airport is not required, but a huge bonus. I could suck it up and drive to work since I have like 17-20 days off a month anyways, its not too bad. But living where it is a 30 min drive to the airport with no traffic and then with the typical daily Atlanta traffic, it ends up being an hour or more can get VERY old.

If I were you, I would definitely consider looking in the Marietta-Acworth-Alpharetta triangle, you are still close to everything, growing area, mountains are near, lake is near, etc. But it ends up being what you want and what your hobbies are. For example, I play in the adult hockey league here in Atlanta and all the rinks we play at are north of the Perimeter. Living south of the airport isn't viable for a main pastime of mine.

This place would be a lot better if the airport was in any other spot other than where it is now.

Still some decent deals to be found in Canton GA. Got an express lane up I-75 to Sixes Road. Lower taxes and less BS than Cobb County. Quick to Avalon (which you will come to hate in short order) quicker to Woodstock, lakes and they have a Costco.

Takes a little house hunting, but there are some very cool older neighborhoods in Cobb. I keep an eye on Jefferson Township because they have insanely huge 2 acre lots and restrictive building covenants. Just can not find that kind of set up for less than a few million in town anywhere else. If the right home comes along it would be neat to re-mod the thing of your dreams on one of those lots plus a shop with room for toys for $500 to $700k

yeah stay away from Peachtree City. The hundreds of Delta pilots who live here are miserable.

Agreed, terrible is overboard. Mediocre is a better description. As more income moves into the area I could see it improving to the levels currently in some pockets of Smyrna ie Teasley Elementary. My neighborhood almost everyone sends their kids to private schools as the elementary, middle and High School(South Cobb HS) are all either a 4 or 5(out of 10) on Great Schools rankings

Yeah it looks like you live in south Smyrna, so I can see why many opt for private. Many of the northern Smyrna schools are better fwiw.

One thing to remember in Cobb County, is that you are allowed to send your kids to any school you choose in the Cobb district.

I highly encourage everyone to really do research wrt schools. Talking with the school’s teachers, with neighbors, etc is a much better way to go about it. Great schools is extremely flawed in their rankings. Ask any teacher and they will explain. .

For example, a school who’s low income students (regardless of how many are at the school) score lower on testing than upper income students, will have their “score” lowered significantly as they see that as a deficiency in teaching. Many of their metrics are flawed and should be taken with a massive grain of salt. Not saying it’s completely wrong, but when my wife was teaching in another district, her school was ranked 4/10 on the site but was regarded as the best in the area, including many higher ranked schools. Locals knew it, but if you weren’t from the area, you’d have no clue.

Great schools is the Zillow of schools. A place to start, but I wouldn’t make decisions based solely on it. Just something to consider.

Good to know. Thanks for the inside info. Also great tip about sending your kid to any school in Cobb. Didn't know that.

Anyone live(ed) in Brookhaven or have had kids that attended Marist School? If so, would you recommend the neighborhood and/or school?

Thank you in advance!

North side is awesome there is no other pilots, very crowded, two hours drive, but night life is amazing once you have kids schools are 5 out of 10, but private schools are not bad and only around 18k per year. Night life is great.

I would avoid the brookhaven/buckhead area... Lots of crime happening up there lately. But thats just my opinion. Plenty disagree with me.

As far as in the perimeter, Brookhaven is pretty nice, depending on the specific neighborhood. I know a decent number of people that live in the area and like it. Public schools are a mixed bag overall in Dekalb County. I can't speak about Marist from experience. I know a few folks with young kids that go to OLA (another Catholic school nearby) and like it.

Generally speaking, living anywhere in the perimeter, there is a higher chance of crime than outside the perimeter. Brookhaven has it's own police (instead of through Dekalb County, etc.). You can look up a crime map on their website to make more informed decisions for yourself.

Driving would likely be more like 30mins without traffic and 1 hour with, again depending on where in Brookhaven you live.

look at dunwoody instead. Roswell would work as well. If you go as far as Alpharetta it could take you 20-30 minutes to get to Marist.

Thank you for the reply. Why do you recommend Dunwoody over Brookhaven?

Thank you for the info. I visited Marist and talked to some folks that live in Dunwoody and Brookhaven. They liked the area, and to my surprise, said they regularly use MARTA to go to the airport when they travel (not in the middle of the night though). I grew up in the Atlanta area and always remember hearing folks talk about the crime on MARTA, but perhaps that's changed since I moved away 30 years ago. Thanks again!

Dunwoody. Less crime and bigger lots.

I’ll never understand people that move to an area listing low taxes as their main or top driver and then send their kids to private school.



Just a general comment on some stuff I’ve seen in this thread.

Alternatively, some people plan to send their kids to private school regardless, so they look for low tax areas to live.

One could also question why people that live in (relatively) high tax areas choose NOT to send their kids to public school.

A5S

people who decide where they want to live based on taxes have boring lives


but the Costco is only 20 minutes away! It’s so great!