orvil

My wife is an Atlanta native. She insisted that we locate on the south side of Atlanta. She didn't want me to face the traffic that life on the north side entailed. Much to my relief, she gave up the shopping that downtown Atlanta offers.

Fayette County is okay. The schools score marginally better than Coweta. But, northern Fayette is suffering from the same sort of pressures that Clayton County is experiencing.

If you want 20 to 30 year old planned living with golf carts and HOA's, Peachtree City can't be beat. It is clean, you can raise children there and it's easy to get to the airport. I find it a little sterile. The schools are reputed to be excellent. If you want private school, Woodward Academy by the airport is very good and there is school bus service to Peachtree City.

While a little farther south, Newnan is the same time to the airport. It retains a lot of it's own identity. Be sure to go down to the square, have lunch and take the driving tour of the historic neighborhoods. Most people get off the interstate and don't realize downtown Newnan is 3 miles south. Lots of southern charm. Atlanta hasn't swallowed it up. You have golf course communities, lake communities, ante bellum homes, or true rural living. We have a very fine non-denominational private school, Heritage, in Newnan. I give myself 35 minutes to the parking lot.

If you go even farther south, you can look at LaGrange and lake living. But, it's at least a one hour drive. I can't tell you anything about the schools.

Even farther down 85, you are across the state line. Auburn is 2.5 hours to the airport.

If you are a golfer, the conglomerate Cannongate Golf Clubs is a great deal. If you like to shoot, we have some great sporting clay facilities available, also.

Tankerhead

What about College Park? It sounds pretty nice. Not sure where the college is, but I do like watching the co-eds prance around various campuses.

Sputnik

I haven't figured out which college is near college park. I dont think there are truth in advertising laws regarding municipal naming.

That said, seems like a cool area. But schools don't seem super great.

badflaps

Woodward Academy gets high marks among prep schools.

Hilltopper89

College Park is the most dangerous city in Georgia.

I live 1.5 hrs south in Kathleen. We live on 35 acres and the drive is easy. My long term plan is to live this distance the other side of ATL...Blue Ridge/Ellijay. That is some of the most beautiful scenery in the south.

Sputnik

It is an excellent school. It's not public though.

dalad

BS. I lived in CP for 3.5 years while my daughter was in high school at Woodward.

Hilltopper89

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report and the College Park police department, College Park had 13 homicides in 2008. College Park's incident rate for violent crimes is much higher than most other American cities. In 2008, College Park had the highest crime rate in Georgia.

Still at the top of the list in 2014.

20 Most Dangerous Cities in Georgia | Home Security Shield News Report

dalad

Yep, 2008. What year is it now. Time for you to go back into your N GA bunker.

SherpaLifter

You might want to check out Douglasville, on the west side of the ATL. You'll want to stay south of I-20 along either Chapel Hill Road or Highway 5. Housing is much cheaper than most other areas around ATL and schools are OK, especially if you stay in the south part of the county. Good thing is you can take back roads all the way to the airport. Will never have to get on an interstate! D'ville has the only Mall on the west side of ATL, all the big box stores and lots of restaurant choices. It is relatively undiscovered by the airline community probably because it doesn't have golf carts like PTC. Traffic is never an issue except for the 6 weeks before Christmas around the mall.