Help from Atlanta area members

For the most part this isn't a softball question even though that would play into it a little bit. The opportunity to transfer to Atlanta has come up at work. It would be a very good move financially but with a family that is just a small part of the equation. I am familiar with parts of the area just from spending so much time over there for softball the past few years. I really do not know anything about the schools or the best areas for families though. I have one in 8th grade and another in first right now so good schools are a priority and solid softball program would be nice for the older one because I do not want her to be miserable playing school ball.

If any of you could throw out some suggestions for suburbs to look at. The position I would take would start out off I-675 and within a year or two probably wind up in the Marietta/Kennesaw area. I know these are on opposite ends of the world so I think i may be better off splitting the difference but being closer to the Kennesaw side so we wouldn't have to move in a couple of years. I can handle the traffic of the commute and my hours would put me early in the morning rush hour so I could miss some of it.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

I sent you a PM

There are a lot of choice in that area. Do you prefer public school or private? Softball can be a crap shoot since having good TB players on the team is the key to success. If HS softball is really important to your DD I would suggest checking around and finding the best pitcher her age and find out where she goes to school.

JAD said:

If HS softball is really important to your DD I would suggest checking around and finding the best pitcher her age and find out where she goes to school.

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Good advice.

Friend of mine in metro ATL had a DD who was on a team that was state runner-up when she was a freshman. It was the most fun she'd ever had in softball, couldn't wait for next season to begin. But the ace pitcher graduated, and the head coach became insufferable, and some quality players quit in the years since. In the context of winning, the head coach ''was really tough on us but it was worth it!'' In the context of losing, the head coach ''was an a-hole who took all the fun out of it.'' Same coach, but new pitcher.

JAD said:

There are a lot of choice in that area. Do you prefer public school or private? Softball can be a crap shoot since having good TB players on the team is the key to success. If HS softball is really important to your DD I would suggest checking around and finding the best pitcher her age and find out where she goes to school.

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Probably public schools. The thing I want most out of school ball is finding a program with decent coaches that understand the game and the team has support. I understand she will get her work, exposure, and improvement out of travel but I still want a coach who isn't a football coach just doing it for the extra pay.

This past Saturday we had most of our parents at the school getting the field ready for the season. Everything has a fresh coat of paint and honestly it is probably a better facility than many colleges have. The community backs it so our girls always have support.

Softball is great here Traffic is absolutely god-awful though. Would you be able to rent near the 675 location then buy when the job moves? I would not want to drive from Kennesaw to 675 every day. In the middle is Atlanta, which might be a good option if you can afford to buy something decent there. The 'burbs are definitely a lot more affordable. I live pretty close to Kennesaw (Dallas) so I'm familiar with this area. Not so much w/ SE of Atlanta. I'm not a fan of that area. If you decide to go ahead and move to where you want to stay maybe look in the Harrison high school district. We homeschool so I'm not extremely up to date on the schools but Harrison is supposed to be great. DD did a softball camp there summer before last.

Rambler34 said:

I can handle the traffic of the commute and my hours would put me early in the morning rush hour so I could miss some of it.

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There is no such thing as rush hour in Atlanta. Sorry it's always bad no matter how early you leave, unless you are talking about getting to work at about 5:30 to 6AM,
I drive 35 miles one way. That takes me 1 1/2 hour on a good day. I'd avoid any of the major highways at all cost. I'm more on the east side however, its the same anywhere. Also, when schools are in the traffic is at its worst. Summer times seem to be better in the mornings.

Mikeyn32 said:

There is no such thing as rush hour in Atlanta. Sorry it's always bad no matter how early you leave, unless you are talking about getting to work at about 5:30 to 6AM,
I drive 35 miles one way. That takes me 1 1/2 hour on a good day. I'd avoid any of the major highways at all cost. I'm more on the east side however, its the same anywhere. Also, when schools are in the traffic is at its worst. Summer times seem to be better in the mornings.

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That's my husband's commute right now. He works 5am - 3pm. He hits little traffic most mornings. In the afternoons there's always some; it varies on how bad it is. If he works late it's horrible. By 6am traffic has started to build up. Even when I was working in Atlanta almost 13 years ago, traffic was bad. And it's gotten worse since then. I keep wondering if they're ever going to try to do anything about it, but I guess they probably aren't.

If you're looking for specific schools, someone did mention Harrison, and they probably have the best softball program year-in, year-out in that general area. Softball is good in Cobb and Cherokee, but there hasn't been a state championship team up that way in a long time. Not counting Pope, which is further south in Marietta and was lucky enough to have the best pitcher in the country one year. The strongest high school softball in Georgia (and sports in general probably) is Gwinnett County. Buford is one school where kids go there mainly for the softball.

I would recommend the East Cobb area to you in terms of school selection (Walton, Pope, Lassiter HS's). It's a little closer to 675, but not too far from Kennesaw. It's a pricier area, but some of the best schools in the state. I don't know much about the softball program at those particular schools though.