Things I love about Alpharetta, Georgia & will miss

After spending two years in Alpharetta, Georgia It's time for me to move out of here. I am moving to Naperville, IL which in my initial research should be a very similar and beautiful city. 

Major difference being the snowy Illinois weather compared to the extremely cold of 20 degrees down here in Alpharetta, GA [Pun intended]

I have really loved Alpharetta for many reasons. Although I have spent time in Florida, New Jersey, Minnesota and few other states but Alpharetta, Georgia has been really close to my heart. I want to share some reasons for why I love Alpharetta so much.

What I love about Alpharetta

1. Great schools: When I moved to states, my daughter who was 5 year at that time was going to be coming with us. Her school was a major factor in deciding where we would live. I would happily sacrifice being closer to the office for finding a place with better. Almost from the get-go in my research Alpharetta came on top in terms of school in Georgia. Naturally, it became the first choice for me. Other cities which I have found out by living here, and have good schools are Johns creek & Cummings. My daughter finished her Kindergarten from Creek View Elementary school and it was pretty good experience overall.
2. Green patch: I read about this some time back, but Alpharetta is known as the city of trees. that's pretty amazing. But you have to come down here to believe it. Alpharetta is heavily surrounded by trees. When I first moved here, it reminded me of those beautiful resorts of Karnataka or Kerala where you can sit by the window and hear birds chatter and there are expansive green covers everywhere. but, here we were not living for 1-2 days and driving back but it is the way of life. As I reconnected back to living in the green cover, I realised how much have a missed it in the concrete jungles of Bangalore. there are a ton of trails around here, however, my most favorite is been the greenway trail which is a huge one, beautifully maintained and thronged by walkers, runners, and cyclists.
3. Great location: Another aspect which you would love being in the Georgia region is its proximity to so much around you. Florida is 4 hours out. If you want to touch the beaches, you can drive towards Florida down south to Panama city beach or Pensacola or you could drive longer towards clearwater and its absolute delight. you could go towards savannah, charleston or Myrtle beach which are not too far as well. Up north, you have smokey mountains, Chattahoochee forest reserve and you are not out of options to go around.  Overall quite pleased with the location of Alpharetta.
4. Secure, safe and good neighbourhood: In my two years of being here, not even once I had to be bothered about going outside late in the night, or being concerned about any particular areas. I travelled a lot, and the neighbourhood has been pretty safe with a good mix of crowds around. 
5. Good food joints: if you are looking for Indian restaurants, you won't be disappointed. There are tonnes of those here. some of them are madras chettinad, Bombay flames, Chennai express but our all time favourite being Inchin Bamboo.

Things which are not in favor of Alpharetta:

1. Public transport: Like a typical suburb it is not crowded at all however, the public transport is really close to zero down here. Unless you are driving you living at apartments just by the food store, moving around will be a challenge. however, thanks to the weather here, it is normally not a problem. but if you are coming from place like NY, CA where you have used a ton of public transport, Alpharetta has its challenges.
2. Train connectivity to airport/downtown: Covered as above, but there isn't any train connectivity from Alpharetta. Marta only runs up to North Springs station which is good 5 miles from Alpharetta. See the Marta Station map here.
3. Night life: Alpharetta has some decent restaurant but is a typical suburb, with not too much going around late evenings. So if you are a bachelor and like to be near happening night life, Alpharetta is not the best place. You are better off being near the downtown for that.