[myera341]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice as my husband and I are trying to decide if we should stay in ATL or move before we have our first child. I am a huge advocate of AP and do not want to birth in a hospital (unless necessary health wise). Atlanta doesn't have very many good options as far as I can tell. We are currently thinking of moving to the Raleigh/Durham area. Does anyone live in Atlanta and find this area a good place to raise children? My instinct says it isn't the best area in terms of schools, etc. I don't consider ATL to be a very open minded area in terms of holistic health either. My concern is that the Raleigh area might just be the same (kind of a smaller ATL). Any thoughts? I am 31 and we want to get settled somewhere and start a family soon. Thanks!

 

[charmedbeing]

I think Atlanta is a great place to raise a child. There is so much to do and experience here. Literally everything is a hop-skip away depending on where you live. As far as holistic doctors and such.... you just have to look and ask around. There are plenty of practitioners in the Atlanta metro-area, depending on what your looking for. You can always find like-minded folk too. There is another message board for Atlanta Moms or soon-to-be moms. http://atlantamommas.com/smf/index.php It's a great place to network and ask questions. I'm sure you'll find answers to your questions.

Now.... as far as schools...... that's a hit or miss - again depending on where you live.

I don't know if I answered anything..... but that's my 2 cents.

 

[Patchfire]

I don't know that Atlanta's the best place in the world to raise a child, but I don't think that Raleigh would be much different, from what I know of it.

As far as birth options, there aren't birth centers, but there are midwives. You just have to look a little harder than in some states. And we do have one of the better laws protecting the right to breastfeed.

I manage to muddle my way through with my somewhat holisitic health care.

I think the key is that most of the stuff CAN be found, it's just sometimes more difficult than you think it should be!

 

[CathToria]

From your post and what I have heard about Raliegh, it might be a better fit for you. Though I do love living in Atlanta, and that's where dh's job is. But I personally would not be disappointed if dh got transferred to Raleigh. I'm sure their traffic is better too

:

 

[BetsyS]

We live in Atlanta, and we're having our first baby here. But, we're not terribly in love with the city.

That said, Raleigh is big, too, and it has it's busyness, and that's kind of what we wish we didn't have.

We keep saving and paying off debt, and one day, we'll be out of Atlanta.

 

[Mommabelle]

I am a really truly from Georgia person. I have been quite disappointed with the way the growth of this city has been managed (or not managed). I have loads of family here so I will not ever be moving. I am feel in many ways since having kids I am finding my very slowly. ( My family are super religious (bretheren type) and I don't do that so I left my circle of friends when I left that church and so sort of started all over again) I did use doula's for both of my births and it was really nice. I also used midwives for their births. I did go to hospital. First time at Piedmont second time at Northside. First time I used a regular MD. With the second the Midwife made such a difference. I did also go to hypnobirthing classes with 2nd child. I did use an epidural eventually but the 1st 10 hours I did not and I was so much calmer than the 1st birth even though it was much more difficult. There are Dr's you can see that don't push you on vaccines and so on. I am finding these people more and more. When I did have my daughter (1st) I joined several different type of groups and that was great. I did go to LLL a couple of times and I think if I did it over I would have gone more often. There are also AP groups. North Carolina is beautiful! You can join all those groups in NC too..whatever you decide.

 

[atlanta hope]

We're planning on moving to Austin. We'd be there now if we didn't have this baby coming... It's a much better place to raise a family: less traffic, less smog, less crime and good public schools.

I don't think Raleigh is much better than Atlanta. We considered it but thought it didn't have much soul. They have a bad smog and traffic problem as well.

 

[pigpokey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by myera341 I'm hoping someone can give me some advice as my husband and I are trying to decide if we should stay in ATL or move before we have our first child. I am a huge advocate of AP and do not want to birth in a hospital (unless necessary health wise). Atlanta doesn't have very many good options as far as I can tell. We are currently thinking of moving to the Raleigh/Durham area. Does anyone live in Atlanta and find this area a good place to raise children? My instinct says it isn't the best area in terms of schools, etc. I don't consider ATL to be a very open minded area in terms of holistic health either. My concern is that the Raleigh area might just be the same (kind of a smaller ATL). Any thoughts? I am 31 and we want to get settled somewhere and start a family soon. Thanks!

I am happy living in Decatur and raising my children here. I might have some fantasies about raising children in Nashville, but there are drawbacks to everywhere. My children were not born in a hospital, but in my home. I have not had problems getting holistic health care references or finding practitioners I've liked on my own. As to the schools ... there is an active secular homeschool group intown. I could live in the coveted Vanderlyn Elementary district and not want my kids to go there right now, but I don't know what the future holds for us or how my opinions about institutional education will change as my children reach that stage/age.

 

[emmiec]

I have found that raising a child in Atlanta is not without it's challenges, but very do-able. I had my first child at Piedmont with a group of nurse midwives and they were wonderful! My second child was supposed to be at Piedmont with the same grp, but he decided he wanted to be a homebirth! Atlanta and surrounding areas have the resources, but it does take time to research the info.

Our first child, Azul, is now in kindergarten... my hb and I knew that raising our child in ATL would mean searching for the right private schools. BUT if you consider, depending on where you are in ATL, suburbs, etc. it is hit or miss.

I feel this town is great, full of a lot of different places to go and experiences. I am happy to raise our children here. I am sure this was not helpful, but take it from a home grown ATL, it's a good place to be.