And Here's Why I Think This is a Great Place to Live

I've been thinking about the nice blog posted recently about why Alpharetta and Milton are great cities and I thought I'd add a personal and specific viewpoint.    

1.  The parents of the kids at our schools.  It's true, our schools have some of the highest test scores in the state, but I want to send out accolades to the parents.  Without a doubt, the parents of every friend my kids ever had in north Fulton schools are just like me and my husband in this way: we all care deeply about the education of our children.  This matters so, so much.  

2.   Alpharetta has developed out really well and I do mean, really well.  Although the word "ordinance" has been known to be a headache for developers, nonetheless, our ordinances have worked in terms of guiding our development.  I've had the pleasure of living around the Atlanta metro - Brookhaven, Decatur, and out in Gwinnett in the 1970's, but when I moved here in 1997 I had never seen anything quite like it. The North Point, Windward and Old Milton Parkways are exemplary boulevards of good design and tree canopy.  Our corporate campuses are mini-parks.  The Windward community has some of the best design of any neighborhood I've seen and is the picture of what urban forestry is all about. Our young sister city, Milton, is developing out well too.  The horse farms and countryside of Milton are without a doubt a haven in the largely urban Fulton county. 

3.  Parks - The still unfinished park near the Birmingham crossroads in Milton is amazing - even in a rugged, fairly natural state.  As for Alpharetta, if you've read my blogs at all you know I love city of Alpharetta parks, with Webb Bridge Park being my personal favorite, but for sheer awesomeness the Big Creek Greenway ranks top.

3.  Harry's Whole Foods. Harry's is wonderful.  What a treasure we have sitting over there on Upper Hembree!  I used to travel ALL the way out here from inside the perimeter with two little babies in tow back in the early 1990's just to go to Harry's!  For those of us who like to eat and like to eat well, Harry's has the best quality fruits, meats and vegetables of any store in our area.  

4.  Restaurants like Zola's Italian Bistro in Milton and Pure Tacqueria in downtown Alpharetta.  These two places are doing it.  Yes, we've got lots of other restaurants but I only want to mention the daring, local owners. I enjoyed a meal recently at La Casa Italian in downtown Alpharetta.  Smokejack has the best collard greens and mac and cheese of anybody.  And is there anything like the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub anywhere?  Honorable mention:  technically just over the line into Johns Creek is Rosamia's.  Unbelievable personal attention and great food.  

5.  High-end resale consignment shops for women's apparel.  I've shopped high-end resale shops my entire life and Alpharetta/Milton is home to at least 3 of these stores, maybe more.  Love it! 

6.  We have a history.  Unlike some suburban areas I've lived where the history has been paved over by parking lots, our history is still visible.  If you want to know more, get to know your local historians by getting to  know the Milton Historic Preservation Commission and the Alpharetta Historical Society.  

7.  And finally, Alpharetta was the first city in the north Atlanta metro to have a community garden thanks to the local non-profit Alpharetta Arboretum, Inc. Yes, I founded it and yes, you could accuse me of sounding my own horn, but then again, not really, because none of it could have been done without the help of donors and volunteers like Comcast, Vernier Landscaping, private foundations, boy scouts, girl scouts, countless individuals and the city of Alpharetta, who was forward thinking enough to know this was a good thing.