OT: Moving to Georgia

[Guapo]

Hello All:

My wife and I are moving to Georgia.

As some of you know, my wife is from Georgia and went to UGA.

We're looking at either Atlanta or Athens.

I know there are some Boneyarders who either live, or have connections to, the area.

Anything you'd like to share about real estate/jobs/culture etc. I'd love to hear it.

-Guapo

 

[JMick]

thoughts & prayers

 

[huskyblooz]

Congrats on getting out of the s#%thole. But you'll miss the pizza

 

[Guapo]

Congrats on getting out of the s#%thole. But you'll miss the pizza

I already live in DC and I miss the pizza dearly.

I expect the pizza to (somehow) be even worse down there.

In my wife's hometown the Italian restaurant is most famous for its...Reuban.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Hello All:

My wife and I are moving to Georgia.

As some of you know, my wife is from Georgia and went to UGA.

We're looking at either Atlanta or Athens.

I know there are some Boneyarders who either live, or have connections to, the area.

Anything you'd like to share about real estate/jobs/culture etc. I'd love to hear it.

-Guapo

Atlanta area is pretty awesome. My brother lives there and I've never been to Athens, but from what I've heard it's got some cool stuff insofar as resturants and such, but is also sorta isolated. If you move to Atlanta, would you wanna be right in the city or in the burbs? My brother lives in Marietta, just north of ATL, and it's a great small city. ATL has awesome food, a lot to do, lots of young people. It feels like a bunch of small neighborhoods rather than one city. Traffic is a bear, be warned.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

It really depends on your situation. If you have kids and you don't want to pay for private schools, you have to be pretty strategic on where you live. Pick the right zip code and public schools are decent. Otherwise you have to pay for private.

Traffic is awful. And it's not just in the city...it's bad in the burbs. Real estate market has stabilized and you can still get deals. If you are looking at $400k and under....it's pretty competitive and you have to move fast and probably pay close to or at the asking price. The 500k and over market is still good but moves slower with more dealing.

Pretty good food scene in Atlanta. Not great local ethnic food, but good food options.

If the decision is not about kids and schools, then closer into the city is better. Buckhead and Brookhaven are great. For urban living, Midtown is booming right now with lots of new construction with great neighborhoods with lots of restaurants and bars within walking distance of Piedmont Park.

As I said....depends on what you want...but definitely do research. Lots of options and you need to know the pros and cons of each area.

Athens is nice.,,but small. Obviously a college town. A very nice college town.

 

[uconnbill]

Atlanta is nice but Athens is beautiful. It counts what you're looking for.

Douglasville west of Atlanta is a very nice area and plenty to do and close enough to Atlanta. I have family there and they love it.

 

[Redding Husky]

My college roommate lived in Alpharetta. I believe that's a northern suburb. He liked it.

I've only been there once and that was in 1984. I don't have much insight.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Boiled peanuts are mana from heaven.

 

[Bill Sussman]

Grew up in Roswell. North of Atlanta. Still have a ton of family and friends in the area. As many here noted, hard to give you advice without a little more detail.

Athens is in the middle of nowhere. Great college town but would not reccomend moving in that area unless your employment opportunities are tied to the University.

A lot of people will disagree with me but I tend to downplay the whole “culture” differences. If you are in the Atlanta metro area, you will be in a melting pot. There will be some traditional southerners and there will be a lot of transplants. There will absolutely be a lot of traffic and a lot of big box stores.

If you message me or provide more on what type of area you are looking for in this thread, I’d be happy to throw out some suggestions. I am a little dated as the suburban sprawl (and ergo civilization) in the Atlanta area has spread like kudzu.

 

[huskysupporter]

Traffic is insane.

 

[StoneyDawg]

Congrats on getting out. Best wishes.

 

[Guapo]

(Copy and pasted from the sister thread in the MBB forum)

Wow, thank everyone for all these responses!

For those who offered to IM, I really appreciate it. We'll be in touch.

Some more details; we're in our mid-late 20's, we don't have kids and don't plan to have them in the very near future. Therefore, we'd be willing to look into buying in some more "currently gentrifying" areas of Atlanta where maybe the schools aren't quite so great.

Just to be clear re: Athens, we aren't talking about commuting to Atlanta from there.

The appeal is we love the town, the size, culture etc. We were married there. My wife has connections to Zaxby's and their corporate HQ is located in Athens and my in laws have a tailgate house in town. You can get a lot of bang for your buck living there or Watkinsville. It's just a matter of being able to find gainful employment out there.

 

[Guapo]

In Atlanta, some of the "up and coming" places we've been looking at from afar are the Westview/Cascade Road area, East Atlanta (if there are any affordable places left), Bush Mtn/Venetian Hills/Oakland area, Sylvan Hills. Outside Atlanta proper, we seem to be interested in Hapeville and the East Lake area in Decatur.

We'd like to buy a house rather than a condo. We don't have kids and I don't think we're planning to in the very near future so school quality is not at the top of our list of things we're considering

 

[uconnphil2016]

In Atlanta, some of the "up and coming" places we've been looking at from afar are the Westview/Cascade Road area, East Atlanta (if there are any affordable places left), Bush Mtn/Venetian Hills/Oakland area, Sylvan Hills. Outside Atlanta proper, we seem to be interested in Hapeville and the East Lake area in Decatur.

We'd like to buy a house rather than a condo. We don't have kids and I don't think we're planning to in the very near future so school quality is not at the top of our list of things we're considering

Decatur is awesome

 

[gioff23]

Just always remember one unspoken fact about living there

The problem with Atlanta is that as soon as you leave the metro area, you are in Georgia!

 

[minidarren]

Nothing beats the traffic. Yes I'm driving 15mph. Yes it's 6:54pm.

 

[Chin Diesel]

In Atlanta, some of the "up and coming" places we've been looking at from afar are the Westview/Cascade Road area, East Atlanta (if there are any affordable places left), Bush Mtn/Venetian Hills/Oakland area, Sylvan Hills. Outside Atlanta proper, we seem to be interested in Hapeville and the East Lake area in Decatur.

We'd like to buy a house rather than a condo. We don't have kids and I don't think we're planning to in the very near future so school quality is not at the top of our list of things we're considering

Agnostic to Georgia, but consider this. You may not care about a good school district as a requirement for living, but locations that have good school districts have adults who care about good school districts.

 

[Stinger92860]

Congrats on getting out. Best wishes.

Congrats on getting out of the s#%thole. But you'll miss the pizza

Quite frankly, I enjoy living in Fairfield County, once winter ends. I don’t understand the hate.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Quite frankly, I enjoy living in Fairfield County, once winter ends. I don’t understand the hate.

From the perspective of someone in their mid 20s, CT just feels 20 years behind plenty of other places. CT is pretty where I am, but it's both expensive to buy a home and offers nothing spectacular

 

[HuskDawg]

Grew up in CT and went to UConn but have lived in Atlanta for 20 plus years... kids went to UGA in Athens, awesome college town with great bars and restaurants, very young southern vibe.. If you have kids most live in the northern or southern suburbs since they have the top ranked schools.
(Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Marietta....) many transplants from the NE to Atlanta over the years so not as southern as it used to be... Great job market down here with a number of good company HQ like UPS, Home Depot.. mass transit is very weak so living as close to work as possible is a must. And the big deal is the Hope scholarship which takes monies from the lottery and is dedicated to any Georgia HS student with a 3.0 GPA or higher.. all public universities in the state including UGA, Georgia Tech are included.. as long as your kid maintains a 3.0 you pay no tuition.. just food and board..

 

[Guapo]

Grew up in CT and went to UConn but have lived in Atlanta for 20 plus years... kids went to UGA in Athens, awesome college town with great bars and restaurants, very young southern vibe.. If you have kids most live in the northern or southern suburbs since they have the top ranked schools.
(Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Marietta....) many transplants from the NE to Atlanta over the years so not as southern as it used to be... Great job market down here with a number of good company HQ like UPS, Home Depot.. mass transit is very weak so living as close to work as possible is a must. And the big deal is the Hope scholarship which takes monies from the lottery and is dedicated to any Georgia HS student with a 3.0 GPA or higher.. all public universities in the state including UGA, Georgia Tech are included.. as long as your kid maintains a 3.0 you pay no tuition.. just food and board..

Yes, my wife was a hope scholar.

It's a really unbelievable deal.

Go Dawgs!

 

[Sky ball]

Grew up in CT and went to UConn but have lived in Atlanta for 20 plus years... kids went to UGA in Athens, awesome college town with great bars and restaurants, very young southern vibe.. If you have kids most live in the northern or southern suburbs since they have the top ranked schools.
(Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Marietta....) many transplants from the NE to Atlanta over the years so not as southern as it used to be... Great job market down here with a number of good company HQ like UPS, Home Depot.. mass transit is very weak so living as close to work as possible is a must. And the big deal is the Hope scholarship which takes monies from the lottery and is dedicated to any Georgia HS student with a 3.0 GPA or higher.. all public universities in the state including UGA, Georgia Tech are included.. as long as your kid maintains a 3.0 you pay no tuition.. just food and board..

Wow a state that uses it's lottery proceeds on education just like they said they would. GA rocks!

 

[HuskyDogArt]

I would recommend East of Atlanta, Gainsville is on Lake Lanier. Great area, or Dawsonville northeast of Atlanta (home of Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, NASCAR great Bill Elliott and Chase)

If in Atlanta, try Atlanta's version of Augie and Ray's, the Varsity.

 

[Guapo]

Hello all, just an update for all that took the time to comment on this; my wife and I have successfully settled in Inman Park near Krog Street Market and have found work.

Any further recommendations for food etc would be appreciated. We just got back from dinner at New Realm Brewery on the beltline; I thought it was really good.