What was not taken into consideration before you moved to Atlanta?

[Marla Silver]

We have lived in Minnesota all our lives and are considering a relocation to the northeastern Atlanta suburbs. I am very excited for the idea, as I have traveled quite a bit, but have always lived in the Midwest. I have grown tired of Winters and am very tempted by the much milder climate down there. The housing prices look fantastic and the surroundings look gorgeous!

Are you sorry you have relocated there, and would you not recommend it? How would you rate the area for families with small children and how area the school systems?

Thanks for any input!

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Not much. We didn't move down here blindly (a little nearsighted perhaps, but...), and we rented for several months before taking the step of actually buying a home.


Southern ice storms are actually kinda nasty down here (I wouldn't drive in one). The lack of heat in the summer (I was expecting a summer that was hotter than a Minnesota summer -- instead, Atlanta has more of the same, but for three times longer). The fact that some things related to roadways ... reflectors, dotted line guides across intersections for turn lanes, some type sof road signage) are done much better here than they are in the Twin Cities (and some things are not as good here, like a lack of right turn lanes in some very surprising places on major roadways).


Yes. It's different than the midwestern city where we came from, but it's a lot less different in many ways than I thought it would be before I actually moved down here.

[casualobserver]

rcs, with all the in-migration interest from Minnesota being generated, pretty soon you'll be able to wear your Carl Eller jersey strolling the Silver Comet and maybe even get recognized......lol!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Marla Silver

We have lived in Minnesota all our lives and are considering a relocation to the northeastern Atlanta suburbs.

Out of curiosity, why the northeastern suburbs?

Are you sorry you have relocated there,

Other than the obvious (leaving most of our friends and both of our families behind), I don't regret the move at all.

and would you not recommend it?

Yes, with one caveat: crime down here isn't isolated into little pockets as it is in the Twin Cities. You do need to use common sense, and I would also recommend getting an alarm system regardless of where you choose to live (even in a gated community). They aren't very expensive.

How would you rate the area for families with small children and how area the school systems?

I don't have enough information about that sort of thing to be useful, since my wife and I don't have children. Sorry. Maybe someone else can help. Of course, it will depend on where in the metro you end up.

The Atlanta metro is roughly 25% larger in geographic area than the Twin Cities metro, and it has 5.1 million people compared to 3.5 million. Atlanta itself is small (550,000 people, perhaps). Just like the Twin Cities, mostly. Traffic down here is a lot worse, though, for a variety of reasons. Mainly poor planning. And the Twin Cities has two major rivers and lots of lakes, while Atlanta is not quite so blessed in terms of water resources (though Atlanta gets roughly twice as much rain during a normal year as Minneapolis does).

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by casualobserver

rcs, with all the in-migration interest from Minnesota being generated, pretty soon you'll be able to wear your Carl Eller jersey strolling the Silver Comet and maybe even get recognized......lol!

In my case, it'd probably be a North Stars jersey.

[casualobserver]

crime down here isn't isolated into little pockets as it is in the Twin Cities. You do need to use common sense, and I would also recommend getting an alarm system regardless of where you choose to live (even in a gated community).

Wow, I am surprised (and disheartened) that the criminal element is finding its way all the way out to a hidden community like Stony Brook.........they must have GPS as well!

Actually, I really don't want to sound flippant on the subject. Now this is something that actually could be fixed relatively quickly.........and if Rudy doesn't start doing better in the primaries maybe we can ask him to run for mayor of Atlanta.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by casualobserver

crime down here isn't isolated into little pockets as it is in the Twin Cities. You do need to use common sense, and I would also recommend getting an alarm system regardless of where you choose to live (even in a gated community). Wow, I am surprised (and disheartened) that the criminal element is finding its way all the way out to a hidden community like Stony Brook.........they must have GPS as well!

Heh. Our subdivision isn't that hard to find. Actually, I'm only aware of two incidents in Stoneybrook off the top of my head (one car was broken into, and one car was stolen) in 2.5 years of living there, and I think both of those took place in locations which are fairly close to the south Stoneybrook entrance on Cooper Lake Road. Easier to get to. I'm not aware of any incidents involving houses at all.

Actually, I really don't want to sound flippant on the subject. Now this is something that actually could be fixed relatively quickly.........and if Rudy doesn't start doing better in the primaries maybe we can ask him to run for mayor of Atlanta.

I would support Rudy Giuliani for mayer of Atlanta. Or Jesse Ventura, for that matter. I voted for him once before, back in the Land Of 10,000 Lakes.

[too hot]

Originally Posted by CrownPrincess

I'm from Illinois also. I was shocked that I had to pay ad valoreum tax as well as pay 25 bucks for an emmission test EVERY year. My sticker was 15 bucks in Il. I also wish I had known traffic was a mess. Not only is every road overcrowded...folks drive liike maniacs. Half the time...I don't even want to venture outside unless it's a necessity. I feel so handicapped. Had I known it would take all day just to go to the grocery store...I would have moved somewhere not nearly as congested. I think I'm about to leave Atlanta. There is no such thing as a leisurely Sun eve drive down here. I have not had the luxury of just getting to know Atlanta. Everytime I leave my house...it is a neccessity.

Imagine paying tags prices based on how much your vehicle is appraised for and the year. In Jackson, Mississippi the tag for a 2009 Cadillac Escalade can be between $1500 to $2000 for the first tag..and those figures only go down maybe $100 to $200 a year. And to add injury to instult, you can look to buy a new car every 5 years because the roads are in such bad condition your suspensions system is no longer good.

I have a 2001 Toyota Solara bought it in 2005 i paid $380 for the tag the first year i got the car. Its now 2008 and I payed about $280 for a renewal. Totally crazy

[TonyC99]

I live in Duluth and have never heard of this major crime wave that you are talking about. I don't know anyone who is scared to walk around this area. (?)

Originally Posted by Georgia

True Enough!

I remember when the Gwinnett Place Mall was a nice, quaint, area.
Used to stay at the hotels by the mall a decade back on business when I lived in Philadelphia.
In the evenings I would take long walks through the mall, and even down to Steve Reynolds. Today? No way!

I work close there today, I think just in the Mall area from Pleasant Hill to Satellite Blvd there have been well over a dozen shootings, 3 murders, and 1 disappearance. Even during the day we have instructed our employees if they go to lunch in the area, especially female, to go in groups.

It's a darn shame that people have to be this way. There is absolutely no excuse for it. Just a sign of the times and decades result of liberal PC BS.