Thinking of moving to GA soon from NJ. (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: low crime, how much)

[Taegwaltney]

hey everyone ! So my fiance and i are thinking of relocating from NJ to GA...we wanna buy our first home together, so its very exciting for us and I have an aunt who lives in acworth and she LOVES it. But i wanna know what area would be best for our needs:

- We have kids so a good school system is a must
- 3+bedrooms 2+ bathrooms house
- Somewhere safe where i wont be scared to let the kids outside to play.
- somewhere close to the night life(30mins most)...not necessarily clubbing etc but just being able to go out with girls and have girls night or vis versa for my fiance.
-somewhere friendly , i read on another forum that some places are racist over there. My fiance is hispanic and I'm mixed.
-this one is a question....how hard is it would you say it is to get a job over there...my fiance is a truck driver. Im a stay at home mom.


Thanks in advance!

[AtlantaMove]

Hello and welcome

Part of Acworth rests in Cobb County, home to many good schools in Metro Atlanta, so that won't be a problem. But please be cautioned by someone who moved from Northern NJ about 12 years ago that the rumors that you hear up there are either half truths or downright lies. Chief among them...

• "i read on another forum that some places are racist over there" - Really? You're coming from a state that continues to make the national news for racial profiling. Some people will always think differently from others and we can't be deterred by that. All of us everywhere will just have to learn to accept, appreciate, in deed, celebrate our differences. Otherwise, you'll be stymied by that garbage anywhere you go. You'll find a vibrant quality of life here if you work hard, respect others and let all of the foolishness pass.

• Houses here are cheap - Well yes, if you want the cheap lifestyle that comes with them. But you should expect to pay more to live in the areas with better schools, dining, near award-winning parks and convenience to Metro Atlanta. Cobb County offers all of that. Between the schools and the park activities, you'll find plenty of things to do with the girls.

• It's easy to find work - I don't know much about truck driving, but the schools are always looking for bus drivers and my family members who are truck drivers seem to always find work pretty easily here.

Again, good luck on the move and welcome to the area.

[caragitana]

I wouldn't worry about the racial issue as Atlanta has become a melting pot and almost everyone here is from somewhere else.
Traffic here is pretty bad so where you decide to live will depend on where you work. You
don't want to be in traffic for 1-1/2hrs to get to work and then drive all day. For that reason alone
you need to secure a job before you move here unless you've made prior arrangements.

Cobb county has many highly regarded schools so it depends on what school your kids will be zoned for. Look on niche.com and greatschools.

Property taxes are much lower than in NJ but houses are not really "cheap" if you want quality schools, shopping etc. I believe you can find more affordable homes than in NJ and you will save on utility heating costs.

I am very close to Acworth and I go to events all over metro Atlanta. If you want to be close to downtown I would suggest Smyrna or Sandy Springs. If you want to be close to your aunt Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs and Marietta. Like I said it will depend on where you work.
Once you are here you can find plenty of girls night out events on meetup.com there are plenty of
groups from salsa dancing to wine tasting, eating out, clubbing etc.


Good luck

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Taegwaltney

hey everyone ! So my fiance and i are thinking of relocating from NJ to GA...we wanna buy our first home together, so its very exciting for us and I have an aunt who lives in acworth and she LOVES it. But i wanna know what area would be best for our needs:

- We have kids so a good school system is a must
- 3+bedrooms 2+ bathrooms house
- Somewhere safe where i wont be scared to let the kids outside to play.

If you want to stay close to your aunt, the Acworth area is a really good area to strongly consider moving to because of the really high quality of the schools (in the schools of the Allatoona cluster and the schools of the ultra-diverse North Cobb cluster in the highly-regarded Cobb County School system) and the overall really high quality-of-life in the area (good schools, affordable quality housing, low crime, recreational opportunities, retail amenities, etc).

Originally Posted by Taegwaltney

- somewhere close to the night life(30mins most)...not necessarily clubbing etc but just being able to go out with girls and have girls night or vis versa for my fiance.

The much celebrated and famed Atlanta nightlife scene is only about 35-40 minutes down I-75 from the Acworth area.

There will also be other nightlife opportunities closer to home outside of the city that you will be able to take advantage of, so being close to the Atlanta nightlife does not have to be the only priority when it comes to socializing.

Originally Posted by Taegwaltney

-somewhere friendly , i read on another forum that some places are racist over there. My fiance is hispanic and I'm mixed.

Not to say that racism does not exist, but the pervasive national stereotype of old Jim Crow era-style Southern racism will not really be a factor in your day-to-day life in an increasingly ultradiverse and ultramodern Atlanta region....So the type of stereotypical old-style Southern racism that many people envision in other parts of the country will not really be something that you will need to worry about in a very-diverse Atlanta region.

Originally Posted by Taegwaltney

-this one is a question....how hard is it would you say it is to get a job over there...my fiance is a truck driver. Im a stay at home mom.

In the case of your fiancé being a truck driver....There should be an abundance of truck driving jobs in the Atlanta area because of the Atlanta area's status as a major trucking and distribution hub for the Southeastern and Eastern U.S. regions.

Generally, finding a truck-driving job should be no problem for an experienced truck driver in an Atlanta region chock full of trucking and logistical operating entities.

If your fiancé works with a trucking company that has extensive operations in the Atlanta area and could transfer his job to Atlanta that would be all the better....That would be all the better so that he could have a job waiting on him after your move and so that you would know where in the Atlanta region he would be commuting to and from for work on a regular basis.

[Glazer311]

Stay in Jersey

[Forhall]

I've lived on NJ, California, NYC, and Atlanta. I was born in California an moved to NYC at age 9 so I don't remember much but anyway...

Thoughts on Jersey:

I lived in northern jersey near NYC. I worked there and drove over the bridge, it was 25 mins door to door. I loved living there. Property taxes are high, but you get what you pay for. You get amazing schools, constant police presence, clean green space, etc.

My biggest shocks going from NJ to Atlanta:

1. The crime! Are there safe areas in the metro? Yes. Anything like New Jersey? No. The area I lived in was so safe that most of the cities and towns around me hadn't recorded a homicide in decades. There was no petty crime either - it was a big deal if someone's house or car was broken into, because it never happened. Here in Atlanta crime is so common people just say it comes with the territory. I live in one of the more affluent parts of the city and still have neighbors tell me about break ins as nonchalantly as they tell me about the weather.

2. The schools. They suck. The highest performing public schools in all of Georgia still have scored lower than the middle of the road schools in NJ.

3. The blight. NJ land is so precious and expensive every livable home or lot is used. There is no empty, blighted land except maybe in the undesirable areas of Newark.

4. Everything other than housing costs more. Groceries, utilities, services. They say southern COL is less but that only applies to housing, and not even to housing if you want to live in a desirable area.

5. No one knows how to drive. Half the people act like they grew up in the middle of nowhere and will go 10 mph on the highway admiring the scenery. The other half acts like they want to drive aggressively but don't know how to do so safely so they cut people off, never use a signal, cross 4 lanes of busy traffic in one swoop to not miss an exit, pull out in front of you - you name it! Scan every intersection here because 70% of Atlanta population doesn't seem to know what a red light or stop sign means.

6. Summer sucks. I didn't know it could be so hot and humid all the time.


Pleasant surprises:

1. Property taxes are much, much lower.

2. People are more talkative and friendly

3. The food is really good and eclectic

4. Winter is more tolerable and shorter.

All in all, atlanta is great but I'll probably move back to NJ once I have kids just for the schools and proximity to NYC for cultural enhancement. That said, atlanta has great culture and museums too and I've been very surprised at how much I enjoy the high museums, human rights museum, and botanical garden.

[JOinGA]

Originally Posted by Taegwaltney

hey everyone ! So my fiance and i are thinking of relocating from NJ to GA...we wanna buy our first home together, so its very exciting for us and I have an aunt who lives in acworth and she LOVES it. But i wanna know what area would be best for our needs:

- We have kids so a good school system is a must
- 3+bedrooms 2+ bathrooms house
- Somewhere safe where i wont be scared to let the kids outside to play.
- somewhere close to the night life(30mins most)...not necessarily clubbing etc but just being able to go out with girls and have girls night or vis versa for my fiance.
-somewhere friendly , i read on another forum that some places are racist over there. My fiance is hispanic and I'm mixed.
-this one is a question....how hard is it would you say it is to get a job over there...my fiance is a truck driver. Im a stay at home mom.


Thanks in advance!

I moved to Georgia from New Jersey. I still have family in NJ and their taxes are horrible. You will do much better on that front here. If you have children you are planning to send to college, look into the opportunity provided to them to earn the HOPE scholarship if they graduate from a Georgia high school. Even if they are interested in a trade, the HOPE grant covers community college. www.gafutures.org