Possible job in Rockmart & thinking of living in Atlanta (Marietta: high crime, house)

[Natalie38]

Hello! My husband was just offered a job in Rockmart GA. I've only ever driven through GA and don't really know a lot about it. I do not want to live in a town that is far away from shopping...I mean like malls, groceries, trendy stores. I have two college aged kids in my home and a son with 2 years of high school left. I need a great high school, and college relatively close by. I do not want to live in a high crime area. I also would like there to be diversity. I don't want to live in a place where people are too conservative. I have a sister who has a life partner, and my kids best friend is gay. One of the kids living with us is Mexican and we are caucasian/Greek. We do not drink or party (even the college kids), but we do like to ride bikes in parks, read, go to shows, movies, out to eat at lots of different types of restaurants. We love to swim (in pools because I know you guys have alligators and that scares the heck out of me), so I want a home with a pool. We can spend around 180k for a home (These teens cost a lot)! So, I guess I want a safe, diverse, affordable, fun, area within a 40 min. drive to Rockmart, with a great high school. Hmmm I hope I'm not asking for too much. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you! I posted this under Georgia and didn't get any responses yet so I figured I'd put it here too. Thanks!

[wxjay]

Well, Rockmart is "out there" quite a ways. The farthest place you could live I think that would satisfy most of your needs would be Acworth or Kennesaw. The drive would probably be closer to 45-55 minutes, though. Places closer but still nice include Powder Springs and Hiram, both of which are building up quite a bit over the last 5 years. Housing there is well within your price range. You might also consider Dallas, GA, though that will be more removed from the main shopping areas. I am not too sure about the schools in those regions, however.

[mlv289]

I would agree that acworth/kennesaw would be a good fit. It is probably a little farther away, but if you want good schools, cobb county is probably your best bet (Kennesaw and some of Acworth are in cobb). Traffic will not be a problem since your husband would be going the opposite way, he can wave at everyone on the other side.

[Natalie38]

Okay thank you for your advice! I'll look into those areas and come back with more questions I'm sure Thank you!

[atlantagreg30127]

Add me to the list of Acworth or West Kennesaw as top spots to look in. Also possibly the West Cobb area.

Powder Springs is ok if you go just north of the actual town limits to the new high school district (Hillgrove), although when you get into West Cobb you're in a somewhat conservative area. Not "burn at the stake Baptist hell" kind of conservative, but conservative, Republican, church on Sunday, kind of crowd (mostly, some mixtures moving in). I live in the actual town limits of Powder Springs - mixed, and in some areas, getting worse crime wise, but others not so bad - still, lately I tell folks to try 3-4 miles north of the town.

You really don't want Paudling County for "good schools". I know people with kids in school there and to be honest I'm too tired to type it all, but most of them would move over into Cobb in a second if they could afford to. It's just not a great educational system there compared to other areas.

[Natalie38]

I really appreciate all of your help. Two years ago our family moved to a small town in VA, and it is in so many ways not a place that fits our needs. I am looking forward to getting to a better, less conservative, more with the times kind of area.

[jandbking2]

Rockmart is a nice little town. I'm from the Rome area and have a friend that is moving from Dallas ... which is between Rockmart and Atlanta. I think you may love the house they have to sell ... Check this out. Easy to drive to Rockmart and 5 mins from everything you want and SAFE for kids ...
Home Search - View (broken link)

[netdragon]

Powder Springs / West Cobb and Cartersville are options. You won't want to live much further in than that because you'll get tied up in traffic trying to get out, since even though it's a reverse commute, there's enough regional employment center traffic in each county to become a hassle. Powder Springs / West Cobb isn't too far from colleges in Marietta and Kennesaw and is also more affordable and you can fit everyone in a home for $180k. You can do even better in Cartersville. You'll be able to do more of the entertainment stuff you like in Powder Springs because it's close to the East-West connector and Barrett Parkway, however both Cartersville and Powder Springs will offer the nearby parks and trails to do outdoor stuff. Cartersville will have you closer to the North GA mountains. Powder Springs is close to the Silver Comet trail. Someone mentioned Acworth, and that also has a lot of recreational areas and a lake.

Gators aren't here naturally this far up in GA though they have found pets that have escaped and grown to pretty large sizes. Southern GA has some (especially in the Okefenokee Swamp and coastal areas). Around here, there's only brown recluse and eastern black widows, though they aren't that common (i've never seen any). There's also fire ants, termites and huge "palmetto bugs" (american cockroaches) that are annoying as heck and hard to catch if they sneak into your house but don't colonize like european cockroaches. I've also heard some people talk about seeing and being stung by non-poisonous black scorpions. Again, I've never run into any. Of course, like most of the East coast we have big wolf spiders, earwig (pincher bugs), etc, which aren't poisonous, just painful. The North GA mountains also have rattlesnakes but there aren't any around here. Killer bees are headed here, but haven't quite reached us yet (In '06, they announced they were expected to be here in '08 ).

Another animal to watch out for -- not because its dangerous or annoying but because it's cute -- are the little lizards. There aren't many here like in Florida, so they are a surprise when you run into one. If you're fast, you can catch one.

[Yeahitsme]

Your best bet would be either Cartersville or the Hiram/Powder Springs area. Both areas are a little over 20 minutes from Rockmart. Both offer a lot of shopping and dinning options and if you not satisfied with what they have to offer Kennesaw is close to both of them. There are colleges in Kennesaw and Marrietta, which again are close to both areas. Also closeby is Rome, which has a few colleges. The Hiram and Cartersville areas both have their own community colleges too.

In Cartersville you have lots of nice parks, Lake Allatoona and Red Top Mountain. In Powder Springs they have the Silver Comet Trail that actually goes all the way into Rockmart.

Powder Springs does have a good amount of good schools. In Cartersville you will find some too, especially Cartersville High School and Woodland High School (on the side of town going towards Rockmart).

So in my opinion you will be fine picking either Cartersville or Powder Springs/Hiram.