Looking for advice and very confused (Atlanta, Marietta: rental, employment, neighborhoods)

[wendycheryl76]

Looking to relocate to GA very soon to hopefully find more work in the dental field. Im a single mom and my sister is moving with me. Im searching for advice on what neighborhoods to target for short term renting while we figure out our final destination. Sis got a job in Douglasville Hospital but I really want Marietta/ Alpharetta area due to all the shopping and dining. Is there any towns that are similar to Marietta/ Alpharetta within 30 min drive of Douglasville? ( willing to take back roads) I'm a hygienist and assuming there is more work further North so I figure if we split the distance driving wont be so bad. I just want safe, clean, relatively new neighborhoods where rent isnt so crazy. Thank you all for your help I am learning so much from reading all your posts.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by wendycheryl76

Looking to relocate to GA very soon to hopefully find more work in the dental field. Im a single mom and my sister is moving with me. Im searching for advice on what neighborhoods to target for short term renting while we figure out our final destination. Sis got a job in Douglasville Hospital but I really want Marietta/ Alpharetta area due to all the shopping and dining. Is there any towns that are similar to Marietta/ Alpharetta within 30 min drive of Douglasville? ( willing to take back roads) I'm a hygienist and assuming there is more work further North so I figure if we split the distance driving wont be so bad. I just want safe, clean, relatively new neighborhoods where rent isnt so crazy. Thank you all for your help I am learning so much from reading all your posts.

Douglasville will more than likely be your best option right now since your sister has been hired to a job there.

Douglasville (and Douglas County) offers a high quality-of-life that is similar to Northside suburban communities like Marietta (and Cobb County) and Alpharetta (and North Fulton County) but with a lower cost-of-living.

While it may not be at the same level as the North Atlanta suburbs, Douglasville offers some shopping and dining options in areas like its historic downtown village area, the GA 92 corridor and the area around the Arbor Place Mall.

Douglasville (and Douglas County) has good public schools and is a very good starting point, particularly for someone who might be moving to the Atlanta area on a constrained housing budget.

If you want the shopping and dining options of North Atlanta suburbs like Marietta and Alpharetta, you are also going to get the noticeably higher rental rates, housing prices and significantly increased local and regional traffic.

Metro Atlanta in general overall has been experiencing a highly competitive rental and housing market in recent years and months, so finding "safe, clean, relatively new neighborhoods where rent isn't so crazy" may likely be a challenge, particularly in high-demand areas north of I-20 (like Marietta/Cobb County, Alpharetta/North Fulton County, inside of the I-285 Perimeter north of I-20, etc).

Douglasville and Douglas County are a good geographical base from which to explore the rest of the metro area for employment and entertainment opportunities while getting to know the region.

[ATLTJL]

Douglasville and Douglas County are a good geographical base from which to explore the rest of the metro area for employment and entertainment opportunities while getting to know the region.

Sorry, B2R, I don't agree with this at all.

Douglasville is far flung to the west and feels pretty isolated from many of the metro's amenities.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by wendycheryl76

Looking to relocate to GA very soon to hopefully find more work in the dental field. I'm a single mom and my sister is moving with me. I'm searching for advice on what neighborhoods to target for short term renting while we figure out our final destination.

Sis got a job in Douglasville Hospital but I really want Marietta/ Alpharetta area due to all the shopping and dining.

These two parts of town (Douglasville and Alpharetta) are not compatible in terms of a commute.
Certain parts of Marietta might be doable if your sister is willing to put up with a commute that an hour each way.

Is there any towns that are similar to Marietta/ Alpharetta within 30 min drive of Douglasville? ( willing to take back roads)

Not really. Mableton or Powder Springs are the closest areas with a moderate amount of residential and commercial development, but they are not comparable to the Marietta and Alpharetta of today.

I'm a hygienist and assuming there is more work further North so I figure if we split the distance driving wont be so bad. I just want safe, clean, relatively new neighborhoods where rent isnt so crazy. Thank you all for your help I am learning so much from reading all your posts.

Rent is comparitively decent in Mableton

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Douglasville will more than likely be your best option right now since your sister has been hired to a job there.

Douglasville (and Douglas County) offers a high quality-of-life that is similar to Northside suburban communities like Marietta (and Cobb County) and Alpharetta (and North Fulton County) but with a lower cost-of-living.

While it may not be at the same level as the North Atlanta suburbs, Douglasville offers some shopping and dining options in areas like its historic downtown village area, the GA 92 corridor and the area around the Arbor Place Mall.

Douglasville (and Douglas County) has good public schools and is a very good starting point, particularly for someone who might be moving to the Atlanta area on a constrained housing budget.

If you want the shopping and dining options of North Atlanta suburbs like Marietta and Alpharetta, you are also going to get the noticeably higher rental rates, housing prices and significantly increased local and regional traffic.

Metro Atlanta in general overall has been experiencing a highly competitive rental and housing market in recent years and months, so finding "safe, clean, relatively new neighborhoods where rent isn't so crazy" may likely be a challenge, particularly in high-demand areas north of I-20 (like Marietta/Cobb County, Alpharetta/North Fulton County, inside of the I-285 Perimeter north of I-20, etc).

Douglasville and Douglas County are a good geographical base from which to explore the rest of the metro area for employment and entertainment opportunities while getting to know the region.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Sorry, B2R, I don't agree with this at all.

Douglasville is far flung to the west and feels pretty isolated from many of the metro's amenities.

For someone in the OP's situation with what sounds like is a constrained rental/housing budget and her sister starting work in Douglasville at "Douglasville Hospital" (WellStar Douglas Hospital), Douglasville is a really good starting point just simply because her sister will be starting work there and because it is a community (that while not as highly-touted as Northside suburban areas like Marietta/Cobb County and Alpharetta/North Fulton County) has good public schools and at least a base level of the type of shopping and dining amenities that she stated that she prefers.

The OP does not have to stay in Douglasville permanently, but it is a good starting point considering her situation of apparently being on a constrained rental/housing budget and not yet having found work in the Atlanta area.

The areas with the increased amenities and more centralized location that the OP may find more desirable appear to be areas that the OP may not quite be able to afford in an Atlanta metro rental/housing market that has been highly competitive as of late.

Douglasville and Douglas County may not have the same cachet as more highly-touted Northside suburban areas like Cobb and North Fulton counties, but Douglasville/Douglas County still is a quality community with good public schools at less-competitive rental rates and housing prices.

The OP and her family can enter into a shorter-term rental lease and when things improve (either with the OP having found a high-paying job to afford the higher rental rates and housing prices on the high-demand amenity-rich Northside and/or after having gotten to know the Atlanta area much more thoroughly, etc), the OP can always move to a more desirable location in the Atlanta metro area.

Right now the OP just needs to work with what sounds to be a constrained housing budget while looking for good-paying employment and (especially) finding out about the often challenging traffic patterns of the Atlanta metro area and, with her sister starting work there, Douglasville is probably the best location for that at this particular point in time.

[kagete]

Wellstar is hiring at ALL their hospitals and there is some mobility to move between those hospitals/clinics.

For most new hires, the first milestone is to stay a year to make sure they don't have to pay back their signing bonus. After that, they try to hold on 5 years to get the pension. Knowing that, it would be best to eventually live (after that first year of renting) within the area that is most convenient to most Wellstar hospitals. If you are willing to float or be on-call (make upwards of $45 an hour to start with minimal experience) then somewhere within Mableton, Austell, or Smyrna will be your best bet. Wellstar dominates Cobb County but also owns a few other hospitals and clinics inside the city perimeter.

There are tons of dental offices all over ATL, and they feel especially dense in Smyrna and Vinings where I live as well.