From Bigfork, Mt. to Marietta, Ga! Please Help (Atlanta, Smyrna: fit in, apartment complex)

[anthonyr]

Hello friends- my family and I have decided to move to Marietta from our small town in Montana. We are moving so that I may attend Life Univ. to attend Chiropractic school. The school is located at 1269 Barclay Circle, Marietta, GA 30060. I have never been to Georgia, and don't know anyone who ever has, but the school is in my opinion, one of the best Chiropractic schools in the nation. My sons will be 3 and 13 years old. I've read on this board some of the responses you guys have given to others, which are very helpful. Are there any suggestions on where to live within reasonable driving distance to my school? Right now, I drive 2 hours a day to attend the University of Montana, so anything closer would be great! We would like to live in a descent neighborhood that would be suitable to raise 2 boys, that have a good school system. If there is a neighborhood that has a volunteer fire dept, that would be great, as I am currently on a fire dept. here in Montana. We are very friendly people, and are both well educated, so if there is an area that a family like ours would fit in, that would be a bonus. Although we are on a limited budget, we don't want to live in the "Ghetto", if there is such a thing in Marietta. My wife and I are really excited because everything we read about Georgia online makes us think that we will feel right at home. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. I will probably start school this fall. Thanks for your help

[lastminutemom]

Also, having been to and loved Montana, you do realize that you are moving to a major metropolitan area. Marietta is part of Metro Atlanta. City limits and all are very blurry here. Your price range and housing needs will determine your options, so you need to tell us both what you can spend and what type of housing you need/want.

[Georgia1113]

There are lots of affordable homes in the Marietta and surrounding areas. You will enjoy living here.

[anthonyr]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Also, having been to and loved Montana, you do realize that you are moving to a major metropolitan area. Marietta is part of Metro Atlanta. City limits and all are very blurry here. Your price range and housing needs will determine your options, so you need to tell us both what you can spend and what type of housing you need/want.

Yes- We realize that we will be moving into a completely different world than where we are from. Most Chiro colleges are located in major metropolitan areas, Life Univ. just happens to be, in my opinion, the best. We would like a 2 bedroom apt, 1-2 bathrooms, or a small house. Our budget would be around 8-9 hundred dollars a month. Hope that helps- thanks for your responses!

[BobKovacs]

I've got two friends who both attended Life, and were very happy with the education they received. In your price range, you could look out in Cherokee County and find a decent apartment in a good school district. We stayed in a complex in Woodstock while our house was being built, and it was around $900/month for a 2 bed/2bath unit. You're commute to Life would vary depending on the time of day, but could be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

[David1502]

I would agree with BobKovacs post that Cherokee County would be best for the price range ($800 - $900) you want. I say this as a resident of Cobb County (Marietta is our County seat) you will not find any apartments in Cobb in that price range where you will feel safe for your kids, not to mention the lower quality school district it will probably be located in. I know someone who is renting an apartment in Smyrna (in Cobb) where they are paying $880 a month and there have been at least 4 breakins in the complex (that he's aware of) and it's a gated community. In one case someone kicked the door down.

Bottom line, the Atlanta area is in some respects 180 degrees opposite of Montana as we have a lot more crime and most of the grocery stores in the close in suburbs have an armed police officer because of the shop lifting problem. (I have been all over the mountian west and never seen a cop in a grocery store so I know things are different in Montana.) Here, we tend to have more of the extremes of wealth and poverty living in close proximity in the close in areas which you don't have as much of out west.

I am not saying this to discourage you from moving here, but to prevent you from moving into some of the areas near Life Chiropractic College which are not too desirable and in some cases not safe but appear to be o.k. upon a visit. Cherokee county will be more like what you are used to and I say this as a Cobb (Smyrna) resident.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by David1502

I would agree with BobKovacs post that Cherokee County would be best for the price range ($800 - $900) you want. I say this as a resident of Cobb County (Marietta is our County seat) you will not find any apartments in Cobb in that price range where you will feel safe for your kids, not to mention the lower quality school district it will probably be located in. I know someone who is renting an apartment in Smyrna (in Cobb) where they are paying $880 a month and there have been at least 4 breakins in the complex (that he's aware of) and it's a gated community. In one case someone kicked the door down.

The apartment complex is located in a northern part of Smyrna, I'll bet.

There *is* more crime in Atlanta than you will find in most rural areas, or even some urban areas. It was an eyeopener moving here from the relatively quiet midwestern metro I came from, believe me.

That doesn't mean it's a war zone. But you do want to take common-sense precautions.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

The apartment complex is located in a northern part of Smyrna, I'll bet.

No, It was actually about a half mile south of the East West Connector on South Cobb Dr. And in all fairness, it's not just the apartment complexes which are seeing crime - many of the single family home neighborhoods are, too. Recently, I heard of a homeowner off Cooper Lake, east of S. Cobb who had his garage door up for a short period of time while getting the garbage out and a guy in a van pulled up and "surveyed" the garage and stole a pressure washer. This has happened to several other homeowners in Smyrna who have made the mistake of leaving their garage door opened. Again, I am not trying to trash Smyrna, but make these comments as a proud Smyrna resident who has traveled a good bit out west in California, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming and noticed that things are different out there when it comes to crime. Oddly enough, I often feel safer out in Silicon Valley than I do in Metro Atlanta.

To the original poster, Metro Atlanta is a great place to live with a lot of advantages and a reasonable cost of living. However, your experience living here will be better if you are somewhat aware of the crime situation so that you and your family are not victims. Also, it pays to be knowledgeable that the quality of our public schools varies greatly depending on the neighborhood you are living in.

[anthonyr]

I really appreciate the feedback!- This really helps in trying to find a place to live, since we will be making arrangements to move, all online.- It seems that every apt. complex make themselves out to be the garden of eden!

[David1502]

Originally Posted by anthonyr

I really appreciate the feedback!- This really helps in trying to find a place to live, since we will be making arrangements to move, all online.- It seems that every apt. complex make themselves out to be the garden of eden!

Trust me they are NOT the garden of eden. In fact, most apartment omplexes around Atlanta typically go down in 10 to 15 years and neighborhood homeowner associations try to prevent developers from getting zoning approval to build new complexes because of their history. The City of Smyrna has had a moratorium on building any new apartment complexes for almost 10 years because of the problems with older apartment communities.

On a positive note, I would recommend if possible you try to rent a house in a neighborhood. Even though it is a little further out, you may want to consider Cartersville, GA which is just off I-75 north of Cobb County (as far north as Cherokee County just to its west). In Cartersville, you can get more for your money and it has more of a southern small town feel to it, not just suburbia. It may be take a little getting used to the "county" small town feel, however, it has more of safe family atmosphere than a lot of metro Atlanta. The main drawback is the commute down I-75 in the mornings. Best of luck on your housing search.