Moving to the area. . . (Savannah, Martinez: insurance, new home, neighborhoods)

[bblawson]

My husband has just been offered a job in Augusta. Having never been to Augusta and knowing nothing other than what I've read on this forum, I am in need of guidance. We have 2 children, 1 middle school and 1 elementary. I would like to live in the best area for both children, but having done research on the supposed best schools in the area (Greenbrier and Lakeside), I have mixed feelings. I am willing to live a bit further out, in any direction, perhaps within a 30 minute commute to Ft Gordon. Can you recommend some great areas for me? Please tell me WHY you would recommend them as well. Our housing requirements are 4 beds, 2 baths, 2000 sq feet, up to $250,000. Many thanks!

[lilmusket]

With school aged kids you probably will want to stay in Columbia County. I'd Recommend Riverwood Plantation. It's in the greenbrier school district.. in fact the school is within the neighborhood... it's about halfway from Evans to the Lake. It's safe.. nice new homes (should be able to find something in your price range), plus most of the new development, ie shopping and restaurants are heading out that way.

[lilmusket]

BTW... in Riverwood.. you have all the schools clustered together within the neighborhood...from elementary to high school. It is probably the most coveted school district in the metro area.

[Vicky31ga]

Personally I dont like columbia county because of the drugs. Lakeside is better of the two. I would suggest that you look into the North Augusta Sc schools. It is right beside augusta ga

[bblawson]

I am intrigued by the disparity between the two comments left thus far. Can anyone else elaborate?

I have just started doing a little research on the SC side of Augusta. Can anyone give me more information on schools in that area? Again, we are willing to take up to a 30 minute commute.

[Georgiadog]

Check out Thomson-McDuffie county.Website is thomson-mcduffie.com

[MantaRay]

If you've been reading in here, then you've probably already seen on p2 of the "family of mcg student" why the "best schools" thing is a farce. So I won't repeat that again here.

The best of all worlds in this metro area is North Augusta. You have lower crime, good schools, a small town feel, proximity to downtown Augusta for all the festivals and kiddie events that go on, proximity to all the major shopping in the area, great interstate and highway access, and the best paved pedestrian/bike trail in the entire metro area, including a riverfront section fronting a new riverfront park built as part of a new traditional neighborhood development called Hammond's Ferry. And if all that wasn't good enough, North Augusta has the lowest property taxes. North Augusta has the lowest gas prices. When I moved from west Augusta to North Augusta, even my auto insurance premiums went down.

North Augusta is very attractive to families and very big on recreation/parks. I know people who work at Ft. Gordon who live in North Augusta and they love it. The commute to Ft. Gordon is approx 20min. And for up to $250k, you can get a LOT more than 2000sf if you want. Or you can go with the 2000sf and pay a LOT less than $250k and save some of the interest paid to the bank. Either way, you get the most house for the money in North Augusta. The only other middle class area where you get as much house for the money is in the Grovetown area. In the $200k-$250k 2100-2400sf range, check out Bergen Place and Wando Woodlands on Bergen Rd. immediately north of I20 and Andrews Branch on Walnut Lane just a little north of I20 Exit 5- Edgefield Rd. There is also Lakes and Streams which is off Old Sudlow Lake Rd. (you can google maps it) but which WAS more distant from interstate access but with the I520 Palmetto Parkway project which is on track to be completed by the end of this year, an exit will be close to that area which will reduce a Ft. Gordon commut from there from probably 25min to more like 20min. It is a bit further removed from North Augusta's parks and greenway than the other neighborhoods I'm mentioning in here.

In the $150k-$200k range 1600-2200sf, check out the subdivisions adjacent to Andrews Branch called Butler's Mill and Walnut Grove- they in addition to Andrews Branch have a walking trail along Walnut Lane and another walking trail in a neighborhood park called Walnut Lane Neighborhood Park. You can also check out the neighborhoods just east of Riverview Park, west of Georgia Ave.

On the Georgia side, I think the nicest neighborhoods in that price range which have good interstate access are Magnolia Glen on Magnolia Pkwy off Old Belair Rd. in Grovetown, north of I20 and Riverstone in West Augusta at the end of Dennis Rd. which is off Stevens Creek Rd. The former for the nice architecture, front porches, sidewalks, and neighborhood greenspace and the latter for nice floorplans and close proximity to the Savannah Rapids Pavillion and Augusta Canal (unpaved) bike trail. There are also several new subdivisions in Grovetown immediately south of Patriots Park. With you having young children, my assumption is that weekend recreation is something you would be doing. And take it from somebody who got sick of driving to North Augusta's greenway every weekend so I moved to North Augusta, if recreation is your thing, convenience to recreational amenities makes a HUGE difference.

One more thing you should be aware of is that Evans has the thickest rush hour traffic of anywhere in the metro because not only is everybody going in the same direction at the same time on the same roads (no alternate routes), but interstate access is very poor so the traffic is on secondary roads, which causes the two primary I20 exits- Bobby Jones exit in Martinez and Belair Rd. exit in Grovetown- to back up worse than any in the area because you have to go through those towns to get to Evans. Again my top recommendation is North Augusta for driving convenience, costs, taxes, house for the money, recreation, good schools, and small town family friendly feel.

[bblawson]

MantaRay, Thanks for all that info. Now my brain is definitely spinning. Guess I'll be spending even more time online now doing even more research. Yikes. Tell me about schools in N Augusta. My concerns after reading on greatschools was that the two schools mentioned previously (Lakeside and Greenbrier) seem to be very overcrowded. Now, I don't know how up to date the info on that website is, so that's why I came over here to ask locals.

You mentioned recreational activites. Can you elaborate? I do want the kids to partake of some activities, but I'm not one of those crazy moms who signs them up for something everyday. Currently we have swimming lessons, bowling, girl scouts and the boy will join cub scouts when he's old enough. Are these activites available in the area of N Augusta?

I like your information regarding taxes - that's a big help to me. I know absolutely nothing about the area so everything I learn is a great help.

I am really a small town girl at heart, so North Augusta does sound lovely. Tell me more about the town itself - shopping, groceries, amenities, etc. . . I'd even like to hear about the recycling options available!

[MantaRay]

Glad to help. North Augusta has one high school, North Augusta High. Lakeside, Greenbrier, and North Augusta High Schools ACT results for 2007 were 22.5, 21.2, 20.6. This doesn't show any wide disparity between schools. Lakeside and Greenbrier are overcrowded because a whole bunch of people bought into the "best schools" marketing trick and parents rushed to those schools, thereby swelling the student numbers. This rush is ALSO the reason Columbia County has had to jack up property taxes- they are in a constant state of building schools due to the successful marketing, and you know who gets to pay for building all those new schools. North Augusta has a better balance of demographics, so even though the schools perform well, they haven't been innundated all at once by hordes of new students. North Augusta IS growing, but at more of a steady pace, which actually is a good thing.

Recreational activities. The main facilities are the 7 mile North Augusta Greeneway and various parks including Riverview Park, which the greenway runs through and which has an athletic center with a weight room/exercise center, indoor walking track, raquetball courts, etc. and the family rate is, I think, something like $125 or $150 for the year for the activities center for South Carolina residents. Of course the park itself and the greenway is free. North Augusta has scouting for the kids too. It has a bowling alley. For swimming, you'll have to go to one of the YMCAs in Augusta. The parks and recreation amenities can be found on the northaugusta.net website.

North Augusta is big into recycling. They deliver blue bags to put your recyclables in. As far as grocery shopping, North Augusta has recently built up a center where Knox Ave begins at Martintown Rd. which has a Super Walmart, Lowe's, brand new 1 month old Kroger, Walgreen, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, Firehouse Subs, Radio Shack, and other retail. It is in immediate proximity to the already exising KMart, Publix, Wing Stop, and other retail. North Augusta is so pedestrian focused that that entire complex has sidewalks which run past them all and are part of North Augusta's plan to extend pedestrian paths (greenway) throughout the town. And North Augusta is so dedicated to the aesthetics of the community that Knox Ave. has center road plantings of grass and shrubs and trees, including Palm trees. That is the main grocery shopping area in town. There is also a Bi-Lo further up Knox Ave. and a Food Lion at the I20 Exit 5 which is Edgefield Rd. (actually Knox Ave. becomes Edgefield Rd. as you travel north). Once I520- Palmetto Parkway is completed all the way to a new I20 Exit 6 later this year, the open space area just north of Exit 5 on the east side of Edgefield Rd. is planned to be developed into a mixed use area with retail up front and homes in the back to complement the Food Lion shopping center I just mentioned right across the street.

Amenities. Hammond's Ferry, which costs way too much for most people, but thankfully is being built integrated with public space, the main one of which is the new Boeckh Park, which is directly on the riverfront. This spring's Yellow Jasmine Festival will be held in Boeckh Park. A good idea is to go to maps.live.com and look at the North Augusta riverfrong in aerial view or bird's eye view and you'll see the new neighborhood, the riverfront park, and the greenway that runs through it. If you follow the greenway on the map it looks like it ends at the 13th street bridge, but it actually runs a little north along the bottom of the bridge, then further east along the north edge of The River Golf Course. Before the riverfront section opened up, I used to walk the Golf section all the time because of how beautiful the view is. The riverfront is North Augusta's best amenity (the greenway too), and North Augusta plans to fully develop it with the Hammond's Ferry traditional neighborhood. A new wetlands park just opened a couple months ago on the site. If you go to hammonsferry.com and click on Maps and Masterplan and then click on Masterplan you can get a feel for the layout. Even better, go to doverkohl.com and click Portfolio.....All Projects......Hammond's Ferry and they've got pictures of what the planned town center and riverfront esplanade will look like, as well as 3 current pics of street with houses already built or in process.

Also North Augusta has lots of festivals during the year for the kiddies and proximity to downtown Augusta which also has lots of events for the kiddies.

[lzbthc82]

I am also moving to Augusta and I just wanted to say thank you manta for all that great info. I'm glad to hear about the recycling and pedestrian focus of the area. These are major concerns for our family. Thank you again!
Liz