Moving from NJ - Any info on Austell OR Cobb County?

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As someone who lives in Austell, please be careful about any "too good to be true" deals on houses in this area. In 2009 we had major flooding and most of those houses are still unoccupied and not taken care of.

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I guess I could also answer your questions as I grew up here too.

Originally Posted by laurenlbnj

How are the hospitals?

I have had nothing but positive experiences from both Cobb Hospital and Kennestone.

Driving distance wise as well from Austell area?

I live near downtown Austell and it takes me 15-20 minutes to get to I-20 or I-285.

How are the schools?

I graduated from South Cobb a few years ago. It was okay then, but it was declining from my freshman to my senior year. After I graduated, there were ~20 trailers that occupied the student parking lot until recently, as they have majorly renovated and added a building. I would stay away from South Cobb, Osbourne, Pebblebrook. Kennesaw Mountain, North Cobb, Sprayberry I believe are pretty good. McEachern in Powder Springs was good ten years ago but now, I'm not so sure.

Pretty much, if you stay away from the South/West Cobb area and look more to the East/North area I think you'll be alright.

Is Austell far enough from Atlanta (to avoid the high crime rates)?

Ehh... if you want to avoid high crime I would not suggest Austell anywhere near I-20. Honestly, it's really hit or miss in this city.

Can you recommend other areas if you do not agree with Austell being safe, and suburb like?

Kennesaw. I moved there for college for a little while. $1250 a month got us a 4br/3ba (basement apartment) spacious house with a fenced in backyard, two car garage right next to a park. I really liked Kennesaw, I would live there again. I felt safe most of the time.

What counties would you say the people are most friendly?

It's the south, everyone's friendly compared to up there.

How is it locating employment out here? I’m sure that depends, but, we will work retail, office admin, labor, you name it. We really want out of Jersey!!

There's lots of places to work out here in my opinion. I held two serving jobs as well as a retail job at the same time at one point in time. I mean, it's a 20 minute drive to Douglasville or Kennesaw from here so it's not like you can't find work if you look hard enough.

We are trying to live a safe distance from high crime areas. Preferably 30 minutes or more. Obviously this is a hard question to answer, but I could name a few towns in my area that fit this description. Hopefully someone on here can do the same for me.

I would stay away from Austell then. It used to be a nice community. When I was young, my brother and I would stay out from morning to evening, playing in the woods and riding our bikes around. If I had kids, I wouldn't let them do that now. Especially with all the abandoned houses from the flood.

There are better neighborhoods out there but they will be more expensive. Kennesaw, Smyrna, etc... pretty nice places.

I really love the Southern Belle charm that Georgia has to offer and would prefer to stay away from areas where the woman talk and can barely be understood. I have heard some areas are known for this. Probably sounds a bit trivial, or rude, if so please disregard. I am not trying to offend anyone. Maybe someone can tell me that this is not a known fact. I know the south has a different accent and I am fine with that, I actually embrace it… to an extent.

I would suggest staying away from Douglasville, Villa Rica, and Carrollton then!

[daintylu1]

Bob Kovacks you are a wealth of knowledge. I am new to the ATL area and you have answer MANY of my questions! I currently live in Lilburn and I am interested in moving closer to the city. This suburb is nice and family oriented, but far from everything, and I am single.