Is Albany GA a decent place to live?? (Columbus, Savannah: crime rate, find a job)

[jesikah727]

My husband has been asked to play basketball for Albany State University. He starts in August, so I have been doing some research on the town. I've come across many different opinions of the town, but I don't know which way to go. I am white and my husband is black, and we have two school age children. I need to know how is this town on inter- racial relationships? How is the crime rate? How are the schools? How hard is it to find a job? I will be the only one working since he will be gone alot. I know the cost of living is cheap, but is it because it's a bad town? Please if somebody can help me with this, id really appreciate it.

[isawooty]

Originally Posted by jesikah727

My husband has been asked to play basketball for Albany State University. He starts in August, so I have been doing some research on the town. I've come across many different opinions of the town, but I don't know which way to go. I am white and my husband is black, and we have two school age children. I need to know how is this town on inter- racial relationships? How is the crime rate? How are the schools? How hard is it to find a job? I will be the only one working since he will be gone alot. I know the cost of living is cheap, but is it because it's a bad town? Please if somebody can help me with this, id really appreciate it.

My goodness I'm surprised no one has answered you yet. To answer your question, no. It's not an ok place to live. Albany has a terribly high crime rate as does all of Georgia's tier II cities (Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, & Savannah). The problem with Albany in particularly is the fact that it doesn't have a very strong or diverse economy. The others do. It's very stagnant and I hate to break it to you, it's school system is not very diverse either. But Lee County is nice. If I were you, I would NOT move to Dougherty County. I would move to Lee County and drive to Albany everyday. The area around Albany Mall is nice, but that's primarily because it's right there on the Lee County edge. Send your kids to either Deerfield (if you can afford private) or Leesburg. You have been warned

[masonbauknight]

@isawooty. Good post, but Albany is Tier III, along with Warner Robins, Gainesville, and Valdosta. Albany is not one of GA's 2nd-tier cities, which are: Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon, and (in many categories, so it's sometimes included) Athens. Albany doesn't make Tier II on any level; AUG, SAV, COL, MAC and ATH really are on a higher level of population, employment, amenities and quality of life, though crime is too high.