time for action (Atlanta, Canton, Forsyth: rental homes, crime, vacation home)

[dynamic duo]

I am a single mom. I have been working to save to move south with my amazing daughter who recently turned 11. I was looking to move about 2 years ago and made the decision not to for a man. Not my best choice lol. Now we have saved to finally consider to go where our hearts would please. I have possibilities for transfer to Georgia which looking through the net sounds amazing. I have been there twice and the weather and atmosphere has won my heart each time. The 3 areas for transfer would be Atlanta, Athens, or Greensboro. I am not fond of large towns so I am looking for a smaller town where i don't have to worry if my daughter travels up the block to the store, affordable, and we have a golden retriever who would love nothing better than a large yard or something in the country. I work in the medical field phlebotomy, CMA, CNA, LPN as well as at a fitness facility. My daughter is academically delayed, so having a good school is a huge thing for me. Or if possible an area with a summer school, or education advancement center would be great. We currently drive an hour to get to the nearest one here and she has made great advances this year. We are hoping to have her in regular classrooms come next year. I enjoy gardening so an area that may be better suited for that would be great. We are very people friendly and would like an area we can meet people and get invited into social events. We can be a bit shy at first. My daughter is in girlscouts, 4H, basketball, and youth groups for our church. If anyone can throw us a bone to give us a hand we would greatly appreciate it. We are to visit 2 facilities the beginning of January and hoping to explore potential areas. We are scheduled to move the end of May beginning of June. Thank you for any help we can get.

[dynamic duo]

Clayton is an area I was looking at. I like the idea of a mountain area nearby for hiking.

[Born 2 Roll]

Out of curiosity, where in the Atlanta area would your office be located if you were to transfer to Atlanta?

I ask this because the expansive suburbs of the Atlanta metro area are where the best schools are to be found out of all of the possible relocation destinations that you have listed.

Athens struggles with some degree of crime because of its status as a large college town with a large pocket of poverty. The public schools in the Athens area generally are not as great as the public schools in the Atlanta outer suburbs are, but the public schools in the Athens area are better than they are in areas throughout most of rural Georgia.

Of the three areas outside of Atlanta that you listed, the best public school options can be found just outside of Athens in the Athens suburb/far-outer Atlanta exurb of Oconee County.

Greensboro is a rural area that has a somewhat large resort area nearby at Lake Oconee. Unfortunately like most small rural Georgia towns Greensboro is an area that struggles with some degree of poverty outside of the somewhat large resort area. Though it should be noted that the Lake Oconee Academy charter school is one of the best schools in the entire state for students in Pre-K through 6th grade.

Clayton, in the extreme northeast corner of the state in the Blue Ridge Mountains region of North Georgia, while being an area that is extremely scenic with much vacation property in the area, is also an area that struggles with much poverty.

The Clayton area has some decent schools for rural mountainous North Georgia....But schools that may be considered to be of decent quality for rural Georgia may not necessarily seem all that great when compared to much more resource-rich schools in Atlanta suburban and exurban counties like North Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Walton, Oconee, Paulding, Fayette, Coweta and Henry.

[AnsleyPark]

I believe you will find everything you are looking for in Greensboro. Lovely town.

[ellie]

I second Greensboro.

[dynamic duo]

Atlanta was not exactly my first choice due to the size. But it would be Emory Saint Josephs hospital. Greensboro was my first thought then Athens. I am currently trying to find information on rentals in those areas and Rabun county area as well. I am having difficulty finding rental homes rather then "vacation" rentals. Any recommendations on where to look or papers online in the areas that I can search? I did contact 2 realtors also to assist in finding rental homes in the area as well.

[aus10]

You will have an hour and 40 minute drive from Clayton to Emory St. Joe. And that is without traffic. Not to mention taking the top end of the perimeter during rush. Ugh. Figure 2 1/2 hours or more if doing that commute during rush....From Blairsville to Sandy Spring Marta during rush has taken me as much as 3....

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by dynamic duo

Atlanta was not exactly my first choice due to the size. But it would be Emory Saint Josephs hospital. Greensboro was my first thought then Athens. I am currently trying to find information on rentals in those areas and Rabun county area as well. I am having difficulty finding rental homes rather then "vacation" rentals. Any recommendations on where to look or papers online in the areas that I can search? I did contact 2 realtors also to assist in finding rental homes in the area as well.

Finding rental homes rather than vacation homes may likely be a substantial challenge in areas like Greensboro (which is dominated by the nearby large resort area at Lake Oconee) and Clayton (which is located in the Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia) because they are mostly rural, sparsely populated and sparsely developed.

There potentially may be a higher availability of rental homes in the Athens area because of the presence of the University of Georgia and because of the encroachment of the far-outer Atlanta exurbs into Oconee County (which has some of the best exurban public schools in both the entire state of Georgia and in the entire Southeastern U.S.).

Though because the Athens area (including highly-rated exurban but still sparsely developed Oconee County) does not include the mass and overwhelming crush of residential development that suburban Atlanta has (where rental homes are abundant), finding a rental home in an area that is suitable for raising a family is not a guarantee.

Originally Posted by aus10

You will have an hour and 40 minute drive from Clayton to Emory St. Joe. And that is without traffic. Not to mention taking the top end of the perimeter during rush. Ugh. Figure 2 1/2 hours or more if doing that commute during rush....From Blairsville to Sandy Spring Marta during rush has taken me as much as 3....

aus10 makes an excellent point that a potential commute between a far outlying area like Clayton in extreme North Georgia and Emory Saint Joe's on the Top End Perimeter would be long commute each way without traffic (with traffic or delays of any kind (collisions, wet weather, etc) the commute between a very far-flung rural town like Clayton and the severely congested Atlanta Perimeter would become unbearable and intolerable).

A probable commute between a town like Clayton and Athens (while still very long and not desirable) would likely be much more tolerable because of the relative lack of traffic between Clayton and Athens along US Highway 441.

Though you should probably also keep in mind that if you and your daughter will most likely find many more resources to help with her academic challenges in a large and resource-rich suburban Atlanta school system like Gwinnett County (a system which specializes in helping children with academic challenges because of Gwinnett County's very large population of transient and English language-challenged students) or Fulton County (in the wealthy North Fulton area) or even in Cobb, Forsyth or Cherokee counties than you probably will most anywhere else in the state of Georgia.

Another thing to keep in mind with attempting to commute from (and to) someplace like Clayton in the North Georgia Mountains is that occurrences of inclement winter weather (snow and ice) are not uncommon in the hilly and mountainous counties north of Atlanta because of the terrain and the elevation.

[aus10]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Another thing to keep in mind with attempting to commute from (and to) someplace like Clayton in the North Georgia Mountains is that occurrences of inclement winter weather (snow and ice) are not uncommon in the hilly and mountainous counties north of Atlanta because of the terrain and the elevation.

That is another major to living in the mountains. We are ALWAYS about 10 degree's cooler than the city. We've already had a couple of major freezing events up here. If I worked on the perimeter that absolute farthest I'd go out is Dahlonega or possibly Cleveland for small town. Maybe Ball Ground/Jasper off 575.. but any of those could even be pushing it during winter or times of high traffic. 575 from Canton is becoming almost as bad as 400...

I used to be able to make it from the mountains to the Toco Hills area in 2 hours or less. These days... 3 hours if I'm lucky. Take mileage out of any equation around North Georgia and throw it out the window. Your either going to deal with mountainous roads, curves, hills or traffic. Until either MARTA gets into more of the outlying communities or GaDOT starts some more major thoroughfares I'd live as close to my work as possible...

[dynamic duo]

Thank you Aus10 and Born to Roll. I noticed the drive would be a pain. This is also Why I am also considering looking into other healthcare jobs as well. I looked into weather for the area and luckily can say, the snow and ice is nothing compared to here in Iowa. Last year we had terrible weather and snow more then 12 in high and still plowed through to make it to work. A normal 1 hour drive turned into a 1.5 hr drive but we made it. Maybe I will check smaller areas around Athens. I am not a fan of larger cities although I work in one. Working and living are 2 different circumstances. I appreciate all of the help and guidance for areas that may best suit out needs.