Trying to find our ideal town? (Atlanta, Marietta: real estate, work, housing)

[mattswife]

Hi! My family and I are looking to move to GA. Could you recommend some nice areas to us? Preferably north of Atlanta?

We would like:
5-15 thousand population
within 30 minutes to a bigger city (hubby is an electrician, needs to have work)
affordable housing/land (100-150,000) (a home, not a modular)
good schools
shops & restaraunts nearby
nice place to raise children

We don't want:
to live in the middle of nowhere
be to close to a city
be to far from a city

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

[spunky]

You lost me there. . Let me get this straight; you don't want to be in the "middle of no where", you don't want to be "too close to a city", and you don't want to be "too far from a city." I don't get it, that seems to exclude pretty much every place. I guess you could make it easier instead of telling us where you don't want to live, tell us what you want.

[mattswife]

by to close i mean closer than 25 minutes, to far, more than an hour- sorry!

[cpowers21]

Have you thought about Murrayville in Hall County. It's about 20 minutes from Gainesville and hour away from Atlanta. There are homes in your price range available. I am not sure about their schools though. Here's a link to them school system http://www.hallco.org/main/index.asp#

[Sharon R.]

I'd recommend Cartersville, which is in Bartow County. Population of about 16,000, it's about 45 miles NW of Atlanta off I-75, but closer to Kennesaw and Marietta which are further south down 75 in Cobb County with many businesses, and the congestion that goes along with them. Lots of people commute from Cartersville to Atlanta, but I think they're nuts. Live close to work if possible.

I just sold my house, is was a 3BR/2B with 2 car garage on a 2/3 acre lot, in very good condition, in a quiet subdivision for about $120K. It was 5 miles from the center of Cartersville. There is quite a lot of new development going on, and lots of houses from $200K up to a million, but you wouldn't have any trouble finding something in your range in a nice area.

The schools are very good, Woodland High is academically excellent, while Cartersville High, in town, has one of the state's top football teams. The elementary and middle schools are also good, but since I don't have kids, I don't know that much about the schools. Cartersville has all the normal chain stores like Walmart and Target, Lowes and Home Depot, but they've also got shops and restaurants in the downtown area, which is very nice by the way. The just had a Christmas parade, they have craft fairs. There are horse and cattle farms, and there are also a number of trailer parks. There is still plenty of countryside, though I prefer the older homes in town. There is also a very nice park, Dellinger Park, with swim and tennis, walking trails, etc. As with most towns in the South, kids get bored and do drugs, but it is not an epidemic.

Moderator cut: Removed I hate that I left there, but the commute was too far for the fiance.

[tgordo]

I highly recommend Martinez or Evans Ga. Both locations are small on scale but offer the big city feel. Homes are affordable and taxes are low. By the way, Evans HS was voted the number #1 HS in the state of Ga for 2003! Also, only 20 mins from Augusta GA--home of the Masters' Golf championship. You can't lose by staying in these locations!

[mattswife]

Thanks for those tips, I'll check them out!

[soulshine411]

Check out Catoosa County GA. We moved here in 2000 and love it. My hubby works in Chattanooga and drives 15-20 minutes to work. The area is almost entirely white but the schools are great and so are the people. We are half way between Dalton, GA and Chattanooga, TN but we live in the far south part of Catoosa County. Ft. Oglethorpe is more racially mixed but not as much as most areas. Good Luck!

[larryb]

Originally Posted by mattswife

Thanks for those tips, I'll check them out!

Dont no ur preference but Cleveland Ga is awesome and growing. Predominately white, very conservative, Republican, low crime, real estate value is going up quickly. I love it. Good luck wherever u choose.