5 best and 5 worst places to live in GA? (Atlanta, Columbus: 2015, contractors)

[Libby02]

Conyers is a lovely place to live. Roughly 35 min from the Atlanta city limits. Nice big houses with lots of land. Rockdale is a small county in comparison to other counties in GA and has a high police presence with strict laws which usually equals a lot less crime. The schools are still ranking high even with the populous change so I wouldn't blame crime on all minorities as some of the previous post suggest. Cobb county has a good school ranking but traffic and congestion can be a problem.

[juliacherry]

Im a single mom of 5 kids, i live in las vegas nv, im planning on moving to ga whats a good area ti live in with 5 kids in ga

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by juliacherry

Im a single mom of 5 kids, i live in las vegas nv, im planning on moving to ga whats a good area ti live in with 5 kids in ga

Do you have a job lined up? If not, don't move here.

[SwingLowGeorgia]

Worst would be Donalsonville, Georgia.

Listed as extremely low crime (a LAUGH!) and having only two sex offenders makes it
'look good' on city-data, but reality is another matter.

There are currently more than two dozen REGISTERED sex offenders on the list.
That's just who's been caught, of course, and more specifically who's been arrested.
I know of one wealthy serial abuser of young men who has never even been taken
in for questioning (pays off the victim and families) and one scumbag who has serial
raped girls (impregnating them even,) and his Mama gets him off every time. And there
are many more that cut deals with the cops left and right--just two examples.

Now, as for violence and crime....it helps if the law enforcement committing it, allowing
it, overlooking it, and not responding to it are NOT the ones who're giving you statistics.

The meth explosion here is Unbelievable...but there are never any arrests for that!

Child abuse out the ying...but no investigations fulfilled, no charges upheld, and no
arrests made there either.

Cops intimidate, threaten, and abuse like nobodies business...but they and the D.A. and
others are completely corrupt and part of a good-ol'-boy network, so it all gets covered up
and ignored. Same as not happening, right?

Racism is as alive and well as if it were 1951....hell, maybe even 1851.

Poverty is the worst in the state...oh, wait....also nearly highest in the nation.
It IS the highest unemployment in nation. Deal is a SH7# governor, and it is a
testimony to how ignorant people are that he was reelected.

Things don't change here, and they never will (except to continue to get worse for
all except a privileged few.) And what a coincidence that the sheriff, mayor, major
business owners and land owners, the mayor (also the newspaper owner and major
land owner!) are in charge of the information that gets out about the city as well as
being responsible for promoting the image of the city are the ones who reap the financial
benefits of keeping up appearances.

Drug trade occurs regularly in broad daylight throughout the town, usually with police
protection sitting across the street.

I think our hospital is listed in the 'Top 100' hospitals, but ANY person you see on the street will tell you
how a loved one (or two) was murdered by the doctors' incompetence there, and EVERYONE will drive to
the next largest city for an emergency. They don't even trust the EMTs not to kill them.


Don't let the idea of 'small town' being a safe place influence your choices; it's no longer
a safe and reliable measure.

Don't let the statistics reported on paper influence you. They lie like the people who collect
and report them.

The only way I would move somewhere is if I knew a fair number of people who could be trusted
to tell me of their personal experiences.

Why don't people leave a town like this? Because they're so used to living without hope that they
can't pull it together enough to escape. Because they can't afford to lose the property and home
they have all their money invested in, and you can't sell **** here since no one is foolish enough
to move here. Because they at least have a support system of family and or friends to share in
and help survive the misery, and they can't all move.

Yes, living here in Seminole County is among the cheapest places in the country...and there's a
reason for that.

[fiorbel]

Any recommendations on a fun area to live for a professional woman in her early 30s? I would like to live in a town that has many walkable amenities and some sort of a nightlife. I was thinking of Buckhead? Or Virginia Highlands?

[I can't breath]

am a losangeles mother and wife i was born in LA i have always loved my home town but lately LA has changed crime has gone through the roof you think Conyers is bad you can't cross the street with out getting ran over Just like people run over dogs and cats and leave them in the streets that's how they do humans And most of the murders Are hit and run and when I say run they run back to Mexico it is sad that California is so out of control it has gotten to the point that I am a minority in my own state .I have found a home to buy in Conyers that I fell in love with it is in the suburbs the realtor says the schools are good in the area because I have 2 seven year old and 1 eight year old so I need good schools It took me a while to find a good school here in Rosemead Ca I had to look hard because it is close to my job i am a city bus driver i love my job but I will drop it for a better one . In closing I hope and pray that I am making the best choice for my family

[Shqiptar]

Retiring soon! Southern Georgia is at the top of my list. I'very narrowed it down to Valdosta or Thomasville. I'm from the west coast. Looking for honest reviews. NO kids one of us will still be working. Love to here from you folks, the good, ths bad and the ugly! And the Great!

[SouthernTiger]

Here's my list.
5 best:
5. Carrollton
4. Kennesaw
3. Johns Creek
2. Canton
1. Alpharetta
5 worst:
5. Columbus
4. Camilla
3. Quitman
2. Macon
1. Albany

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Shqiptar

Retiring soon! Southern Georgia is at the top of my list. I'very narrowed it down to Valdosta or Thomasville. I'm from the west coast. Looking for honest reviews. NO kids one of us will still be working. Love to here from you folks, the good, ths bad and the ugly! And the Great!

It's awfully hot down there. Have you considered the coast or mountains?

[MommaOphelia]

North Georgia Mountains, Jasper east is good, closer to the Atlanta creep has a quaint downtown main street, has CVS, and Walgreens up and coming, west toward Ranger, a little rough around the edges. Blue Ridge very trendy, cute artsy downtown tourism driven, Ellijay pretty small town, expanding, decent hard working people, affordable, low crime, questionable economics, tourism driven, Gilmer county schools are ok . Dahlonega very pretty downtown, college town, old mining town. University of North Georgia, Army Ranger training, more diverse better arts/culture/nightlife, most sophisticated, crime is fairly low. Murrayville/Cleremont more rural, large and small scale farming, cattle, horses, low crime not much else, 20 minute ride to Dahlonega. North Hall Schools rated very high, low crime. Dawsonville, southeastern Gainesville, maybe best to avoid due to higher crime, history of gang and drug activity. Dalton to the west, well it has decent shopping areas and big brand stores, seems OK, saw some very nice homes, and some not so nice homes, felt safe shopping there (which i do at least one a month) . These areas have some of the most beautiful views of the mountains. Most of them are suitable for families, college students and retirees. They all have fairly low crime rates, lower costs of living- except food prices are a bit higher than average, and affordable housing. Some areas are flat and open, and others are mountainous. Ellijay and Murrayville are about 1 hour and 15 min to Georgia Tech in Atlanta (Without the notorious Atlanta Metro traffic). All of these areas have their share of meth, but if you take care to supervise and occupy and direct , all of these areas have girl scouts, boy scouts, adventure shouts, FFA, 4H, Lots of church youth groups, and sheriff's activities to keep the young ones out of trouble... I have found people in these areas to generally be friendly, warm, welcoming, and helpful. While some of the people may seem a bit standoffish or reluctant to engage strangers, I think it stems from many of the people have been isolated for so long and have grown up together for multiple generations. One can't expect to be treated like an old friend over night. But as people are transplanted further North, the locals are experiencing more diversity and are pretty much accepting it and the impact the transplants and tourism have on the local economies. I am what is considered a "Half Back". Came from the Northeast to Florida and then "halfway back up North to Georgia". I take it as a compliment, lol. For the most part I love Georgia. Its a beautiful state with beautiful, interesting people and culture. We've been coming up here for years and have decided to stay full time. We have a 13 and a 16 year old who we home school with a virtual state program (We started that in FL, and it works well for us-the children can go back to school anytime they choose.) we've been North, South, East,and West in Ga. We prefer more rural areas of the foothills of the mountains, close to civilization, but not overwhelmed by it. Just far enough from the Big City to make day trips for culture and fun. I am originally from one of the 5 boroughs of NY. Crime, drugs, gang activity is a relative thing. Do your research, extensive research. Don't assume an area with very few minorities are safer here in Ga. Look at poverty levels. how many students are receiving free lunch, the median income levels, and the HS graduation rate, and the unemployment rate. they are much better indicators.Look up the sex offenders, google the town "In the News"., Call the county sheriff's office and ask ( I did, they were great.). There are beautiful safe areas in Atlanta if you like the city, trendy areas of Athens, hauntingly beautiful areas of Savannah, beautiful mountains, lakes and sea shore. There is also poverty, drugs, crime and gangs. Just like Florida, New York, and every other state. My recommendation would be find employment first, then look to surrounding areas, and research, research, research, and research some more. Anyplace can be horrible. It could also be fabulous. The key, I believe, is to always try to see the best. Life isn't easy, so there's no use in making it worse than it has to be..