Valdosta (Jackson, Lakeland, Patterson: 2009, how much, house)

[theProals]

Moving to the Lakeland/Valdosta area. We have questions and hoping to get some insight from folks who live there.

We need recommendations of:
realtors
Where to live in Lakeland or Valdosta
Storage Units in the area
Nearby Hospitals and doctors? (husband is diabetic)
Internet access in the area?
Cell phone service in the area?

I have worked in non-profit education for the past 30 years mostly in the
Advancement (Alumni and Development area) fund-raising and will be looking to find a job.

I have done web page management, very well-versed with technical skills, have done some design work, worked as an Associate Director also as an
admin. asst. and an Office Manager. I have done user training of software and the windows environment. I hold two associate degrees one - Legal Secretarial, the other Crimminal Justice.

Are there employment agencies?
Is the newspaper the best place to look?
What universities/schools both private and public are in the area?

I do read the paper online but haven't subscribed to the paper copy yet as we are leaving Massachusetts July 9th to head down.

[Valdosta Resident]

Valdosta will be the better place for you. South GA Medical Center has a diabetes center. Valdosta State Univ is here as well, large regional university that is really growing.

[jenn2412]

Live in the outskirts of Valdosta. Its easier to get to the backroads and avoid traffic on Baytree rd!

Mediacom is the best internet/cable provider...may be the only..

South GA medical center as mentioned is located on Patterson St.

There is every kind of cell phone provider...sprint, alltel, version.. I lived in Val. for 4 years and had sprint. never had a problem! i've heard version was good though as well.

Lowndes CO. is the better public school compared to Valdosta High, as VHS is considered more "inner-city". i've heard plans of consoladation--but most likely will never happen because of the outstanding football programs at both schools (hey, thats south GA for ya). There is a private school there. I believe its called Brookwood. I don't know anyone who's gone there...its mainly for the upper upper class old south money who don't want their kids mixing with any blacks at all....

went to valdosta state...love the school. highly recommend it.

hope this helps!

[butterfly65]

I'm a lifelong (42 years) resident of the Valdosta/Lakeland area. My husband is also a Valdosta native (50 years). I'm going to go through your specific questions first:
Moderator cut: Removed

1. Realtors: The moderator removed this and I'm not sure why so I'll try again. Try Tony Barker with Barker Realty and Auction or Sylvia Hutton with Coldwell Banker. They're both area natives and know their stuff!

2. Where to live: That's a hard one. It really depends upon how much you want to spend and if you prefer subdivision or country living. We are a military base and university town (Moody Air Force Base - www.moody/af/mil (broken link) and Valdosta State University - Valdosta State University so we have subdivisions coming out of our ears! High end subdivisions are Stone Creek, Kinderlou (home of a new Davis Love III golf course) and Cherry Creek. There are so many middle-of-the road subdivisions that it is impossible to list them. I prefer country living and my husband and I own 7 acres in the country. We're 10 minutes from the middle of the city but live in the quiet, cricket-chirping country! Bliss!

3. Storage facilities: Tons...again because we're military/university city. Some are climate-controlled which I would recommend.

4. Hospitals: We have 2. South Georgia Medical Center - Home. It's a not-for-profit hospital. It does have a diabetes treatment center off campus, as well as open-heart surgery and cancer center. There is a smaller hospital too - Smith Northview. It is a for-profit. Both are good. I'm partial to SGMC.

5. Internet: Mediacom does offer high-speed Internet here. But so does BellSouth which is what I have used for a year now and love my DSL. As long as you have a phone line, you can go with pretty much any company for DSL.

6. Cell phone: I think Jenn2412 was trying to type "Verizon". The cell phone company that works best here is Alltel. I've used them and Cingular. Cingular isn't bad but you'll have problems with it in the Lakeland area (if you end up living there).

7. Schools: Valdosta City Schools get a bum rap. Some folks do consider them "inner city" but they aren't. Lowndes County Schools are good too but because everyone's trying to move to the county, the county schools are very over-crowded and they will be building a new middle school and high school in 2008-2009. There are a number of private Christian schools (St. John's Catholic School, Open Bible) which are good. The private school mentioned by Jenn is not Brookwood (that was in a neighboring county) - it's called Valwood Valwood School. It is a great school and is NOT for rich white kids whose parents want to get them away from blacks. I wish people wouldn't draw conclusions when they obviously do not know (since Jenn has only lived here 4 years). There is a racial mix at Valwood and yes, there are probably more white children than the other races but it is a great school. Very expensive but has Ivy League graduates in its alumni.

Valdosta State University is a great university. (I'm class of 97). Valdosta is also listed as an new metropolitan area although there are a lot of folks who don't like the direction it's going in (it's becoming large quite fast which makes some of us, me included, uncomfortable. I miss the small town feel it used to have). We are also home to Wild Adventures theme park Wild Adventures.

We are also only 2 hours from Jacksonville, FL - great beaches! 3 hours from Panama City/Mexico Beach, FL. Only 1.5 hours from Tallahassee, FL.

We have Peach State Summer Theatre Group every summer as well as a community theater group, community choral group, and community symphony. We have 2 movie theaters (one is stadium-seating and the other is a $1.99 theater but it's dirty). We do have a mall but quite honestly, it is a sad excuse for a mall. Better shopping is available in Tallahassee and it's a nice road trip.

The "local info" on Barbara Barker's website gives all of the websites for lots of places in Valdosta. (Home)

Lakeland is a very, very small town (it doesn't even have a traffic light!) about 15 miles northeast of Valdosta. If you like the really small town feel, that will work but I lived there for a short time and felt like I was in a prison. The grocery store actually smells...and I don't mean pleasantly! Their website is City of Lakeland, Georgia : Information Resources for Lakeland Residents and Visitors..

Valdosta's is The City of Valdosta

Lowndes (the county) is Welcome To LowndesCounty.com!

We do have employment agencies. Jobs aren't especially easy to find. You may have better luck looking through the actual business websites. (VSU, SGMC, and Smith Northview). We also have a technical college. Valdosta Technical College - Valdosta Technical College - Welcome! and we also have a junior college - Georgia Military College - Georgia Military College

Sorry for the long post but I wanted you to get the information from someone who's actually from here! Good Luck and welcome to South Georgia! (and yes, before anyone gripes about it...we have tons of bugs so get ready with some bug spray!)

[theProals]

Thank you all for the information! It is really helpful to us.

We are now in Georgia -- have been for about a month. My husband has started teaching and loves it.

We have been on the house hunt. Where we lived in Mass was a very small town of 2500 people - no traffic lights etc. So small and country suits us just fine. Our home there was in the country with just under two acres of land.

I have worked for the past 30 years at a non profit secondary school in the area of alumni and development and most recently in the area of web management and technology.

After we get settled into a house, I plan on hitting the employment area and see what is out there.

We have visited South Georgia for many years.

Thanks again for all the information!

[VIB02]

Valwood is a private school, and is a great school. It is racially diversed, however it is predominately white. But it's not segregated. It's not the only private school though. There is Open Bible Christian, Georgia Christian, and Victory Christian and all of these schools are diverse. However, Valwood has more programs and opportunities for students vs. the other private schools.

[zcatzeye]

To BUTTERFLY65, I appreciate the masterful description of our fair city Valdosta. However, as a good neighbor, and we are...I would like to help and describe the other side of our city, the city that is a melting pot of color, beauty, old heritage and new opportunity to learn from others from across our great country. We can dine in elegence, if we so desire as well as kick it up a bit and have some real fun, sitting at a great country buffet, laughing (sometimes a bit loud, but here...no one cares)...and enjoying the simple life. Our theaters are BOTH good, maybe that teen on a limited budget doesn't see what others might call dirty, because he & his date get in for $1.99. And as far as bugs, when you love this town as much as I do...whats a few bugs...Valdosta is a great place to live(I wasn't born here).