Moving from Delaware~Trying to choose between MS and AL (Jackson: house, school districts)

[jwoodde]

Hey all, We are making a move to the south. My husband is working in Biloxi and will be for the next ten years or so. I am trying to decide where we will settle. Good schools, good atmosphere, is what I need, any suggestions? Was looking at Gulf Shores AL, not sure. Help!!!!

[DB3]

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach is my favorite place to visit but it's also quite a daily trip for your husband to make back and forth to Biloxi, minimum 1.5 hours each way. Ocean Springs is a good choice on the MS Gulf Coast. Good family atmosphere and great schools and minutes to Biloxi. But there's lots of towns that might fit the bill. What are the ages of your kids and what are they (and you) into? Do you like wide open spaces? Do you need to hear the ocean? City atmosphere, small town, rural? I think if you could give a little more color we could give you a couple of great places to explore.

[jwoodde]

Looking for wide open spaces I have many little critters, ages of the kids are 16 and 12, would love to be close to the beach, for the atmosphere. My kids and my hubby race bmx, I breed and raise dogs.

[Tama]

Jwoodde Good luck! But please--we have a severe overpopulation of dogs here. Many are in rescue groups and others die in shelters each day. If you could avoid the dog breeding--please!

[DB3]

I would say generally speaking that the closer to the beach you are the less land you're going to be able to get. I think this pretty much applies in both Alabama and Mississippi. If you're looking for acreage, you're going to have to go a few miles inland, like Orange Grove, Latimer or Vancleave in MS. But if you're looking for a half acre or so, maybe even up to an acre it's possible to find something in the towns that are right on the Gulf.

I know there's a racetrack in Gulfport and another over in Alabama near the Theodore area. I have no idea if it's bike racing or car racing or a combination but I do know that my neighbors are huge into BMX so I'm pretty sure you can find racing in this area.

Have you ever looked at the site greatschools.net for info on school systems? It's a great site to use to check out the quality of the school districts in each town. I would look up your own schools in Delaware first and use the greatschools ratings (not the state rating because each state has their own system whereas greatschools is more of a nationwide rating). Then you can compare it to the schools in each of the towns you're considering.

I'm sorry I can't provide more detail for you about all of the towns. Hopefully others will chime in and add about their towns. But I can tell you that in Ocean Springs you can find homes on 1/2 acre, especially on the East side of Ocean Springs and the north side in the St. Martin area. Ocean Springs schools are among the best in the state. (There are also school districts in Harrison County and other towns in Jackson County that are highly rated.) Ocean Springs is a very safe, family-oriented community but lacks shopping. You've got to travel to Mobile or Gulfport for the most part to be able to do any real shopping (except for Wal-Mart), although d'Iberville has been growing their commercial infrastructure and Gautier also to some degree.

You might also post over on the Alabama board for some input on the Coastal towns in Alabama. If the travel doesn't bother your husband there are some great areas over there to live too.

Once you narrow your search down to a few specific towns, we can give some details on specifics about each town.

Hope this helps!

[TN-rox]

Ocean Springs would be the best on the coast, but if you dont mind the drive, the farther inland areas of vancleave, Landon, and Lorraine would be much cheaper for more acreage.

[jwoodde]

Anyone have an idea where I can get info on this town? My hubby said to check it out and I have found nothing

[DB3]

Woolmarket was annexed by the City of Biloxi, so that's probably why you're not finding it. I don't know all that much about it, except it's inland from Biloxi (north of exit 41 off I-10 if you map it). They supposedly have very good schools and you can get a nice house at a reasonable price on decent sized land.

[southernnaturelover]

Check out Wiggins,MS or other parts of Stone County. You can get a nice house there with a decent yard at a good price.

[winkatme]

I would not recommend Woolmarket as a place to relocate. It is considered part of Biloxi and quite honestly, not one of the better parts.

If you want a nice family oriented and great place to live I would definitely choose Ocean Springs. I have lived here my entire life and it is perfect for families. The school system is one the top 5 in the state. It is right next to Biloxi so there is plenty of entertainment for you and your husband. The downtown area of Ocean Springs is highly attractive and it is considered an arts community. There are annual festivals held downtown, including the Peter Anderson festival. It has grown so much over the years. As far as land, you can get better acreage if you live north of Hwy 90. Anything south of that (which is where I live) is going to be hard to find a lot of land.