Forest MS/Raytheon Plant (Jackson, Meridian: for sale, hair salon, houses)

[mckinneydeb]

I understand there is a Raytheon plant in Forest, MS. I was wondering if anyone had any info/thoughts on Forest. If you were going to be working at the Raytheon plant in Forest, where/what area/city/town would you prefer or recommend to live?

I looked as several MLS listings for homes in Forest, Brandon and Newton. Suggestions? In advance, thank you for your help.

[bodean]

Forest has very little in shopping, except Wally world. Very limited resturants. The nicer subdivisions are on the east side of town on hwy 80.
Personally, I would consider Newton, There is a little more shopping; its around the same size as forest, and the down town district is small but comfy. It's also closer to one of the better of the larger cities (Meridian).
Forest downtown district is all but dead.
Lived 10 miles fromn forest for over 20 years. Hope that is some help.

[mckinneydeb]

Originally Posted by bodean

Forest has very little in shopping, except Wally world. Very limited resturants. The nicer subdivisions are on the east side of town on hwy 80.
Personally, I would consider Newton, There is a little more shopping; its around the same size as forest, and the down town district is small but comfy. It's also closer to one of the better of the larger cities (Meridian).
Forest downtown district is all but dead.
Lived 10 miles fromn forest for over 20 years. Hope that is some help.

Thanks for taking the time to answer. Before I checked the message board, I expected to once again find no response. I was reminded of lyrics to a song,

"you say it best, when you say nothing at all".

Kinda got the feeling that a lack of response was very telling. Sounds much like the area in Ky where I grew up. Again, thank you for taking time to respond.

[brettk]

I don't know much about Newton, but just to offer an alternative you might want to check places west of Forest such as Morton or Pelahatchie. Their is not going to be a lot to do in those towns, but you will be between 20-30 minutes to Brandon/ Pearl/ Flowood which have lots of shopping, entertainment and just a few more miles to Jackson.

[sfdavis1]

I would recommend that you look in Brandon. It is relatively close and will give you more options.

[Yukon2]

I would also recommend Brandon/Pearl. The Raytheon plant is fairly small compared to other Raytheon sites. I worked there for 2 years and I lived in Rankin County when I did work there.

[jayleigh]

I worked in Forest Raytheon for 7 years. Most people that were salaried lived out of the Brandon Area. Its a 45 minutes commute from their, but is much closer to shopping, dining etc. Forest, Newton, Pelahatchie are all rural communities and some one used to living in a town of more than 10,000 people will have a culture shock in these towns.

I personally did not like working there or living in the Jackson metro area.

[Franalan]

The town may not be very big with a lot of shopping but it is expanding. You can buy a nice house here in Forest for half the price of one in Brandon. Unfortunately people don't list the houses online most of the time, they just put a For Sale sign out on the front lawn. There is Wal-Mart, Dirt, Cheap, Dollar General, Walgreens, Freds, Factory Connection and more stores to shop (just can't think of the names right now). There is barber shops, hair salons, tanning salons, and car washes. Restaurants/fast food included Santa fe, Young's Tasty Place (fish fry house), Jade Palace (chinese food with buffet daily), Wendy's, Subway, KFC, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Sonic, Burger King (let me know if I missed any). Gas stations include BP (2), Murphy's (Walmart), Shell (2), Chevron and few others. There is more local shopping and coffee shops if you actually go into the middle of town.

[mckinneydeb]

Haven't checked back in a while since the potential move was shelved. But there is once again talk of "restructuring" where my husband works. Thank you Franalan for more info.

I experience culture shock each time I return to my childhood home. The biggest news there was when they built a Dollar General next to the only real "grocery" store. Well, except when they paved the road where my parents were still living. So while Forest may not be El Segundo, California, Tucson, Arizona or Garland/McKinney, Texas, I think I'm getting a picture of what life there may be like.

One of my biggest concerns was finding a place where I could continue to work from home. My employer requires reliable high speed internet service so extreme rural living was something I wanted to avoid. Sounds like Brandon/Pearl might be better suited to my needs.

Thanks again to all who offered info and if anyone wants to add something more current I would appreciate it.

[brickpatio]

I drove through Forest for the first time last year and it wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. Yes, it's a very small town in a rural area. But I did notice that all the commercial development off the highway looked new which I wasn't expecting. And the newer neighborhoods on the east side of town along Highway 80 were actually very nice, even a bit upscale in a few cases. Having said that, Brandon is very nice and only 28 miles down the interstate.