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Old 08-04-2014, 10:53 AM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
2,825 posts, read 4,462,644 times
Reputation: 1830

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Hey everyone! My family and I are looking to relocate in about 2 years and are trying to explore all of our possible options. We have lived in/around Dallas our entire lives and are looking for something with more natural beauty(beach or mountains) to explore. I'm 28, wife is 24 and we have two children, 2 years old and 9 months old. Dallas has seemed to become more and more pretentious over the last few years, and we're ready for something different. We currently rent and pay about 1500 a month to live in a 2 bedroom 1 bath 1200sqft home built in the 50's. It's in a safe area, close to downtown, but the school district is terrible. Schools are important to us, but I also don't want to pressure my boys TOO much. I think we are looking for a safe public school that sends most of it's students to either a community or 4 year college. It looks like Fairhope would be a good option for us from other posts I've read, but we're open to locals suggestions. I've been to Mobile once for work and we are making a trip next month to Gulf Shores to see if it is something we would enjoy doing on a regular basis. I guess my questions are:

How is the IT job sector?(I don't expect it to be as crazy as Dallas, but are there some decent jobs?)

Is Fairhope a strong public school?

What is the cost of living like compared to "nicer" area's of Dallas?

Anyone from Dallas on here, or another large city? Was it an easy adjustment?

*Please feel free to add any other information you all my feel is pertinent to me or or my family. Thank you in advance!
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Old 08-05-2014, 06:02 AM
 
59 posts, read 100,239 times
Reputation: 89
If you want nice schools, go to Baldwin County. Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope all have good public schools. If you live in Mobile, you will need to send your kids to private schools. Figure $7000 a year in tuition. Crime is much worse in Mobile as well.

I can't speak on IT jobs in the area.

Cost of living is going to be cheaper than Dallas but Fairhope is going to be the most expensive for housing prices. Fairhope is great if you're active, into running and biking.
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Old 08-05-2014, 07:01 AM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
2,825 posts, read 4,462,644 times
Reputation: 1830
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fernk View Post
If you want nice schools, go to Baldwin County. Spanish Fort, Daphne and Fairhope all have good public schools. If you live in Mobile, you will need to send your kids to private schools. Figure $7000 a year in tuition. Crime is much worse in Mobile as well.

I can't speak on IT jobs in the area.

Cost of living is going to be cheaper than Dallas but Fairhope is going to be the most expensive for housing prices. Fairhope is great if you're active, into running and biking.
Perfect, thanks for the info. Do all residents of Baldwin County go to the same schools? I know Texas is a little different in most places that they have independent school districts with multiple ones inside single counties. Thanks again!

*Also in terms of Fairhope being the most expensive, would a budget of 350K be enough to get a smaller 3bed/2bath house with a pool on maybe .25+ acres be unreasonable?
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Old 08-05-2014, 07:34 AM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,003 posts, read 9,154,555 times
Reputation: 1959
Crime in Mobile is higher than Baldwin do to having a larger population but its low compared to cities simliar in size ( Jackson , Augusta, Chatanooga, Momtgomery,Huntsiville). Not all Public schools in Mobile are bad it depends on the disctrict. Several of Mobile's public magnet and prepotory schools are high performing and nationally ranked. E.g Phillips Prep is ranked 44th in the nation.

The IT field is a growing field in Mobile.A firm from Atlanta is building a regional office downtown as we speak.
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Old 08-05-2014, 09:47 AM
 
Location: Fairhope,Alabama
432 posts, read 1,255,774 times
Reputation: 273
The $350k budget for a house in Fairhope is fine....plenty of homes in very nice subdivisions in that range, but homes with pools are not so easy to find. If you find the perfect home and location a pool can be added...but if you'd want to sell later, it might be more difficult. And BTW, the being more expensive in Fairhope is not quite true either...and for some reason many people persist in believing this. The city has more to offer as a city...since we have a town with shops, museum, library and restaurants, and a beautiful pier. Spanish Fort and Daphne do not have a walkable town as such.

Our schools here are excellent and no need to send children to private schools. Please check cofairhope. com to get more info. Hope this helps. If you are not planning to move for two years things might change a bit...meaning prices of homes, ect. as our town has grown quite a bit in recent years. Good luck!
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Old 08-06-2014, 11:38 AM
 
1,151 posts, read 1,309,260 times
Reputation: 831
What kind of "IT" jobs do you mean. Developer or network enginneer, etc?
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Old 08-06-2014, 11:52 AM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
2,825 posts, read 4,462,644 times
Reputation: 1830
I'm currently in consulting. Current position is IT Operations manager as we do all different types of IT Consulting from projects, fictionalized CIO, full IT support staff implementation, etc.
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Old 08-07-2014, 08:02 AM
 
1,151 posts, read 1,309,260 times
Reputation: 831
Quote:
Originally Posted by bencronin04 View Post
I'm currently in consulting. Current position is IT Operations manager as we do all different types of IT Consulting from projects, fictionalized CIO, full IT support staff implementation, etc.
That is going to be limited in Mobile. You may find something comparable though.
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