Good Community Close To Stewart? (Atlanta, Savannah: transplants, sale, apartments)

[mkat321]

I've read just about every thread the search feature could come up with regarding Richmond Hill, Hinesville, Pooler, etc. and seem to come up empty when looking for a 'good fit' for my family. My husband and I want to be within a half hour drive of the post, preferably under 30 miles each way as well due to the rising gas prices. But we also need somewhere close to Savannah, from what I can tell, to make ends meet. I am a certified massage therapist and when he returns from Iraq this winter my husband will be finishing his licensing/certification in medical assisting and medical office administration {working toward being a physical therapist as time/finances allow} Since contract positions at the on-post hospital seem to be hard to come by, we're thinking our best bet would be with the hospitals & medical facilities in Savannah proper.

This is what I've 'learned' so far. Please tell me where I am right &/or wrong, and make suggestions wherever possible. This is a huge move for us and since I've pretty much been left in charge of putting it together, I'm terrified of messing it up.

Hinesville, while beautiful, really doesn't have the foot traffic or type of lifestyle that would support a massage & spa business. My husband was in fact warned against the one massage stuido near post and told it was the type of place that gives licensed professionals a bad name. Not sure if this is true or a conclusion reached by others due to it's location in a seedy looking strip mall near the gate but that's what he was told. It's also a good 45 minute commute to the nearest non-military large hospital. Haven't really read anything about the schools except that Fort Stewart is/was fighting a school being built close to the training areas due to concern over the noise the base produces affecting the students.

Richmond Hill is fast becoming a mecca for northern transplants and as such is having traffic issues and taxation problems. It is about an equal distance between Stewart and Midtown Savannah and aside from the traffic and taxes would seem to be ideal. There seem to be good reviews on the schools public and private, and the preschools also seem to be top notch.

Pooler is a good hour from Fort Stewart, in a growth spurt and fast becoming a land of strip malls and chain box stores. The schools are so-so and some areas are in Savannah schools which have a horrid reputation. While the rapid growth would normally be music to a person's ear, the distance from Stewart has almost totally ruled Pooler out, though I am keeping my eye on it.

Any and all advice more than welcome and very much needed. Thank you

[Padgett2]

You have just about nailed it on the head. I don't know if the Richmond Hill area would suit you well for your chosen professions. It's still a fairly small, mostly residential area, but that could be changing. It might work out well, might not. It would probably work better than Pooler as far as distance, etc.

The Savannah hospitals and medical centers are much, much larger and will offer you both many more job oppotunities and additional training if you should need it.

My suggestion is to rent, anywhere you can find something that suits and try to make do until you can find something closer to Savannah.

If it weren't for Ft. Stewart, there would be little to Hinesville. I don't doubt that the one massage "spa" has a seedy reputation.

[ellie]

There are a number of spas in the Savannah area. Perhaps you could work for one that is already in business and get paid while you do market research.

If you live in Richmond Hill then you and your husband will both have a similar commute.

[mkat321]

Thanks so much for your replies.

We are planning to rent for at least the first year. A bad first marriage that ended in divorce and debt that is just now finished being paid off left my credit rating under 600 and my husbands is only slightly better, so it will be awhile before we can qualify for a home loan. The plan right now is to have 6 months worth of living expenses, which I currently have figured at around $12k banked not counting the money for the move itself. that way we can pay rent in advance and have some time to find the best jobs if we're unable for some reason to secure leads/offers of employment when we come down next summer to go house-hunting.

I'm not sure how 'employable' I would look to an established Savannah spa considering when we move I'll be just under 2 years out of school with a client list of about two dozen steady clients not counting my corporate accounts, and coming from a state where there is no licensing, though I am certified both by my school and one of the two national organizations required by the state of Georgia to be licensed in the state. But I will be feeling those out as well for sure as I would love to let someone else handle the book keeping, bill paying and tax drama for awhile. My husband actually suggested that at some point I could probably make the bulk of my year's income during tourist season on Tybee Island if I wanted to get a storefront there. sounds nice in theory but I'm not sure of the practicality of it.

I do have one question I can't seem to find the answer to. Is there/where is the most reputable bodywork school in the area? I am currently adding day spa type treatments to my business and have been told that will require a seperate esthetics license in Georgia. I also wouldn't mind getting certification or an AS in med. office admin if for no other reason than to no longer have to rely on the computer to do my insurance billing and coding for me.

I was cruisng the online edition of the Costal Courier earlier today {love that paper, they did a wonderful series on my husband's deployment back in February that I sadly have misplaced my copies of since returning to Indiana} and saw only six or seven 3/2 rental houses and even fewer modulars. Since we were there in February to see my husband and spend time with him before he left for a year in Iraq I wasn't paying much attention but are there better sources for finding rental homes, especially the pet-friendly kind? My 9 year old is autistic and has a canine companion so while we could legally 'force' any place to accept him since he's not tech. a pet, we prefer to utilize places that are already pet-friendly. ?

May I ask what the grocery prices are like in the area as well? as I said I'm trying to work up a budget and from what I've heard/seen a few things may be markedly higher in the South than here. Currently we spend around $500 a month for the five of us and the dog for groceries, pet food, and misc like cleaning supplies and personal care items. We eat mostly 'clean' foods like fresh or flash frozen fruits & veggies, chicken, turkey, etc but do have a fondness for the occasional cheezy bread attack and tea so sweet I think it's how my dentist paid for his daughter's summer camp last year.

thanks again for all the advice already and keep it coming please. For the first time in the two and a half months I've been working on this I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.

[Padgett2]

As far as groceries, the service personnel living in Savannah take advantage of the commissary At Hunter Army Air Field. I think it's also available for anyone who still has reservist status too.

there are gobs of rental housing in Savannah, condos, houses or apartments. Many are pet friendly. I think if you do a google search, you could find some of them. Perhaps Craig's List would be helpful.

Both South University and Armstrong University have course designed to help those that are interested in working in a medical office environment. The medical practices are always looking for someone that can do insurance billing. I hated doing it, but it can help pay the bills.

[ellie]

Do you really think there is a marked difference in grocery prices from region to region? It would surprise me if the difference is more than a few percent one way or the other.

I shop for an elderly relative and myself once a week and usually spend $40-60 a week for the two of us, including paper products and cleaning supplies. We don't prepare everything we eat. I eat out on weekend nights, in particular. Another relative brings plates of food to our mutual ancestor, so we don't have a clear food budget. He usually gives me $20 and that's fine.

I can buy whatever I want for myself but am naturally frugal. Today I splurged and bought olives, capers, anchovies, good mozzarella, tomatoes, and a baguette. So I'll be eating that on and off all week.

This morning I actually looked at the price of meat which is reportedly going up. Assorted pork chops were $2.78/lb for the least expensive large pack. Seemed high so I didn't buy. Whole fryers were about $0.72/lb. Italian sausage was in the $3.25 range for 6. I rarely buy beef and didn't look. I usually only buy quantities on sale and then put them in my freezer.

A bell pepper was about $0.85. Zucchini (not quite in season yet) was about $1.89/lb. Avocados $1.05. Bananas are terrible at 62 cents/lb. Small tomatoes in a 3-pack were $1. Already had onions, potatoes, garlic, and other staples. The baguette was $1.

Skim milk is still under $5.00 gallon but that's insane. I buy organic by the half gallon for about $3.50. Store brand OJ was $1.99 for a half gallon from concentrate. I also buy the expensive eggs for about $2.50. With things so expensive, premium products don't cost that much more.

Frozen veggies are still very inexpensive, less than a dollar a bag in most cases. Canned veggies and beans can be found for 40-70 cents a can if you buy store brands.

So, as tedious as that was, that's more or less what I saw at the store this morning. Hope that helps.

--I have a friend here who is finishing up the massage therapy program here. Will have to ask him what/where next time I see him. Don't fret about only having 2 yrs. experience. Half the trick to getting a job here is showing up. Of course things are tougher than they were a year ago but you sound like you've got your act together and should do better than most.

[mkat321]

Hubby is seperating from the service when he gets home from Iraq. He's going to be looking for/at going back in a year or so, but for the time being our comissary days will be over

milk and soy milk are what concern me, aside from the fresh produce. Milk here is $3.65 a gallon at the comissary, $3.85/gallon {store brand} just about everywhere else as of this morning when I did a swoop in for essentials at a couple stores here in town. Soy milk is easily $5.50 a gallon in the boxed sets and we go through a lot of it for the above mentioned 9 year old who can't have dairy without meltdowns. And I don't want to think about the price of eggs. If i get mass-produced eggs at the grocery store I can get away with $4 for 2.5 dozen, store brand, but if I want farm fresh or certified organic I"m looking at at least double that. And we go through about 5 dozen eggs every 2 weeks in this house. I am excited by the thought of spending under $1 for frozen veggies, since they're regularly $1.35 and higher for the 12 oz bags at Walmart and worse elsewhere.

I'm hoping to stay out of Savannah itself and closer to post which is why I'm looking hard at Richmond Hill area. Regardless of where my income comes from I want to be close enough to volunteer my services and my training in cranio-sacral therapy at the post hospital as often as my work schedule and 3 kids in 1 activity each will provide for.

[ellie]

I hope I'm not wrong about the price of bagged veggies...Don't shoot me if I am. lol

[mkat321]

nah. only shooting I do is on the practice range or at the arcade at kids b-day parties. I honestly can't wait to head South. I despise cold, so being born and mostly raised in Indiana has been the bane of my existence. I know the humidity will be harsh at first but am hoping to adjust within a few years, though I have friends who have moved to Atlanta and further south who swear they'll never adjust.

[mkat321]

bumping my own thread to ask what 'borders' we would have be be within street wise to be in Richmond Hill's school district? I've found a few rentals on craigslist and what not that sound incredible and a few have pictures to match. They're titled/listed as Richmond Hill but a couple of them say 5 minutes from Main Gate or similar. Wouldnt that actually put them in Hinesville?

For that matter, how are the schools in Hinesville itself?