Good Southern city to live in? (Savannah, Wilmington Island: appointed, rental, crime)

[Photo Ally]

My husband and i currently live in Jacksonville, FL. We're looking to make the move somewhere new though, once he graduates from school in November. He's 30, I'm 27 with two dogs. We'd love a rental house (for now, to make sure we like the area) with a fenced in back yard. No more than an hour from a beach, and small city, but close to a big city. We both really like Savannah, but after a recent overnight vaca there, my hub might not want to MOVE there now...MLK Jr parkway was a big part of that decision, i think...i don't know. Does anyone have any suggestions of cities we might like that won't move us TOO far from our family here? I'm already 6 hrs away from my fam in GA. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[King_X]

Hey, When it comes to alot of mid-sized and larger types of towns, people get too carried away with opinions based on 1 part of town. There are several parts of Savannah that would be nice and safe to live in, and you could always have access to all of the charms that Savannah has to offer. We member most mid-sized and large cities are going to have "rough" areas.

Move to a nicer part within the city limits of Savannah, or if that is not good enough for you move to suburbs that are a little further out.

Try looking into Effingham County and Bryan County which are both right outside of Sav.

[tigafan]

Doesn't every city have an MLK Blvd?

[Photo Ally]

Yeah, but unfortunately, most aren't in that great of areas....

[JoyCA]

Can you please name some cities in Effingham County and Bryan County that you would recommend with good schools within an hour of Savannah?
Thanks!

[WanderingImport]

MLK Jr Parkway?? Last I checked, it was a boulevard that looked more like a street.. ..Unless you're referring back to Jacksonville.

[Photo Ally]

Really? Of all that above, the only part you commented on was "parkway" instead of "blvd"? lol. My bad... everyone knew what i was talking about, lmao.

[hmolah]

Consider Richmond Hill. It is small, and really considered almost a "burb" of Savannah. It's a very nice place, and we have been happy here so far. The only iritation has been with some minor annoyances with our complex, but those are minor. I also miss "the city" and quick access to shopping, work, etc, but here in the Savannah area, you won't really find that anywhere I don't think. If you live in the historic district, you still have to travel to the "southside" for some things and vice versa. If you wanted to be basically on the out-skirts of Savannah, but didn't want to worry about the crime, give R.H. a look. Many move here for the school system, and I saw recently where they just finished a brand new high school. We don't have children, so I can't comment any further on that.

Just an idea!

And yes, it seems (we've seen) there is a MLK Blvd in every city, and NONE of them look safe to live in/around. That's all I'll say about that. The very first time we came to Savannah, that's where we got off, and we were just driving through and wanted to see some of the city. We thought that WAS the city and were SOOOO unimpressed. I was quite disappointed when my husband got a job with a prominent company in the area and found out we'd have to relocate here. Thankfully, we did some research and realized that area is NOT the city itself, and once we really visited, we were at ease.

Oh, that had me thinking, Pooler is a great area too. We like R.H. but if we don't end up having children, we'll probably look at buying up there. We don't own either and don't intend to for several years until we see if our jobs keep us here and or we learn where we like!

[musicchick581]

It really wasn't that bad. We just went and didn't see any crime there. The locals said the safe parts are Wilmington Island and the surrounding areas. Pooler was popular also. Good luck!