Thinking about moving to Atlanta from Oklahoma. Too much heat. (Decatur: rental, how much)

[softwareman101101]

I'm thinking about moving to Atlanta from Oklahoma. Most summers it can get as hot as 115 degrees. I already have a fulltime job in IT with a company that's based in the Atlanta area, telecommuting, so I won't need to find a job. The areas I'm considering are Sand Town, Cascade Heights, Decatur, and Lithonia. Since I won't have to commute to work, I'm looking for an area that has it's own grocery stores, movie theaters, malls, etc., so my family and I wont have to deal with the bad Atlanta traffic we've heard about. Would anyone recommend any of the areas I'm considering? We're looking for an area with not too much crime, and I'm from Detroit, so that's my comparison. Thanks in advance for you responses. Oh, and also, BTW, we're looking for an area where we can rent a house (not an apt), and I have a wife and four children, so we need at least four bedrooms.

[flamadiddle]

45, for in town living, people seem to like Decatur. For IT work, anywhere in Atlanta is a great place to be!

[gerrythesnake]

Do you want to live near the city or the suburbs? Do you want to live near a certain demographic of people?

[OneTrickNet]

If I could live anywhere because I telecommute I wouldn't pick those (except Decatur). What's drawing you there?

[MattCW]

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but you won't find any heat relief here in Atlanta. Our summers can reach just as high, and we also have lots of humidity. Yes, numerically our temperatures are slightly lower, but we're talking by 4 degrees, not very much.

[lastminutemom]

This summer has been abnormally cool.

Do you have school age children because the areas you listed (with the exception of Decatur, and that is only if you mean the City of Decatur) don't all have the best schools or even, some might argue, good schools.

[softwareman101101]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

45, for in town living, people seem to like Decatur. For IT work, anywhere in Atlanta is a great place to be!

Ok, I see you got that...you know binary. So...how would you rate the schools in Decatur, and how much would a decent rental home in a safe area cost per month, in your opinion? Also, do they have at least one movie theater? We go to a lot of movies, and would like to avoid having to venture too far outside of our city.

[softwareman101101]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

Do you want to live near the city or the suburbs? Do you want to live near a certain demographic of people?

We're not necessarily concerned with being around a certain demographic, but if there is a lot of racism against black people in a given area, we would want to avoid it. Also, to answer your other question, we would prefer the suburbs. We're not looking for a night life or excitement. We're looking for a nice, quiet, boring area with decent schools for our kids.

[softwareman101101]

Originally Posted by OneTrickNet

If I could live anywhere because I telecommute I wouldn't pick those (except Decatur). What's drawing you there?

I read that they are upper-middle class areas, and that's what we're looking for.

[softwareman101101]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but you won't find any heat relief here in Atlanta. Our summers can reach just as high, and we also have lots of humidity. Yes, numerically our temperatures are slightly lower, but we're talking by 4 degrees, not very much.

Well, around three years ago, it reached 118 here, and the temps were constantly above 105 from May all the way until mid September, and that's when I decided we're out of here. This year has been unusually cool, but now that I have this new job, we're considering our options.