Moving to GA from NJ. (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: cul-de-sac, rent, low crime)
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My mother and i are looking to move to the Atlanta Area . We've never really been to Atlanta before and we know only alittle about it. We are desperate to find out everything about the surrounding areas/ counties. We are from NYC and are tired of the transportation, overcrowded environment and urban atmosphere. We would like suburban/ country within the surrounding areas of Atlanta.
My mother is in healthcare and I am a college student planning to transfer to one of GA's universities. We are looking to own a home upon moving, and our price range is around $200,000. Since its just my mother and i we would only need 3 bedrooms. A townhouse or single family with backyard space would be fine. We don't need an area with good schools because we have no children. We just want a clean, decent and safe neighborhood. We're leaning more towards Gwinnet county. Racial diversity would also be nice!
In Gwinnet county we were looking at Lawrenceville, Dacula, Snellville, Loganville. In Cobb county we were looking in Marietta, Smryna. In Dekalb county we were looking in Lithonia. I'll ask my questions about these places and Atlanta living below.
1. What are the best places to live in Gwinnet and Dekalb county within 45-55 min out of central Atlanta? (low crime, decent people)
2. What are the worst places to live in Gwinnet and Dekalb county? (high crime, poverty)
3. What are the worst counties/ areas to live in? (high crime, poverty, rundown)
4. What is the traffic like during the morning and evening hours in and out of central Atlanta from Lawrenceville, Dacula and Lithonia?
5. Is it practical to drive from Gwinnet county to UGA in Athens everyday out of rush hour?
6. Is traffic as bad as NYC? (I've heard many say it is)
7. Are jobs easy to possess in the healthcare field in Atlanta, preferably administrative work?
8. Best paying Hospitals to work at in Fulton, Dekalb, or Gwinnet county?
9. Is it better to secure a job before moving to ATL or after?
10. Are there any other places anybody can suggest for us to look into? Again, we want a safe, clean and reasonably priced area. And an area that is no more than and 1 hr 15 min outside of central area ATL.
We would appreciate any kind of advice about moving to these places and Atlanta, Ga living in general. We love what Atlanta has to offer so far and they've got good universities. We're trying really hard to escape the urban life/ environment!
6) yes and no. Part of the reason the traffic is so bad is that unlike NYC, the commuter trains (MARTA, the equivalent of Metro North and LIRR) don’t go as far out in Atlanta. Your 1:15 out of central Atlanta may only mean 20-30 miles max.
9) always better, unless you have 6-12 months of reserves and are paying cash for what you’re buying.
My mother and i are looking to move to the Atlanta Area . We've never really been to Atlanta before and we know only alittle about it. We are desperate to find out everything about the surrounding areas/ counties. We are from NYC and are tired of the transportation, overcrowded environment and urban atmosphere. We would like suburban/ country within the surrounding areas of Atlanta.
My mother is in healthcare and I am a college student planning to transfer to one of GA's universities. We are looking to own a home upon moving, and our price range is around $200,000. Since its just my mother and i we would only need 3 bedrooms. A townhouse or single family with backyard space would be fine. We don't need an area with good schools because we have no children. We just want a clean, decent and safe neighborhood. We're leaning more towards Gwinnet county. Racial diversity would also be nice!
In Gwinnet county we were looking at Lawrenceville, Dacula, Snellville, Loganville. In Cobb county we were looking in Marietta, Smryna. In Dekalb county we were looking in Lithonia. I'll ask my questions about these places and Atlanta living below.
1. What are the best places to live in Gwinnet and Dekalb county within 45-55 min out of central Atlanta? (low crime, decent people)
2. What are the worst places to live in Gwinnet and Dekalb county? (high crime, poverty)
3. What are the worst counties/ areas to live in? (high crime, poverty, rundown)
4. What is the traffic like during the morning and evening hours in and out of central Atlanta from Lawrenceville, Dacula and Lithonia?
5. Is it practical to drive from Gwinnet county to UGA in Athens everyday out of rush hour?
6. Is traffic as bad as NYC? (I've heard many say it is)
7. Are jobs easy to possess in the healthcare field in Atlanta, preferably administrative work?
8. Best paying Hospitals to work at in Fulton, Dekalb, or Gwinnet county?
9. Is it better to secure a job before moving to ATL or after?
10. Are there any other places anybody can suggest for us to look into? Again, we want a safe, clean and reasonably priced area. And an area that is no more than and 1 hr 15 min outside of central area ATL.
We would appreciate any kind of advice about moving to these places and Atlanta, Ga living in general. We love what Atlanta has to offer so far and they've got good universities. We're trying really hard to escape the urban life/ environment!
Your best course of action is to secure the job first before moving to Atlanta.
You should look for housing after you have secured the job... That is so that:
1) You will know that you will have a job and an income after moving to a metro area in Atlanta that can, in some circles, feature a competitive job market, and...
2) You can look for housing within your budget in a clean, decent and safe area that will be geographically convenient to your job in an Atlanta metro area that is known to at times struggle mightily with traffic congestion.
Don't get fixated on any one particular area (like Cobb County, or Gwinnett County, or DeKalb County, etc) before you secure employment.
That is because well-paying jobs and clean, decent, safe neighborhoods can be found in every direction of the compass in the Atlanta metro area.
Wait until you have secured employment to look for housing so that you can attempt to have as short of a commute as might be possible to and from work in a metro area in Atlanta that can be known to dole out long and punishing rush hour commutes like candy to trick-or-treaters at Halloween.
5. Is it practical to drive from Gwinnet county to UGA in Athens everyday out of rush hour?
Absolutely not.
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6. Is traffic as bad as NYC? (I've heard many say it is)
Yes and no. The people in NYC already know the name of the game if they drive. But they have better public transit alternatives. Atlanta's is not nearly as flexible.
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9. Is it better to secure a job before moving to ATL or after?
Would you have moved to NJ without a job? It depends on how much money you have to fall on. The smartest position to take is probably having a job or interviews set up in advance, or taking the time to make a trip down here to familiarize yourself and also apply for jobs.
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10. Are there any other places anybody can suggest for us to look into? Again, we want a safe, clean and reasonably priced area. And an area that is no more than and 1 hr 15 min outside of central area ATL.
So by Atlanta, do you mean the city? Or, do you mean the metro area? I want to be specific only because there are many hospitals/healthcare opportunities in the suburbs already so I see and also don't see the reason to centralize yourself to the city.
Eastern Gwinnett County near 316 can commute to Athens. But it's just a long commute. It's about 40 minutes from Dacula to Athens without traffic. You can use Google Maps to get an idea of what it is in rush hour traffic. Never commuted into Athens before, have no idea.
1. What are the best places to live in Gwinnet and Dekalb county within 45-55 min out of central Atlanta? (low crime, decent people)
Gwinnett: Suwanee, Peachtree Corners, Duluth (western part?), Berkeley Lake, Lawrenceville
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2. What are the worst places to live in Gwinnet and Dekalb county? (high crime, poverty)
Gwinnett: Probably unincorporated Norcross, but there aren't any truly dangerous areas that I am aware of.
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3. What are the worst counties/ areas to live in? (high crime, poverty, rundown)
Crime doesn't really go by county here. The counties are all very large and have big disparities in income
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4. What is the traffic like during the morning and evening hours in and out of central Atlanta from Lawrenceville, Dacula and Lithonia?
Lol. Get a nice car, good entertainment system and prepare for some long commutes and lots of traffic.
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5. Is it practical to drive from Gwinnet county to UGA in Athens everyday out of rush hour?
No, but people do it.
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6. Is traffic as bad as NYC? (I've heard many say it is)
Sometimes its worse. It isn't a direct comparison and it largely depends on what section of the city you're in. Atlanta is not as densely packed as NYC and what city blocks exist are not as small, however NYC doesn't have nearly as many streets that terminate in dead ends or cul-de-sacs, so there is somewhat less reliance on major arteries being the only way to travel between two points. The parking situation in NYC is far worse and the expense of driving (tolls) is almost nil here in Atlanta.
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7. Are jobs easy to possess in the healthcare field in Atlanta, preferably administrative work?
Unemployment is fairly low in Atlanta, but my understanding is that the health industry in general is undergoing a lot of consolidation. To my knowledge, much of the growth in Atlanta has not been the health field.... but it is not an industry that I know very much about at all! However, even with jobs being plentiful, it can take time to find work. I have a STEM degree from a top 10 engineering school and it took me 5 months to find a job after I lost my old one last year.
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8. Best paying Hospitals to work at in Fulton, Dekalb, or Gwinnet county?
No idea. My guess would be Northside hospital in Sandy Springs. They seem to run a good operation there.
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9. Is it better to secure a job before moving to ATL or after?
Before. Its hard to plan where to live if you aren't sure where you will be commuting to for work.
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10. Are there any other places anybody can suggest for us to look into? Again, we want a safe, clean and reasonably priced area. And an area that is no more than and 1 hr 15 min outside of central area ATL.
Have your mother take the address off her resume and apply for as many positions as she can. Then arrange as many interviews as she can in a one week period. Rent a car and drive the different cities to see what feels like home to you. Traffic is bad...personally I think it’s easier to drive in New York because people follow the rules a lot more in NYC, in Atlanta people change 4 lanes at once cause they just realized oops that’s their exit!
Have your mother take the address off her resume and apply for as many positions as she can. Then arrange as many interviews as she can in a one week period. Rent a car and drive the different cities to see what feels like home to you. Traffic is bad...personally I think it’s easier to drive in New York because people follow the rules a lot more in NYC, in Atlanta people change 4 lanes at once cause they just realized oops that’s their exit!
I guess it depends where. The high congested areas of NYC are crawling with cops that won't hesitate to write you a ticket. There are plenty of idiot drivers here in NYC. People don't follow road rules lol. Your honestly lucky if you don't have to curse somebody out driving through Manhattan on a Saturday.
I guess it depends where. The high congested areas of NYC are crawling with cops that won't hesitate to write you a ticket. There are plenty of idiot drivers here in NYC. People don't follow road rules lol. Your honestly lucky if you don't have to curse somebody out driving through Manhattan on a Saturday.
idiot drivers are everywhere. I'd say drivers in Atlanta are alot more reserved and in a sense patient than those in NYC, not all over the horn ect, however; they speed ALOT down here.. ..and there's alot less cops as well.
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. We've never really been to Atlanta before and we know only alittle about it. We are desperate to find out everything about the surrounding areas/ counties. We are from NYC and are tired of the transportation, overcrowded environment and urban atmosphere. We would like suburban/ country within the surrounding areas of Atlanta. 
We would appreciate any kind of advice about moving to these places and Atlanta, Ga living in general. We love what Atlanta has to offer so far and they've got good universities. We're trying really hard to escape the urban life/ environment! 
