A fresh start in Suburban Georgia (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: rentals, crime rate, townhome)

[Forwardmovement2016]

There's a some thing in my heart "crying out" for the State Of Georgia. I'm a mom with 2 children, 1 is school age. I work in the substance abuse field and make a modest living. Currently, I reside in Illinois, so this would be a major move for our family.
Here are the areas of importance for us.
Suburban
Rentals; townhome or home min 1100 - 1350 max
A family friendly area - nice neighbors
Multicultural/ diversity
Great schools
Of course, locating stable employment is top on the list so any leads in the field of Social Work, Substance Abuse, or Human Service would be great. Does any one know about gaining employment in these areas

I would appreciate any information that you are willing to share.
Thanks
forward movement

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by Forwardmovement2016

There's a some thing in my heart "crying out" for the State Of Georgia. I'm a mom with 2 children, 1 is school age. I work in the substance abuse field and make a modest living. Currently, I reside in Illinois, so this would be a major move for our family.
Here are the areas of importance for us.
Suburban
Rentals; townhome or home min 1100 - 1350 max
A family friendly area - nice neighbors
Multicultural/ diversity
Great schools
Of course, locating stable employment is top on the list so any leads in the field of Social Work, Substance Abuse, or Human Service would be great. Does any one know about gaining employment in these areas

I would appreciate any information that you are willing to share.
Thanks
forward movement

alpharetta might be a good choice for you. it is becoming a lot more diverse and the schools are very good. there are a ton of jobs in the area, but most are things like call centers and corporate headquarters and whatnot.

whittier mill village might be another choice, as it's closer in to town but maintains a suburban/rural atmosphere; it's in the north atlanta high school district, which is a pretty decent school. smyrna, which is just on the other side of the river from WMV, might also be a good choice.

there are other choices, but in those areas you'll have to give up one or more of your preferences; for example, south dekalb is family friendly and falls into your rental range, but the schools are not so hot, and it is not as diverse as some of the other areas as it is mostly black. east cobb, on the other hand, has great schools and is family friendly, but it is not diverse as it is almost all white, and would probably be too expensive.

there also may be some options in gwinnett that would meet all of your qualifications.

when it comes to substance abuse, the most clinics would probably be along the buford highway corridor going from atlanta into gwinnett, and directly east and west of downtown atlanta.

i did a google search and found this:

ADDICTIVE DISEASES & SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES

it's the center for health and rehabilitation, located on boulevard on the east side of downtown. if you could land a job there, you could live nearby in a house or townhome, there are some pretty nice areas that are coming up around there. however i wouldn't call it "suburban" at least by atlanta standards; possibly by new england standards.

overall the #1 important thing to remember is that you should line up a job before you move here; get hired and then move. many people move to atlanta thinking that the jobs are everywhere, and then get stuck here and can't get hired. i would stick with your job in illinois until you can get employed down here— make some phone calls and send your resumé and whatnot.

i hope it can work out for you, and i hope i've been able to help!

[residinghere2007]

I agree with Bryant above in regards to making sure you land a job before you come. My husband's original occupation was in social work and he never found a job here in that field due to them wanting him to have a master's degree, which he wouldn't have thought was bad except they were only going to pay him the same as what he was making in Chicago with a bachelor's lol.

There are a lot of places that you could live in for your budget. Gwinnet county is diverse and has decent schools but is pretty far away from the city, but it is a big county and you may be able to find employment there so wouldn't have to deal with an atrocious commute. I have in-laws who live in Gwinnet and they love it. They all work up that way though.

North Fulton as was mentioned above in regards to Alpharetta is another good options, as are Roswell and Sandy Springs. Cobb County is diverse and has decent schools as well depending on what area you look at and the amenities you are looking for in a school. Cobb is also very convenient to the city in certain areas, Smyrna as was mentioned above. And there are other areas around Whittier on the Westside of Atlanta that are in the N. Atlanta district and one can usually find some good housing deals in West Midtown or Midtown West (I get confused since this is a new description of the area) and nearly all of them are zoned for N. Atlanta.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Forwardmovement2016

There's a some thing in my heart "crying out" for the State Of Georgia. I'm a mom with 2 children, 1 is school age. I work in the substance abuse field and make a modest living. Currently, I reside in Illinois, so this would be a major move for our family.
Here are the areas of importance for us.
Suburban
Rentals; townhome or home min 1100 - 1350 max
A family friendly area - nice neighbors
Multicultural/ diversity
Great schools
Of course, locating stable employment is top on the list so any leads in the field of Social Work, Substance Abuse, or Human Service would be great. Does any one know about gaining employment in these areas

I would appreciate any information that you are willing to share.
Thanks
forward movement

Before inquiring into where to live, like the other posters have stated, you should most-definitely HAVE A JOB LINED UP FIRST BEFORE moving to Georgia.

One of the major reasons why it is critically-important to have a good-paying job lined up first before moving to Georgia is because the overall job market in Georgia is still very-soft in the aftermath of one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression, an economic downturn which hit the state of Georgia particularly hard.

Another major reason why it is critically-important to have a good-paying job lined up first before moving to Georgia is so that you will know in which part of the Atlanta metro region to look for work so that you will be able to attempt to minimize the amount of time that you will have to spend driving in metro Atlanta's very-severe traffic congestion during your rush hour commutes.

GET THE JOB FIRST, THEN FIND A PLACE TO LIVE NEAR YOUR JOB BEFORE moving to Georgia!

[Forwardmovement2016]

Thank you all for sharing information with me. I have learned the importance of a second, if not, third opinions. I need all the help/ information that one can stand. As I stated in the above post, this would be a major move to a foreign area. All valid information regarding the topic is welcomed.
Be Blessed

[Forwardmovement2016]

What about the crime rate in these suggested areas; Alpharetta, Whittier, Symrna, Gwinnett County, Roswell, Sandy Springs ,Marietta, and Cobb County? Maybe I should be asking about safety?

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by Forwardmovement2016

What about the crime rate in these suggested areas; Alpharetta, Whittier, Symrna, Gwinnett County, Roswell, Sandy Springs ,Marietta, and Cobb County? Maybe I should be asking about safety?

the specific neighbourhoods are all relatively safe areas. however, cobb county and gwinnett county are pretty big areas, and there are good and bad places within the counties.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Forwardmovement2016

What about the crime rate in these suggested areas; Alpharetta, Whittier, Symrna, Gwinnett County, Roswell, Sandy Springs ,Marietta, and Cobb County? Maybe I should be asking about safety?

Nice safe, stable areas with all of the criteria that you are looking for can be found all over the Atlanta metro area for the most part.

Before you get fixated on looking for a place to live, the most important question that you should be asking yourself is where will your job be located?

Remember, get the job first, THEN look for a safe, stable area with good schools that will be relatively close to where you will be working.

Don't get fixated on living somewhere before even knowing where you will be working or IF you will even be able to find a job that you like in the Atlanta metro area.

Have you yet been hired to a job in the Atlanta metro area?

Do you yet know where in the Atlanta metro area you will be working?

If you do not yet know the answers to these questions (or if the answer to these questions is "NO"), then you do not need to be getting fixated on what part of the metro area in which to live before knowing where you will be commuting to and from or knowing whether you will even be able to find work in metro Atlanta.

It is critically-important that you first get hired to a job in the Atlanta metro area before moving into an Atlanta metro area that still has a somewhat very-soft job market during what is kind of a slow economic recovery.

[lastminutemom]

As others have said, it is critical that you get a job first. You don't say where you are from, but keep in mind that many social service jobs pay less in Georgia than in other states

GA doesn't have much of a safety net for the poor -- working or otherwise.

There have been several posters on here, through the years, who work in social service type work, and move here because of a spouse/partner and never find a job in their field or take years to do so.

Many of these areas are strong on relationships and newcomers have a particularly hard time.