Relocating to Atlanta from Louisville (Douglasville, Powder Springs: to rent, crime rates, houses)

[lisalis108]

Note: I originally posted this in the "moving to Atlanta soon" thread but thought I might get more response posting it in a standalone thread.

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My family will soon be moving to Atlanta for my husband's new job. We have a son entering Kindergarten (public school) in the fall. My husband will be working on the west side of Atlanta just west of 285 and north of 20. We will be renting for the time being. Using Zillow, we've found a number of homes within our budget ($1000-$1200 monthly) and meeting our size requirements (4 bed, 2 bath, garage, basement). The problem is, these homes are sprawled across Villa Rica, Douglasville, Powder Springs, Hiram, and Dallas. We truly need to narrow our search. These are the cities in which our money will go the furthest housing wise so please don't tell us to head north, we can't afford it (or we could, but we'd rather not throw that much of our income to rent).

We currently live in Shelbyville, KY, a small city (population about 14,000) about 30 minutes outside of Louisville so are looking for something similar. We are willing to commute for the 'city life' and work and would prefer a small town feel for our home life. We are a Muslim family, I state this not because I want a large Muslim community, I've done without my whole life, but because I also don't want to live in a community in which there is noticeable hostility or distrust toward us, especially my son in school.

So of the areas listed, Villa Rica, Douglasville, Dallas, Hiram, or Powder Springs, which would you recommend as a fit for our family? Is there any I should cross off the list immediately? Are there areas of each (I'm sure there are, as with any town/city) to avoid, to try to get into? I found, using city-data, that the crime rates of all of the areas I mentioned are notably higher than anywhere we've lived in the past. Powder Springs was the lowest, but they also have very few houses that both meet our needs and are zoned for a well-rated school so we can't place all our eggs in that basket.

Sorry for the novel! It's very hard moving so far without inside information.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by lisalis108

Note: I originally posted this in the "moving to Atlanta soon" thread but thought I might get more response posting it in a standalone thread.

__________________________________________________ _________________________________
My family will soon be moving to Atlanta for my husband's new job. We have a son entering Kindergarten (public school) in the fall. My husband will be working on the west side of Atlanta just west of 285 and north of 20. We will be renting for the time being. Using Zillow, we've found a number of homes within our budget ($1000-$1200 monthly) and meeting our size requirements (4 bed, 2 bath, garage, basement). The problem is, these homes are sprawled across Villa Rica, Douglasville, Powder Springs, Hiram, and Dallas. We truly need to narrow our search. These are the cities in which our money will go the furthest housing wise so please don't tell us to head north, we can't afford it (or we could, but we'd rather not throw that much of our income to rent).

We currently live in Shelbyville, KY, a small city (population about 14,000) about 30 minutes outside of Louisville so are looking for something similar. We are willing to commute for the 'city life' and work and would prefer a small town feel for our home life. We are a Muslim family, I state this not because I want a large Muslim community, I've done without my whole life, but because I also don't want to live in a community in which there is noticeable hostility or distrust toward us, especially my son in school.

So of the areas listed, Villa Rica, Douglasville, Dallas, Hiram, or Powder Springs, which would you recommend as a fit for our family? Is there any I should cross off the list immediately? Are there areas of each (I'm sure there are, as with any town/city) to avoid, to try to get into? I found, using city-data, that the crime rates of all of the areas I mentioned are notably higher than anywhere we've lived in the past. Powder Springs was the lowest, but they also have very few houses that both meet our needs and are zoned for a well-rated school so we can't place all our eggs in that basket.

Sorry for the novel! It's very hard moving so far without inside information.

Of the areas listed Powder Springs and Douglasville would probably be the best fits for your family on your budget.

The Douglas County side of Villa Rica would also be a good fit for your family.

Hiram would also be good and Dallas would be okay.

Though you should probably immediately cross-off the Carroll County side of Villa Rica because the schools are not necessarily considered to be as good as they are on the Douglas County side of Villa Rica.