Thinking of moving to Cobb county (Atlanta, Powder Springs: homes, job market, landscaping)

[capemom24]

Good morning

My family(husband and 2 kids ages 2 and 4) are going to be moving from MA(cape cod) to either S.C. or Georgia. We've been doing some research and we like Powder Springs. We would love some help on the area. How are the schools? Are there Activities for kids and the family? What are the people like? The job market ? I will be transfering with my job(retail) my husband is a landscaper with 17 years experience. We are big football fans he has season tickets to the pats so he'll be traveling back a few times a year to go to games. We would greatly appreciate any information you could give us. Thank you all very much

[atlantagreg30127]

I live in Powder Springs and have lived in this section of town for about 14 years (Atlanta area for 23 years or so).

Powder Springs is somewhat of a bedroom community of Atlanta. They try to keep their own identity, but really it's hard to do so close to the city (23 miles West of Atlanta). There is a small downtown area with a few antique type stores and a restaurant or two (along with fast food), and along a 4 lane highway strip you have a couple more restaurant choices. In the immediate area you have a Publix and two Kroger stores to choose from. There really isn't any retail to speak of, as most of that is along the heavily developed Highway 278 area 4 miles West of here in the town of Hiram, where you'll find a lot of the major chain stores and restaurants (Circuit City/Best Buy, Sam's Club, that kind of thing). If you want more upscale shopping, then about 6 miles North/NE of here is the "Avenues of West Cobb" shopping center with places like Aspen Steak House, Chicos, Coldwater Creek, Eddie Bauer, etc. Their web site is HERE (http://www.shoptheavenue.com/FindAnAvenue/TheAvenueWestCobb/tabid/88/Default.aspx - broken link).

There are always jobs in the landscaping business here, though much of it is staffed by Mexican immigrants now. It is an area however where you'll see more blue collar "self employed" types of busineeses. Keep in mind our drought has put some restrictions on certain businesses, though lately they have slacked off of some of the water restrictions. If you work retail then again, the Hiram area has tons of it, but you mention a transfer, so what area of town is the transfer in? That can determine your commute big time if you are transfering to a store across town, where you could wind up spending 2+ hours a day on the road.

Schools are hit and miss. GreatSchools.net is one resource to see parent's reviews. I do know from neighbors that Compton Elementary in Powder Springs is now not getting that great of a review from locals. North of the actual town limits though are different school districts and they're getting better reviews.

The population is somewhat changing. A few years ago, Powder Springs was mostly middle-aged or older white, somewhat conservative, slower paced old timers who had lived in the area for a number of years. In the last few years, we've seen an increase in immigrants from Mexico, Kenya, the Bahamas, etc., moving into the area. Some locals are dealing with it, others are not. There has also been an increase in gang related activity in some of the neighborhoods as well. It's still not by any means the worst area of Atlanta you can live in though it may sound bad the way I'm saying it, but, it's not Mayberry USA either any longer. There are still nicer neighborhoods around here.

Home prices are reasonable. There are 1960s brick ranch style homes with large lots in the $160k to $190k range still which is a good price as they go up considerably when you get closer to the city.

This is a car town. There is no regular public transit here. There are "Xpress" buses that leave a park-and-ride lot in the AM hours and return in the PM hours from the city, but not any all-day service. Atlanta's rail system (MARTA) does not come out here.

Any other questions, feel free to ask, though I won't be able to specifically get into the school stuff much other than what I know from my neighbors, so that link above is one good resource for that.