I Wanna Move to Atlanta! (Savannah, Decatur: sales, crime, new home)

[MssyDee]

Hey City-Data! I have been reading this forum for about two years, and believe I am ready to try to start to take a leap down to Hotlanta. I'm from New York and I am just tired of this rat race. I have visited Atlanta quite a few times to see friends. I've been to Stone Mountain, which I found to be a really nice looking, Fulton County near the airport, Jonesboro and Lovejoy (nice). From what I see Atlanta as a whole is a place where I want to be. I hear 'bout ya'll crime, but we got crime too! Any city that becomes an epi-center has crime. Check LA, DC, NY, PA, Miami, etc. My problem is that my contacts there work in a different industry than I do. I am an executive assistant with over 20 years exp. and a degree. So I don't have any real employement contacts with anyone in ATL. And, I don't expect to make the same kind of money there that I do here. I do read the AJC and often peruse Monster, Hotjobs, etc. I've heard about using an Atlantan address, but has that really worked for anyone? I also know that the payscale is lower than New York, but I have to adjust because of the cost of living. Nowhere could it be higher than in NYC, and, I live in Staten Island. The Verrazano Bridge is $10.00, just to get on the island. I would love to hear thoughts and perhaps contact info. All of my skills are polished and current.

[brook2ga]

The cost of housing is lower. Food, clothes, etc...are the same. Be prepared to take a considerable pay cut. While it's possible you won't have to, it's very likely, assuming you can find a job. Good luck!

[KevK]

Originally Posted by MssyDee

Hey City-Data! I have been reading this forum for about two years, and believe I am ready to try to start to take a leap down to Hotlanta. I'm from New York and I am just tired of this rat race. I have visited Atlanta quite a few times to see friends. I've been to Stone Mountain, which I found to be a really nice looking, Fulton County near the airport, Jonesboro and Lovejoy (nice). From what I see Atlanta as a whole is a place where I want to be. I hear 'bout ya'll crime, but we got crime too! Any city that becomes an epi-center has crime. Check LA, DC, NY, PA, Miami, etc. My problem is that my contacts there work in a different industry than I do. I am an executive assistant with over 20 years exp. and a degree. So I don't have any real employement contacts with anyone in ATL. And, I don't expect to make the same kind of money there that I do here. I do read the AJC and often peruse Monster, Hotjobs, etc. I've heard about using an Atlantan address, but has that really worked for anyone? I also know that the payscale is lower than New York, but I have to adjust because of the cost of living. Nowhere could it be higher than in NYC, and, I live in Staten Island. The Verrazano Bridge is $10.00, just to get on the island. I would love to hear thoughts and perhaps contact info. All of my skills are polished and current.

You don't want to come here. At least not now. The economy is in the toilet, unemployment has doubled and if you have a job you sit for hours in traffic trying to get to it. And the state is run by a bunch of buffoons, taxes are high here (income, birthday tax, sales tax and other taxes) and the housing stock here is pretty sub standard. And, yes, it was SNOWING in April! Oh, and you cannot water your lawn either. If you wanna come, then come but if it were me, I would look at places like Savannah, Tampa, Jacksonville or even Texas. It was nice when we moved here in 1996 but not anymore.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by KevK

You don't want to come here. At least not now. The economy is in the toilet, unemployment has doubled and if you have a job you sit for hours in traffic trying to get to it. And the state is run by a bunch of buffoons, taxes are high here (income, birthday tax, sales tax and other taxes) and the housing stock here is pretty sub standard. And, yes, it was SNOWING in April! Oh, and you cannot water your lawn either. If you wanna come, then come but if it were me, I would look at places like Savannah, Tampa, Jacksonville or even Texas. It was nice when we moved here in 1996 but not anymore.

Thank you for the oh-so-helpful post, Mr Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by brookdaleresident

The cost of housing is lower. Food, clothes, etc...are the same. Be prepared to take a considerable pay cut. While it's possible you won't have to, it's very likely, assuming you can find a job. Good luck!

The only things that the place still has is cheap housing and decent winter weather with the exception of this winter. And the housing is cheap for reason- you better have it well inspected before you buy anything. Building codes here are a joke and you end up with cracked foundations, improperly vented roofs, cheap ass plastic plumbing that leaks constantly, electrical problems that take all day for an electrician to figure out and God knows what else. It is not like the north where houses are built by union craftsmen that take any pride in the work they do. The ones here are mostly built by illegal aliens that work for fly-by-night contractors that change business names as often as I change underwear. Be very careful what you buy!

[KevK]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Thank you for the oh-so-helpful post, Mr Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Just doing my part to keep yet one more car off the road in rush hour!

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by KevK

Building codes here are a joke and you end up with cracked foundations, improperly vented roofs, cheap ass plastic plumbing that leaks constantly, electrical problems that take all day for an electrician to figure out and God knows what else. It is not like the north where houses are built by union craftsmen that take any pride in the work they do. The ones here are mostly built by illegal aliens that work for fly-by-night contractors that change business names as often as I change underwear. Be very careful what you buy!

And how many houses have you owned up north? I've owned two.

You seem to believe that building a house up north is like an episode of "This Old House" .... you are so far off. There are plenty of leaky basements and other building problems. One of our friends built a home in 1996 in Massachusetts and had endless warranty issues with her builder. Where were these "craftsmen" at her house?

Now maybe the codes are stronger for new homes up north...that's I can give you...but older homes were built to no code or much weaker codes, and most of the homes up north are older. Even the so-called "older" homes in Atlanta are new compared to most homes in the northeast. The house I sold when we moved was 120 years old, and we put more than 150K into the house over the years we lived in it, and it still had small rooms and closets, and the joists were 2 x 6.

BTW...in my home the plumbing and electrical are just fine. The roof venting is just fine, and the foundation isn't cracked.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by neil0311

And how many houses have you owned up north? I've owned two.

You seem to believe that building a house up north is like an episode of "This Old House" .... you are so far off. There are plenty of leaky basements and other building problems. One of our friends built a home in 1996 in Massachusetts and had endless warranty issues with her builder. Where were these "craftsmen" at her house?

Now maybe the codes are stronger for new homes up north...that's I can give you...but older homes were built to no code or much weaker codes, and most of the homes up north are older. Even the so-called "older" homes in Atlanta are new compared to most homes in the northeast. The house I sold when we moved was 120 years old, and we put more than 150K into the house over the years we lived in it, and it still had small rooms and closets, and the joists were 2 x 6.

BTW...in my home the plumbing and electrical are just fine. The roof venting is just fine, and the foundation isn't cracked.

We grew up in a house that was 70 years old and NEVER had plumping leaks or had to replace a roof (it was made with wood shingles) and it was in the midwest (Kansas). Down here my roof lasted less than 12 years because the builder did not vent the attic right. So I had to get a new roof AND pay to have the vent installed. The plumbing is cheap plastic and I have had so many damn leaks I have quit counting. Everybody in the neighbourhood is having to replace the plastic pipe from the meter to the house because it is defective and leaks- that is a $1200 minimum job. Then the rotting siding and other crap and you see where I am coming from. And it ain't just me- the whole neighbourhood has the same issues. And houses up north and in the midwest ARE better built. That does not mean they are problem free but compared to what passes here, they are much better. I have a co-worker here that just got a brand new home 16 months ago and already the boards on his deck and starting to come loose, curl and the nails are coming up. And he has had to have a leaky water heater pipe repaired as well as a crack running down the driveway and garage! After only 16 months! That is pathetic!

[KevK]

And it is not just the CODES for houses that are stronger elsewhere but the requirements to build, plumb and wire them. You actually have to be licensed to do that kind of work and you have to prove you know what you are doing to get a license. Here, all you have to do is hang out a sign and print some business cards and you are "Joe The Plumber" even if you don't know hot water from cold water or even if you don't speak English.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by KevK

The plumbing is cheap plastic and I have had so many damn leaks I have quit counting. Everybody in the neighbourhood is having to replace the plastic pipe from the meter to the house because it is defective and leaks- that is a $1200 minimum job.

Bite the bullet and replace it, Kev. That's what we did. The polybutylene plumbing is not just an Atlanta problem or a southern problem. According to Polybutylene Plumbing - What is Polybutylene?

[SIZE=-1]It is most commonly found in the "Sun Belt" where residential construction was heavy through the 1980's and early-to-mid 90's, but it is also very common in the Mid Atlantic and Northwest Pacific states.[/SIZE]

So there's quite a lot of it in subdivisions around here, not because building standards were more lax than elsewhere, but because there was a lot of construction going on here during the period when this plumbing material was in widespread use.