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Me and my wife (both mid 20s) are currently living in Southern California and are considering moving to Georgia. I am self employed as a video producer and my wife works as a marketing assistant. We are looking to buy our first home and raise a family in a pleasant, safe, community. Some of my initial research has attracted me to the Athens area. Also we love small towns and Madison, Social Circle, and a couple others nearby caught our eye, especially Madison.
My questions are:
1) As objectively and honestly as you can answer, what are the pros and cons of living in Georgia? (Climate, people, real estate, food, traffic to and from Athens and Atlanta, crime, job market, schools, recreation)
2) I stated earlier that we were attracted to Athens and Madison. Are there any other cities or towns that are fun, cute (as per wife's request), up and coming, safe, within an hour of the airport, etc?
Ps. We have both experienced extreme humidity so that won't be a huge shock for us hopefully
2) I stated earlier that we were attracted to Athens and Madison. Are there any other cities or towns that are fun, cute (as per wife's request), up and coming, safe, within an hour of the airport, etc?
FYI, neither Athens nor Madison are within an hour of any airport with scheduled service.
The town of Senoia would be worth looking into. It is a beautiful ,older town that has been the local of several films ( The Walking Dead films there currently ) . Peachtree City would be another . It is a great town for raising a family in. It is just south of Pinewood Studios.Both of these towns fit the bill for being less than an hour commute to the airport.
Me and my wife (both mid 20s) are currently living in Southern California and are considering moving to Georgia. I am self employed as a video producer and my wife works as a marketing assistant. We are looking to buy our first home and raise a family in a pleasant, safe, community. Some of my initial research has attracted me to the Athens area. Also we love small towns and Madison, Social Circle, and a couple others nearby caught our eye, especially Madison.
Athens, Madison and Social Circle are great choices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Wolfe
My questions are:
1) As objectively and honestly as you can answer, what are the pros and cons of living in Georgia? (Climate, people, real estate, food, traffic to and from Athens and Atlanta, crime, job market, schools, recreation)
Climate: Except for a little summer humidity, the climate is relatively very nice for the Eastern U.S., great for outdoor activities on an almost year-round basis...
People: The people are generally very friendly...
Real Estate: The real estate is priced relatively very affordably, especially when compared to heavily populated coastal areas on both the East and West coasts...
Food: The food is great with lots of variety from typical American cuisine, to typical Southern cuisine to lots of Northeastern and Midwestern-influenced foods because of the many Northeastern and Midwestern transplants to North Georgia...
Traffic to and from Atlanta and Athens: Traffic can be tough at times during peak hours between Atlanta and Athens along highways like Georgia 316 and US Highway 78, particularly closer to Atlanta during peak hours....But traffic will improve somewhat with the recent elimination of some very busy at-grade intersections along GA 316 through the Lawrenceville area, traditionally one of the state's most congested stretches of roadway during peak hours...
Crime: Most areas are generally safe, particularly in the outer suburban, exurban and rural counties surrounding Atlanta, though crime can be a bit of a problem at times in the more populous counties closer to Atlanta...
Job market: The job market in Georgia (particularly in the Atlanta metro area) is on the mend and improving after many years of a great amount of struggle during the severe economic downturn of the late 2000's and early 2010's....Though the job market remains somewhat soft across many sectors as it the economy continues to recover and improve...
Schools: The schools range from fair to good to great to excellent in many places, particularly in the expansive Atlanta suburbs and exurbs where the schools have many more resources to work with (courtesy a larger tax base) than most places in rural Georgia...
Recreation: Lots of recreation options from manmade lakes used for recreation, flood control and water supply throughout North Georgia, to the heavily wooded ranges of the Southern Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains in extreme North Georgia, Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee (the famous and popular Appalachian hiking trail ends just about 80 miles or so north of Atlanta) to the beaches and resort areas of the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Wolfe
2) I stated earlier that we were attracted to Athens and Madison. Are there any other cities or towns that are fun, cute (as per wife's request), up and coming, safe, within an hour of the airport, etc?
There are quite a few cities and towns that fit the criteria of what you are looking in terms of being fun, cute, up and coming and safe, though many of them are not necessarily within an hour of the world-leading Atlanta Airport because the Atlanta metro region is so spread out over such a relatively large geographical area.
Some other towns to consider are:
> Acworth (cute historic downtown with many small shops and restaurants)...
> Woodstock (very popular booming cute historic downtown with many small shops, restaurants and bars)...
> Canton (cute historic downtown on the rise)...
> Roswell (very popular cute historic downtown)...
> Norcross (popular cute historic downtown with a baseball heritage)...
> Duluth (popular cute historic downtown with a popular town green on the rise)...
> Suwanee (popular cute retrofitted downtown around a town square park with many events)...
> Buford (popular and adorably cute historic downtown with and up-and-coming live and active artists colony)...
> Dahlonega (very popular and adorably cute historic downtown in a small mountain city with a growing college campus...city was the site of the nation's first gold rush in 1828).
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Wolfe
Ps. We have both experienced extreme humidity so that won't be a huge shock for us hopefully
The humidity isn't as bad as it seems (and certainly nowhere near as bad as the humidity can be at lower elevations throughout the Southeastern and Midwestern U.S.).
(...Or maybe I'm just used to the high humidity having grown up and lived all of my life in an area that tends towards really humid summers.)
That's because Atlanta's relatively higher elevation moderates much of the severest humidity and summer heat and the worst of the heat only lasts for about 3 months tops (June, July and August) and does not affect the area every summer.
Plus, you may be surprised with many relatively cooler (and even many relatively colder) days at times from September through May.
Last edited by Born 2 Roll; 12-05-2014 at 03:04 PM..
Unfortunately, as someone said earlier, Madison and Athens are too far from the airport. Also, I don't recommend looking at any town north of Atlanta proper due to the horrible traffic going to and from town to the northern suburbs.
Senoia and Peachtree City were good suggestions. Possibly even intown neighborhoods/towns.
Decatur is another quaint town to research.
Thank you all for the answers so far! Born to Roll you should be commended for you incredibly detailed answer. Can't wait to look up some of those listed areas!
I noticed people saying that Athens and Madison are further than 1 hour from the Atlanta airport. When I search Madison to Atlanta airport directions on Google maps it's telling me 58 minutes with traffic, maybe I'm being naive in thinking that Google has an accurate estimate on that though? And yes Athens is further at about 1h30 travel time from the airport. I guess I should've stated that the 1 hour rule or "code" was more like a "guideline". 1h - 1h30 is fine. Trying to avoid the 2 hour mark especially.
Thank you all for the answers so far! Born to Roll you should be commended for you incredibly detailed answer. Can't wait to look up some of those listed areas!
I noticed people saying that Athens and Madison are further than 1 hour from the Atlanta airport. When I search Madison to Atlanta airport directions on Google maps it's telling me 58 minutes with traffic, maybe I'm being naive in thinking that Google has an accurate estimate on that though? And yes Athens is further at about 1h30 travel time from the airport. I guess I should've stated that the 1 hour rule or "code" was more like a "guideline". 1h - 1h30 is fine. Trying to avoid the 2 hour mark especially.
Thank you all for the answers so far! Born to Roll you should be commended for you incredibly detailed answer. Can't wait to look up some of those listed areas!
I noticed people saying that Athens and Madison are further than 1 hour from the Atlanta airport. When I search Madison to Atlanta airport directions on Google maps it's telling me 58 minutes with traffic, maybe I'm being naive in thinking that Google has an accurate estimate on that though? And yes Athens is further at about 1h30 travel time from the airport. I guess I should've stated that the 1 hour rule or "code" was more like a "guideline". 1h - 1h30 is fine. Trying to avoid the 2 hour mark especially.
The 58 minute time one-way travel time that Google Maps gave you is just about right without traffic.
Though with very heavy traffic during rush hour and peak hours, the travel between Madison and the Atlanta Airport can grow to as much as an hour-and-a-half or more as I-20 East is prone to traffic-induced delays through DeKalb and Rockdale counties during peak hours (weekday morning rush hours on I-20 Westbound, weekday afternoon/evening rush hours on I-20 Eastbound and sometimes in both directions on busy weekends and around pre and some post-holiday travel periods).
Also that 1 hour, 30 minute one-way travel time between the Athens area can grow to as much as 2 hours or even two-and-a-half hours or more during peak hours, particularly if the GA 316/I-85 and or US Hwy 78/I-285 routings are used during peak hours.
Like go falcons and WanderingImport suggested, Senoia and Peachtree City are also good exurban towns with a high quality-of-life that you could look at as they are relatively very close to the airport via an I-85 Southwest route that probably sees the fewest serious traffic delays of any radial major highway route into and out of Atlanta.
Senoia is a great exurban town with a cute historical downtown where a noticeable amount of film and TV production takes place (scenes from AMC's popular post zombie apocalypse-themed TV series "The Walking Dead" are frequently filmed there).
But it should be noted that Peachtree City is an almost entirely planned late 20th Century suburban town that lacks the type of cute historical downtown core that you seem to be looking to settle in.
WanderingImport's suggestion of Decatur is also an excellent one with its great historic downtown core filled with shops, bars, boutiques, restaurants and condos built around a historic county courthouse and a subway station.
But Decatur is also very urban (by Georgia standards) and may likely be much more urban than you seem to be looking for....But popular Decatur is certainly worth a look if you don't mind living in the middle of a bustling urban area.
Climate: Except for a little summer humidity, the climate is relatively very nice for the Eastern U.S., great for outdoor activities on an almost year-round basis...
As a transplant, this is the polar opposite of what I would say. From my perspective (Wyoming born/raised, but I've lived in Seattle, Phoenix, DC and GA with lots of places in between), GA is the Least friendly place I've been for outdoor activities with Phoenix being a close second. March to November it's just plain unbearable to be outside, even my GA native wife feels this way after living elsewhere. November to March you get some good weather to be outside and it's dead, heck most "outdoor" things are closed during the best time of the year around here.
I also think you're downplaying the humidity. For me, if I'm outside for more than a minute, I'm sticky and sweaty. Living in GA has forced me to be a night-shower guy just so I can get some sleep (AC alone is no where near enough to make things comfortable). Again, perspective...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll
People: The people are generally very friendly...
Again, this is 180* out of phase with my personal experiences. Based on my personal experiences I'd rank the south-east as the Least friendly people I've encountered. There's also a Whole lot of racial issues going on, a heaping of "Good Ole Boys Club" attitude and generally a door in the face for anyone who hasn't lived in GA continuously. We're in my wife's home town and they even treat HER badly.
I'm all to keenly aware of how this happens in other places (people bring in a "home was better/different than here" attitude), and we're not doing that. As ex-military, we've moved enough to know how to embrace where you are with all the local customs. I'm not sure we've been more excluded and avoided... it's almost Worse because my wife is from here, left for a decade and then came back. This is very seriously the first time we've felt shunned by a community.
Real estate is Very cheap though, we're in for 2 houses (one as a rental paying both mortgages) for about half of what we paid for less house in Colorado and Wyoming.
Now, I'm south of Atlanta in very rural GA and its been a decade since I met my wife in Atlanta and lived there for 4 years. Atlanta was very much like most cities and people behaved better than they do out here in rural GA (by way of simply ignoring you). It was easy to hire contractors, walk into a store and buy something, or otherwise conduct business without having grown up with the person you're trying to do business with. Yes, this is a very real issue and I'm sick of leaning on my father-in-law to get contractors to give me the time of day. And the race issue wasn't anywhere Near as bad in Atlanta either, it felt like DC, Baltimore or NYC to me in that regard.
Honestly, if it weren't for my wife wanting to be near her family, we wouldn't be living in Georgia. That's not just my opinion either, she hates it here as well. Far too many other places in this country that better cater to our likes (mainly, getting outdoors for hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, etc...)
Perspective... obviously GA works for the roughly 10mil people living here, or at least Most of them. A least CA transplants won't face the outright hate and disgust that comes with moving to Rocky Mt states. There's some Very real hate towards CA transplants in CO, UT, ID, WY and MT.
As a transplant, this is the polar opposite of what I would say. From my perspective (Wyoming born/raised, but I've lived in Seattle, Phoenix, DC and GA with lots of places in between), GA is the Least friendly place I've been for outdoor activities with Phoenix being a close second. March to November it's just plain unbearable to be outside, even my GA native wife feels this way after living elsewhere. November to March you get some good weather to be outside and it's dead, heck most "outdoor" things are closed during the best time of the year around here.
I also think you're downplaying the humidity. For me, if I'm outside for more than a minute, I'm sticky and sweaty. Living in GA has forced me to be a night-shower guy just so I can get some sleep (AC alone is no where near enough to make things comfortable). Again, perspective...
I'm not necessarily downplaying the humidity as much as my comments are from the perspective of someone who has spent a lot of time working outside and being in humid summer conditions without air conditioning during summer months.
So humidity and summer conditions that may bother others don't necessarily bother me all that much until the Dew Point reaches about the range of 73-75 degrees. When the Dew Point gets to about 75 degrees, that's when I really begin to notice the humidity (I've spent multiple summers working outside in conditions of exceptional humidity where the Dew Point was 80 degrees or higher).
Also, some of my absolute worst personal experiences with extreme (if not exceptional) heat and humidity have been in Midwestern and Upper South states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, etc) in the Ohio River Valley where believe it or not, both the humidity (and the mosquitoes) can be much worse than in North Georgia.
Now Middle and South Georgia can be much worse with the heat and humidity (and the bugs) than the Atlanta region and its relatively much more bearable North Georgia environs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian_M
Again, this is 180* out of phase with my personal experiences. Based on my personal experiences I'd rank the south-east as the Least friendly people I've encountered. There's also a Whole lot of racial issues going on, a heaping of "Good Ole Boys Club" attitude and generally a door in the face for anyone who hasn't lived in GA continuously. We're in my wife's home town and they even treat HER badly.
I'm all to keenly aware of how this happens in other places (people bring in a "home was better/different than here" attitude), and we're not doing that. As ex-military, we've moved enough to know how to embrace where you are with all the local customs. I'm not sure we've been more excluded and avoided... it's almost Worse because my wife is from here, left for a decade and then came back. This is very seriously the first time we've felt shunned by a community.
Real estate is Very cheap though, we're in for 2 houses (one as a rental paying both mortgages) for about half of what we paid for less house in Colorado and Wyoming.
Now, I'm south of Atlanta in very rural GA and its been a decade since I met my wife in Atlanta and lived there for 4 years. Atlanta was very much like most cities and people behaved better than they do out here in rural GA (by way of simply ignoring you). It was easy to hire contractors, walk into a store and buy something, or otherwise conduct business without having grown up with the person you're trying to do business with. Yes, this is a very real issue and I'm sick of leaning on my father-in-law to get contractors to give me the time of day. And the race issue wasn't anywhere Near as bad in Atlanta either, it felt like DC, Baltimore or NYC to me in that regard.
Honestly, if it weren't for my wife wanting to be near her family, we wouldn't be living in Georgia. That's not just my opinion either, she hates it here as well. Far too many other places in this country that better cater to our likes (mainly, getting outdoors for hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, etc...)
Perspective... obviously GA works for the roughly 10mil people living here, or at least Most of them. A least CA transplants won't face the outright hate and disgust that comes with moving to Rocky Mt states. There's some Very real hate towards CA transplants in CO, UT, ID, WY and MT.
That's why I said that people in Georgia are "generally friendly" and not totally friendly as everywhere one goes there are generally going to be nice people but there are always going to be a few people who are not necessarily as nice and/or welcoming....But that most certainly does not apply everyone in small towns across Georgia.
I'm also keeping in mind that the OP seems to be interested in small towns that are either on the outskirts of the heavily transplant-dominated Atlanta region (like Social Circle in Walton and Newton counties in outer East Metro Atlanta) or are just barely beyond what are considered to be the outskirts of the Atlanta region (like Athens and Madison, two areas that are considered to be affected by Metro Atlanta's outer-exurban development patterns to varying degrees....the Athens suburb of Oconee County has basically also become an outer-exurb of Metro Atlanta because of the area's direct highway connection to the Atlanta area by way of Georgia Highway 316 and US Highway 78).
The attitudes that a newcomer may encounter in areas that are closer to Atlanta and areas that are farther away from Atlanta in deep rural Georgia are likely to be like night-and-day.
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