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My wife and I are looking at the possibility of us moving from a midwestern college town (Ann Arbor, MI) to a not-so-midwestern college town. I've been to MS exactly once in my life, during the peak of summer and all I remember was that it was green and hot and humid as hell, so that's not much to go on. The farthest south I've ever lived was central Virginia, which kiiiinda counts, culture-wise, I guess (especially once you left my yet another college town), but let's not kid ourselves - we're rookies when it comes to living south of the Bible Belt. I tend to trust statistics more than stereotypes, so I'm trying to not go in with any preconceived notions, but even statistically speaking, we don't really fit the profile of someone who would be expected to fit in the region easily. With that in mind, though, I am fully open to exploring the possibility and finding out those things which I do not know. Some key points that might hopefully make advice-giving easier:
1. We're both in our thirties. Neither one was born in the U.S.; you wouldn't tell by looking at me, but my better half still has a bit of an Eastern European accent. Both atheists (I'm Jewish culturally, fwiw). No kids. Two cats. Socially liberal, fiscally centrist. Maybe the following will help you get a glimpse into our personalities, if we end up buying a house with extra rooms (so, a 4+ bedroom or a 3 with den/family room space), we're likely to make a spare room into a hobby room filled with Harry Potter and Game of Thrones schwag and my office will contain inordinate numbers of model planes and (mostly) European car diecasts.
2. I like being active (running, soccer), wife's a bit more of a homebody. But we do like the occasional dinner/movie night out. She likes Japanese and Italian cuisine, I'm more of a Thai/Indian fan, but we also do a fair bit of cooking at home. We also like to travel internationally, which I know is going to make things a bit difficult as the nearest airport with direct flights to Europe is... New Orleans? Atlanta?
3. We'd look to buy a house with a circa-$300K budget, but would also be open to the "downtown loft"-type living should that be an option. Walkability and neighborhood safety are very important criteria when picking a place to live. I know that sounds kinda banal (or possibly snobbish, for which I apologize in advance, but it's better to go in knowing what we like and finding out we can't have it than going in blindly and trying to be OK with something we really aren't), but I know there are people who might be OK with "up-and-coming" neighborhoods; that's not really us. And, as much embarrassment as this is causing me to admit, I would prefer sterility to character, as we're both pretty horrified of things like house bugs, such as spiders and centi/millipedes (which older housing stock tends to have in abundance). We're in a 100-year-old house right now and cringe every time we go into the basement to do laundry. It sucks, but at this point in time in both our lives I don't see it getting "better".
4. She'd be working at USM, I'd look to move with my current job and take a regional sales role, but, failing that, would need to look for something in the consumer marketing space. Our HHI, should everything fall our way, would be around $150-170K. If I do move with my company, I'll be completely flexible with respect to housing, but we'd need to make sure she has a reasonable commute.
5. Anything else we need to know about the area? I'm an informational sponge at this point in time. Any piece of info, no matter how ostensibly trivial, would be appreciated.
I'm not naïve and I do not expect to maintain things as they are today, should we make the move. I just want to be able to weigh the pros and cons of doing so and make a well-informed decision.
As a non Mississipian my observation about Hattiesburg is that it has some of the perks of a typical University town but completely lacks the pretentiousness. I suppose the Michigan equivalent might be Mt. Pleasant.
The west side of town is where most of the newer residential and commercial development. If you want older, there is an area just across the road southeast of USM called "The Avenues" which has some beautiful old homes.
Hattiesburg has a pretty active running club and there is a rail to trail of considerable length on the west side of town. I love the towering pines in the area. Close proximity to the coast and New Orleans is also an obvious perk.
As far as your political and religious views go, it's a college town so you will find like minded people. You'll just be part of a small minority.
The reality is that USM is an old teacher's college and that is exactly what the vibe is in Hattiesburg. Nobody is walking around acting like they are some big deal because they go to school at USM or live in Hattiesburg like they do some places (won't mention any names)
Great summation from eddie gein, I'll add a little additional info.
1. We're both in our thirties. Neither one was born in the U.S.; you wouldn't tell by looking at me, but my better half still has a bit of an Eastern European accent. Both atheists (I'm Jewish culturally, fwiw). No kids. Two cats. Socially liberal, fiscally centrist. Maybe the following will help you get a glimpse into our personalities, if we end up buying a house with extra rooms (so, a 4+ bedroom or a 3 with den/family room space), we're likely to make a spare room into a hobby room filled with Harry Potter and Game of Thrones schwag and my office will contain inordinate numbers of model planes and (mostly) European car diecasts.
Political differences are way overblown, as long as you don't try to push your beliefs onto other others. You will be able to find many houses that fit your criteria in your price range.
2. I like being active (running, soccer), wife's a bit more of a homebody. But we do like the occasional dinner/movie night out. She likes Japanese and Italian cuisine, I'm more of a Thai/Indian fan, but we also do a fair bit of cooking at home. We also like to travel internationally, which I know is going to make things a bit difficult as the nearest airport with direct flights to Europe is... New Orleans? Atlanta?
There are plenty of outdoor recreational opportunities to enjoy. As far as adult soccer leagues (or just pick up), I'd wager you will be able to find some. In the Jackson area, I know there are adult pickup games, but the players are usually Hispanic.
There are great restaurants in H'burg, but maybe not necessarily international offerings, so that may be hit or miss. One of the best overall restaurants in South MS, The Crescent City Grill, is there and many other options. Sully's is another of my favorites. Robert St. John, by far the leading restauranteur in MS, lives in H'burg and owns many fine establishments. NOLA is a food mecca and less than a two-hour drive.
Compared to Jxn and Memphis, NOLA has cheaper flights, in 2017, a flight to Frankfurt, Germany was considerably cheaper leaving from NOLA compared to Jxn.
3. We'd look to buy a house with a circa-$300K budget, but would also be open to the "downtown loft"-type living should that be an option. Walkability and neighborhood safety are very important criteria when picking a place to live. I know that sounds kinda banal (or possibly snobbish, for which I apologize in advance, but it's better to go in knowing what we like and finding out we can't have it than going in blindly and trying to be OK with something we really aren't), but I know there are people who might be OK with "up-and-coming" neighborhoods; that's not really us. And, as much embarrassment as this is causing me to admit, I would prefer sterility to character, as we're both pretty horrified of things like house bugs, such as spiders and centi/millipedes (which older housing stock tends to have in abundance). We're in a 100-year-old house right now and cringe every time we go into the basement to do laundry. It sucks, but at this point in time in both our lives I don't see it getting "better".
Finding a house to fit your criteria shouldn't be a problem.
4. She'd be working at USM, I'd look to move with my current job and take a regional sales role, but, failing that, would need to look for something in the consumer marketing space. Our HHI, should everything fall our way, would be around $150-170K. If I do move with my company, I'll be completely flexible with respect to housing, but we'd need to make sure she has a reasonable commute.
Not going to be a big issue.
5. Anything else we need to know about the area? I'm an informational sponge at this point in time. Any piece of info, no matter how ostensibly trivial, would be appreciated.
Hattiesburg is a great town, you'll love it. The current mayor, elected in 2017, seems to be doing a great job.
I'm not naïve and I do not expect to maintain things as they are today, should we make the move. I just want to be able to weigh the pros and cons of doing so and make a well-informed decision.[/quote]
Political differences are way overblown, as long as you don't try to push your beliefs onto other others.
We're definitely not in the habit of pushing our beliefs on others (if for no other reason than the fact that it's an exercise in futility), but I also don't want us to be the only family in the area that espouses our types of beliefs, even if we do keep them to ourselves.
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You will be able to find many houses that fit your criteria in your price range.
If I may probe a bit further - are there other neighboring towns we should be looking at or should we just concentrate our efforts on the west side of Hattiesburg proper?
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There are plenty of outdoor recreational opportunities to enjoy. As far as adult soccer leagues (or just pick up), I'd wager you will be able to find some. In the Jackson area, I know there are adult pickup games, but the players are usually Hispanic.
I don't particularly care about the ethnic makeup of the people I play with - though if they stick to their own diaspora and aren't easy to break into (as can sometimes happen) or publicize widely, that could be a problem. But isn't Jackson an hour and change away?
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Compared to Jxn and Memphis, NOLA has cheaper flights, in 2017, a flight to Frankfurt, Germany was considerably cheaper leaving from NOLA compared to Jxn.
Yeah, that's what I'm gathering, as well.
The only other thing I'm really finding myself concerned with is my ability to find a job should I leave my present company. Unlike Atlanta, which has plenty of Fortune 500 companies, I am not seeing a whole lot of consumer marketing opportunities available in southern MS. NOLA probably has options, but it's a bit of a ways away...
We also like to travel internationally, which I know is going to make things a bit difficult as the nearest airport with direct flights to Europe is... New Orleans? Atlanta?
Hattiesburg does have a local airport (Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional) that connects to ATL and DFW. They also have free parking. That should take care of your need to connect internationally. If you want more direct flights inside the US, look at Gulfport-Biloxi or New Orleans.
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Originally Posted by TF04
If I may probe a bit further - are there other neighboring towns we should be looking at or should we just concentrate our efforts on the west side of Hattiesburg proper?
Be sure to look in Petal to the northeast and Oak Grove to the west.
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Originally Posted by TF04
The only other thing I'm really finding myself concerned with is my ability to find a job should I leave my present company. Unlike Atlanta, which has plenty of Fortune 500 companies, I am not seeing a whole lot of consumer marketing opportunities available in southern MS. NOLA probably has options, but it's a bit of a ways away...
I don't really know what consumer marketing is, but it sounds like it can be retrofitted to many businesses. There are a lot of companies in Hattiesburg that could use those skills. Worst comes to worst you could drive to Gulfport and find something. I certainly wouldn't let this deter you from moving down there. A lot of people love it.
Be sure to look in Petal to the northeast and Oak Grove to the west.
Wanted to comment on this. Petal seems like a quiet, small southern town. IMO it really doesn't seem like Hattiesburg spills over into Petal that much... meaning that it feels like a more isolated town of 10K more than it feels like simply just part of larger metro area.
This may have changed since the last time I was there but the one thing that is tough about Petal is that it is kind of a slow go to get to USM and west Hattiesburg from Petal compared to say west Hattiesburg. However, if you need to go downtown Hattiesburg, getting there from Petal is a snap compared to other parts of Hattiesburg.
The Oak Grove area feels a lot like the suburban part of a larger city. Same type of feel other than the fact that Hattiesburg isn't that big. One thing is for sure. When you are in Oak Grove/West Hattiesburg you certainly don't get the impression that Mississippi is "poor".
I think another thing to mention is that aside from what all USM offers there is another school there called William Carey that offers some activities. If you like theater, both USM and William Carey are very strong for small southern schools. William Carey is also famous for their debate teams.
Finally, in my visits there I think Hattiesburg and South Mississippi (and the gulf coast) have a bit of a laid back bohemian, "live and let live" element that you don't get in a lot of the south. Just a touch, but IMO it's palpable.
There is a good Thai restaurant called Jutama's. The parking lot at the airport is mostly a grassy field. New Orleans is about an hour and a half away, close enough for a day or evening out for cultural attractions that may be lacking in Hattiesburg itself. The fares from the airport in New Orleans are usually significantly less than those at the Hattiesburg-Laurel airport. Much of the older part of the city is gentrifying, so you may be able to take advantage of that if you have an interest in flipping houses.
Good luck. I know lots of people who love it there.
You do realize there's this thing called Google Earth? It will keep you from making absolutely false statements. OP, take note.
I honestly didn't give it much thought either way. Unlikely we'd be using that airport much, in any event. I don't like small planes and am not much of a fan of American Airlines, so would prefer to drive to NOLA and fly out of there, wherever I'm going.
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