Moving to Savannah area new advice on apartments (Atlanta, Garden City: apartment complexes, to rent)

[jrela]

My husband just accepted a job in Savannah. Honestly some of the threads that I have read scare the junk out of me. It seems like people have a problem with the crime rate. I know that you are going to have crime anywhere you go, but we have a five month old and I will be a stay at home mom. I don't want to worry about walking out of my own front door with just my baby in hand. Owning a gun is out of the questions (in regards to a thread I read previously).

My question is: What are the safest area around Savannah I have a good feeling about Richmond Hill, but I have never been to the area. Are there any suggestions on good apartment complexes? We want to rent for a while so we can get a feel for the area.

I know that there are many posts about the same questions that I am asking, but I just need a little more input. I'm all about doing my research before I make a decision, and I only have about four months to get everything together! YIKES! Thank you in advance for your help.

~Jess

[Poodle2]

Pooler has a lot of new places - I think you would lke this area.

[Padgett2]

Posts like this bother me a great deal. The "crime" situation is there, no doubt about that. But generally speaking, it does NOT include all of the Savannah area. Savannah is spread out a great deal and safe housing is easily available.

No place is 100% safe. Most of our murders are between drug dealers, jealous boyfriends/girl friends and bad tempered spouses. Nor do most home invasions come while people are at home in areas where a lot of people live.

My family has lived in numerous places in Savannah since 1927, my husband since WWII. Between the two families, I guess we number several hundred cousins and other assorted relatives. To my knowledge, none of them have ever been involved in any sort of crime situation. Of course, that could change tonight at my very own house, but it's not likely to happen.

You can drive through a neighborhood, look at the upkeep on the houses, the junk cars parked on the streets right next to BMWs and Lexus and know that something is just not right in that area. If the houses all need paint, and most of them have burglar bars on the window, go somewhere else. It's not hard to figure out what areas are "safe." There are just too many to list.

High traffic areas are usually not a good idea either. It's too easy for strangers to go unnoticed in a neighborhood. Some of the apartment complexes are like that. Again, look at the cars parked around the area. Drive through at night. Are groups of people gathered on the sidewalks? Is there a well kept playground for the children to play? Bad neighborhoods seldom care if the children have plenty of to things to do.

I certianly hope that your move turns out well.

[GreenGene]

Originally Posted by Padgett2

It's not hard to figure out what areas are "safe." There are just too many to list.

If the list of "safe" areas is too long, how about a list of places that should be avoided? That would have to be a shorter list, right?

And I'm not trying to be a wiseguy. But my daughter has begun the process of looking for an apartment or perhaps a small townhouse in Savannah, something pet-friendly, and something relatively "tight", so her utility bills - especially during the summer - wouldn't be prohibitively high.

She doesn't know much about the different areas/neighborhoods of Savannah (and I know nothing of them), and knowing which areas to avoid - and every city has them - would be a huge help.

I agree with you that there's no place that's one hundred percent safe. I'm just looking to improve the odds a bit for my daughter.

Thanks!

[millerab78]

If you are looking in the Historic Area, I would recommend staying as close to bull street as possible and as far north as you can afford. In general I would say going east of Bull street is better than going west of Bull Street.

The area I really like for the prices of the apartments is 3-4 blocks from the south side of Forsyth Park. You can still get a nice small 2br apartment in this area for about $800/month. 1br for about $650 and 3br for about $1100. It is a pretty centralized area, parking is not near the issue it is further downtown and there isn't much crime in this area. If you can afford to go to the other side of the park of course it is better, but much more expensive. If you go any further south the neighborhoods may be just as good, but also may be a bad pocket so be a little more careful, but there are some great pockets south of Forsyth. Another area I like is 37th and Bull street. If you can live within 2-3 blocks from this intersection, you should be fine. There are also plenty of other great places, but the two areas I mention are, in my opinion, can't miss areas that are still pretty reasonable priced.

[Padgett2]

One thing that is important to understand, is the way that Savannah grew. Because of the rivers, it could not go east or north. The west, became the industrial area. So what we have is a good area, then a bad, then good, bad, good, bad as the city grew. As people moved south, to bigger and better homes, the older sections went down. Now, these areas are being restored and are now "good" again, but MAY be still too near unpleasant areas. There are pockets of "bad" all over the county. There is no right or wrong side of the railroad tracks. The apartment/condo complexes in these areas reflect the surrounding crime areas. If it's "good." then the apartments in the area are also.

A lot should depend on where the employment is. If it's out near the airport, (west) it wouldn't make sense to look for something on the Islands.(east) On the west side, past the industrial area is Garden City, Pooler, Bloomingdale, etc. Very nice small towns that are considered part of the metropolitan area of Savannah.

There are also large residential areas that are considered Savannah, but is actually in unincorporated areas of the Chatham County. Many people consider living in those areas superior to living in Savannah. Generally speaking, the Islands, (Whitemarsh, Wilmington, Talahi, Skidaway, Isle of Hope, Isle of Armstrong, and many more) are considered "better." Going south, out past the Mall areas toward Georgetown is growing well also. Many of the best areas, don't have apartment complexes.

I am sorry that I can't be more specific. You would have to see the place to understand.

[RBWDharma]

Oh, one more thing. If you miss living in the city.... live as close as you can to Bull street which goes north and south all the way to bay street. Do not live on or past Montgomery and never go near Martin luther king! In the other way from Bull, don't go past Habersham either. It's almost like a beacon through town, is Bull street. The beauty is there, but a concealed weapon is always smart too!

[RBWDharma]

Richmond Hills is the place! I wish I had done that. I even have a great Realtor for you if you want. he's great! He drove me around for hours when I moved here. I just wanted to live downtown and now I wish I had followed his advice! Good luck.

[natalieb4]

My husband and I moved here from Atlanta in May. I had to find housing on my own since he was in Oklahoma for training. He works at the Savannah airport and I found several great apartment complexes in Pooler. We currently live in a property owned by Colonial Properties (they own properties all over the SE) that is located in Pooler. I love the convenience of having everything close by and since we are located close to both I-95 and I-16 it is easy to get anywhere around town in a matter of minutes. My aunt and uncle have lived on Whitemarsh Island and now have a house in Richmond Hill and they love those areas also.

[gentlearts]

I can recommend Walden at Chatham Center in Pooler. My son and DIL lived there before they bought a house (also in Pooler). Its well maintained, gated, and very pretty. My DIL runs at night sometimes and she always felt perfectly secure.