Begging for relocation help, from N.O area

[PolyAddict]

Hello my fellow dis'ers. Here is my plea. My DH and I would like to start considering some relocation areas and I need your help. If you live in Alabama or Georgia or surrounding areas, please help me out. Could you tell me the names of some nice suburban areas that we could start researching, for schools, jobs and so forth. I have 3 DD's ages 14, 12 and 5. We pay 12,000 for education a year and would love a great public school system or schooling around the same price range. We would like to gather as much info as possible so that we can decide if another hurricane season is one we would like to endure.We want to make sure we choose wisely as to not uproot our children again. Tell me about your neighborhoods, schools and any other pertinent info. I appreciate any info I can get.

Thanks in advance

 

[golfgal]

So, Minnesota didn't factor into your considerations????? We have GREAT public schools and NO hurricane worries! Really though, good luck with your search.

 

[PolyAddict]

The midwesterners were absolutely fabulous to us and I kinda feel bad about not moving to that area, but come on I am a southern girl and all that SNOW. I don't know about that!!! Love you guys, though

 

[minkydog]

DH & I have lived in Marietta, Ga, for many years and I think it is just about the best place on earth. We grew up on the Gulf Coast(Pascagoula, Pensacola, and Mobile) and I can assure you, we don't miss hurricanes at all. Because we still get them! But they are tropical storms by then. The advantage of living here(besides the great schools, two great childrens' hospitals, beautiful neighborhoods, proximity to shopping, mountains, historical sites, state parks,White Water, and football) is that the weather is temperate--it never stays real cold for long and it isn't blistering hot for long. We have 4 lovely seasons. When we do have tropical weather, well, unless you live by a creek flooding isn't a huge problem. Almost everyone is on high ground.

Seriously, if you'd like to know more PM me. I love Georgia and we plan to retire here. It's a beautiful state and there are a lot of communities in north Georgia that you would like.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

BIL is in Marietta--loved the housing options. They just bought their home and it was 10s of thousands less than what our home would be if we bought it today. And it was twice the size .

Very pretty up there!

 

[PolyAddict]

bumping for more great info

 

[Planogirl]

What about Texas? No state income tax!

 

[Zurealsoon]

What is your husband's profession?

 

[Pugdog007]

I'll chime in for AL. There are many nice suburbs of Birmingham including Trussville, Oak Mtn, Mtn Brook, Vestavia. All of these are minutes from great shopping and all have excellent school systems. Cost of living is low, property taxes are very low. Lots of trees, hills and southern charm. Five hours from the beach or the mountains. Unemployment rate is very low... it's a job seeker's paradise right now. Best of luck to you in your search for a new home.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I really have to warn you about Alabama and its schools. The state has had serious problems meeting its budget for several years, and at one point in time last year, my neice was just not in school because they didn't have funding for the education system.

If you go to Alabama, you will likely have to foot the bill for private education.

On the other hand, we have good friends living in Dacula, GA (suburb of Atlanta) who have raved about the public schools there. Their housing costs are reasonable, and they are really happy there.

We live in Mississippi...and even the private schools here aren't much better than the public school system.

Good luck finding a home. If you do decide to go to Alabama, Birmingham is definitely the nicest city to be in...especially the area around Hoover and Vestavia Hills.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

You didn't mention Little Rock as a possibility, but being from the Little Rock area, I can really tell you that there are some great things about Little Rock.

The housing, of course, is less expensive than New Orleans. The public schools have a mixture of good and bad, but there are some really good private (especially Catholic) high schools in the area. I graduated from the all-female Catholic School there...and my alum letter said there are 12 families at the school who left NO after the hurricane...and all the families have decided to stay because of the school and city.

It's large enough to get almost everything you'd want, but it still has a Southern feel.

Good luck!

 

[Pugdog007]

I really have to warn you about Alabama and its schools. The state has had serious problems meeting its budget for several years, and at one point in time last year, my neice was just not in school because they didn't have funding for the education system.

If you go to Alabama, you will likely have to foot the bill for private education.

On the other hand, we have good friends living in Dacula, GA (suburb of Atlanta) who have raved about the public schools there. Their housing costs are reasonable, and they are really happy there.

We live in Mississippi...and even the private schools here aren't much better than the public school system.

Good luck finding a home. If you do decide to go to Alabama, Birmingham is definitely the nicest city to be in...especially the area around Hoover and Vestavia Hills.

This is simply not true. All of the cities I listed have school systems that run autonomously. All of these school systems are excellent and I know no one that pays for private school living in these areas. Your niece must have been in a B'ham city or a county school. Those I would not recommend.

I also disagree in your recommendation for Hoover. Hoover has gone downhill in the past 10 years. It's had a huge explosion of illegal immigrants and this has caused many problems in the area, including increasing crime rates in every category. The best areas now and those that are poised for explosive growth are those I named: Trussville, Oak Mtn, Mtn Brook, Vestavia, and there are others but Hoover is not one of them.

I'm happy to answer any other questions for Poly. I live here and I know the area well.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Never hear of any problems in AL schools like pp mentioned. Have TONS of family in AL & they've all but 1 family gone to public schools. They live in Montgomery & B'ham areas.
My sil just moved from B'ham to Atlanta area (woodstock) & they LOVE it there, the schools are supposed to be excellent but they don't have any kids yet.

I think I'd start with the job search first & then narrow it down to the state & area 'cause in all states there' the good, the bad & the ugly & sometimes it's all just minutes away from each other (like Atlanta !) & the way it changes so fast....
OR maybe I'm reading this wrong that dh can work ANYWHERE he wants then in that case I've always wanted to live in someplace like Kentucky or TN, where I had a bit more seasonal change & mountains. I have other cousins in South Carolina (COlumbia) & they love it too...so I dunno.

BUt there's a good website out there on school info to check & on city info (crime rates, etc) the city one is www.citydata.com the school one i"ve naturally gone blank on I think it may be goodschools.com - not sure though look on a a real esate website that's where I found the link orginally like Coldwellbanker.com...

 

[MScott1851]

This is simply not true. All of the cities I listed have school systems that run autonomously. All of these school systems are excellent and I know no one that pays for private school living in these areas. Your niece must have been in a B'ham city or a county school. Those I would not recommend.

I also disagree in your recommendation for Hoover. Hoover has gone downhill in the past 10 years. It's had a huge explosion of illegal immigrants and this has caused many problems in the area, including increasing crime rates in every category. The best areas now and those that are poised for explosive growth are those I named: Trussville, Oak Mtn, Mtn Brook, Vestavia, and there are others but Hoover is not one of them.

I'm happy to answer any other questions for Poly. I live here and I know the area well.

Chiming in to agree with Pugdog here, and also to give a plug for the Huntsville/Madison/Decatur area in north central Alabama.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Unfortunately, the Montgomery area does have a problem with the public schools. All of our senior and junior high schools that are not magnet schools are on the troubled list. Unless you pay for private schools or have your kids go to magnet schools, you might feel better about having them go elsewhere.
Now the areas around Montgomery, like Prattville and Wetumpka have been working on their systems, but Montgomery has a terrible reputation right now.
Sorry. And, I live here, unfortunately.

 

[clarabelle]

I live in a suburb of Augusta GA. Housing here is very affordable and the schools are good in Columbia County. My SIL lives in Mt. Pleasant SC and really likes it there.

 

[debbiedoo]

I live in Alpharetta, GA on the west side. Good schools, jobs, etc. .

east Cobb, Marrietta not far away ----- east 140 alpharetta, woodstock, canton area is good. I am sure as the other posters may have mention -- between 92 and Birmingham highway area. Nice large houses, schools, and great people!!

If you need any info just ask or feel free to PM me

 

[PolyAddict]

I love all of these great ideas. My Dh is a CPA and I work for a non-profit. I mostly work to foot the DD's education costs and WDW vacations. I am very interested in all of these areas and will continue to seek more advice from you guys. I plan on pouring over this info and asking some more questions.

Thanks for the advise so far.

 

[PlaneJoy1]

Hi! My family and I live on the West side of Atlanta, in a suberb named Douglasville. There are a lot of great qualities about where I live, including school, shopping, sports activities, and close proximaty of Atlanta, jobs, etc. There is a lot of stuff but with a small town feel to it.

It's tough trying to figure out where to move. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[WeirdEyes]

Unfortunately, the Montgomery area does have a problem with the public schools. All of our senior and junior high schools that are not magnet schools are on the troubled list. Unless you pay for private schools or have your kids go to magnet schools, you might feel better about having them go elsewhere.
Now the areas around Montgomery, like Prattville and Wetumpka have been working on their systems, but Montgomery has a terrible reputation right now.
Sorry. And, I live here, unfortunately.

I live in Prattville and our school system is really quite good. It is a really nice community. It is 20 minutes from Montgomery, 50 minutes to Birmingham, 3 hours to the gulf coast, and 7 hours from Orlando. Most people that live in Prattville commute to Montgomery. Our town has a lot of military families so it has flavor from all regions of the U.S. There are a lot of terrible schools in Alabama, but the Prattville school system is not among them. We also have some very small private schools that are very good. My niece attends one because she doesn't like big schools. The tuition is very reasonable. Good luck with your search!!