We're picking up and moving!

[mouseaddicts]

Okay .... I'm FROM here (just outside Atlanta) ..... I've actually lived my entire life about 1 hour from downtown Atlanta. I'm originally from Gainesville, which is the Lake Lanier area if you've got a map handy.

Personally, I wouldn't consider Fulton County "outside Atlanta" as downtown ATL is in Fulton. But, hey, you'll get more familiar with the area. Like another poster said, Fulton is a BIG county!!!

Look at the metro area map. I-285 goes all the way around Atlanta (for those of you driving through to WDW - NEVER get on 285, go straight through downtown - TRUST ME!!!) ITP=inside the perimeter / OTP=outside the perimeter ..... which are you??? I'm wayyyy OTP, but I work at the perimeter.

The ugly??? TRAFFIC!!! We have a TON of commuters here. They did a new study & said Atlantans spend more on their daily commute than any other city. Now, I've never lived anywhere else, but I sit in a ton of traffic every day, so it's possible.

Welcome to the area ...... I hope you love it here!!! I can't imagine being anywhere else. You will LOVE being able to drive to WDW ..... DH & I just went down this past weekend - drove down Friday night, came back Sunday!

 

[Divamomto3]

We are relocating from Connecticut to Upstate NY...3 hours from home. The area is beautiful and I can't wait. We are building also...we built the house we live in now too...one thing I will tell you is that the house is almost never ready when they say it will be. We have already picked everything out and had our mortgage approved. We did an 11 month lock on the mortgage rate and hope to be in the house by Christmas 2006. We have to rent a house in between because we absolutely have to be there for the kids to start school. DH has already been working for this company that we're moving for and he was previously telecommuting. Now he'll be in the office full time. As far as my job, I'm a nurse and I can get a job anywhere. I haven't even looked yet.

Good luck!

 

[Robinrs]

That's how I ended up there going on 20 years now...

I was actually coming back by Amtrak from visiting my sister in Tennessee and had a layoff on Peachtree Rd for about 2 hours. I took a walk and picked up some literature. One year later I was working on that same block, and worked there for 15 years!

Let me know when you decide to move, I'll give you the REAL DEAL!!

 

[tiff211]

Wow, please tell me: what kind of jobs do you have that you can just pick up and move and get the same kind of job (and I assume good pay) anywhere you want?

I have administrative office management skills, that's what I have been doing for the past 8 years and DH is a teacher and apparantly a hot commodity because of his experience, the size of the classroom he teaches, as well as teaching in a charter school. He went to job fair nearby and was called by 5 different schools within a week.

 

[Fionasmommy]

How wonderful!! Georgia is so beautiful! Hope your move goes smoothly!

 

[Crankyshank]

That's pretty exciting but I bet it's going to be exhausting to pack and get everything ready with your little ones. Does DH have to get any sort of certification to teach in GA? Is he going to make some scouting trips to the area for jobs before you guys move or are you guys going to move first and look?

 

[caitycaity]

We are relocating from Connecticut to Upstate NY...3 hours from home. The area is beautiful and I can't wait. We are building also...we built the house we live in now too...one thing I will tell you is that the house is almost never ready when they say it will be. We have already picked everything out and had our mortgage approved. We did an 11 month lock on the mortgage rate and hope to be in the house by Christmas 2006. We have to rent a house in between because we absolutely have to be there for the kids to start school. DH has already been working for this company that we're moving for and he was previously telecommuting. Now he'll be in the office full time. As far as my job, I'm a nurse and I can get a job anywhere. I haven't even looked yet.

Good luck!

i bet you will love it! i grew up in upstate ny and looking back it was a wonderful place to grow up. good schools, good neighborhoods - lots of outdoors stuff to do!

my parents live on the ct shore now and i really miss the area i grew up in (outside of syracuse).

 

[padams]

Welcome! Atlanta is a great place to live. An experienced teacher shouldn't have any problem finding a school. You also shouldn't have any problem finding an administrative position. Good luck!

 

[ericamanda01]

How exciting!!!

 

[rileyroosmom]

Hi! I moved from Long Island, New York to Georgia (South Forsyth County) a year and a half ago. I can now say it was a good move and I'm happy here. It took a lot of adjusting though.

The Good-
*the weather is great. beautiful spring/fall. Summer is hot and humid but everyone has central air (another good) Can wear flip flops almost year round (another good)

*cost of living. Taxes and car insurance are more than 50% less than what I was paying in N.Y.

*schools (be very careful and do a lot of research on this topic, Georgia is I think the worst schools in the country). S. Forsyth/No. Fulton, IMO, are the best schools. Our schools are WAY better than our schools in NY which surprised my husband and I.

*the people are super, super friendly. I've made lots of friends. Sales clerks go out of their way to be helpful. I haven't packed a grocery bag or carried them to my car since I've been here.

*homes are beautiful!

The bad-
*there is a big difference between northerners and southeners. Your religious and political beliefs are probably very different. Be prepared for people to ask you, upon meeting you, what they are. I can't really explain it more, you will see it for yourself.

*traffic!!!! horrible, awful, miserable, intolerable!!!!! Don't work anywhere that requires you to travel on GA400. Don't work near the perimiter.

That's all I can think of. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Good luck- it is a great place to be.

 

[Jpgirl]

Let's see-I moved to Houston Tx 4 years ago into a house I never saw until we moved and we built a house 10 years ago. My best advice would be to move into a pre existing house and not build. When we built we went to the site every other day or so-you really have to know what you're doing when you're building-regardless what the builder says. We found some huge mistakes-(like not getting behind the wall upgrades we paid for, almost not getting my giant shower stall, almost not getting cabinet up grades-the list was endless). If we had not known what they were supposed to be doing and pointed out the mistakes they would've left them. One day they had to tear out all the wiring b/c it wasn't done right. And I'm not talking about a bad builder here-they were extremely reputable and no complaints with the BBB. Now I did love that house as it was built to our specifications, but I would never have a house built while I was in another city. That gets me to moving to a different area. My dh was working in Houston and I was in Ohio managing the selling of our house and coordinating the move. I would go on line and pick out houses that met our specifications and he would go look at them. The realtor we had was useless-didn't take the time to really find out what we needed. First I picked the school district then the house. The move was hard-I won't lie-sometimes I get upset with change to. The way I got through it was what I call the Pollyanna syndrome. I told myself that it was all a wild adventure and that everything would be wonderful. It worked-I love my house and Houston. Most people thought I was absolutely insane for letting dh pick out the house from the bunch I saw online without me never seeing it. It hind sight I'd rather move into a house he picked out than build a house again-you really are at the mercy of the builder there. BUt good luck I'm sure you'll love Atlanta and keep thinking Pollyanna!!

 

[princesspumpkin]

I'm feeling you, SisterGirl! I fell in love with Atlanta over 15 years ago (boyfriend at the time was attending Moorehouse). I'm an RNn and relocating was not a problem. We broke up, changed my mind about the move. Fast forward, my nephew was attending Moorehouse. DH and I attended the graduation, DH fell in love with Moorehouse and ATL. He had never seen so many men like "him" who were about greatness, in one area. Stated he wanted to move and attend Moorehouse. It wouldn't have been great for his career (he's an actor), so we stayed put. Fast forward again, now oldest sister, adult niece and her family, nephew and his fam, and other niece all live in ATL area. We drive down every year for the holidays to get our ATL fix. Always pick up house magazines. We could get a Mcmansion for what we paid for our house here in NJ. But, although ATL does some movies and lots of stage productions, it's no NY/Philly/DC (for acting, that is). Watch out for the pollen!ll My only advice is about house building. We built our house here in NJ. After everyone moved in, we started comparing notes. I was surprised how much people can, in essence, "force" builders to give them. People came armed with their attorneys when they sat down to discuss the building process. People got things included, that i didn't even know was an option. This was our first home, but now we know better. When a new development (or subdivision), is being built, incentives are given to get the first group of people in, not much is given to the next group, then when they're trying to finish it up, big incentives are given (free finished basements, etc.) Also, if it's a hot area to live in, when a new sub is being built, people might actually line up hours (or days) in advance to get in on the property. I love Hotlanta - good luck!

 

[DVC Sadie]

Tiff congratulations and happy house hunting. It is so exciting moving especially when you get to move into a lower cost of living area. to the south and I hope its everything that your family wishes.

 

[Robinrs]

Hi! I moved from Long Island, New York to Georgia (South Forsyth County) a year and a half ago. I can now say it was a good move and I'm happy here. It took a lot of adjusting though.

The Good-
*the weather is great. beautiful spring/fall. Summer is hot and humid but everyone has central air (another good) Can wear flip flops almost year round (another good)

*cost of living. Taxes and car insurance are more than 50% less than what I was paying in N.Y.

*schools (be very careful and do a lot of research on this topic, Georgia is I think the worst schools in the country). S. Forsyth/No. Fulton, IMO, are the best schools. Our schools are WAY better than our schools in NY which surprised my husband and I.

*the people are super, super friendly. I've made lots of friends. Sales clerks go out of their way to be helpful. I haven't packed a grocery bag or carried them to my car since I've been here.

*homes are beautiful!

The bad-
*there is a big difference between northerners and southeners. Your religious and political beliefs are probably very different. Be prepared for people to ask you, upon meeting you, what they are. I can't really explain it more, you will see it for yourself.

*traffic!!!! horrible, awful, miserable, intolerable!!!!! Don't work anywhere that requires you to travel on GA400. Don't work near the perimiter.

That's all I can think of. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Good luck- it is a great place to be.

I agree with all of these points, especially about the schools...UGH!! They're abysmal. I struggle through them, though, mostly homeschooling my son on top of what they do for him. Check the areas before settling, my son was very young when I bought my house and I made the mistake of moving into an area with horrible schools. You'll find that the prices of houses and the lack of apartments will show you which are the better school areas.

Also, princesspumpkin hit on the pollen problem... ... I swear I never had an allergy till I moved here. From March to April I'm pretty much miserable. This year was really bad, I'm still a Claritin addict. The natives handle it better than we transients, we didn't have time to build a resistance!

Again, good luck on your move! Move close to me so I can spoil that adorable baby!!!

 

[tammy]

Good for you. I wish you the best. I am slowly working up my nerve to make a major move. Hopefully sooner than later.

 

[tiff211]

Okay .... I'm FROM here (just outside Atlanta) ..... I've actually lived my entire life about 1 hour from downtown Atlanta. I'm originally from Gainesville, which is the Lake Lanier area if you've got a map handy.

Personally, I wouldn't consider Fulton County "outside Atlanta" as downtown ATL is in Fulton. But, hey, you'll get more familiar with the area. Like another poster said, Fulton is a BIG county!!!

Look at the metro area map. I-285 goes all the way around Atlanta (for those of you driving through to WDW - NEVER get on 285, go straight through downtown - TRUST ME!!!) ITP=inside the perimeter / OTP=outside the perimeter ..... which are you??? I'm wayyyy OTP, but I work at the perimeter.

The ugly??? TRAFFIC!!! We have a TON of commuters here. They did a new study & said Atlantans spend more on their daily commute than any other city. Now, I've never lived anywhere else, but I sit in a ton of traffic every day, so it's possible.

Welcome to the area ...... I hope you love it here!!! I can't imagine being anywhere else. You will LOVE being able to drive to WDW ..... DH & I just went down this past weekend - drove down Friday night, came back Sunday!

The subdivision we are looking to build in is in Riverdale near where 85 and 20 meet, I think. That's where my friend lives. I think we will rent for six months to a year to become familiar with the area before building though.

I am VERY excited about being closer to WDW!!!

 

[tiff211]

I agree with all of these points, especially about the schools...UGH!! They're abysmal. I struggle through them, though, mostly homeschooling my son on top of what they do for him. Check the areas before settling, my son was very young when I bought my house and I made the mistake of moving into an area with horrible schools. You'll find that the prices of houses and the lack of apartments will show you which are the better school areas.

Also, princesspumpkin hit on the pollen problem... ... I swear I never had an allergy till I moved here. From March to April I'm pretty much miserable. This year was really bad, I'm still a Claritin addict. The natives handle it better than we transients, we didn't have time to build a resistance!

Again, good luck on your move! Move close to me so I can spoil that adorable baby!!!

Funny you mention the allergy thing, my eyes were burning so bad when I was there, I couldn't figure out why.

being close enough to spoil baby = babysitter!!

 

[tiff211]

Tiff congratulations and happy house hunting. It is so exciting moving especially when you get to move into a lower cost of living area. to the south and I hope its everything that your family wishes.

Thanks! How long before my kids start speaking with a southern accent?

 

[princesspumpkin]

Riverdale! Isn't that a cowinkydink! That's where my niece and her family live (and where we stay when we are there during the holidays). And there's a subdivision being built right next to their street. But then again, there are so many new subs being built in the area. My niece lives off of Roundtree Rd.

 

[Southern4sure]

I have relatives in Paulding County. It is northwest of Atlanta. I love the area esp Hiram. This area is exploding with new subdivisions and retail shops. You will love GA. Hope your move goes ok.