Who here lives in Georgia?
 

What do you think of the state? What are the ups and downs of GA?

Just looking for some general information.

I have family there and I love visiting. They live in a small town a few hours from Atlanta and Macon. Aside from the fire ants, I can't think of anything negative about that area.

My dad also has an office and apartment in Atlanta. They only drawback to that (according to him) is the traffic. It sounds like the traffic has split Atlanta into two and people don't often commute from one side to the other.

Jace lives there, he'd probably have a better idea.

I lived just outside Atlanta (Suwanee) for 10 years, loved it, and hated it.

Loved the green grass, & pine trees, & cost of living, hated the traffic.

Moved to Vegas 7 years ago, and am getting ready to move the whole family back to the Atlanta area.

well i don't. but i just wanna say hi!

I did see an ad when I was flying recently for new houses being built outside Atlanta.

3500 square feet, 6 bedroom/5 bath for $355k. That's pretty appealing.

Yep, that's the thing. Can get a great place 45-60mins outside Atlanta. Big yard, 4bd 3 bath NEW, hardwood, deck et al. for 225k.

So why people pay 900k for an apartment in Anaheim is beyond me

My girlfriend and I talk about moving somewhere new all the time. This one definitely had us talking a bit more about the options.

Whatever happened to you moving to AZ Brad?

We moved from NY down to Atlanta last year (Buford, about 30 mins from city of Atlanta) I believe about 10 minutes from where Larry Flynt was shot.

Well.... we're moving back to NY ASAP :1orglaugh We were supposed to move June 1st but we extended our lease so we can buy a house in NY instead of renting again.

It's much different than NY. We lived in the middle of nowhere in NY and it took us a while to get places. Well, it takes us just as long going 5 miles around here as it does to go 50 miles in NY. The traffic is awful and the Bible thumpers scare the heck out of me. :uhoh

Bellsouth sucks, Charter cable sucks and even though we live right by the Mall of Georgia, the stores suck. Everything is commercialized around here. We didn't explore the city of Atlanta too much, but what we did see was rather small and unimpressive.

The cost of living is cheaper (compared to NY). There's way more house rentals and new constructions. We're in a developing area. New buildings and houses are going up non-stop. Then you get surprise bills like $256+ a year car registration that you don't get in NY and other states. :disgust

Atlanta, GA is a great place to visit but I don't like living here.

Also, we thought our cost of living would go down when we moved down here. Ya know, more for your money etc. It wasn't that way for us. In fact, our bills doubled. The larger house that's poorly insulated and it's only 3 years old but sits in the sun most of the day, so it takes a lot to cool it down.

I live in the mountains of North GA but my goal is to move a few miles north to Tennessee so no state income taxes :)

Georgia is good because it offers SO many different things. You can live in a big city, a small town, on the beach, on a lake, in the mountains, on a farm.....property is still relatively inexpensive in most areas.

There are SO many differences that compared to Furious Female, I don't have BellSouth or Charter and the nearest mall to me rocks because it's an outlet mall with dozens of higher end stores :)

Personally, I wouldn't live anywhere south of the city proper unless you're planning on St. Simons or Jekyll Islands - WAY south. Of course, once you get into the northern 'burbs you hit traffic. Not really a big deal if you work from home. If you have kids, the school systems vary TREMENDOUSLY. My son was in a charter school that was one of the top 5 schools in the country when he was there. Then you have the Atlanta inner city public schools - not so good.

From what I've seen, we have some of the best weather and amenities for the price.

With that said, I still want to move to Tennessee, lol.

We almost did it, but it wasn't convenient at the time. Having more time to consider the heat and land-lockness of the state I think I am going to pass on actually living in AZ. As an investment, I may still purchase a property there.

Atlanta is great if you love music.

Work for yourself and eliminate the commute eliminates the traffic problem.
Good Food.

Ideally I would live inside the city to easier avail of the events with out the drive. Of Course If you don't need the city, head due west towards Alabama.

Divorce is cheap lol.

Ever visit the Northside Tavern? Live Blues 7 Nights.

Nashville might be an ok place?

If you move in the city a good rule to adopt if
you hate the traffic is...

Do not go any where during these time periods
(11:30am - 1:30pm) & (4:00pm - 7:00pm).

That usually help me avoid the rush hour traffic.

If you are comparing GA to NYC or LA your going to be disappointed.Its a nice place where you can get alot of bang for your buck. I think if FF had moved to ATL from NYC instead where they choose,she would be much happier. Also if they socialized with us it would be much more fun :)

Aww lol :) We really do have to get together... Jace is great at organizing stuff. We're down.

you all moved into a shitty area, with shitty traffic and shitty everything

you didn't plan your move out AT ALL, you jumped into whatever the realtor told you to

Atlanta is a wonderful and amazing place with some of the most diverse music and arts scenes I have ever scene without any of that shitty "big city" attitudes you find in NYC and LA

the ONLY problem I have with Atlanta is when you drive 20 miles in any direction you are in Georgia

Atlanta is a wonderful liberal place with amazing things to do and see all the time, Georgia is a redneck ignorant republican filled cess pool.....I don't mind republicans, I don't mind rednecks, but when someone is being interviewed and says "yeah, I voted for george bush cause he don't like them gays", then we know there is a ignorance problem

overall though, georgia is a wonderful and beautiful place

do not listen to whatever Furious_Female says though, she and Napolean didn't do any research before moving...hell, I don't even think they visited...hahah

yeah, no shit, they basically moved into an area of georgia that has the largest mall in the southeast right next to them...LOL...um...why?

sounds like something that has NOTHING to do with georgia, and everything to do with your house :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

The devil lives down in Georgia. He is looking for a soul to steal.

so ..... watch out

its nice there.. alot of really really hot peaches floating around with that sexy southern draw... gosh...

I live just OTP (outside the Perimeter) Ive lived here most of my life heres my thoughts

Pluses:
Cost of living and home ownership is low
modern infrastructure (Thanks General Sherman)
if you live in an affluent area the politics tend to be pretty Libertarian (Im talking Dunwoody/W. Paces Ferry areas)
convenient to the beach (as in the ocean)
culturally diverse with great eateries and entertainment.
convenient to mountains and low end snow sking
you can fly anywhere from atlanta and fuck you airlines(Delta) no longer has a monopoly
driving is easy if you avoid the rush hours.
Neal Boortz lives here...sometimes
LOTS of female talent, and they are hot.
Good private schools

Minuses:
ITP (Inside the perimeter) is predominatly black and city of atlanta is controlled and run by the crookedest bunch of politicians outside Washington DC or Chicago
MARTA ( our crime infested rapid transit system
crime is high in the city, particularly violent crime
city schools are about the worst in the country and state ones arent a lot better
blue laws are ubiquitous (no buying any kind of alchohol on sundays for example)
large gay population downtown....you might like that Brad :)
The radio stations here are the worst in the country I think
certain white flight areas (Gwinnett County, Cobb County) are ridiculously conservative (ban Harry Potter...yep we have a moron in Gwinnet trying to do that)

Ok thats all I can think of right now...If ya wanna build yer own house..let me know My little brother is a top rated (quality wise) contractor here...no poor insulation problems for example

mike pretty much hit everything exactly as it is

if you are like me and don't have kids and stay out politics, you will be all right

I ride marta all the time and have NEVER had any issues whatsoever with crime

the blue law is bad, BUT this is the first state I have ever lived in that they sell alcohol 24 hours a day 6 days a week....meaning in fulton county, at convenience stores, you can buy beer/wine any time of the day or night, except midnight saturday to midnight sunday

and mike...um...who listens to radio anymore? hehe

and oh yeah, mike, you bastard....let's fuckin get together man, you live 3 miles from me and we never see each other

i will be in austin all this week, how about next weekend we plan some bbq and beer?

Atlanta is one of the best cities to live in in the south.

Amazing and very diverse culture, music scene, schools, shopping, restaurants, airports, sports teams and sooo many different types of neighborhoods to choose from to move to. Not to mention the huge amount of tech related jobs.


However, the traffic is a bitch.

LOL damn.. its not like we're slamming Atlanta.. this thread is about OPINION, ups and downs.. (about the whole state btw, not just the city) not everybody is looking for what you look for in a place to live.

I have a really good idea of what daily life is like around where you live, its probably very similar to the suburbs around Dayton where I grew up.

We looked in PA and NY before moving and all we saw were overpriced shacks for rent, GA had new houses for the same or cheaper. When we saw the ad for this house it told us we were 20 minutes from Atlanta and said nothing about the Mall. This house didnt even show up in mapquest.

Why did we move so close to the mall though? Because we didnt know we were this close to the mall, there was no way of telling and we didnt have the luxury of coming down here to scout the area.. (even if we did, the traffic last year was nowhere close to how it is this year)

That being said, if someone is considering moving down here they can take a lesson from our experience and know how to avoid our experience.. unless of course if its what their looking for.

Hey,

Any info you can give on Savannah would be great. I have been looking into it for the last 4 months as I would really like to get out of NY.

Thanks in advance for any insight on Savannah...
PS: 29 year old single, straight male...good social scene??

oh,I know you aren't meaning to, you all have just had a REALLY bad experience and it is obvious you are judging the whole city for your experience in Edwardscissorhandsville....

I just wish you all would have given it a chance (actually living in atlanta) before packing up and heading for the NY hills again

um....you are kidding right?

Savannah is INSANE...one of the most beautiful cities in Georgia and has THE biggest St Patricks Day celebration of anywhere in the USA....they get something like 250k people there just to party on st pattys day

plus they have a few schools there and a HUGE night club section right on the water

savannah is a awesome place for sure, if we had the money we would move there and live on the water right outside of downtown

I wish I had my present home when you guys thinking about coming here, you would been free to stay to look around get an idea of where you wanted to be. Brad same goes for you, we got 3 bedrooms empty up stairs we only use for shooting.

is it expensive? the main reason i would like to relocate is so i can purchase a nice home with a pool and be near teh water. Right now it kills me for what i pay for my 850sq foot apartment in manhattan, plus garage for the car......

Jace we do need to get together for many reasons...ya next w/e is good for me I wanna pick yer brain a bit about wordpress

for what you pay for 885sq ft plus parking in Manhattan you can be in one of the nicer burbs in4X the sq footage..and own it

or downtown in 2x the sq footage

unless yer in rent controlled area and been there for 20 yrs

hahahaha i wish i had a legacy brownstone in the city.

wil definitely plan a trip this summer to check out the area and stay for 2 weeks to get a good feel. really considering the change of pace, scene, atmosphere and all....

i feel in love with Savannah with what i see on HGTV lol big fan of the shows that show you what you get for the money in the country....

thanks again,i appreciate everyones comments

didn't they kick ray charles out of georgia

Why yes they did.

BradM between Mike South, and Jace you pretty much have been fully informed about Atlanta. I myself LOVE this city.

To slightly correct Mikesouth, you CAN buy booze on Sunday in many counties, just not package sales. There are several counties that allow restaurants and bars to pour liquor on Sundays :)

There are also a LOT of places that don't sell booze at all, so if that's a criteria, be careful.

I lived in Savannah when I was in grade school and went to college about an hour west and my son played several soccer tournaments there when he was in HS. Savannah has become a total cesspool IMO and anyone with $$$ moved out years ago. Skidaway Island is a nice place that's near enough to Savannah to enjoy the fun, but far enough away not to deal with the scum. Tybee Island is around there too and I've heard it's gotten better but it was filled with trailer trash a few years ago. Of course once you're THAT far south, just move to FL and forget about the state income taxes!