Living in Georgia Forum

[lawbunny]

Hi everyone!
Well I just had a few questions and I'm hoping this is the right place to post them. So I am planning to take a year of and apply to law schools next year. Now my plan is to transfer with Wachovia (around June) to Georgia since thats where I want to attend law school and later practice. But my question would be: for those of you living in Georgia, where are the best places to move to? Cheapest rent? What areas to avoid? And so on. Thanks guys

[Grizz]

Anywhere in GA? Savannah and Atlanta are pretty fun places to live. This question is so broad.

[lawbunny]

well you have a point, it is very broad. But in reality I will transfer where ever there is a position open. But let see if I can narrow it down a bit by naming a few places where there are current positions available: Douglasville, Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Tucker, Loganville, Cumming, Newnan, Covington, Rome, and finally Snellville. Hope this helps

[jeeptiger09]

I'll bite...

First, how old are you and what are you looking for? There are plenty of nice areas, I'd definitely look into Atlanta and Savannah, although I'd shoot for the suburbs of both (Savannah has a lot of dirty parts). It couldn't hurt to check out Columbus (working class town on the Chattahoochee), Macon/Warner Robins (quiet, not a lot going on), Athens (great college town), and Augusta (the Masters). Really just depends on what you want.

[Grizz]

I can't speak to most of those other places, but I highly recommend Atlanta. I've been going to school here for a while now, at it is a great city. There is a ton of stuff to do (sports, concerts, bars, etc.) and some great neighborhoods to live in if you're a 20-something. I would suggest Virginia Highlands, great bars and restaurants, lots of stuff in walking distance, lots of "young professionals." The problem with Atlanta is, the cost of living in the city would be higher than some of the other cities on that list (especially more than some of the rural ones). However, I can't say enough good things about this city, and if you could find some decent people to live with it would be totally worth it.

[Tangerine Gleam]

well you have a point, it is very broad. But in reality I will transfer where ever there is a position open. But let see if I can narrow it down a bit by naming a few places where there are current positions available: Douglasville, Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Tucker, Loganville, Cumming, Newnan, Covington, Rome, and finally Snellville. Hope this helps

Atlanta, far and away. Trust me, there is no reason you'd want to pick any of those places over at Atlanta, not by a long shot.

Sure, they'll be even cheaper, but Atlanta is incredibly affordable for a major city. It will far and away have the most to offer you, especially as a young person. Great restaurants, movie theaters, and pretty good nightlife too. It's sprawling, but so is any major city in the Southeast.

[lawbunny]

JEEPTIGER09 - Well I'll be 24 when I relocate. Ill be moving out on my own for the first time so basically Im looking for areas where the COL would be pretty inexpensive but not too "ghetto", I dont want to worry about what happens when the street lights come on if you know what I mean I also would love to be able to socialize and meet new people since I will know NO ONE.

RAD LAW: Ive heard great things about Atlanta, but I also hear that traffic is HORRIBLE. Im in Miami and well to me nothing can compare, but after reading a few post, Im really wondering. Ive been looking at some place that are a few miles outside of Atlanta because to my understanding its cheaper, but Im worried about the commute time.

Thanks guys!

[Grizz]

JEEPTIGER09 - Well I'll be 24 when I relocate. Ill be moving out on my own for the first time so basically Im looking for areas where the COL would be pretty inexpensive but not too "ghetto", I dont want to worry about what happens when the street lights come on if you know what I mean I also would love to be able to socialize and meet new people since I will know NO ONE.

RAD LAW: Ive heard great things about Atlanta, but I also hear that traffic is HORRIBLE. Im in Miami and well to me nothing can compare, but after reading a few post, Im really wondering. Ive been looking at some place that are a few miles outside of Atlanta because to my understanding its cheaper, but Im worried about the commute time.

Thanks guys!

Traffic's bad, but I'm not sure it's worse than any other major city of the size. If you're concerned about meeting new people, ATL is the place to be. So many people your age. Outside ATL is not the best place to live. Worse traffic and less opportunities to meet people your own age.

[Pricer]

Traffic in Atlanta is terrible at almost any hour, but from my experiences and what I have heard about Miami, the latter is worse.

I currently live in Athens. It is a great place. There are lots of cool things to do here. Nice local music scene, tons of bars, and the UGA campus is here. One problem, though, is that there aren't many large businesses here. Sure, there are a couple of Wal Marts and Krogers, but no big finance firm or law firm or anything. Living here is cheap. Most places you can find $350-600 with utilities included in that price. You could check out The Summit, The Woodlands, The Retreat, The Station, The Verandas, etc. for nice places at around the $500 budget.

Atlanta is not too far from Athens, and that is definitely the center of the business world in the South. Almost every major company has a presence there. The problem here is that you would not want to live downtown. For the most part, it is only the rich and the poor that actually live in the city. The middle class people live in the suburbs. Places like Kennesaw are pretty nice and not too long of a commute, though when you consider traffic, the 10 minute drive can easily become an hour.

Savannah is the city I would recommend most for your position. Athens may be for a younger crowd than you want to live with, and Atlanta may be too much hustle. There is plenty to do in Savannah, and it is right along the coast. The city has an incredible history. Crime is bad in some parts, but you can easily find a residential section that has little to no crime. As far as cost goes, I am not positive, but I believe the average to be a little higher than Athens.

Augusta and Macon are good alternatives, as well.

[Connelly]

I moved to Atlanta over a year and a half ago, and I love it. There is so much to do here. But I don't think I would enjoy living out in the suburbs killing 2 hours of each day with my commute. I live in the midtown area, walk to work, and take MARTA to school. I would strongly encourage you to look at the public transportation available and plan where you are living around that. MARTA is unfortunately not what it should be for a city of Atlanta's size, but it can be taken advantage of. I can walk out my front door and get about anywhere I care about going quickly, and I don't have to worry about driving or parking. The wife and I got rid of one of our cars when we moved here. You will need a car, but you won't have to drive it much at all if you plan accordingly. I avoided the biggest problem with Atlanta - the traffic - and I can still enjoy all of its advantages.

[Bruiser]

I live a few miles from Douglasville (in Carroll County). The commute is not two hours if you leave early and avoid the 4:30-6 traffic from Atlanta. I plan on going to GA State and moving is not an option until I finish law school (I have a son in 9th grade and he's at a GREAT school). I go to Atlanta all the time and it takes me maybe 40 minutes tops. I would avoid the 7:30-9:30 am traffic to Atlanta. When (or if) I go to GA State, I will mostly take MARTA there. I will park at Hamilton Holmes and MARTA will drop me off right at GA State.
Now, if I was your age (I'm 39) I would definitely choose Atlanta. Atlanta is such a great city and you can find decently priced housing in an ok neighborhood. Another factor is where do you want to go to law school? There is good housing by Ga State and Emory. If you want Univ. of Ga, then go to Athens (I second that it is an awesome city).

[zreinhar]

Do atlanta, (lived here for a long time) and live near buckhead, still pretty expensive, but not as much as atlanta... ALOT less crime, way nicer streets, buidlings, etc. and a short marta ride from Atlanta, if I dont get into Emory or (off chance GSU) I will be prety sad that I have to leave for LS.. either way good luck

[pinkzeppelin]

well you have a point, it is very broad. But in reality I will transfer where ever there is a position open. But let see if I can narrow it down a bit by naming a few places where there are current positions available: Douglasville, Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Tucker, Loganville, Cumming, Newnan, Covington, Rome, and finally Snellville. Hope this helps

Alpharetta is a really nice suburb with low crime and decent COL (>Athens, <<Atlanta) It's a pretty rich area (median income for a household in the city was $184,207)

Atlanta is amazing, as everyone has already said, but COL is high.

Dunwoody is actually a really good option too. It's right on the perimeter, so getting to Atlanta is a breeze. It also has a relatively low COL and it's mostly a middle-class area.

Douglasville, tucker, loganville, cumming, newnan, covington, and rome I would not recommend. They are all small townsy areas with relatively high crime. These areas are rather poor with median household incomes closer to 30,000.

Snellville is ok, don't know much about it, but I get the vibe that it's also small townsy.

[sarahd]

Well...I live in Alpharetta and I can not imagine living here if I were single and young. It is, like someone else said, quite a nice suburb, but it is a suburb of the city. If I were young, I would live closer to the city and in an area that offered a night life and some fun. I can't think of anything more boring than being single and young where I live--full of large homes with families and stay at home moms. I am an almost 40 year old mom...so take my perspective with a grain of salt and with a slight amount of jealously that I would love to be single and young again

If I were single, the furthest out I would live is Dunwoody...I have a much younger sister who has lived in Buckhead for several years as a student and has been able to do so affordably. It can be done. She loves living there and has easy access to nightlife as well as work and school. Many of the younger people I work with live in Dunwoody, Buckhead, and Midtown. I work for a non-profit, so noone makes a ton, but they don't seem to have too much trouble finding safe, yet affordable places to live and play.

[lawbunny]

I just want to thank EVERYONE for their input!! Now I have a general idea of what to expect in which area

[rayiner]

well you have a point, it is very broad. But in reality I will transfer where ever there is a position open. But let see if I can narrow it down a bit by naming a few places where there are current positions available: Douglasville, Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Tucker, Loganville, Cumming, Newnan, Covington, Rome, and finally Snellville. Hope this helps

A lot of these places (Dunwoody, Alpharetta, etc) are really part of the Atlanta metro area.

Depending on where u end up located, it could be worthwhile to live in midtown/buckhead (inside the city) and commute out. I used to live in buckhead and commute to Duluth (25 miles each way) and since I was going opposite the direction of traffic my commute was about 30 minutes each way.

EDIT: Re traffic, it's nothing compared to DC. Atlanta tends to show up on charts of "longest commutes", but that's partly because it's so sprawled out. If you live/work in the city, you'll very rarely hit stopped-dead traffic like you will in Northern VA (for example).