Today, I was informed that the company I work for is closing it’s California corporate office and I’ve been offered a position at the new corporate office, located in Norcross, GA. With California going to the dogs, Boondock Saint (a.k.a. Mrs. DESK) and I decided that it sounded like a good idea.
While Boondock lived in North Carolina for a couple of years and I grew up in the south and midwest (Texas, Arkansas, & Kansas), neither one of us has ever even had Georgia on our Mind, let alone been there.
So, any Dopers who have knowledge of Georgia living, I’d appreciate information on the Atlanta area. For example, will it be hard for Boondock to find a job (has worked retail and service industry jobs)? What areas should we avoid while looking for apartments? How good is public transit? What are the Libraries like? With T.O.D.D.L.E.R.Top about ready to start school, what are they like?
The above information, as well as anything else you think we might need to know, would be greatly appreciated.
Right now, the market for retail/customer service jobs in Atlanta is very tight. If you are reliant on your wife’s income as part of your current plans, I’d advise you to proceed very carefully. Public transit here is not entirely lousy, but not great either, and at the moment it’s quite fragmented - there’s an alleged centrally managed transit sytem, MARTA, but most of the metro area counties now run their own, separate transit systems that link to this somewhat loosely. As I’ve advised before, don’t count on the Atlanta/Fulton county library system, which is first and foremost a graft processing system - luckily, many of the metro area library systems are much better than this (Cobb, Gwinnett, and Dekalb counties all have excellent library systems, and all of them do a huge amount of out-of-district registrations due to the suckitude of the actual Atlanta library system. As a side note, Georgia in general has a system of lots and lots of really small counties; compared to what you might be used to in California, most of them are just plain tiny. It’s very common for people to live in one county and work in another, especially in the metro area.)
As far as apartment hunting, it depends, heavily, on whether you want to locate intown in Atlanta, in Norcross, or in a random affordable suburb of Atlanta. Rental costs here bumped up after 1996, due to the Olympics, and are still a bit higher than they really should be; but they’re nothing compared to, e.g., San Francisco. There’s at least some affordable non-lousy housing everywhere, but generally you can get more square footage for your dollar outside the Perimeter than in.
Yea, retail is tight out here. Public transit is alright if you’re right on (or nearby) one of the MARTA train lines, otherwise it’s a little iffy. The buses run semi-on-time.
I can’t make any specific suggestions on apartments, since it seems to vary by complex. The place we used to live was pretty nice, the place across the street from it had regular murders and drug deals and whatnot. Georgia schools finished low on the SAT scores again (50th, I think) not too recently. It’s good to live outside the Perimeter, you can get better rents, take care of everything, and still drive (or take the train) in to Atlanta for the major sports/cultural/concerts/whatever.
Your new office in Norcross will be in Gwinnett County, which means you won’t have access to MARTA at work. Gwinnett County has a bus system, but I only know of its existence.
The public schools in Gwinnett are supposed to be good, but they are tremendously overcrowded and trailers are abundant.
You’ll definitely need cars to get around. Atlanta is very sprawled. If you can find a house that will let you avoid I-285 in your commute, do; the less time you spend on I-285, the longer you live. Maybe some ATL dopers could expand on potential affordable housing options to the north and east of Norcross?
I work in Norcross and live in Gwinnett.
Avoid apartments on Buford highway, even though some of them may be nicely priced and close to where you work. Parts of southern Gwinnett (parts of Norcoss, Jimmy Carter blvd, Buford Highway) are quickly going in the shitter with crime and gang activity.
Northern Gwinnett Or Alpharetta will put you ~20 minutes from work and you should be able to find decent apartments and school systems there.
I should qualify that last statement, it’s not at all like Gwinnett county is South Central LA, and I do not worry at all about driving through any of those areas I mentioned.
It’s just that what used to be a nice areas are now on the decline.
Yes, definitely avoid 285. I live out between Roswell and Dunwoody and there’s some pretty decently priced complexes around here, but there are also some real dives.
I suspect D.E.S.K. heard about our first Dopefest and wants to join us for the sequel…
Schools in Gwinnett: The Parkview HS district is tops, with others like Brookwood right behind. On the other end of the spectrum there’s Meadowcreek. Definitely find out what HS district a potential apartment is in. Makes a load of difference, even if you don’t have kids. The people who work to make their schools better make far better neighbors. Don’t let that “50th in the nation” thing scare you. Outside of metro areas like Atlanta there are some really awful schools. The 'burbs are usually a whole other story.
In 1985, the Mountain Park* library was smaller than the bedroom I’m in right now. No kidding. They have made great strides. The voters actually have approved taxes to improve the libraries! But they still have a ways to go.
As for politics: Heavily dominant ultra-conservative Republicans. But with Hispanic voters moving into some areas, they’ve elected some Hispanic Democrats to some offices.
Some of the areas mentioned above to avoid living in, are great places for finding nice food.