South - 8 days in Atlanta

Heading to Atlanta end of the month from NH to check it out and possibly relocate there. Aside from the heat, I am sure its very different than the sleepy, underpopulated (except in summer) lakeside resort town I now live in. I have a place to move to in Henry County already if wanted.

I am an RN and it appears there is a shortage there, so I may luck out in the job market. Compiling a list of hospitals now (there are SO many compared to here) and soon will be looking at LTC facilities and nursing homes/rehab centers.

Worst case is I am going to have one great vacation but I have a feeling this move is supposed to/going to happen!

Looking for places to see and things to do while there. Only thing set in stone is a trip to Savannah and Tybee Island one day. I love nightlife and can be a little wild (well for NH standards anyhow, lol!) and am looking for interesting, unusual sights and things to do.

I understand there is a beerfest going on while I am there, has anyone gone and if so, how is this?

Many thanks!

Popular spots
CNN, Coke museum, Aquarium, Olympic park, MLK
Stone Mountain

Nightlife
Midtown or Buckhead area
(Sorry I do not have experience on this one)

My feeling is you could write your own ticket to just about any city in the US. When I look at local help wanted ads, they consist of medical, Avon or truck drivers. I can't imagine that you won't find an appropriate position in ATL. I'm curious about what is behind the urge to relo, if you care to elaborate.

You should find reasonable housing and taxes compared to home. You will find friendly people and you will not feel cold for at least 3 years until the last of your yankee blood has been replaced by the local variety. Although nightlife is not my thing, my kids in their 20's think nothing of driiving to Atlanta, Nashville or Birmingham for a night out,

Just a word of advice: A "15 minute stroll down 285" during the right time of day will become a 1-hour commute during rush hour. Of course this may not affect you if you work nights/etc...

HTSC

I think the others have covered the basics. Visit and check out Henry County. Just save plenty of time to see other areas. Atlanta is big and parts of town are very different. Consider where you would like to live - hospitals are just about everywhere. Unless you have specific work interests - trama center, teaching hospital, etc. a hospital should be an easy commute from just about anywhere.

One note - Is your "one day" trip to Savannah and Tybee supposed to be there/back in one day? If you're planning to drive, you should know that GA is a bit larger than NH. It's about a 4 hour drive from ATL to SAV.

Thank you all for your great responses!

Reason for relocation? Well there are lots of them. I now live in the town I was born in. I am now 40 and single and finally an empty nester. I had moved back here 11 years ago and I have worked hard and taken care of the 3 kids, home and had to care for 2 grandparents while they were dying over the years. I was also helping great aunts and uncles as I was the only one of my generation left here. I tried at one point 6 years ago to move back to CT but my gram got cancer so I had to move home six mos into it to care for her. My kids and I became her will to live and she our rock in so many ways.

I knew then I was grounded here until gram passed and my youngest graduated, both of which happened in last few months, but dreamed of getting out of here . She lived with us the last year and a half and was the last remaining relative here. My youngest is moving with her dad for college in Ct and the twins are on their own now and also in college.

In Jan I was diagnosed with a very bad case of Lyme disease and a serious autoimmune disease possibly caused by having lyme undiagnosed for many years (GET tested if you even think you have it!). I am well now and with all these recent changes I have been searching for a place I may love to live and has a future for me. I guess you can say this is a wonderful new chapter in my life.

I am sick of the cold here, and the small townish stuff and have no more ties. My chances of ever meeting a great man here are limited and so are my career & education options. Its time for me to spread my wings and see the world and live somewhere warmer and follow my dreams, explore the world, continue my education and get cultured as well as begin to enjoy my new found free time which I havent had in a long time.

Sorry if thats a lot, but it felt good to 'say' it.

I have friends in Atlanta as well as the cousin I will be moving with in Henry County. Her home is huge and she is never there. We have more in common than my sister and I and even look very much alike! I will stay at least a year with her and maybe longer before I get my own place. The cost of living and homes seem better and the pay is much higher as well from what I am seeing so far. The benefits are amazing and I already have a list of maybe a dozen or more hospitals within greater Atlanta. Here there is one tiny one with 25 beds.

I am really hoping I love it there, and it is strange- things are falling into place so easily its almost like I am supposed to make this move. Its like my prayers are being answered. I have tons of family in FL as well as other surrounding southern states and I will be closer to them which means I can see them more.

Not sure if Tybee is a day trip or not, but my cousin has made the trip many times. Driving is something I am used to, although traffic will be interesting! How does it compare to DC area, Boston, NYC and Chicago? I lived all over when I was married as my former husband did power plant start ups in big metropolitan areas. We moved almost once a year. I grew to love the cities and all their offerings while still relishing my visits back home but finding it a little too sleepy for me.

I will have a car and will also utilize some public transport and plan on seeing some of the art galleries and a few of the spots listed above. There seems to be so much to see and do there!

Not sure if Tybee is a day trip or not, but my cousin has made the trip many times. Driving is something I am used to, although traffic will be interesting! How does it compare to DC area, Boston, NYC and Chicago? I lived all over when I was married as my former husband did power plant start ups in big metropolitan areas. We moved almost once a year. I grew to love the cities and all their offerings while still relishing my visits back home but finding it a little too sleepy for me.

I will have a car and will also utilize some public transport and plan on seeing some of the art galleries and a few of the spots listed above. There seems to be so much to see and do there!

Traffic is not as bad as in DC area, Boston, NYC and Chicago. (you can find $3 all day parking in midtown !!!) Traffic is VERY directional. If you can avoid certain directions at certain times, you will be fine. But I would say a lot of trucks outisde I-285.

MARTA is convienient. but not as good as subway/rail systems in DC area, Boston, NYC and Chicago. Since downtown parking is cheap, you will not want to park your car at MARTA station, take MARTA and walk.

You will find ATL is different with other big cities (maybe less entertaining).

Personally, I think our traffic is much worse than Boston and a little worse than Chicago. At least in both of those cities you have the option of commuter rail and Chicago has those reversible lanes. I have driven in both cities quite a bit and very recently. As was mentioned, Atlanta is very directional. I purposely live in the opposite direction of traffic from my office. I have an 11 mile, 15-20 minute commute when the opposite lanes are a miserable parking lot. When I lived in the direction of traffic, 45 minutes was normal and an hour was easy with an accident between downtown and home.

Our public transport is not good. I am always jealous of other cities and their systems.

If you are into arts, try the Virginia Highlands area as a destination. Lots of locally owned shops and restaurants. Some nice bars and a good place to hang out at night. Maybe check out Little 5 Points as well if you are into things a little outside the norm. The Vortex is a great spot for a beer and a burger.

Also, Atlanta is not the best city for walking. It's very spread out and I speak from experience saying that you have to watch cars more than they watch you. A lot of Atlanta drivers are quite oblivious to pedestrian traffic. I walked to lunch every day for years and had to always be very wary of the people who ran the lights or stopped right on the crosswalk.

For the trendier nightlife, you will want to head to Midtown. Lots of clubs with covers and loud music.

We aren't club people at all but usually end up at the nearest Taco Mac enjoying something from the vast beer menu and just hanging out.

Housing is very affordable. You can own a home here easily.

The Aquarium is very nice and if you are here in the next month or so, they do Friday night jazz. Details are on the website. The botanical gardens are nice as well. We have a lot of parks and the Chattahoochee River has a lot of recreational areas along it and you can walk, jog, bike along the trails and a few of them have canoe rentals.

Good luck! Sorry I can't tell you too much about Henry County specifically, I've never lived there.

Thanks Poohead an MissJ for the great information, I am getting so excited to come down there and check it out!

When you mention the directional-ness of traffic, which ways are the busiest and when? That's pretty interesting and good to know as it may dictate my place of work as well as shifts I would want to work to avoid the logjam. I hate being stuck in traffic.

I am really surprised parking is so inexpensive in such a large city, seems cheaper and more convenient to just drive to a destination.

I will be checking out those areas MissJ- I appreciate the info. I also was just reading about how notoriously dangerous walking was there. It mentioned Margaret Mitchell getting hit by a car & killed way back when. Speaking of, I think I will be buying Gone With the Wind as travel reading since I have never read the book!

Can anyone suggest a restaurant or meal not to be missed while I am there? I am definitely searching for a ribshack as I haven't had good ribs in years!

Rush hours 7-9 and 4-7, anything coming out of the city and on 285 I know the worse traffic is east to west in the afternoon and west to east in the morning. I am not sure of the rest of the loop though because I don't live there. I live on the top end of 285. 75 north, 85 north and 400 north are terrible in the afternoon and all south are awful in the morning. I am not sure how bad the traffic is going south though. I've only been in a few times going to the airport in the afternoon and it wasn't horrible by Atlanta standards but it still wasn't fun.

For ribs - I have actually never had ribs in my life (I know, just not my thing) but we frequent Fat Matt's Rib Shack on Piedmont and everyone I know looooooves their ribs. I get the BBQ sandwich instead. But I see people practically inhaling their ribs every time we are there so it must be good. I'm sure some other rib eaters can make some other suggestions.

As for the convenience of just driving instead of taking public transport.... that's one of the reasons our traffic is so bad. Everyone just drives everywhere.

If you wanna knock out some of the big tourist spots while here, head down to Centennial Park. For one parking fee, you can hit up the CNN center (headquarters for CNN - you can take a tour while they're on the air), The Aquarium (world's largest) and the World of Coca Cola (best part is the end with coke products from all over the world. try the beverly - it's gross, and inca cola and bebo pine nut - my faves).

For food, I would recommend FLIP (gourmet burger joint owned and run by Richard Blaise from Top Chef), R thomas (24h diner in midtown with lots of organic / vegan food but actually yummy), and Chow Baby (mongolian bbq joint).

As others have said, after living in BOS, the public transport here is joke. Parking is MUCH less than there and you need a car to get everywhere. Don't bother with MARTA - drive and you can find free or inexpensive parking anywhere in ATL.

I really like Sonny's (a regional chain) for their ribs. It's more of a blue-collar kind of place, less expensive than most, and their side dishes are quite good, too. Now I'm hungry!

So, Henry County is SE of the city of ATL, and straddles I-75, a major north-south interstate. The center of the county is about McDonough, which is ~30 miles south of the center of the city of Atlanta. Commuting north into the city between 7am and 9:30am is going to take you through some of the worst traffic; figure a 5-7 mile backup every day if you're a single person in a single car--you can save some time in the carpool lane. (Or, depending on where you're working, you can park near the airport and grab MARTA from there--not sure it would save much time, though.)

The good news about being on the south side is access to the airport (it's great) and the beaches (both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico are ~4 hours away). But access to the mountains is a little harder (places like Blue Ridge and Ellijay are great getaways when it gets so hot and humid in the summer).

Good luck with the relocation--it's great that you're able to take this step, and with the right attitude, it doesn't matter WHERE you go, you'll figure out how to fit in and have fun!

Tybee and Savannah iare not really a day trip - can be done but you would be tired and wont see much. It's about 4 hrs each way by cars. If you do come down, send me a PM. I'll show you around if I'm in town. You can walk around with your cold beverages from bars to bars.

regards,
drew

I am an RN and it appears there is a shortage there, so I may luck out in the job market. Compiling a list of hospitals now (there are SO many compared to here) and soon will be looking at LTC facilities and nursing homes/rehab centers.

Don't know if you've ever considered this option, but I work in HR for a company that does Home Health care. I'm not a recruiter, so I don't know offhand what we have available, but I'd be glad to send you our website (which lists all of the openings) and put you in touch with a recruiter if you're interested. I know we cover Henry County and the surrounding areas.

PM me if you like!

Etc- I sent you a PM, I am interested in home health. My resume is ready! I was a coordinator for a HH company doing the placements, scheduling, hiring, payroll, etc. while in school. I have some exp off the books caring for my family and loved that.

Notenut- where is Sonny's? I looked on restaurant.com but they aren't there, sadly. I guess I will pay full price but ribs are worth it! Sounds to be just my kind of place!

Memphis Queen- I scored some tix to attractions and hoping to see the Bodies exhibit too. My cousin is a buyer for a larger company and gets great perks. Going to my first Braves game with tix right behind home plate and entry into the club thats in the ballpark, never heard of such a thing but I can't wait!!

Ddrewboy- I think we may go down Friday nite weather permitting. Looking at some inn to stay the nite on the island. Are you on the isle or in Savannah? We are planning on seeing both. Still not a definite.

Miss J- Fat Matts is going to get a visit! Thanks for the traffic info. Some hospitals provide free bus passes apparently. I am just going to have to experience it and get an idea. Holding off on applications for now to better judge what commute I can live with. Its such a huge area!

I may extend my stay beyond 8 days as I am realizing that it isnt very long. I will still pack in one carryon though!

I have made a list- there are more than 20 hospitals in the area. I am reluctant to apply online as I don't want to waste a recruiters time if the commute is way too much for me. I will have GPS and getting a feel for the lay of the land and doing a LOT of driving while there.

My cousin got us tix to the Braves- Home plate with entry to some club thats in the stadium! I can't wait! I also want to see Bodies exhibit.

Thanks to all! I have had great fun planning and now the countdown begins- 9 days!! I wish I was there now!! Everything is just working out so well! I even have a renter for my townhouse up here- my sister and my daughter!

You should find reasonable housing and taxes compared to home.

Not quite. Most metro Atlanta counties have a 6% sales tax and the state of Georgia has a 6% income tax. New Hampshire has neither.

Not quite. Most metro Atlanta counties have a 6% sales tax and the state of Georgia has a 6% income tax. New Hampshire has neither.

Well, property taxes anyway. Governments get their money one way or another.

NH has very high property taxes and from what I have seen, the different taxes seem to become a wash item. You are either paying here, there or somewhere else. It also costs a lot to register a car here in NH. I think I will pay a little more overall in GA but the increase in pay more than offsets it.

It appears buying housing is less expensive in Atlanta compared to where I am living now, at least in outlying areas that I am looking to live. Rentals are close, I won't really know that market until I get there and see what is really available but that seems less as well.

I found this link comparing taxes by state:http://retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html

And this interesting report:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr163.pdf

It says

Notenut- where is Sonny's? I looked on restaurant.com but they aren't there, sadly. I guess I will pay full price but ribs are worth it! Sounds to be just my kind of place!



The closest Southside Sonny's is 641 Mount Zion Road, Jonesboro, slightly E of the intersection with Hwy 19/41 and not far from the South Lake Mall.
Online it's sonnysbbq.com

Sprayberry's is the place to go for barbecue. It's near Newnan, south of Atlanta off I-85. www.sprayberrysbbq.com

You could also look at other cities in the SE:
Nashville is decent sized, has stuff to do, and without (for the most part) Atlanta's giant sprawl/traffic issues (for now...) or just visit for a day or two.

there's a bunch of mid-sized cities in NC & SC as well.

If you do want to take advantage of a lot of the cultural aspects of ATL, you will likely tire of living in Henry county pretty quickly. It is a nice enough, family oriented community, but the trek into Atlanta, and into north Atlanta will wear on you.

If you are committed to the change, maybe you should target Henry County and a local hospital in Henry County as the landing spot, then look at other areas and hospitals to find the best fit. Check things out for 6 months or so then either you will find you are happy there or you will have a much better idea where you want to land more permanently.

Xooz- we think alike about being in a place before permanently settling. Here in NH everything is a bigger trek to go places so I am used to it (Boston, Manchester, Portland, etc.).

Sadly, although the trip is still on I won't be moving there at this time. Well it could still happen if I end up making enough to cover a trip to NYC 1-2X/mo. Which from what I am seeing as far as wages is not out of the question just yet..... Looking at all options. Airfare is about $170 RT.

I have to go for some medical treatment as I was accepted into some clinical trials for a rare autoimmune clotting disorder I have (I call it sludgeblood). Could mean a cure and I can't say no.

So I have begun packing and will still be job hunting in and close to Henry County.