want to move back to atlanta and need your advise (Roswell: affordable apartment, rent)

[rosiele]

Hi everyone. I lived in atlanta for 14 years and then had to move back north 5 years ago to care for ailing family members. my kids are now all attending college back in atlanta and i desperately want to come back. I search the web all the time and i know how hard it is in atlanta if you don't have a job. there was never a safety net for me (single parent) and times were really hard, especially with rent (3 days and you can be evicted) My question is should I move back without a job - back to the city that i love? Or should i wait unit i get a job offer in atlanta - which can take forever.
Thanks!!

[tonygeorgia]

wait until you get a job

atlanta isnt going anywhere

[netdragon]

Agreed. Get a job first.

When you move back, you may want to consider West Highlands (south of Riverside, near Perry Homes, just east of Hollywood Rd) because that area is being transformed and is very affordable for the time being. The projects have been vacated.

[sirrob]

I know how you feel. My wife and I situation is the same as yours. We moved back north because of our elderly parents. We always said we would move back, so we will, within 2 years.

Don't leave w/o a job, though. I know how it feels to just want to jump up and go back to a place you love, but don't do it. Atlanta will be there.

One way to make it easier to find a job is to get a disposable phone with an Atlanta area code, and a PO box, or use a relative's address.

[Jackalope]

Depends on how long you can go w/o work.

There are companies that are hiring, but not many. I'd figure on at least a 3 month job search at a minimum. But that may not be your biggest concern.

You can find a job. The question is finding one making what you're making now, or close to it.

[GaBison2007]

Hi Rosiele,

I'm gonna go with everyone else and say wait until you have a job OR another option is to save up enough money to survive on 6-8 months, and settle on an affordable apartment that you can pay off each month on the lowest salary you think you're worth and can find if you can't find that dream position automatically

I have a question though...everyone says to wait until you have a job, but I mean do companies pay for you to fly out there for interviews? My biggest concern is I'm barely making it in DC with the cost of living out here and want and need to move to ATL...Does one just have to save up money for transportation and hope for the best?

[rosiele]

Hi everyone. Thanks for your input. it looks like waiting for a job is best. i was laid off about a year ago up north and still I am looking for employment. I received a grant from unemployment to retrain for nursing assistant and other healthcare technical things. The course ends in July. I hope that I will be able to find something. there is no way that I could ever save any money in the situation that i am in. i do get unemployment though. i really wish at times that i stayed in atlanta. i have been here 5 years so far and my heart is breaking. thanks for the information on highlands. i used to live in roswell.

[tonygeorgia]

I didnt know you have been laid off for a year. If that is the case you might as well move unless you think you can get a job where you currently are.

[netdragon]

Roswell has gotten really expensive, like Smyrna and other places. Since it sounds like you lived in the suburbs before, and you are in healthcare, then you have freedom to look at more affordable areas than Atlanta and the direct Northern suburbs - like Douglasville, Lawrenceville, Covington, South Fulton or Cartersville. But it really depends on where openings are. If they are in Atlanta, then you can get a deal where I mentioned before. The area is safer now that the projects are gone. It has a ways to go to be great, but that's what makes it very affordable for buying a home. If you drive down Johnson Rd towards Marietta Blvd from that area, you can see what potential it has.

[kaabye]

With nursing training you should be able to find a job...but don't move until you have a job. Why don't you start contacting medical facilities around Atlanta to see what the response is to your services? Also, maybe the folks training you have a placement program and they can assist. I would not move to Atlanta until you get a job because you might wind up getting a great opportunity close to but not in Atlanta that would satisfy your wallet and your emotions.