Moving to northern Georgia from Michigan (Chatsworth, Blue Ridge: school district, ratings, area)

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by LovesTia

Sounds like a hefty commute! Any suggestions on areas not quite so far in the mountains? Would prefer to keep the commute to work under an hour. Can anyone tell us about the Murray County area? We don't need a huge city for work, just one with a decent amount of opportunities. My fiancé has been working in the auto parts industry for about 20 years and I am currently the art gallery coordinator at the local college.

Murray County to/from greater Atlanta metro is up to 1 hour, 30 minutes each way without traffic or inclement weather, longer with traffic and/or inclement weather.

Chattanooga to/from Murray County is up to 50 minutes-1 hour each way without traffic or inclement weather.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by LovesTia

Sounds like a hefty commute! Any suggestions on areas not quite so far in the mountains? Would prefer to keep the commute to work under an hour. Can anyone tell us about the Murray County area? We don't need a huge city for work, just one with a decent amount of opportunities. My fiancé has been working in the auto parts industry for about 20 years and I am currently the art gallery coordinator at the local college.

I guess that Dalton potentially could also be included in the employment opportunity category.

Though Dalton (whose economy has been extremely heavily dependent upon the carpet manufacturing industry) has an economy that can be extremely hit-or-miss.

While not as bad or as dire as it was earlier this decade, Dalton's carpet manufacturing-heavy economy had an extremely tough time recovering from the severe downturn of the late-2000's and early 2010's

So, overall, Chattanooga and greater Atlanta metro will probably be much better bets for finding stable and longer-lasting employment opportunities that do not collapse with the first economic hiccup.

[Iconographer]

I would consider looking into the Dahlonega/Lumpkin County area as well. Dahlonega is a charming college town (University of North Georgia)located about 10 miles from Dawsonville (another north GA employment center).

https://www.exploregeorgia.org/blog/...lonega-georgia

https://ung.edu/

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

I would consider looking into the Dahlonega/Lumpkin County area as well. Dahlonega is a charming college town (University of North Georgia)located about 10 miles from Dawsonville (another north GA employment center).

https://www.exploregeorgia.org/blog/...lonega-georgia

https://ung.edu/

Yes.

Dahlonega is a very good suggestion that also fits the OP's criteria of being "not quite so far in the mountains."

Also, in addition to providing the OP with good access to employment opportunities in Dawsonville (as you noted) and the Georgia 400 corridor (which also includes Cumming, Alpharetta/Roswell, Sandy Springs, Buckhead and Atlanta), Dahlonega would also provide the OP with good/decent access to employment opportunities in Gainesville and the I-985/I-85 corridor (which also includes Oakwood, Flowery Branch, Buford, Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Norcross, Doraville and Atlanta).

Dahlonega would also provide the OP with good/decent access to employment opportunities along the GA 141 corridor, which includes Cumming, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Doraville, Chamblee, Brookhaven and Buckhead.

[Beach Sportsfan]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Yes.

Dahlonega is a very good suggestion that also fits the OP's criteria of being "not quite so far in the mountains."

Also, in addition to providing the OP with good access to employment opportunities in Dawsonville (as you noted) and the Georgia 400 corridor (which also includes Cumming, Alpharetta/Roswell, Sandy Springs, Buckhead and Atlanta), Dahlonega would also provide the OP with good/decent access to employment opportunities in Gainesville and the I-985/I-85 corridor (which also includes Oakwood, Flowery Branch, Buford, Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Norcross, Doraville and Atlanta).

Dahlonega would also provide the OP with good/decent access to employment opportunities along the GA 141 corridor, which includes Cumming, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Doraville, Chamblee, Brookhaven and Buckhead.

Problem with Dahlonega is like BlueRidge would have problem finding housing at the budget OP stated.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Beach Sportsfan

Problem with Dahlonega is like BlueRidge would have problem finding housing at the budget OP stated.

That is a good point that the OP likely would have a problem finding housing in the North Georgia mountain towns that they are interested in with their budget of $120k and under.

Because of this, the OP likely would have to consider living in an apartment or different type of housing to find somethin within their budget in a competitive real estate market.

[LovesTia]

What’s to be said about the chickamauga area?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by LovesTia

What’s to be said about the chickamauga area?

Chickamauga is basically exurban/far-outer suburban Chattanooga.

At about 15-16 miles from Downtown Chattanooga, Chickamauga provides great access to what should currently be a somewhat fairly robust Chattanooga employment market.

In general, Chickamauga provides good access to employment opportunities in nearby employment clusters like Dalton, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; the Rossville-Lakeville-Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia suburbs south of Chattanooga; Cleveland, Tennessee; and much of the Chattanooga, TN/Dalton, GA-anchored southeastern Tennessee/northwest Georgia employment market as a whole.

Chickamauga also appears to provide fairly decent access to employment to employment opportunities in small metro areas like Rome, Georgia, as well as to employment opportunities in areas at the very outer northwestern edges of the greater Atlanta metro region like Gordon County (Calhoun), Pickens County (Jasper), Bartow County (Adairsville, Cartersville, Emerson), Cherokee County (Ball Ground, Canton, Holly Springs, Woodstock), and northwestern Cobb County (Acworth, Kennesaw, north Marietta).

In a macro sense, Chickamauga seems like a good area to target because it can provide good-to-decent access to employment opportunities in markets like Chattanooga and the very outer northwestern parts of the Atlanta metro.

[LovesTia]

Thank you all for your input! So far we are really liking the Blue Ridge and Chatsworth areas. Can anyone with kids living in those areas tell us what the high schools are like?

Thanks again!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by LovesTia

Thank you all for your input! So far we are really liking the Blue Ridge and Chatsworth areas. Can anyone with kids living in those areas tell us what the high schools are like?

Thanks again!

The Blue Ridge area is served by Fannin County High School. The Chatsworth area is served by Murray County High School.

Fannin County High School is, by far, the much more highly-rated (above-average ratings) and higher-quality high school (above-average quality).

While Murray County High School in Chatsworth appears to be the pride of the community, MCHS generally seems to largely be a mediocre, middle-of-the-pack institution in its ratings and quality.

Overall, Fannin County HS is a good-quality, far-outer exurban/rural school that serves as the anchor to a generally slightly above-average/above-average far-outer exurban/rural school system in the Fannin County School District.