In my opinion, I would overlook Myrtle Beach. It's become more run down over the years, and it has a ridiculously high amount of tourists. I lived there briefly, and since it was solely a tourism town, it got on my nerves. It didn't feel very home-y. But that is just my opinion. :)

I agree with a lot of others as well -- I would definite look into Memphis or even Nashville. They are absolutely beautiful cities.

There alot of areas in the South that people forget about about because they are northern "Southern" locations. Baltimore, Maryland, and Louisville, Kentucky are examples of this. These areas are basically Southern in culture, but by their physical location they are barely part of the Southern United States. Richmond, Virginia is likewise in this category. All three of these cities would be great to move to. I personally would love to live in any one of them.

My husband's father's family is from West Virginia. He has always wanted to live there to be by his southern cousins. The only part of West Virginia that I would feel comfortable living in would be Huntington because it is a medium sized city and not far from a bigger one (Charleston). Huntington is right on the tristate border of Ohio/Kentucky/WV. We both have friends or family in Kentucky and Tennessee. He would be close to his family in West Virginia. We could go north into Ohio for its northern culture.

Have you ever lived in the South? You need to consider the cultural differences more than the physical differences. Any new area requires an adjustment and fitting into a new culture takes some time. I have already considered this knowing that someday we may "move on down the road" (Go South). I suggest taking some time to decide just where you want to move to. I also suggest an area where you have access to friends and family. This is an important part of life. Going where you don't know anyone can make you miserable, even if you make friends and join an alumnae club. What areas of the South have you been considering moving to, and what are the reasons that you'd want to live there? :)

Oooh, Barbino-you got any more info on WV?? Because we're moving there in June due to MrRN's job and I have never even set foot in the state. We're looking at homes in the Hurricane/Milton/Teays Valley area-any help is so appreciated!!

You can PM me if you want, to avoid hijacking this thread!!

Go south or west of the beltway, and it gets pretty southern, lol.

I've heard great things about Nashville (got engaged there!) and Chatanooga. Myrtle Beach is getting pretty run down and touristy so I would avoid that city if possible. I've also heard great things about TX in general, despite the weather. Southern Va is nice too, Virginia Beach is beautiful and not too touristy :)

I'm in Raleigh now and I LOVE it!

To the OP: This area (Raleigh/Cary) may not be as much of a culture shock b/c we have quite a few transplants here. I have heard from others that Nashville is an up-and-coming city. Charleston is amazing but I would think it would be a culture shock b/c it is a highly Southern city.

Girl, I would be moving back to Cary in a heatbeat!!! I LOVED it there!!

I have lived in Texas, Tennessee and Virginia, and the best place I have ever lived was Nashville, hands-down. We lived in the area near Vanderbilt and could walk to everything. It was wonderful.

I would suggest that you look into Franklin, Tn, as well. It is about 30 minutes south of Nashville, and has a great small town southern feel, with the convenience of the city when you want it.

http://www.franklin-gov.com/

Now... there is a new surburbia creeping up near Franklin, but I am talking the older part of Franklin. There is just gorgeous countryside, and a very quaint old town square.

Oh, and someone else may have mentioned this too... but- no state income tax! Yea for that this time of year!

The culture shock thing is important - I'm still adjusting to the culture shock moving to Savannah from metro Atlanta.

I am sure I will have a culture shock to a certain extent. I am from South Florida and I know it will be major adjustment, but I see it as a positive one. I have a great attitude! (btw, someone asked how old my children are. I have three under the age of 8)

I also want to thank everyone contributing to this thread. It has been helpful and I have learned a great deal. I am also enjoying it!

Atlanta wouldn't be as big of a culture shock either because there are a ton of people up north down here but it still holds that southern charm. It also has a ton of great suburbs. {Duluth, Kennesaw, Marietta, Morrow, McDonough} A good school system and PLENTY to do {the new aquarium and world of coke, sporting events, musuems, plays, the works}

In Georgia, I would try to stay away from Savannah because while it is a GORGEOUS city it is a tad touristy and a little bit pricey.

Macon, is THE HEART of central georgia and most definitely one of the biggest cities in the state after Atlanta. It has a decent elementary public school system, middle and high school are ok, but I know a lot of people that send their kids to private schools after public elementary. There's a ton to do in Macon and it's very family friendly. I would recommend living somewhere off Zebulon or Bass Road {as those tend to be the nicer neighborhoods that are more friendly} Basically, North Macon is the best part of town to live in. If you want to know anymore about Macon, PM me because I grew up there but live in the ATL now. :)

In Virginia, definitely try to go more with the southern portion of the state because it will probably be more what you're looking for. the northern part of the state {especially up by the river} is fancy shmancy {i.e. Prince William county}.


GOOD LUCK with moving to the South!!!!! and you know what they say " Once you go Southern, you never go back"

Savannah is definitely a better place to visit than to live, IMO. (There are those who live here and love it, but they are the minority and tend to be those who have lived here for generations.)

(I have been thinking a bit more/researching with all the given advice from many members)

Many of you suggested areas and I have been looking into them, but when it comes to public school systems are any areas known to be strong? (or does one need to resort to the private sector) I know that is a tough one, but do any areas shine regarding public education through high school and still have the combination of great family area, wonderful southern living, things to do, affordable living and on and on. I know that a "perfect" area doesn't exist, but does any area, in your opinon, combine a great deal of that into one?

For good schools, check out Madison AL, next to Huntsville. Great schools. A lot of magazines have rated Huntsville as one of the 10 best places to live. Not so close to the beach as to worry about hurricanes. I read there are more PhD's in Huntsville than any city in America so it's well educated. Not a huge town (yet - people are moving here like crazy). The housing market is still reasonable and you can buy a good size house for a decent price. PM me any questions you may have.

Myself, I am just not a Fayette County (GA) kind of person, but traditional family types do love it and it does pretty much fit the characteristics you're describing. You can get some pretty good deals on housing there right now - a lot of the developers kept building long after they should have with the market like it is, thinking that FayCo would be spared.

(Also, if you're wanting a Southern atmosphere without it being TOO Southern, Peachtree City (in Fayette County) is FULL of Northern transplants.)

Feel free to PM me with any questions you have on the area. I lived (on and off) in south Fayette County for 20+ years.

oo i forgot about Peachtree City!!!

it's a great place to live.... close enough to Atlanta but far enough from Atlanta that it feels like a whole other world. :)
but i'm too sure about the school system.

I know that North Forsyth High School is a really really good high school that is public, as well as North Cobb High School ( there are two of these one is NCHS and the other is North Cobb Academy)

Wake County, NC has some great public schools as does the Chapel Hill/Carborro schools in Orange County, NC.

Really? When I went there, everything was centered around the University. What else is in Gainesville for those that don't want to be affiliated with UF?

Savannah is beautiful. I go to southern which is like 45 minutes away and we go there on the weekends for the beach and the gorgeous donwtown.

Fayette County has a very highly ranked public school system. There's not a HUGE selection of private schools, if that's what you're into, but there are a few.

I used to live in Ptree City and live 10 miles from there now. There are couple of GC'ers who have experience teaching there so maybe they will pm you.

Coweta County (think Alan Jackson) is pretty good. Some of the schools are better than others. Shopping has definitely improved.

With the new KIA plant in West Point, housing will probably get harder to find until they build more (buy mine now!;) 0

If you are looking in the Columbia, SC, area, Lexington One, Lexington Five, and Richland One are 3 strong school districts.

Williamson County, just south of Nashville, has some great schools. In Davidson County, most people send their kids to private schools if they can afford it.

by whom? i agree with knight shadow-everything is centered around the university-great for a college student, but not so great for a family.

I have also read a great deal about Gainesville being a wonderful place to live. It has improved/grown over the last 20 years and is more enticing to families these days. I can't cite any articles off the top of my head and I am not sure if I even agree. (I do recall reading this though) It is an affordable area by Florida standards when it comes to homes, insurances (car/home/health), taxes, and entertainment etc. The fact still remains people gravitate there due to UF.

one more thing...again, thank you all for the continual discussions in this thread and for all your opinions/advice!

Definitely agreed. There are some good public elementary schools in Davidson County (Nashville), but once you get into middle schools/high schools, most people who can, put the kids in private school then.

With me, I went to public schools from K-4, and at that point my mom & step-dad were trying to decide between moving us to Williamson Co. for the schools, or moving me to private schools. We ended up staying in Davidson and I went to St. Bernard then St. Cecilia. But price wise, (including my sister's private school education), it was probably about the same between spending the extra $$$ on real estate in Williamson as spending the extra $$$ on schools.

Some consider Louisville, KY to be the south. I don't...but some do. With that in mind, Louisville is an amazing city. In most ways it has a lot of the attitude of a southern city, but also has a thriving arts scene, a decent music scene, incredible independent restaurants (as opposed to, say, Nashville), and isn't too far removed from the north...


also, here's a great youtube video about our city...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OV1lnXKD8R0

I am really excited to start planning a trip this summer up the coast of Florida. I am going to make vacation stops along the coast of the very NE of Florida, spots of Georgia, and South Carolina to start. I can't wait.

I'm from Louisville, KY and have friends/family throughout the south including TN, AR, GA, SC, FL.
I would definitely look at Nashville and Louisville-
Although Louisville is located in the "northern" south, it is a great big little town.
You get the KY Derby and all that jazz, but prices here aren't too high-my FI and I bought a 5 bedroom three bathroom house for less than $200k in a nice area. The school system here is tiered- so if you have gifted children they go into the gifted system and by high school get college credit. Not only that but all of Jefferson County is open- so say you don't like your "home" school for your kids, you can apply to put them in any school in the system.
There is also a large private school sector. Louisville is strongly Catholic, but many nonCatholics go to the Catholic private schools. I actually went to Catholic schools til 5th grade when I switched to the public schools. There are also other programs such as the "traditional" program not sure what is different but I know it is a much more structured program.

Crime here isn't bad, especially for an area with 1.5 million people around it. You are also 2 1/2 hours from Indy, and Nashville and 1 1/2 hours from Cincy.

Not sure if that helps any.

Also, I just got back from Myrtle Beach- I have no desire to ever go there again. I cannot believe that is a tourist location (my best friend lives in Florence SC and we went for a day). It was dirty, the people were rude and gross and the service at the restaurants was despicable!

Anyway, just my 2 cents. Jefferson County Public Schools is the district if you want to look at it.

Have you been to Nashville in the past couple of years? In 2005/2006 a huge number of local-owned/unique/indy restaurants cropped up in Hillsboro Village, the Gulch, and along West End. Many of these are upscale and are excellent.

Now... Williamson County/Brentwood... I agree. Big Box Chain Central.

^^^ I'd also chime in for Jefferson County. Even though my heart belongs to SC and there are stellar schools in Dorchester County (District 2), I lived in Louisville when I attended seminary. I loved, loved, loved it. I also worked in a couple of schools in Jeff county and thought very highly of them. And the area (at least 7 years ago) was very clean, pretty low in crime, and close to other major cities. And it's hard to beat Louisville during Derby time. :p Thunder over Louisville was AWESOME!

[sidetrack]

Which seminary? What are you doing now?

I attended Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary to pursue my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. I'm not currently employed, but do volunteer as a therapist at the Chaplain's Family Life center.

Being there on Alta Vista Rd... it's pretty easy to fall in love with Louisville. The area is beautiful.

I also lived in KY about an hour away from L'ville. As a Bostonian via college years in Pittsburgh, I did feel as if Louisville was very Southern. Even in the city, the locals walked slow, drove slow, and spoke slow. Despite all that, I grew to love the area. I have a couple of Kappa alums with whom I keep in touch. Several of heir kids went to Manual DuPont HS which is a magnet HS of Jefferson County PS. Kentucky Country Day and Louisville Collegiate were popular choices when I was there during our Ft Knox stint.

I did encounter a bit of anti-Catholicism when I lived there.

Cool. I've known a few ministers who went there (most in my area went to Union or Columbia or, maybe, Princeton), although the Louisville grads I've known would have all been there decades ago.

Is that Union-NY or Union-Richmond (another great southern area, to keep things on topic)? My dad graduated from the latter. Met my mom when she was attending PSCE there. She also has worked as a librarian at Union-PSCE and Columbia, where I have had quite a few friends attend. The only Princeton grad I've known was my church's associate pastor. Another associate we had graduated from Austin. I'm a big Presbyterian PK nerd, in case you couldn't tell. ;)

Union in Richmond, of course. ;) My wife went to PSCE (before it became Union-PSCE). My grandparents and my uncle and aunt were also Union-PSCE couples. I'm not a PK, but only because neither of my parents were ministers. (Both elders, though.) As one cousin put when asked why he bacame a mininster, the whole family is so lousy with ministers, he didn't know until he was a "big boy" that there was anything else to do.

To get back to topic, I still have to pull for NC.

Hopkinsville, KY or Bowling Green, KY

i think you'd get a better feel for the South from a mid-sized town. i grew up in Hoptown and went to WKU in BG. they're both centrally located. you can get several major cities in short drives. some people commute for work, others for fun.

I was asked to give an update on my move.

At this time, we have yet to relocate and have spent a large part of summer travelling to various cities all over the south. I knew it would be difficult, but I didn't know just how difficult it would be. It will take a bit more time to make the decision, but I would really like to thank all of you for helping me and sharing your thoughts.

I am still open to any suggestions.

West Little Rock is a great place to live (I think there's at least one GC'er from there). Memphis is not, but if you live on the outskirts it's great. Marion in Arkansas is a small town but where all the white, rich Memphisians live. I would suggest the DFW metroplex where I'm going to be living in the Spring most likely. Not Plano, because it's all trash but Fort Worth or another outlying suburb is great.