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