Calling all Southerners

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

Gainesville, FL has consistantly been rated the #1 place to live!

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?

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by SECdomination

Gainesville, FL has consistantly been rated the #1 place to live!

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.

[ktbug10474]

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)

[Jimmy Choo]

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

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by ktbug10474

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.

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.

[AGDLynn]

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

[JovyDSP]

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.

[Fleur de Lis]

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.

[TNPhiMu]

Originally Posted by Fleur de Lis

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.

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.

[baci]

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.

[baci]

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

[baci]

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.

[ilovemyglo]

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.

[scbelle]

^^^ 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. Thunder over Louisville was AWESOME!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by scbelle

I lived in Louisville when I attended seminary.

[sidetrack]

Which seminary? What are you doing now?