Considering moving to Georgia

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Specializes in NICU.

I currently live in Miami, FL and am considering a move to Georgia by mid 2009. I am a relatively new NICU RN (one year exp) and looking to work at Childrens Hospital of Atlanta as I've heard great things about it. DH and I are trying to decide on which area to live in. We would not like to live in Atlanta but perhaps surrounding areas. I've heard that Atlanta traffic is a nightmare! I've heard great things about smaller towns such as Kennesaw, Smyrna, Peachtree City, etc. Are these places too far to commute with traffic? Can anyone please provide suggestions/feedback? Also, any info about Georgia living is appreciated (pros/cons). I've never visited GA but we are planning a trip in the next few months. Please help! We are looking for a nice place to raise a family and be relatively close to Atlanta, but far enough away from the big-city life.

If anyone has any information about Childrens Hospital of Atlanta or any other good hospitals with a NICU, it would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for rambling, just trying to make a very big decision soon!

Thanks!!:)

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You're right, Atlanta traffic is terrible, but places like Kennesaw and Smyrna aren't that far of a drive (maybe 45 mins or so, depending on the time you're leaving/coming home). CHOA is a great hospital, I have a lot of friends that work there and I've never heard a negative thing about it. That's where I hope to work when I get out of nursing school. Good luck with your big decision, I think you'd love GA!

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Specializes in ICU.

OMG. I moved to GA from NYC and think the traffic is horrendous! Kinda ironic. You pretty much have to drive everywhere. This is not an exaggeration. :(

Yes, Kennesaw, Smyrna, and Peachtree City are all nice. You're going to find traffic anywhere you move to if you have to commute into town so look around and make the decision that's best for you. Although I live just north of Kennesaw, Peachtree City is probably the nicest of the suburban areas. It's a planned community so everything is accessible by walking or golf cart. Everything. However, it might be more expensive to live there since it's built up a rep for rich living.

CHOA is an incredible place to work. My clinicals were at Scottish Rite and the ICUs within were well run with very personable staff. Even the floor was great. The OR... well, I suppose it's who you work with. Just so-so.

Overall, Atlanta is a good place to live. The salaries might be slightly higher here compared to FL, but nowhere near what you can make out west or up north.

Let us know how your visit goes!

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You may want to consider The Children's Hospital of the Medical Center in Macon. Many nurses that live in south atlanta drive to Macon to work because the commute time is shorter. A friend of mine lied 22 miles from the hospital she used to work at in ATL and her commute was 1hr 15 min one way. Her commute to Macon is 40 minutes for the same amount of money. Some nice towns between the 2 cities are Jackson and Barnesville.

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You might want to try some areas around Peachtree City. The tough thing about Peachtree City is the drive up Hwy. 74 to get to I-85. I live in the town of Sharpsburg in Coweta county. I'm right on the Fayette county (where Peachtree City is) line and Coweta county line. Someone in my neighborhood works for CHOA. I have also driven there a couple of times and the drive is not terrible. There are some new neighborhoods coming up. You might want to try out Persimmon Creek South. It is in an excellent school district, easy access to I-85 and across the street from a golf course. The neighborhood starts in the $300s. Good luck - and welcome to Georgia!

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Another nice area is Alpharetta/Duluth/Johns Creek. It is north of Atlanta and about a 35-40 minute drive down 400 to downtown to the CHOA Hughes Spalding location. That also means that you pass by the CHOA Scottish Rite location, which is only about 20-25 min away from Alpharetta/Duluth/Johns Creek. Traffic is going to be bad anywhere you live, however, it is absolutely horrible at the 400 and 85 merger once you get into Atlanta. Try not to drive intown around 3:30-6:45 basically.

Hope I helped.

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