Talk to me about Valdosta... (Atlanta, Macon: transplants, to rent, house)

[ChiTownBridget]

Hello,
I'm a 40 something with a 12 year old son looking to get out of Illinois. We are currently in the Chicago suburbs and contemplating making the move to either Fl or South/Middle GA. I know Florida has gotten insanely pricey and I am looking to rent as of now. Can anyone tell me about Valdosta? Schools? Crime? I'm looking for a family friendly area with good schools and my son is a swimmer so we are also looking for a town with a swim club. I've only driven through Valdosta numerous times throughout my life while headed to Florida so I only know it as a town off of I75 to stop for food, gas, and lodging. I'm also open to other areas in middle GA as well.

Thanks!

[kyle19125]

You might check out the Augusta area. You can rent a decent 3/2 house in the Evans area for around $1300-$1500, which is the top school district. The Augusta-Aiken Swim Club is one of the top teams in GA https://www.teamunify.com/team/gsasl/page/home

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ChiTownBridget

Hello,
I'm a 40 something with a 12 year old son looking to get out of Illinois. We are currently in the Chicago suburbs and contemplating making the move to either Fl or South/Middle GA. I know Florida has gotten insanely pricey and I am looking to rent as of now. Can anyone tell me about Valdosta? Schools? Crime? I'm looking for a family friendly area with good schools and my son is a swimmer so we are also looking for a town with a swim club. I've only driven through Valdosta numerous times throughout my life while headed to Florida so I only know it as a town off of I75 to stop for food, gas, and lodging. I'm also open to other areas in middle GA as well.

Thanks!

Are you absolutely certain that you want to move from the Chicagoland suburbs to the small South Georgia city/metro of Valdosta?

Moving from the Chicagoland suburbs to the comparatively extremely small and relatively very isolated South Georgia city/metro of Valdosta very likely would be a huge culture shock to you and your son.

Moving from the Chicago suburbs to the South Georgia city/metro of Valdosta would be somewhat very akin to moving from Chicagoland to the “Metro Lakeland” (Marion/Carterville/Carbondale) area in extreme southern Illinois.

Because it is a relatively very isolated, very provincial and deeply conservative Deep Southern small city/metro, Valdosta normally is not a significant destination (and normally may not be recommended as a destination) for people relocating to the Southeastern U.S. from Northern states… Maybe unless one is transferred in to work at nearby Moody Air Force Base.

Though even with as significantly geographically isolated as Valdosta may seem and may actually be, because of the presence of Interstate 75 running directly through the area, Valdosta is not as geographically and socially isolated as other parts of extreme South Georgia.

As a lower-cost publicly-funded regional university, Valdosta State University attracts many students to its campus from the Atlanta metropolitan area.

And Valdosta has the claim to fame of being home to the winningest high school football program in the country at Valdosta High School where the Valdosta Wildcats have won 6 national championships, 24 national championships and at least 42 regional championships.

Crosstown arch-rival Lowndes High School also has a highly competitive football program in the Lowndes Vikings that has won 5 state championships and 14 regional championships.

Between the Valdosta Wildcats and Lowndes Vikings high school football programs, the Valdosta-area high schools have won 29 state championships and 56 regional championships, earning Valdosta the nickname of “Titletown” when it comes to high school football.

High school football is very much king in Valdosta and is very much the centerpiece of all social activity in the Valdosta community… With highly competitive regional college football programs like the UGA (University of Georgia) Bulldogs, UF (University of Florida) Gators, FSU (Florida State University) Seminoles and VSU (Valdosta State University) Blazers also having very strong followings and large fanbases in the Valdosta community.

Friday nights in the fall season revolve completely around Valdosta and Lowndes high school football, and Saturdays in the fall season revolve completely around UGA, UF, FSU and VSU football in the high school and college football-crazed town that is Valdosta.

Valdosta does feature some noticeable swim club infrastructure in the all-ages Valdosta Aquatics program and the Valdosta and Lowndes high school swim programs.

Valdosta Aquatics

Valdosta High School Swim Boosters

Lowndes High School Vikings Swim Team



Because of the presence of a larger central urban core city in Macon and because of the presence of a significantly larger military installation at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, the Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area in Middle Georgia seems to have noticeably more Northern transplants than Valdosta does in extreme South Georgia.

The Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area is also a relatively larger and significantly more newly developed area that has much more of a suburban feel and suburban layout than Valdosta.

And because the Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area is located only about 70-80 miles from the southern outskirts of the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, there are many residents in the area who may frequently commute north to the Atlanta metropolitan area for entertainment, shopping, dining and recreation.

There are also many Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area residents who may commute as far as 100 miles or more each way to and from jobs in metro Atlanta, effectively making the Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area a very distant exurb of Atlanta.

But even with a fairly noticeable influx of Northern transplants into the area, the Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area and Houston County remains a deeply conservative and highly provincial area that historically has been a dominant powerhouse for conservative politics in the entire Southeastern U.S.

The Warner Robins/Bonaire/Kathleen area has some good local swim club infrastructure in the Warner Robins Aquanauts all-ages swim program and swimming programs at Warner Robins High School, Northside Warner Robins High School, Houston County High School and Veterans High School.

If you want to be closer to more economic, educational, social and cultural opportunities in the expansive Atlanta metropolitan area and region, then you may also want to checkout outer-ring metro Atlanta outer-suburban areas like Douglas, Henry, Coweta, Cherokee, Hall, Paulding, Rockdale and Newton counties.