mayland, we're going to start trying in the next couple of months, our doc says, "all signals are go!", we "shouldn't have any problems", so we're keeping a positive train of thought - "soon" and not "maybe if". sorry for the ambiguity, hope it wasn't misleading. granted, it's a few years before our kid(s) will start school, but we've already researched and started planning so we can get involved, try to ensure that these opportunities we're seeking out are still around (or are even better) when they're ready to start. i've seen amazing things happen in our area (schools and community transformation) in the ~5 years since my wife and i met, and it's getting better and better week by week. it's proof that, as a community, a small number of individuals can stand up and potentially make anything happen with some effort and support. we are fortunate to have a lot of parents nearby that are willing to work towards building something amazing, tons of neighborhood parent organizations (groups) to join and collaborate, amazing eclectic bunch of people! i'm really active in the nearby community with volunteer work and public safety. i strive to ensure things continue in the positive direction they are headed, and there are plenty of others right there with me. i've recently started diverting my attention towards schools nearby, trying to decide on which direction we're going, what opportunities exist now, what preparations to make to ensure our kids go where we want, etc. there are a lot of choices within 2 square miles of our house...some are up-and-coming, some are well-rooted. my neighbor is a music teacher and has a young boy that has started school recently, so that helps a lot for insider info, nobody seems to know schools better than a teacher that is also a parent :) on the community topic...i have a lot of friends who've moved up here from FL and down from NY, and they've moved a little of everywhere, inside and out. AAMOF, my best friend lives OTP, less than a mile southwest of the Holcomb Bridge exit on 400 (Exit 7?) in a "nice" neighborhood (subdivision), and we regularly engage in discussions about what living out there is like. he is a very social person, but none of his neighbors really care to befriend anyone. they never have block parties. they never have neighborhood cleanup days. they never organize any kind of community building events. they don't have any parent clubs, organizations that he's aware of, and they've been seeking this out nearby for the last 3 years they've been up there, but ... it just doesn't seem to exist. there aren't any parks within walking distance of his house. because of heavy traffic, it's not safe for kids to venture outside of the neighborhood. because nobody really knows or talks to anyone, a burglar could come in with a moving truck and clean out someone's neighbor, and they'd never be the wiser. i personally feel spoiled rotten... we have the zoo just a couple blocks away, a huge park (Grant Park) next to it, they're talking about cutting our main throughfare down to 2-lanes (Boulevard) which should make walking even safer than it already is, work is slated to begin on another 27-acre park a couple blocks south/west of us that will have sports activities, a skateboard park, basketball courts, dog park, large open area for events, walking trails, etc., we get together as a neighborhood all the time, i know and talk to every neighbor 4-5 houses in any direction from us. we have at least 3-4 community building events per year. we regularly have cookouts or get together for drinks with our immediate neighbors, and i know if i ever need anything - whether it's lugging furniture up stairs, working on digging beds in the yard, or rebuilding part of the house, i can call a neighbor and they will help. i let all of my neighbors freely pick our veggies when they're ripe, and we have a community garden with the same policy. it's a night-and-day difference... i'm not saying their case is "everywhere OTP", because there are plenty of places OTP that are more like what we have here in southeast Atlanta. nor am i saying that our case is "everywhere ITP", because we bad/non-community-oriented areas ITP also. i have other friends OTP in Roswell and Sandy Springs with a strong community similar to ours, and they love it - i'd definitely live near them. after living in the city, in our neighborhood - which is far from urban-looking or urban-feeling, and if you couldn't see the skyline through the park, you wouldn't know any better - i just can't fathom the OTP lifestyle some of my other friends have bought into, and, from a purely numbers perspective, i'd say 4/5 of my OTP friends see the same (absence of) community i just described near Holcomb Bridge, whereas 2/3 of my friends from all over ITP have a community somewhere in between ours and theirs, and the remaining 1/3 ITP have the same type of community environment i do now. almost all of us are late-20- and 30-somethings with a few 40-somethings in the mix, very social, very family-oriented, very community-oriented, good 'ol grass-roots kind of people that just ... care, you know? i like to think we're the "norm" of what you'll find in inner-city neighborhoods (although i don't really like the term "inner-city" because it seems to have acquired a negative connotation over the years) so, i'm rambling :) there was a point to the last four paragraphs, and that point was to tie back to what so many others have said above, and tie back to my original post: it's different everywhere, ITP and OTP. within a square mile, you can go from bad community to amazingly good community. as everyone has said, rent first in an area that appeals to you, then drive around and check things out in the months to follow over the 6-12 months of renting, visit local communities that "look" like areas you'd be happy with. drive around during rush hour, and decide if the stores and shops locally are easy enough to get to. try to find community organizations (ask a realtor, any realtor worth a damn knows about neighborhood email lists, etc.) use those to interface with the people that live in the area you want to move to. i think you'll be amazed at how many people will talk to you, Atlanta/Greater Atlanta is overall a pretty friendly place. if you find a dwelling you're interested in, go to the local police precinct with the property address and find out what zone# and beat# the house is in, then request some crime stats for the area over the past 12 months, or hit the crime stats map interface at www.atlantapd.org (it appears down right now), or ask to sit down and with a beat officer for that zone over a cup of coffee and talk to him/her about the area and what you can expect for crime, local activities, surplusses and deficits. nobody knows better than a cop. you may ask one or two, some of our men and women with APD are overworked and a bit jaded - you may inquire who is most knowledgeable, friendly. if you have kids, talk to nearby parents and neighbors, or hit the internet and try to find parent groups - hit your local YMCA or boys and girls club to find parenting groups in that area to get advice of other parents. you could also visit any of the better local schools and try to find parent organizations that way. more than anything, keep your ears peeled for "absolutes". when you hear people speaking in "absolutes" about anything, especially blanket statements about crime/people/schools in an area, take it with a grain of salt. i say this because there are a LOT of misconceptions that have become totally outdated in the last 5-10 years, but people continue to hold on and purvey this info as "fact" to newbies and visitors. this is all assuming, of course, that you plan to stay in the Atlanta area for a decade or two....if you don't, all of this is overkill. even if you aren't planning to stay, hopefully all of this info will be of use to someone out there :) ps - mayland - i love Decatur. we'd have moved there, but my work is in Midtown, my wife works nearby next to Coca-Cola HQ, and traffic to get from Decatur to both areas in the morning was too much. the Grant Park area was our compomise...but i couldn't be happier with the outcome. i still dream of Decatur, and i swear it's not just because you have a Taqueria Del Sol nearby ;)

Hey Guys, If it does snow,it will be the earliest that it has ever snowed in the Atlanta area ever.The weather man on one of the local news channel said it will go on record for the earliest snowfall in the Atlanta metro.If your driving through Atlanta be careful,people here cant drive in snow or freezing rain,LOL. I meet people all the time that tell me I thought it was warm down here.People move here from different places up north,and find out real quick that it does get cold here.They will find out just how cold it does get Wed.and Thu night.I tell people if you dont like the weather,just wait a few days and it will change.This time of year it can be 70f today and 40f tomorrow.That's the problem with growing palms here.You cant build a major structure around your palms because you will have to more than likely take it back apart in a few days.Once you do that 5 or 6 times,you come up with easier protection methods. Randy

I'm in central New Mexico. This area is about 5000 feet above sea level. I have areas of red soil, but most of my property is quite sandy. I add lots of peat moss to enable the sand to retain water. I add compost. I also bought a batch of earth worms. I kept them in a bin until I had enough soil suitably ammended. Then I set them free in an environment in which they could thrive. Fresh livestock manure needs time to break down. During my first year here, I used horse manure in raised beds, allowing three months for the manure to break down before I planted (prepared the beds during winter). Those beds did not do well until the following year. Apparently the manure needed more time to break down than I had allowed. Now I have green chilies, artichokes and asparagus in the raised beds, all of which are doing quite well. Because I am working with a large area. I often amend by only dealing with the exact location I intend to put a specific plant, bush or tree. Meaning that I dig a large hole and mix peat and compost with the native soil before I put in the plant. Late fall and early winter are the best times for planting evergreen bushes and trees. I ran an organic community garden when I lived near San Francisco. I considered myself an ace gardener. I found myself seriously challenged in this new location. The High Country Gardens newsletters and informative catalogs were a great help. They also offer some classes. I attended a drip system class and discovered that such a system is not a good option in my neck of the woods. I do produce and flower gardening. Wild flowers are an excellent choice. Wild flower seeds do best if put in during fall. They should be lightly stepped into the ground. I do well with penstemons, agastache, hummingbird mint, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, petunias, lavender, columbine, flowering sages, roses, marigolds, plumbago, scabiosa, speedwell (a type of Veronica), various types of sunflowers (Maximilians are perennial), yarrow, asters, globe mallow, allysum, dianthus, cosmos, hollyhock, tulips, poppies, hyacinth, crocus, and hibiscus. My tuberoses did not do well. Flowering bushes with which I have had success are forsythia, santolina (excellent insect repellant in the garden), artemesia, lilac, photinia and broom. I have some blueberry bushes, grapes and a strawberry bed. I haven't had success with raspberries, but a friend says he has done very well with golden raspberries. My garlic, shallots and onions do very well (also planted in fall). Good luck with your new garden! To save money on flowering plants, you might want to consider choosing plants which you can propagate via cuttings. By the way, some of my wild flowers are so prolific, that I pull the plants up and burn them, when they go to seed, because they self-seed too well! Yuccas also self-seed very easily.

I just got back from a 4 day trip to Peachtee City. It is a wonderful place. One thing I noticed was that the drivers are very courteous - everywhere in PTC. If we were at a strip mall and getting ready to cross the parking lot to go to a store, the drivers would stop and allow us to cross. I did not notice a lot of BMWs or similar cars in that area. We used to live in a very affluent area in the N Atlanta suburbs - and PTC did not have the volume of high cost cars at all compared to some N Atlanta areas. There were lots of kids - more teens than younger kids. They seemed to be nice kids. Lots of them worked in the local stores and restaurants. Shopping and restaurants are all over the place. One complaint is that there are rules on lights for commercial places. So the store signs have dim (barely visible) signs. It is hard to find a place at night if you are not familiar with the area. But I am sure it helps with light pollution so in the long run, it is probably a good thing. There were some deer that crossed the road in front of our car. We stopped in time, as did other drivers. golf carts are everywhere - but I think parents of teens are getting them golf carts instead of cars(costs less, they don't go as fast either). There are paths for the golf carts - you can go anywhere in PTC with them. Many folks use the golf carts. The grocery stores are wonderful. I was envious of the fresh seafood at the grocery stores. If I ever had to move to Atlanta area, I would choose PTC in a second. I do agree with the other poster - the majority of high tech jobs in Atlanta area are in the northern suburbs.