I've been offered a job in Atlanta. Before I
accept I would like to find out some current details about living there.

1. SALES TAX RATE.
2. PROPERTY TAX RATE.
3. VEHICLE REGISTRATION COSTS.
4. HOUSE PRICE RANGE FOR A 3 BR, 2 BATH, WITH
A BIG ENOUGH LOT TO BUILD A SHOP.
5. CONCEALED WEAPON LAWS
6. FIREARMS TRANSPORT LAWS.

That covers the basics. I was in Atlanta about
8 years ago on a business trip. Most of my relatives are in Savannah. One boring drive from Atlanta.

Thanks for your help.

OEH, From one who lives in Senoia, about a 45-55 minute commute to ATL depending upon traffic.

Sales tax 6%
Property tax - to numerous to list, depends on municipality
Vehicle - ad valorem - Avg Truck couple of years old $350
Home - 1.6 acres, 3 baths, 3BR, 2cgar, detached 2cgar w/finished room/bath above $235k
Georgia is a 'must issue' state

If you are moving to Atlanta you must currently know three languages :Ebonics,Mexican and Hindu.You must carry two pistols at all times incase one should fail.If your Gay,Animal rights and vegian you will fit right in.If you have a flat just sit there and someone will be along quickly to rob you.The mexicans will fix your car and take it to get low rider shocks for you for free.Alaways rember the local natives that speak ebonics love rebel flags and pointy hats with sheet to the ground.The traffic in Atlanta is wonderful.You might was to ride the wonderful public transportation to Atlanta.Even though you might be the only white guy on the bus the locals will love you.They will share you wallet contents with all their friends for a round of crack.If you see any of the Hurricane natives of New Orleans beating on your window for money just show them your two pistols and they will wave to you and bid you a good day.If you get stuck at any of the hotels or gas stations or dairy queens that hindu you learned will come in handy.They will always greet you with I am berry berry good.If you enjoy the 2.5 hour commute each way to and from Atlanta you can get a smaller car so you can same gas and fit under the 18 wheelers berry so that the rescue workers can get you out faster so you can return to work.I you dont make it them there will be some luckey ebonic speaking kid with the green or blue eyes he always wanted.Dot let it worry you about all the forgieners in Atlanta its a multicultral equal opertunity kinda place you can get robbed by people who speak 68 different languages.If you dont get shot,run over by a truck,hit by as car(Atlanta is one of the best places to do this)waling across the street ,mugged, killed by a tornado or one of the many reciently reformed prisioners you will have a wonderful time in Atlanta.I moved from Ga about 7.5 years ago.I miss the pollution,traffic,ebonics,hindus,mexican,lack of places to hunt and fish and the disapearing pines.I grew up in Ga till I was 35 then I decided to make a change I moved to Alaska.I miss the red lights every 1/4 mile and 45 mintues drives to the hindu dairy queen 4 miles away.I miss all the concrete and pavement and muggy weather.Yep the suburbs of Atlanta are a good place to be away from.

The summers can get a tad muggy as well.

OEH, you ever lived in the South? There are pluses and minuses like anywhere else, some places have more of one than the other. Personally I think they are planting more pines per year in Georgia than oaks, they even have some state forests that are nothing more than planted pine. If you like the symmetry of it that would be a plus. Geographical regions outside Atlanta proper are not so grim, the further may be the better but I'm somewhat adverse to city life thus my opinion is biased. Girls like to shop there. As little as 60 miles drive will put you in some excellent deer hunting, especially to the south. The property tax situation is a little muddy...one of the highest millage rates in the state is found in Camden County at the very SE point of the state...running in the 20 something to 30+ depending if you're in a municiple jurisdiction. But after all that they have a rather odd way of coming up with the tax bill, smoke and mirrors and all that...my home there until a few years ago was appraised in the 160K range, the tax levy around $1600/annum. Other counties are MUCH lower FWIW, in some cases by half. Their ad volorem taxes on cars make you want to keep your old one BTW...it will be exempt if you have a purple heart in your DD214. Acreage is not that expensive once clear of major population centers. Some counties have no building codes and little if any zoning...Can you spell Double Wide? Some like to carry pistols...I liked a rifle, but mostly is was for critters, not homo erectus sapiens.

Just my spin on local customs and peculiarities...there are a lot of dialects in the rural areas, sometimes you can't distinguish the white trash from the others in the convenience stores if you close your eyes. Cammo is the State Dress Code, NASCAR and BEER are religions. And noisy beat-to-shit pickups are popular as well. The folks dominating Atlanta from a population perspective are somewhat sure of themselves and a perhaps a bit aggressive, but that is tempered inversely by proximity. One of the growth industries in the metropolitan area of Atlanta is corruption BTW, I think the Feds have several field offices there to keep track of it all. They are emmulating the Good Ol' Boy network in their own way...

Well, that's my spin on it in part. Fall is a wonderful time there, the hunting is quite good IF you get on board a decent hunt club. Lot of deer, lot of hogs, small game out the kazoo. Some decent hill country to the north and flat boredom to the southeast. In no particular order of bother, they have Copperheads, Rattlers, Cottonmouths, ticks, yellow flies, chiggers, and skeeters. They bother you in inverse relation to the temperature. Most of the people are quite decent, some are wolves in sheep's clothing...trust your instincts...


Dan

POTYHC

http://www.FranklyMy.Dear

Living in Atlanta is GREAT! if you don't actually live there but rather about 30 miles out. If your job takes you to downtown you are screwed because of the commute. But if you can live in one of the affluent white suburbs and not have to go inside the beltway its great! Good schools, cops, fire departments, roads stores, neighborhoods, etc.. Great gun clubs around, super fishing, hunting, golfing, reasonable climate. Fulton County/Atlanta gubmint has lots of corruption, malfeasance, crime tolerance, give-a-shit attitude, derelection of duty, etc. Goo dluck.

I grew up in Georgia and saw Atlanta and its urban rot spread further and further every year.I use to hunt in Gwinnett county where I grew up in Ga .I saw management areas disapear and houses disapear in there place.When I was first starting deer hunting in the late 1960s we had around 5,000 acres to hunt for free.There were quail and rabbits everywhere you hunted.There were some very big buck back the also before trophy hunting ever started.Yes there are alot of pines being planted in the crp farm programs .This is a plus and minus.Deer can use it for cover but they cant eat pine straw.There were farms everywhere with fields of cotten,soybean,watermellons and other crops when I grew up.The pedimost of Ga hasa lost alot of farms reciently do to lack of farming and families splitting up farms.I think the peak of my deer hunting was from around 1988 - 1994 then it started to decrease.The lands which we hunted for free turned into hunting clubs .The dues to some of these clubs grew to $2500 .
I also grew up in Gwinnett County whenb there was no crime.Its was the largest white comgressional distric at one time.That was racicial according to Cynthia Mckinny and she drew a districk from Atlanta to Agusta and turned Gwinnett County into the sewage dump crime ridden area it is today.My 8th grade teach drew us a map of Atlanta in 1976 that was about 15 miles in radius.He said this is how big it will be in 30 years which is 2006.It showed Atlanta from north Ga to Columbus and to Agusta .He was not far off.If you white and dont like getting shot at ,car stolen ,wife rapped ,kids killed or run over I would stay away.If your family likes to share some crack after smoking some pot and your daughter like the mexicans and bros its a very nice place.Its not the place it use to be.Yes there is hunting in South Ga and some in North Ga but its disapearing at an alarming rate.The biologist I know said Ga lost aty least 100,000 acres every year to development.I put our farm in the crp program also but this did not stop progress.They are building houses in Morgan county like crazy.The white people there with money to buy land that was $600 an acre 20 years ago are buying the same red clay dirt for $60000 an acre.I am just waiting till it peaks out and will hunt our land till them.I use to see 500-350 deer a year on our farm now your luck to see 5-7 a year.Its not the same place that I grew up hunting.

I guess I will pass on Atlanta and Georgia. I will visit relatives once every ten years. Hell,
I'll be dead in twenty. Where I live land is at a premium since we are surrounded by millions of
acres of open, public, BLM land. Buildable acreage is over $200,000 an acre. Ten miles south
of here it is going for about $1,000,000 an acre. We don't have racial probems much. Everyone ignores the Mexicans which is stupid. Blacks are extremely rare. Crime is mainly drug related and every redneck carries a gun. We are a must issue state. Deer hunting is deteriorating and it is hard just to get a deer or elk tag during the draw. About 30% of the state has a general season. Small game is about non-existent unless you like rabbits with liver diseases. Plenty of varmint hunting in the form of coyotes, rock chucks, and sage rats. Bird hunting is non-existent which is funny because near Albany is where ring neck pheasants were first released in the USA. There isn't a pheasant within 50 miles of that place. All the farmers have removed all cover - there aren't evern any fence rows left for birds.

I bitch because vehicle registration fees went from a flat $10 a year to $25. We do not have
a sales tax. Property taxes range from 16 mills to 35 mills. If you have your land in forest deferral property taxes are so low as to be a joke. We are inundated with folks moving from California but they quickly learn to not admit they are from California. We used to have bumber stickers that said "DON'T CALIFORNICATE OREGON". Fishing is put and take from hatchery stock except in a few fly-fishing only areas.

Cars generally don't rust out - it is illegal to salt the roads during the winter. Trucks last forever. There are rice-burners everywhere but they have to dodge the raised and big-tired full size trucks. With the snow I
generally use four-wheel drive daily for 2 to 3 months a years. Most of the soccer mom's SUV's are 4x4.
Most of the cops are decent folks. Games laws are enforced by the State Police. Don't even mess with them.
Shoot an elk out of season and you'll loose all your hunting gear including your truck, and then you have to
pay $5000 in fines, and can never hunt again. We are close to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado is not
too far. There is good hunting within reach.

I guess there are trade-offs where ever you live.