brunswick ga area

[AFD660]

just wondering if anybody has any information about the brunswick ga area... im thinking about applying for a job there for FLETC once my tour is up... would just like to know if crime is high and how the area is.. any close places to live by instead of in brunswick.. any pelicans nearby.... i dread going back to new mexico.. no porsches nearby.. plus im worried about people messing with my car.. alot of that goes on in my town... i like the south and the relaxed atmosphere of the south... like in mississippi and florida when i used to live there... so if anybody knows anything i would greatly appreciate it... thanks in advance...

jonathon

[Racerbvd]

Not a bad place, pretty laid back for the most part, very close to Jacksonville, FL.

[wilke3169]

I actually work for FLETC here in Charleston. If I can help in any way let me know. I am just a Worker Bee so I have no pull but I do know a few people that can help.
You may also consider Charleston. The campus here is much smaller and is currently in transition, but we have a good student population which has doubled in the last few years.
Porsche population is of fair size as well.

[Sunroof]

I lived in the Brunswick area for several years and often return on business. Brunswick itself is pretty much a mill town that has grown little over the decades. You have Brunswick Pulp and Paper and the Hercules Plant adjacent to dense residential areas. Both of these facilities spew pretty malodorous emissions that stink up the place. I do not recommend living in Brunswick itself, rather the hottest places are St. Simons Island or Jekyll Island.

FLETC used to be the old "blimp base" that Nixon shut down in the 70's. When I was taking flying lessons out of St. Simons I used to fly over to that very long runway at FLETC which today is open to both private and commercial aviation. The old base is sprawling and FLTEC takes up but a portion of the property.

Getting back to the hot spot, St. Simons is the place to go and when you visit you'll see why. From the live oaks to the quaint village and beautiful ocean views its a great place to live.
Great bars too! Check out Murphy's Tavern in the village thats been a local hangout since the 70's. Not much offered in Brunswick aside from a community college, small indoor mall and some interesting stores downtown. In my view, its pretty worn down! I was in Brunswick a few months ago and the downtown area is being hit hard by the recession. The plants support the town. Brunswick once supported a huge shrimping fleet, but that too has dwindled over the years. They deepened the port a few years ago and are trying to make Brunswick competitive with Jacksonville, so you can say its working hard to be a major port city. The only claim to fame I can think of with Brunswick is that during WWII it had the largest Liberty Ship constructioon area!

Jekyll Island just south of St. Simons is another place to consider for housing. Its very quiet, but beautiful and peaceful.

Usually, if you want to get away, Savannah is just an hour up the road and Jacksonville an hour south. The entire coast of Georgia and North Florida are great places to see and explore. If your a fisherman of boater you cannot beat the marshes and Georgia barrier islands. So consider that working at FLTEC and living on St. Simons is a pretty good combo. Add a nice powerboat with a cuddy cabin for nights on the water and your livin large!!!

My wife and I both love the Georgia coast. If it were me I would jump on the chance to live on the coast in the Glynn County area. Keep St. Simons in your sights.

Good luck

Bob
73.5T

[Jerome Ryals]

Thumbs up on what Bob said above. Before my dad passed away he and mom had a condo on St. Simons. Great place, I live in Savannah and had to travel to Brunswick on business 2-3 times a week couple years back and that drive is easy.
I have an old high school buddy that is in real-estate down there if you want more info.

[MRM]

My sister lives in Statesboro and her in laws are from Brunswick. We visit them quite a bit. Over the years I've spent several weeks in or around Brunswick, St. Simons and Jekyll. Everything Bob said is true, and more. If you like living in the south, this is as good as it gets. St. Simons often gets compared to Hilton Head, but in a good way.

Brunswick proper is on the mainland. St. Simon's Island is just a short drive across the causeway, and Jekyll is just a little bit farther drive from Brunswick. Both Jekyll and St. Simon's are islands, although they're large enough to feel like they're part of the mainland and Brunswick is close enough to the ocean to feel like an island.

St. Simons can be an expensive place to live because it is very much a vacation house and tourist-oriented place. You have a real mix of fairly expensive eating and living options along with some pretty reasonable choices if you are willing to stay a short walk or drive away from the beach. Jekyll is more where the locals have their vacation cottages. Both are absolutely gorgeous. The beaches on Jekyll are probably a little better because they're wider and less developed. St. Simons is clearly where the action is.

Living in Brunswick gives you access to both islands, plus a very nice, old-style southern town with a very reasonable cost of living. If you want to really live cheaply, you can live in an unincorporated area just outside of Brunswick and be close enough to the beach to satisfy any desire for water and scenery.

Brunswick, St. Simons and Jekyll are all very historic. There's a trolley tour that runs on St. Simons during the summer. If you are even thinking about moving to the area, do yourself a favor and take the tour. You'll see one of the oldest churches in the US, going back to pre-revolutionary times, Civil War monuments, the remnants of old plantations, the spot where Charles Wesly (founder of the Methodist Church) gave his first sermon in the New World, things like that. Jekyll used to be a private island where the Firestones, Fords, Astors and Vanderbilts vacationed. They deeded the land to the state after WWII and now the entire island is owned by the state, although private homes and development is allowed, with 99 year leases on the land. The Great Estates are still preserved and you can tour them.

As Bob said, you're a hop skip and a jump to Jacksonville, Florida or Savannah Georgia.

All in all, it's a really nice place. Lots of vets retire to there.

[Sunroof]

Lets take it all a few steps further.............
I was working for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division in Brunswick back then and we split the office with the DNR Fish and Game guys. As a result we had a chance to not only dive on several coastal man-made reefs with these folks but part-take in shark tagging activities. A buddy of mine had a nice 19-foot Mako we used mostly for shark fishing. If anyone is interested, there is a nice "hole" about 90-feet deep between Jekyll Island and Cumberland Island to the south. You are sure to catch a lemon, bonnethead or hammerhead shark everytime! The largest shark I ever caught on a pole was nine feet! The fishing in the marshes and coastal Georgia is some of the best in the world! Head out to Greys reef during one of the great hammerhead shark coastal migrations and your immersed in one of the greatest shark experiences ever! You can be anchored in the marsches and suddenly a dolphin noses up to your boat! Prefer the shallower waters of the marshes? You'll get miles of coastal tidal waters loaded with fish................................so if its fishing and boating you like........head to Georgia's coast.

Its true about housing being expensvie on St. Simons, but their is a slew of apartment complexes that are pretty reasonable. If you prefer Jekyll, you can rent a duplex off Captain Whiley Road better yet. Home owners on Jekyll do not own the land their home is built on, rather its owned by the Jekyll Island Authority. Very few homes come up for sale on Jekyll as opposed to St. Simons as Jekyll is far less transient and homes seem to pass on to family. Rentals are plentiful. Jekyll is far more laid back then St. Simons. Personnally, St. Simons is the preferred place to live. Back in the 70's and 80's the road to St. Simons was a toll road with an operating bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. It was a very timely commute into town, especially if the bridge went up for a passing vessel. Today, its all different. A new bridge has been constructed and the morning and evening commutes are just minutes into Brunswick.

Are you single? During the spring and winter breaks St. Simons attracts single vacationing teachers (females) from Atlanta in the droves.....................nough said!

Bob

[ben parrish]

Raised in Statesboro. Lived in Savannah for years. Sister lives on St Simons Isl. All info given if pretty spot on. Brunswick is kinda gritty but the surrounnding areas are great. It is a small town but there is plenty to do within 90 minutes of the I-95 exchange. The coast is amazing and I miss it daily...except for the heat and bugs inn the summer. Georgia is a wonderful state with beautiful beach's and gorgeous mountains.
Apply for the job; FLETC would be a fun gig. The driving course is really fun..espically the sprinklers.
Lots of girls on the beach in the summer and ou can wear shorts in December.

[AFD660]

Sounds like a great place to live.. Hopefully i get the position there.. yeah im single so i'll be at the beach alot during the summer... lol.. does anybody know about how much the rent is on the islands?? is living in brunswick a bad idea cuz of crime or what??? thanks for all the answers guys... i have to get out of new mexico.. i dread going back there.. its literally depressing.. lol..

jonathon

[ben parrish]

Rent on the island is all over the place. Expect 800-1k for a decent place.
No, Brunswick doesn't have bad crime. There are plenty of good places around just steer clear of renting around down town but you will realize that when you visit.
You can probably find a decent house just outside of town for $800. Just depends where you want to be.

Where in New Mexico? Farmington NM is THE most depressing place I have ever visited but Taos is one of the coolest.

good luck,
Ben

[Sunroof]

Everyone who visits Brunswick remembers the "smell". The locals call it the "morticians wind". The breeze in the morning comes off the ocean trending west-northwesterly and the stack plumes from Hercules and Brunswick Paper and Pulp head over the city and out. In the afternoon and into the evening the breeze heads easterly toward the ocean. On cool days distance, dilution and temperature make it rather faint on St. Simons. This is one of the reasons St. Simons is a preferable place to live.

The area to include Brunswick and St. Simons is not very large. A morning commute from St. Simons offers very scenic marshes, marinas, waterways and wildlife. Its no different heading back. Rush hour? Forget it.

St. Simons has a large transient population. Summer is the high season for Georgians. You might hook a year lease on a rental home if you find one during the winter when vacancies are the highest otherwise there are plenty of apartment complexes all over the island. I would prefer St. Simons over Brunswick handsdown!! Personnally, I have always thought Brunswick was pretty much a dumpy town. Granted, its got a small Victorian historic district, downtown area and even a small shrimp dock and new city marina, but what gets ya is that damn smell! Brunswick has seen no major growth since I left it back in 1980!

FLTEC is northwest and a world unto itself. Its a huge complex shared by an industrial center and airport and aways from the center of the city. Call it the burbs perhaps.

By the way the Geogia coast is very hot and humid and a huge change from the arid climate you have in New Mexico. The transition from winter to summer has but a few days of spring inbetween!!

Go for it.

Bob