American citizen in Africa thinking of moving to Atlanta (Jackson: apartment, to rent)

[JohnyWonder101]

Hello, this is going to be long so bear with me.

I am a 28 yr old American who has spent most of his life in Gabon and Congo in Africa. My father moved to Gabon when i was born and he opened a business and he stayed here and then we moved our business to the Congo about 11 years ago.

I am now married and i have a 2 yr old daughter. And my family is not happy here, there is nothing for them to do here so we took a decision that we are moving to the states. There is no school system so education is pretty much non-existent in the Congo.

I have been doing a lot of research and reading here on CD and there are a lot of cities we can move to, we have so many options. So i would like to get some opinions from residents of cities like Seattle, Atlanta, Boston and Austin.

We will be renting for a couple of years before we buy a house whereever we move to. We can pay rent up to $1500/month.

The main reason we are making this big move is for our daughter, so she can get a proper education and a decent life. My wife and i like to go out a lot, and we are well travelled people, we have been all around the world and we think the USA is our best option for our daughter and her future.

The weather here in the Congo is like tropical weather, it rains for 6 months and its dry for the other six. And when i say rain i mean heavy forest rain so we are used to rain. We like cold and rain with some sun not year round, we have been living in sunny and hot weather for a long time and we dont like it.We dont mind snow.

We would preferably like to stay in a suburb of a large city. We will be buying a car and public transport is important too. We will be putting ur daughter in a private school when that time comes.

We visited the states many times but we have only been to Toledo-Ohio, Detroit, Chicago, Phoenix and Vegas. And we didnt think we could stay there for a long time in any of the cities (except Chicago).

We like ethnic restaurants, movies, sports. I am a big sports fan, especially European soccer and the NBA. We dont care much about outdoors, maybe go to the park once a week, but we dont care about skiing or hiking or biking.

So of these 4 cities(Austin, Boston, Seattle, and Atanta)and the info i have giving you, which city do you think fits us best?

I know this was a long read but i hope you guys help us like you have helped so many people on here im sure.

Thanks,

Johny

[Onthemove2014]

You will get better info on the other cities in those citie's forums. The best schools are likely to be in Boston.

[testa50]

Well first of all, I have experienced the tropical African sun and can tell you that it is far more intense than anything the US has to offer. The desert included. I recall my jeans getting so hot that touching them was painful. I wore a rainjacket with a hood in the sun at times because it was so intense--here the mere idea is laughable. And Atlanta is one of the rainiest cities around, but you'll find it ridiculously dry and tame by comparison. Central Africa gets some RAIN. Big time.

Is you apartment budget flexible based on cost of living in the metros (ie, will you be compensated more for living in Boston?). Keep in mind there are big discrepancies between these metros. Boston is very expensive, Seattle is medium, and Atlanta and Austin are cheap. How far rent will get you depends largely on what your requirements are (big house in the burbs, or a 2 bed/2 bath in an urban area).

Atlanta and Austin will be the sunniest, by far. They are both sunny year round--sunny winters and summers. Their rain comes mostly in a big bursts ("big" by North American standards), then it's sunny again. Again, not incredibly sunny by African standards. Seattle is gloomy and wet all winter long (very light rain for months on end) then sunny and beautiful all summer. Boston is nice during the summer, but cold and more grey during the winter. Nobody in Boston complains about too much sun, being that far north.

Really, a huge amount of this depends on what lifestyle you desire. Boston offers fantastic urban lifestyle, but at a high cost. Seattle offers good urban lifestyle, at a medium cost. Atlanta and Austin offer okay urban lifestyles, at a low cost. In terms of suburbs, Atlanta and Austin are low cost and very suburb-oriented. Many options.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by JohnyWonder101

We like cold and rain with some sun not year round, we have been living in sunny and hot weather for a long time and we dont like it.We dont mind snow.

Based on your weather preference I would say Seattle would be the best fit. it rains a lot there and is not sunny year round, unlike Atlanta and Austin. Atlanta is sunny most of the year but only really hot in the summer (though not anywhere near as hot as the tropics).

The key consideration for Seattle is that the cost is somewhat higher than Atlanta, though you should be able to find a place in the suburbs to rent with your budget.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by atltechdude

Based on your weather preference I would say Seattle would be the best fit. it rains a lot there and is not sunny year round, unlike Atlanta and Austin. Atlanta is sunny most of the year but only really hot in the summer (though not anywhere near as hot as the tropics).

The key consideration for Seattle is that the cost is somewhat higher than Atlanta, though you should be able to find a place in the suburbs to rent with your budget.

I agree with this. I would chose Seattle in your situation. Even though the heat here probably doesn't compare to the Congo, it is hot most of the time and honestly schools aren't that great IMO. I am actually from one of the cities you mentioned you visited - Toledo and got a great public school education there and my education was on a higher level than what is received here currently. Fortunately my kids are in a great charter school here. But I can understand why you don't want to live there as there isn't much going on. I am crazy and am considering moving back, cost of living is much cheaper and there are more family things to do that don't cost an arm and a leg like here in Atlanta.

[tonygeorgia]

Seattle is very boring, no diversity, always raining, it isn't near any major cities, most of the women are overweight because of the weather, etc. Atlanta has more culture, better transportation, more entertainment, more diverse, better nightlife, cheaper cost of living, we are 2 hours away on a flight to more important cities, we have more.festivals, more.colleges, the hope scholarship, we have the best airport in the.world and we.have more international flights than any other airport in north America, our women look better,etc. Seattle is no way near our level and we beat them in most categories

[MathmanMathman]

If you can afford $1500 a month rent, given the depressed housing prices in Atlanta...considering buying.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

we have the best airport in the.world and we.have more international flights than any other airport in north America

Hartsfield-Jackson has not been named the best airport and Miami and JFK have more international flights than ATL.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Hartsfield-Jackson has not been named the best airport and Miami and JFK have more international flights than ATL.

False

[lastminutemom]

What type of work do you plan to do?