Relocation ATL or Dallas (Atlanta, Lawrenceville: 2011, affordable apartments, to rent)

[hopefloats]

I am seriously consideing moving from chicago to atl or dallas basically on a whim.I have 3k to my name .I just graduated with my Bachelors and I am signed up with a national temp agency.I have a car that needs to be relocated. I cant find a nice apartment for a cheap price such as 300-600 @ month.I am unable to personally view and inspect these places before I move to ascertain that it is a decent area , amenties are nice, management is decent , and rodent / pest free apartments Locators and agents are virtually useless.I keep finding bad reviews on alot of places.can anyone help me or offer advice.Thanks

[sweettea1]

You'll be able to find affordable apartments in both cities so you need to decide which is better for you in other areas. Weather, family, industry, (not necessarily in that order) are things to think about. Here is a site that may also help:

Living : Making It In The City, Dream Big. Pay The Rent.

[atlantagreg30127]

Well, $300.. forget it. $600.. MAYBE a studio and MAYBE a 1BR a bit out off the beaten path. Also as was suggested, Craigs List may have people who have apartments in their homes (basement apartments, etc) that are in that price range if you want to go that route.

The housing slump across the nation has caused more people to rent for a while instead of buying, as they're thinking it will get even worse before it gets better and they'll be able to get a better deal on a house next year. Therefore, apartment rents have gone UP with the demand across the country according to varous reports that were in the papers a few weeks ago.

If services like promove can't find you something, then it's gotta be craigs list or local paper listings then, and if you can't view the place ahead of time, yes, it will be a crap shoot.

[Mrs. Garrison]

I rented an apartment in Greensboro N.C. that was decent but nothing special back in 1988 for $375/month. $300-600 is unrealistic. I haven't run across anything in Atlanta for less than $800/month.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Whim? Are you nuts? Somethings gotta give. There has to be a reason- and there has to be reasons to pick one over the other.
I myself have lived in both. Born in Bryan, TX. Grew up in Dallas and Atlanta- Texas will always be home. But I have no desire to go back. Have been in Atlanta the last 20years. Its one of the best geographically located major cities in the sunbelt. Good economy, etc.
But I'm getting tired- traffic is a nightmare. And that good ol' southern charm is all but gone- people aren't what they use to be (maybe there's just less of them southerners)
Anyway, do a good fact finding mission- and make your own choice.
- Just one person's opinion -

[dallas76]

I lived in Atlanta for about 8 years. Lawrenceville to be exact. I now reside in Dallas. Atlanta beats Dallas on one thing; that is natural scenery. You have all the outdoor activities within a 1-2 hour drive north of the city. With the exception on the beach. I'm sure you know that already. Dallas is a far better sports city even with all the transplant from across the country.

It is a little difficult to compare and contrast Dallas and Atlanta beyond that. The two cities are more alike than different. The both have a good economy that facilitates job growth. They are listed no.1 and 2 as far as population growth. And with that spike in population come high crime in both metro areas. They both have a pretty low cost of living for major metro areas. The city of Dallas is bigger than the city of Atlanta population wise. Traffic is worse in Atlanta, but Dallas traffic is no picnic. You have pretty good racial diversity in both cities.

Atlanta is more deeply rooted in Civil War and the Civil Right Movement part of American history. So you have more historical culture in Atlanta. Dallas on the other hand is fairly young with no true historic presence beside JFK.

This is my take on the two citie as as someone who is not a native to either city. I was a transplant to Atlanta and a transplant to Dallas. You will not go wrong with either choice. You just need to exactly what you are looking for. Let us know and we will try to help.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by dallas76

Atlanta is more deeply rooted in Civil War and the Civil Right Movement part of American history. So you have more historical culture in Atlanta. Dallas on the other hand is fairly young with no true historic presence beside JFK.
.

That's good, bad, or indifferent to some folks. People from California, Maine, or Michigan usually have little to zero interest in the Civil War and southern history in that respect. And let's face it, many if not most white, Asian, or Hispanic/Latino people considering the move probably don't consider the Civil Rights/Black history any kind of a factor in the move, either. No American city has true "historical" value if you compare them to centuries-old if not thousands of year old cities overseas... at least none that I think would cause someone to move there for that reason.

I'll give Dallas a point over Atlanta in one area though - public transit. The city and state there put more emphasis on solving the traffic issues. They have a light rail system that is in the middle of a massive expansion there. In a few years it will cover a ton of territory, and the city/state really do support it. Here, the city ok's MARTA, but the state has zippo interest in it, and doesn't even supply funding support at all.

[Mrs. Garrison]

You must have missed the recent article regarding the Atlanta Regional Commission. The $67 billion transportation plan they approved includes a Lindbergh to Emory MARTA line, the Beltline, BRT projects in various corridors, dedicated/separate commuter toll lanes, and commuter rail to name a few. I doubt there is a city in the U.S. that has received more criticism for traffic congestion and sprawl than Atlanta, and therefore has caused transit solutions to be a major focus for city leaders and it receives constant attention and emphasis. This is a problem that is very popular in the media and is not going to be solved any time soon.

DART is a light rail system...in some ways that is a good thing, but LRT can't move nearly as many people as heavy rail. DART has a similar amount of coverage in Dallas as MARTA in Atlanta, but there is the commuter rail between Ft. Worth and Dallas that looks pretty neat. The massive expansion you're speaking of is a 2030 plan...transit in Atlanta has a similar long range plan that calls for completion in segments. For all I know it may be better than Atlanta's plans, but not by a ridiculous amount. You made it sound like there is nothing planned and transit is not even being addressed here, when that is far from the truth.

[Vantanna]

I just struggled with a choice b/w the same 2 cities. The financial incentive was Dallas (cost of living etc.) but I moved to Atlanta a month ago Tues. and I don't regret the decision one bit. From what I've seen opportunities abound and judging from your age, I dare say that there is much more nightlife/social activity in ATL. I'm not knocking Dallas though, I was there for 2 weeks in late July, Beautiful place.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Garrison

You must have missed the recent article regarding the Atlanta Regional Commission. The $67 billion transportation plan they approved includes a Lindbergh to Emory MARTA line, the Beltline, BRT projects in various corridors, dedicated/separate commuter toll lanes, and commuter rail to name a few.

The massive expansion you're speaking of is a 2030 plan...transit in Atlanta has a similar long range plan that calls for completion in segments. For all I know it may be better than Atlanta's plans, but not by a ridiculous amount. You made it sound like there is nothing planned and transit is not even being addressed here, when that is far from the truth.

Here's the DART maps for all of the expansions through 2013...

DART.org - DART Rail Expansion Maps as well as more detailed info on openings of expansions here.. DART.org - Expansion Information

An article describing how their system is to double in size over the next decade: Railway Technology - Dallas DART Light Rail Expansion - Texas, USA

There's a movie floating around on the web about it too, but you'll have to fish for it. So while their light rail system isn't quite as spiffy or fast as heavy rail, at least they're doing *something* with it right now. MARTA is sitting as-is with no real, firm, plans or progess on the horizon to expand.

As far as our own Regional Commission's passing that transit plan - this has happened in years past. They have tons of great ideas, but where will the money come from? This has happened before - great ideas are there. They KNOW what to do. Then people don't apply for the Federal money in the right way (or the money keeps going to the war and the Feds just won't give it up). Then, the state refuses to contribute to any of the public transit projects (Perdue has publicly stated his opposition to funding transit options other than road construction). Then if they try to add taxes to cigarettes, liquor, or gas to pay for it all, the PEOPLE freak out.

Great ideas on how to help our area have been out there for years. We just haven't had anyone who has had the power to secure the money for even a fraction of them.