Cali to ATL (Atlanta, Jersey: 2015, costs, moving to)

[M3Guy]

Originally Posted by Calimama84

Hello,

I'm a widowed mother of two relocating from California to Georgia. I'm in search of a diverse, family-friendly community with good schools—both public and charter options are considered. Criteria for "good" schools include decent funding, resources, extracurricular activities, and strong academic performance. My children will be entering middle school and high school.

Coming from a suburb in California, my children are the only black students in their respective grades. This wasn't a matter of choice, but rather a necessity due to my job. Now self-employed and working from home, I aim to find a community that not only prioritizes education but also embraces diversity. My rental budget is $5k, and I'm open to apartments, townhomes, or houses. It is my goal to move and find an area where I can settle down and eventually buy a house.

Staying within an hour of family in Conyers is preferable, and I'm currently exploring Duluth, Druid Hills, and Lawrenceville. Safety is paramount, and I'm keen on a community with a mix of young families and professionals—something balanced between a calm atmosphere and recreational options. Proximity to parks, shopping, and restaurants is a key consideration.

I'd love to hear opinions on Duluth, Druid Hills, and Lawrenceville. Any insights or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Be careful where you live in GA then. If you thought CA was an issue for this, GA will become a huge reality check if you are not careful about where you settle. I am saying this as a brown person myself.

[clevergirl67]

Originally Posted by M3Guy

I don't see it. I rarely, rarely ever meet people moving from CA in GA.

Our new next-door neighbors just moved from Oakland CA. We congratulated them on getting out of there.

OP, you will love ATL. Welcome!

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by M3Guy

I don't see it. I rarely, rarely ever meet people moving from CA in GA.

Most people (except the OP of course) leaving CA don't venture much further east than TX.

I remember reading something last year or in 2022, saying California was one of the top states for incoming residents to Georgia. The other high regions were the northeast, the midwest, and Florida. I saw California plates at new construction homes in the northern metro Atlanta frequently and personally know many people who made the move from the LA metro to Atlanta.

[bethereds82]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

I remember reading something last year or in 2022, saying California was one of the top states for incoming residents to Georgia. The other high regions were the northeast, the midwest, and Florida. I saw California plates at new construction homes in the northern metro Atlanta frequently and personally know many people who made the move from the LA metro to Atlanta.

I know of a handful of former Californians, including myself that have made the move to Georgia on this forum.

We have 3 neighbors in our neighborhood in Johns Creek that moved here from California in the past 3 years.

There are lots of CA transplants here.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by M3Guy

I don't see it. I rarely, rarely ever meet people moving from CA in GA.

Most people (except the OP of course) leaving CA don't venture much further east than TX.

Originally Posted by clevergirl67

Our new next-door neighbors just moved from Oakland CA. We congratulated them on getting out of there.

OP, you will love ATL. Welcome!

Originally Posted by ShenardL

I remember reading something last year or in 2022, saying California was one of the top states for incoming residents to Georgia. The other high regions were the northeast, the midwest, and Florida. I saw California plates at new construction homes in the northern metro Atlanta frequently and personally know many people who made the move from the LA metro to Atlanta.

Originally Posted by bethereds82

I know of a handful of former Californians, including myself that have made the move to Georgia on this forum.

We have 3 neighbors in our neighborhood in Johns Creek that moved here from California in the past 3 years.

There are lots of CA transplants here.

Here is a link to one article from December 2023 showing that California was the second largest source of new residents to Georgia from out-of-state behind only Florida in 2022…

Some states where Georgia is getting its most new residents from will make sense - neighbors such as Florida and Alabama, or large-population states that see larger movements generally, like California and Texas…

… Some observations from the net migration data?

A lot of people are coming here from California, a trend seen in other states like Texas, and a lot from the Midwest - with strong numbers from states including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio…

… Which states people are coming to Georgia from | List by number

1. Florida: 51,380
2. California: 25,960
3. Texas: 23,754
4. North Carolina: 23,175
5. Alabama: 21,031
6. Tennessee: 18,785
7. South Carolina: 18,328
8. New York: 16,535
9. Virginia: 14,204
10. Illinois: 11,096

Here's where people are moving to Georgia from - Georgia is finding plenty of room for growth based on state-to-state migration flows (11Alive, 7 December 2023)

[M3Guy]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Here is a link to one article from December 2023 showing that California was the second largest source of new residents to Georgia from out-of-state behind only Florida in 2022…



Here's where people are moving to Georgia from - Georgia is finding plenty of room for growth based on state-to-state migration flows (11Alive, 7 December 2023)

Ok, data is data. I stand corrected.

I just personally don't see it. Maybe it's a more recent trend, and I wonder if most are actually staying longer than 3 years. Most of the transplants I come across are from NY, NJ (like myself), FL, AL and NC.

[PilgrimsProgress]

I'm surprised people are moving from TN and SC into GA. Seems pretty much the same. I know TN is more expensive but SC is cheaper. What am I missing?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by M3Guy

Ok, data is data. I stand corrected.

I just personally don't see it. Maybe it's a more recent trend, and I wonder if most are actually staying longer than 3 years. Most of the transplants I come across are from NY, NJ (like myself), FL, AL and NC.

Your comment raises the important point that the migration pipelines from other states like New York/New Jersey, Florida (which apparently is the top state that people relocate into Georgia from), Alabama, the Carolinas, etc, into metro Atlanta are long established and remain very strong.

The migration pipeline from California to metro Atlanta may not necessarily be as established as the migration pipelines from the Northeast, the Midwest and other parts of the South are, but the migration pipeline from California to metro Atlanta started growing when Atlanta was named as the host of the Summer Olympic Games in 1990 and when Atlanta emerged as a major national/international hub of Hip-Hop and R&B music production in the early 1990’s.

And the migration pipeline from California to metro Atlanta seemed to really start growing and strengthening when Atlanta emerged as a major hub of tech industry activity and as a major national/international hub of television and film production in the early 2010’s; with metro Atlanta attracting much television and film production activity, infrastructure and personnel directly from Southern California during the decade of the 2010’s.

And the migration pipeline from California to metro Atlanta really seemed to go into hyperdrive when the COVID pandemic hit in Spring 2020, as a very noticeable number of California residents moved to other states with relatively much lower real estate prices (including Georgia) after selling their homes for a financial windfall in California at the height of the COVID pandemic.

Many of the more affluent transplants from California seemed to have relocated into particular suburban metro Atlanta communities like Fayette County (because of the very strong presence of the television & film production industry in Fayette and Coweta counties and South metro Atlanta); East Cobb (because of the extremely highly rated schools there and because of the area’s relatively close proximity to multiple major regional employment hubs); and North Fulton and South Forsyth counties (because of the presence of the extremely highly rated schools and the large hub of tech industry and white collar jobs in the area).

Though, there is also a relatively smaller but still somewhat noticeable presence of both more affluent and less affluent Californians spread throughout other parts of metro Atlanta outside of Fayette County, East Cobb and North Fulton/South Forsyth counties.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by PilgrimsProgress

I'm surprised people are moving from TN and SC into GA. Seems pretty much the same. I know TN is more expensive but SC is cheaper. What am I missing?

Nashville in particular has had a noticeably more competitive real estate market in recent years.

And some parts of Eastern Tennessee may also feature some competitive real estate prices because of the attractiveness of the scenery of the area to tourists, vacationers and retirees.

Though much of the rest of Tennessee (particularly less appealing rural areas) continues to feature less expensive real estate prices.

And Georgia (particularly metro Atlanta) attracts noticeable numbers of residents from other Southeastern states (including Tennessee and South Carolina) because metro Atlanta is a large regional and national hub of well-paying jobs, metropolitan/cosmopolitan amenities and culture.

[JenniferKLewis]

I moved from Ca about 3 yrs ago. Haven't had many issues except the occasional comments, Leave your California voting in Ca. I'm not mad at that, I moved from Ca to get away so I understand the sentiment. We landed in Buford the #1 School district in the state. You have a great rental amount you should have your pick of locations etc. There is a crime mapping tool to help guide you to search specific addresses.