From Minneapolis to Atlanta (Roswell, Marietta: transplants, crime, mortgage)

[Mpls]

Hi All,

I've lived in MN my whole life (am now 40) and have an opportunity to move to Atlanta for a job in Norcross. My SO is a techie so he can go anywhere and would be coming with me. I've only been downtown (for trade shows) and Lake Lanier many years ago so am not that familiar with the area. Are any of you from this area (MN) and are their any big positives/regrets to moving? I'm a typical Scandinavian-slow to warm up but loyal to the death-just curious on the vibe.

Thank you for your input!

[Northman]

Don't do it. Minnesota is such a beautiful place.......Atlanta is an overcrowded, souless mess of transplants, all sitting on the backed up freeways half their lives. I'm a midwesterner that lived in Atlanta, and I came running back up here so that I could have a better quality of life, and yes, that's what I have.

If you're just looking to get out of MN, then ya gotta do whatcha gotta do, but if you have any doubts whatsoever, DON'T DO IT. The midwest way of life is much different from the "new south". I hope to never leave the midwest again, personally.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by Northman

Don't do it. Minnesota is such a beautiful place.......Atlanta is an overcrowded, souless mess of transplants, all sitting on the backed up freeways half their lives. I'm a midwesterner that lived in Atlanta, and I came running back up here so that I could have a better quality of life, and yes, that's what I have.

.

Well gee- there's an unbiased, accurate assessment of an entire metro area......

Here's a silly thought- since the OP already has a job offer in Norcross, what about the concept of living somewhere in/around Norcross, to avoid the "sitting on the backed up freeways half their lives" part? And maybe the folks you chose to associate with were just a "souless mess of transplants", but I've found the people here to be a breath of fresh air compared to the "I've got to work 90 hours a week so I can make the mortgage payment on my $600k, 1,000 sf bungalow and get a shot at making VP before I'm 35" mindset that I left behind in NJ. Maybe (just maybe???) you were a victim of your own circumstances and your experience doesn't equate to everyone elses? Think about it and get back to me.....

[Georgia Grace]

My mom grew up in northwestern Wisconsin, not terribly far from Minneapolis. She moved to Miami, Florida after college and then made her way to Atlanta a few years later. And the verdict? She loves it here.

She is also Scandinavian and feels loyalty to her hometown, which is why she returns to the Eau Claire area (where she still has family and friends) at least once a year. But she said the trade-off was worth it. Georgia weather agrees with her, and she often claims that she couldn't imagine returning to the snow and cold of Wisconsin / Minnesota. She misses the salt-of-the-earth people who populated her Wisconsin hometown, but she loves the Southern hospitality of Metro Atlanta -- and plus, since so many Atlanta-area residents are transplants, she's met her fair share of Midwesterners (including a good number from Wisconsin and Minnesota) in the 25 or so years she's lived here.

For the record, she lives in East Cobb County, near the Marietta / Roswell border, not far from Norcross and only about 20 minutes from the city.

[DreamKeeper]

I’m originally from the Midwest as well and have lived down here in Atlanta for almost 4 years now and I really enjoy living down here. As a matter of fact my views on this area compared to the Midwest are exactly the opposite of Northman’s. First of all, I enjoy being in a place that has a lot of transplants from all over because you get a variety of different people to meet. I’ve meet and befriended very decent people from all over the country/world down here. That’s something that just doesn’t happen in most of the Midwest. For me, the traffic has not been as bad as everyone told me it would be when I moved down here. The last place I lived before I moved here was Louisville, KY and my commute to work there was 17 miles one way. My commute to work here in Atlanta is 21 miles one way. I used to constantly sit in traffic for much longer periods of time for my Louisville commute than I do for my Atlanta commute. So for me my commute time has actually improved but of course that is something that will be different for everyone. Obviously the weather is much nicer down here and I find the overall quality of life much better down here. Every time I visit my old stomping grounds of Indiana and Michigan I am just amazed at how run down, crime infested and third world these places have become. The infrastructure up there is beyond falling apart and whole downtowns are boarded up and just about abandoned. It’s really sad to see places that were so vibrant when I was younger in the poor state they’re now in.

I’ve never lived in MN so I can’t really give you any comparisons to that part of the Midwest. I would highly suggest that you visit the Atlanta area for at least a week and while you’re down here don’t just do touristy things. Pick out a few areas that you think you would be interested in living in and then go out and do some things that you would actually be doing if you were living there. Go to a grocery store close by where you think you would be living and do a little shopping and see how the people working and shopping in the store act. Go to a park that’s close by and hang out for a bit, etc.

[ramblinwreck17]

Originally Posted by Mpls

Hi All,

I've lived in MN my whole life (am now 40) and have an opportunity to move to Atlanta for a job in Norcross. My SO is a techie so he can go anywhere and would be coming with me. I've only been downtown (for trade shows) and Lake Lanier many years ago so am not that familiar with the area. Are any of you from this area (MN) and are their any big positives/regrets to moving? I'm a typical Scandinavian-slow to warm up but loyal to the death-just curious on the vibe.

Thank you for your input!

Traffic is the big issue in Atlanta. Everything else is superb. Lanier is overrated. There are other better lakes like Oconee. I'm not a huge fan of Norcross but you could live in Roswell and commute over

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Mpls

Hi All,

I've lived in MN my whole life (am now 40) and have an opportunity to move to Atlanta for a job in Norcross. My SO is a techie so he can go anywhere and would be coming with me. I've only been downtown (for trade shows) and Lake Lanier many years ago so am not that familiar with the area. Are any of you from this area (MN) and are their any big positives/regrets to moving? I'm a typical Scandinavian-slow to warm up but loyal to the death-just curious on the vibe.

Thank you for your input!

My wife and I moved down here from Eden Prairie in the fall of 2004, and I was 42 at the time, so we're not far ahead of you.

Where in MN are you moving from? That would make it easier to provide points of comparison. However, this post I wrote a while ago might be a good starting point along with the accompanying thread.

I grew up and lived in the SW Minneapolis suburbs (Minnetonka, Bloomington, Eden Prairie), and my wife grew up in northern MN (Esko) and lived in Shakopee before she met me, and we've both adjusted rather well to life down here. There's more of an edge to life down here (you will want to install an alarm system, I suspect), but for the most part it's similar to Minnesota with a milder climate and with Kroger and Publix instead of Byerly's and Cub.

[Mpls]

Thank you all for your responses. We're coming out of Shoreview, a NE burb of the Cities. The housing marketing is awful here, and it takes forever to sell so that is a concern of mine (though the company I'm speaking with would take care of relo expenses). My SO has lived all over the world, so he has no problem moving, but of course the bottom line is quality of life. We both like the outdoors (we can bike to 3 lakes within a few blocks of home) and would plan on buying a home close to work-I can't stand traffic (even now I will take a longer way home if it allows me to keep moving) but he doesn't mind it-go figure. I definately would spend at least a week there prior to making this decision. I'm not sure how I can survive without Byerly's but am willing to make the effort!

[Cruikshl]

I'm from Iowa originally and lived in the Atlanta area for years before coming to the northeast last year for my husbands job. We would never go back to the midwest to live and are heading back to Georgia as soon as possible. We love it.

[kayrob]

Leave your shovel behind that's for sure. And your heaviest winter gear.