What would you do different if you were to move to atl again? (Atlanta: house, find a job)

[gerrynyc]

Any regrets? Would you move to a different area? Would you even move to ATL?


thanks for replying.

[atlantagreg30127]

I was accepted to a variety of colleges before I left high school, ranging from Atlanta to Denver, Toronto, Vancouver, L.A., Seattle, Columbus, and New York, among other smaller cities.

I did the one thing that I stress to young people today NOT to do ... I allowed my parents to chisel away at the list of places, and basically tell me where I was going to go. Well, no, they gave me two choices that were "acceptable" to them... Pittsburgh, or Atlanta.

Actually, Atlanta in 1984 wasn't a bad place. It was before the out of control growth, traffic, and sprawl had kicked in. "Home invasion" and "carjacking" were words you never even imagined, much less heard about on the local news. An armed robbery wasn't rare, but was more shocking than today. Of course, back then you had no way of knowing how out of control the growth would get in Atlanta in the years ahead though, in order to "wish you had gone elsewhere".

But - if I could take today's knowledge and go back in time, I'd tell mom and dad to um... "bug off", make my own decision, and I probably would have picked either Denver or Toronto for a variety of reasons. If I had to say I'd move to Atlanta anyway and what would I do differently HERE - I'd say I wish I had stayed in the Brookhaven area and invested in some homes there before prices shot up.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

I was accepted to a variety of colleges before I left high school, ranging from Atlanta to Denver, Toronto, Vancouver, L.A., Seattle, Columbus, and New York, among other smaller cities.

I did the one thing that I stress to young people today NOT to do ... I allowed my parents to chisel away at the list of places, and basically tell me where I was going to go. Well, no, they gave me two choices that were "acceptable" to them... Pittsburgh, or Atlanta.

Actually, Atlanta in 1984 wasn't a bad place. It was before the out of control growth, traffic, and sprawl had kicked in. "Home invasion" and "carjacking" were words you never even imagined, much less heard about on the local news. An armed robbery wasn't rare, but was more shocking than today. Of course, back then you had no way of knowing how out of control the growth would get in Atlanta in the years ahead though, in order to "wish you had gone elsewhere".

But - if I could take today's knowledge and go back in time, I'd tell mom and dad to um... "bug off", make my own decision, and I probably would have picked either Denver or Toronto for a variety of reasons. If I had to say I'd move to Atlanta anyway and what would I do differently HERE - I'd say I wish I had stayed in the Brookhaven area and invested in some homes there before prices shot up.

You chose Atlanta for college, but did you enjoy your time at Oglethorpe? Was that a good school choice for you? (Of course, I assuming that's where you attended since you always mention Brookhaven).

[RainyRainyDay]

If I had our move to do over again, with today's knowledge, I'd probably try to move ITP to an area with a more urban feel and liberal politics than East Cobb. My family's social transition would have been a lot more comfortable if we'd done that.

About atlantagreg30127's comments about choosing somewhere different for college - I'm wondering, do Americans normally see choice of college as choice of adult residence? As a Canadian, the go-away-to-college ritual is unfamiliar to me. Canadians normally attend university at the undergraduate level, in their home city, except of course for rural residents who are obliged to leave home to attend college. Those that go beyond the bachelor's degree to graduate school customarily move away to a different school at that point.

So, I've noticed the whole college-admission ritual, of course. But I hadn't realized that it implies a person is especially likely to find a job after graduation in the town where they attended college.

[Mattie]

The only regret I have about moving to Atlanta is that when we came here, three years ago, the housing market was much tighter. We ended up settling, and overpaying, for a house. I had made many house shopping trips, but there just wasn't that much on the market, and we already had a closing date on our FL house. We love Milton, and are happy we ended up here, but if the market picks up again, we'll sell and find something that suits us better.

[LazyT]

I'd not move into the city. Instead, I'd move to a northern suburb away from all of the crime, traffic and racial tension. Life's too short for that nonsense.

[matt8325]

Lazy, so you would move to a northern suburb away from the traffic ? Aren't the northern suburbs where the most traffic is ? And of course there is no racial tension in the northern suburbs. It's like 99% white, especially in Forsyth County !!!!!

[mmenomen]

That's a tough question. For me being older now with small children, I would have chosen an area to buy a house in Atlanta where the school system had a good reputation, even if I did not have kids at the time. Those are words of wisdom I would impart. The thing to keep in mind though is the quality of the schools sytems in Atlanta do change, sometimes within a decade, so doing this may not always workout in your favor. The house in a good school sytem generally would have better appreciation over time.

I have lived in several other cities, some in Europe and then some in TN, OH, SC and places like this. I have to say for job opportunities Atlanta has been much better than these other areas. The changes here have been so great, more people, more sprawl, awful traffic, I really want to leave, but feel it is hard to do with small children.

I guess everyone's background and current situation would play alot in answering this question.

I'd not move into the city. Instead, I'd move to a northern suburb away from all of the crime, traffic and racial tension. Life's too short for that nonsense.

Racial tension can be found all over metro Atlanta. The northern burbs are definitely NOT excluded. I think racial tension these days is more subtle than in the 70s or earlier, though I wasn't quite old enough to really understand it myself at that time. The northern burbs are getting more diverse, so some racially motivated tension can crop up there from all sides. I don't think it is that bad though overall.

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by gerrynyc

Any regrets? Would you move to a different area? Would you even move to ATL?


thanks for replying.

Easy one. NO I would NOT move to the Atlanta area. I was relocated here by my employer in 2004 when they opened a new division, however, since then they are reversing this decision in pieces and returning it back to Chicago.

I have lived in many areas during my life from Philadelphia, to NYC, to Chicago, etc., granted Atlanta is not the worst place I have lived, but it does not rank anywhere near the top.

It is all personal opinion. My opinion is the Atlanta area no longer offers any culture, no down home feel, and no comfort.
Yes, you can buy a home less than just about any other large metro area in the US, but there is an old saying, You get what you pay for.

In short, this area has suffered from massive growth, to fast, to soon, for infrastructure to keep up. To compare Atlanta to Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Denver, Phoenix, or NYC, well there is no comparison. Just my view, some love it, some don't.

[gotjenks]

I would move to a better neighborhood. I would also want my child to go to a different private school. I would also drink more Frosted Oranges at the Varsity.