Top Ten Places to Weather Economic Downtun (Atlanta: home, unemployment rate)

[RoslynHolcomb]

And I had to leave #1 to come here.

In Pictures: Affordable Places To Weather the Downturn - Forbes.com

[sweettea1]

I was hoping this was a list of bars.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by sweettea1

I was hoping this was a list of bars.

*snicker* From what I understand bars and restaurants are doing well.

[brubaker]

Key word: 'Affordable'

[greg_atlanta]

So it's worth the cost/hassle of moving just to collect unemployment in a low cost city with lower-paying job opportunities? I think Forbes is running out of material.

[RoslynHolcomb]

I didn't see anything in the article about collecting unemployment. If I understand their analysis a low unemployment rate was one of their criteria for selecting a city. I can't speak for the other cities selected, but I know that in Huntsville the average salary is very comparable to Atlanta, especially when you factor in the significantly lower cost of living. A friend of mine moved there from CA last year and she was elated because she was only taking a 10-15% cut in pay, and was able to afford a much nicer home and overall standard of living than she could in CA. Obviously, the high-paying jobs there are in engineering and software, otherwise I wouldn't recommend the move.

The unemployment rate in Huntsville is 3.9%, Atlanta is 6.5%.

[VJP]

It's relative to what you know how to do, whether one area is better than another. I'm not one to brag but given what I do and advances in my field I could swing a move to a socal type place - as you mentioned, engineering related. One has to look at a few things..first, forbes like to make lists and as greg said, material is drying up . Another thing...ATL offers me career advancement opportunities at a high quality of living than a place like Huntsville. Huntsville would get me the job, but as I grow, I would have to probably move again - even tho Huntsville is tech heavy by southern standards.

I'm not buying forbes' subjective list...and I won't preach but as a lifelong learner I think there's ways to make it well in most big cities. Interesting post however.