Atlanta and Dallas (Sandy Springs, Roswell, Marietta: real estate, rent, house)

[gladt]

Used to live in Atlanta and enjoyed it. About to move to Dallas and some say that the two cities are similar. I saw some similarities in while visiting but not that much. For those who know the two cities better than I do, do you think Dallas and Atlanta are similar and in what respect. Or is Atlanta more like Houston than Dallas?

[DeaconJ]

Atlanta is like Atlanta....Dallas is like Dallas....Houston is like Houston. They are all great cities that have much to offer, and each is unique in its own way. None are better or worse than the rest...

[gladt]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

Atlanta is like Atlanta....Dallas is like Dallas....Houston is like Houston. They are all great cities that have much to offer, and each is unique in its own way. None are better or worse than the rest...

Thanks for insightful answers. I do like both cities and was expecting a response with a little more depth.

[LovinDecatur]

I find the two quite similar, save for topography and summer heat (Dallas wins on that score). I find that the two came up at about the same time in history, and feel about the same size (although DFW is bigger)...each has neighborhoods that seem to have a counterpart in the other city (Morningside=University Park, Preston Hollow=West Buckhead, Highland Park=East Buckhead & Brookhaven, Richardson=Dunwoody, and so on). Both have a very dynamic, 'can do' feel and a business orientation, with modern skylines and omnipresent construction cranes. At last, both contain a large number of transplanted citizens.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I find the two quite similar, save for topography and summer heat (Dallas wins on that score). I find that the two came up at about the same time in history, and feel about the same size (although DFW is bigger)...each has neighborhoods that seem to have a counterpart in the other city (Morningside=University Park, Preston Hollow=West Buckhead, Highland Park=East Buckhead & Brookhaven, Richardson=Dunwoody, and so on). Both have a very dynamic, 'can do' feel and a business orientation, with modern skylines and omnipresent construction cranes. At last, both contain a large number of transplanted citizens.

It is often said, "Dallas is Atlanta without trees and hills..." or "Atlanta is Dallas with trees and hills..."

You get my point. I hope this helps a little bit.

Good Luck!

[gladt]

^^^ Thanks! Yes it does. I still like Atlanta and wouldn't mind one day lving there again but for personal reasons needed to choose Dallas over Atlanta as I am leaving Charlotte. Atlanta is prettier because of more trees but they do seem to offer about the same things.

[Saintmarks]

I am an Atlanta native now in the Dallas area and have posted about the similarities in other threads. As Atlanta is home and I am in Dallas on extinuating circumstance (the judge allowed my ex to move the kids here if you want to know the ugly truth, but I digress....) I know a good bit about both places.

Lovin Decatur summed it up very nicely. In fact if you superimposed a map of Dallas over Atlanta, there are even more similarities. The richest suburbs extend due north of the city center, Richardson, then Plano, then Frisco and Allen line up nicely with Sandy Springs, Roswell, Apharetta and Forsyth County.

If you go more to the northwest, you get Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Lewisville then smaller newer burbs toward Denton. These correspond nicely with Smyrna, Marrietta, Kennesaw and Acworth, both nice middle class areas, but just a slightly less upscale than the due north burbs.

The same happens toward the northeast, Garland has areas that are similar to Chamblee, Doraville and Norcross, a little older and maybe even a little further down the middle class scale.

The southern suburbs are largely minority, the neighborhoods to the south of Dallas, namely Oak Cliff and South Oak Cliff would be like south west Atlanta and East Point, College Park and Hapeville. Beyond that are suburbs that were predominantly white that are now largely minority, Desoto, Duncanville, Lancaster correspond similarly to Forest Park, Riverdale and Jonesboro.

The biggest difference in my little imaginary mapping is that with Fort Worth due west of Dallas, a lot of the suburban growth has gone westward to a much larger degree than Atlanta has grown westward. Grand Prairie, Irving and Arlington would line up with South Fulton, Douglas and the southern parts of Cobb. This part of Atlanta is nothing like the corresponding western side of Dallas.

On the flip side, Dallas has Mesquite to the east, but past that at Rockwall, it gets very rural again. This is where the majority of Gwinnett would line up and this side of Dallas is nothing like the sprawl that is Gwinnett.

So to make my little map more equal, imagine picking up Gwinett County and throwing it over in the neighborhood of Douglas county or far south Fulton, and you would have a demographic Atlanta that almost complety mirrors Dallas.

I don't know if this helps or not, but I am a map and statistic geek and this has been a fun little exercise for me anyway. Need a smilie with horned rimmed glasses and a pen protector in the pocket for this space right here.

Culturally, you will find a little less of the old south and a little more of the west here in Dallas. You will find it flatter and less tree coverage. Not that Dallas doesn't have trees, just not the amount and the hugeness of Atlanta trees. Dallas is hotter but Atlanta is more humid, so that kind of trades off. Both can be absolutely miserable and neither city would not be what they are today without the divinely inspired invention of AC.

One of the things Dallas has done better than Atlanta is build more freeways. Traffic can still be a bear here, but it isn't near the headache that Atlanta can be. Dallas has similar spoke from the hub type freeways like Atlanta, but outside of 285, east west travel, especially in the northern burbs is non existant. Dallas has 635 in a position much like 285, but here in the north burbs, first there is the Bush Tollway which would be like having a tollway from Marietta to Roswell to Norcross to Lawrenceville. Next, the 121 Tollway is nearing completion which would be like having a road from Acworth to Woodstock to Alpharetta. Texas has an outer ring road under study which would be like the now defunct outer loop that would have connected Carterville to Canton to Cumming to Buford.

I don't know statistics on race, but I believe the caucasian to minority percentages would be equal in the two cities. However, the minority population in Dallas is about equally divided hispanic/AA where in Atlanta it is overwhelmingly AA.

Housing prices are similar, I do believe you can get more house for the dollar here in Dallas, especially in suburban areas on the northside. Both will get expensive ITP (if I can use that term for Dallas).

I think Dallas and Atlanta, even with obvious differences are two of the most similar cities in all of America.

[gladt]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

I am an Atlanta native now in the Dallas area and have posted about the similarities in other threads. As Atlanta is home and I am in Dallas on extinuating circumstance (the judge allowed my ex to move the kids here if you want to know the ugly truth, but I digress....) I know a good bit about both places.

Lovin Decatur summed it up very nicely. In fact if you superimposed a map of Dallas over Atlanta, there are even more similarities. The richest suburbs extend due north of the city center, Richardson, then Plano, then Frisco and Allen line up nicely with Sandy Springs, Roswell, Apharetta and Forsyth County.

If you go more to the northwest, you get Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Lewisville then smaller newer burbs toward Denton. These correspond nicely with Smyrna, Marrietta, Kennesaw and Acworth, both nice middle class areas, but just a slightly less upscale than the due north burbs.

The same happens toward the northeast, Garland has areas that are similar to Chamblee, Doraville and Norcross, a little older and maybe even a little further down the middle class scale.

The southern suburbs are largely minority, the neighborhoods to the south of Dallas, namely Oak Cliff and South Oak Cliff would be like south west Atlanta and East Point, College Park and Hapeville. Beyond that are suburbs that were predominantly white that are now largely minority, Desoto, Duncanville, Lancaster correspond similarly to Forest Park, Riverdale and Jonesboro.

The biggest difference in my little imaginary mapping is that with Fort Worth due west of Dallas, a lot of the suburban growth has gone westward to a much larger degree than Atlanta has grown westward. Grand Prairie, Irving and Arlington would line up with South Fulton, Douglas and the southern parts of Cobb. This part of Atlanta is nothing like the corresponding western side of Dallas.

On the flip side, Dallas has Mesquite to the east, but past that at Rockwall, it gets very rural again. This is where the majority of Gwinnett would line up and this side of Dallas is nothing like the sprawl that is Gwinnett.

So to make my little map more equal, imagine picking up Gwinett County and throwing it over in the neighborhood of Douglas county or far south Fulton, and you would have a demographic Atlanta that almost complety mirrors Dallas.

I don't know if this helps or not, but I am a map and statistic geek and this has been a fun little exercise for me anyway. Need a smilie with horned rimmed glasses and a pen protector in the pocket for this space right here.

Culturally, you will find a little less of the old south and a little more of the west here in Dallas. You will find it flatter and less tree coverage. Not that Dallas doesn't have trees, just not the amount and the hugeness of Atlanta trees. Dallas is hotter but Atlanta is more humid, so that kind of trades off. Both can be absolutely miserable and neither city would not be what they are today without the divinely inspired invention of AC.

One of the things Dallas has done better than Atlanta is build more freeways. Traffic can still be a bear here, but it isn't near the headache that Atlanta can be. Dallas has similar spoke from the hub type freeways like Atlanta, but outside of 285, east west travel, especially in the northern burbs is non existant. Dallas has 635 in a position much like 285, but here in the north burbs, first there is the Bush Tollway which would be like having a tollway from Marietta to Roswell to Norcross to Lawrenceville. Next, the 121 Tollway is nearing completion which would be like having a road from Acworth to Woodstock to Alpharetta. Texas has an outer ring road under study which would be like the now defunct outer loop that would have connected Carterville to Canton to Cumming to Buford.

I don't know statistics on race, but I believe the caucasian to minority percentages would be equal in the two cities. However, the minority population in Dallas is about equally divided hispanic/AA where in Atlanta it is overwhelmingly AA.

Housing prices are similar, I do believe you can get more house for the dollar here in Dallas, especially in suburban areas on the northside. Both will get expensive ITP (if I can use that term for Dallas).

I think Dallas and Atlanta, even with obvious differences are two of the most similar cities in all of America.

Thanks for a most excellent post Saintmarks. Very informative!

[Morgan0220]

Need a place to live in Dallas? We live on Swiss Ave. downtown in a 2BR, and we're moving to Atlanta in January! haha! Come rent our place!

[UnMatrix]

The economy in Dallas is much better. Jobs a-pletny. Real estate is also cheaper and there isn't that grinding Atlanta racial tension. Dallas is more upscale too.

But Atlanta(N. Georgia) is prettier though.