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Thanks for your answers all of you and especially South to West for the very nice information.
8 months ago I came close to moving to Atlanta and in fact even put in money to build anew house in Forsyth count but the market went so bad that I backed out.
What is worrying to me is that Atlanta real estate is climbing very fast and if I do not buy something right now it will be out of reach for me.
The other side of me tells me that I must wait for some more time. The economy that we have been theough is once in a lifetime kind of situation.
I visited Atlanta 6 times in the last year and the following are some things that i did not like:
1) Traffic. In Milwaukee I am used to travelling not morw than 45 mins max to work.
2) People were not as friendly as Milwaukee
3) Delta airlies screwed my flight on 3 of those 6 occasions and the airport really left a bad taste in my mouth. One time instead of the afternoon 1.30 PM flight I had to fly back at 11.30 PM on a SUnday night along with family and that too to Madison and drive a car here in the middle of the night. And I had my kids which complicated the problem.
4) People do not return phone calls like how they do in Milwaukee.
5) Everyone seems to be a little slow in Atlanta as compared to Milwaukee in doing things. They take their own sweet time.
6) Alpharetta looks like a giant mall area.
My friend moved 4 years ago from Milwaukee to Atlanta and she is telling the same things as South-to-West says here. That inspite of everything Atlanta is way better and she actually has a long commute as she lives quite further away from Alpharetta.
My confusion...move I must to Atlanta ( I think Dallas does not have trees etc and a yard etc which I am used to being in Milwaukee) but is this the right time or should I wait for 1 year or so. The prices of the houses though are moving high in Atlanta like anything and allready I am thinking of moving to Cumming and Suwanee instaed of Alpharetta/Johns Creek.
Atlanta does have a strong old world economy also as compared to new IT/TEch industries also so I am confident about it for the long term. But Milwaukee/Waukesha/North IL (and I live in Franklin which is rated in the top 100 places to live in USA) job market is just awesome and is ranked 5th as the promising technology jobs destination for the future beating Dallas and Atlanta.
My wife has a lot of family in Dallas and we go there often. One thing I don't like is that most people who live there grew up in Texas. So I don't fit in as well as I do in Atlanta, which has a ton of transplants from all over the country.
One thing I did like about Dallas is that cost of living is even cheaper than Atlanta (which is pretty low to begin with for a major city).
Can't really add much to what South-to-West already said (but will try to do so anyway!). Many years ago I moved from the outskirts of Chicago to Dallas, started a family, then 10 years later to Atlanta where we have been for over 13 years.
S-t-W's observations are spot-on, although due to the length of time we have been away from Dallas I am not sure how much the city has progressed. I understand light rail is now prevalent which is surely a good thing. High-tech work is absolutely booming there but Atl is not too bad in this regard. I suspect Dallas has the edge.
What I liked particularly about Dallas is the 'prairie mentality', the great airport, and the terrific food (Tex-Mex and barbecue, and Asian/Indian as well). What I didn't care for was the boring terrain, the heat (the year we left they had 100 straight days of 100+ degree weather, without a break) and the paucity of natural vegetation. A large tree in Dallas is barely noticable in Atlanta, almost a shrub. One Atlanta subdivision may have more trees than an entire Dallas suburb. (exaggerations to make a point)
Atlanta -- interesting terrain, trees (although they have diminished due to development), the Hooch is nice to have although still not a "great" river, and the summers can be more tolerable although the humidity can get bad. The meandering streets and two-lane-streets dominance can look nice but hurts traffic flow something awful.
I do feel the city core is decaying, one reason being cronyism and reverse-racism. Neither the city, Fulton county, nor the state of GA has reliable or competent governance. Perdue is as corrupt as the day is long and this affects everyone whether you think so or not. Fulton cty is deplorable and I can't wait for the creation of Milton cty.
The airport is 'challenging' and so is Marta. We live in Alpharetta and dread going to the airport or using Marta. The local food is not to our taste although it is being made up for by the growth of ethnic (read: Asian) eateries. Buford Hwy would be more of a gem if it were more reliable and slightly more 'cleaned up', but that's part of its character now. DeKalb Farmer's market is awesome although rather distant for us.
Alpharetta is very nice (we are technically in Milton) and yes there is a bit of that suburban mall feel, but more so on the east side. We have also lived in Roswell (10 years) which looks very nice but I wouldn't go there again; there seems to be a lot of that white Southern-v-everybody else vibe going on there for some reason. They resent everybody - Asians, blacks, Yankees, Californians... but they fall in love with you if you have a Brit accent.
Besides west Alpharetta/Milton, I would live in: Dunwoody/Sandy Springs, John's Creek, and under the right circumstances, parts of the city like Morningside, etc. The planned area near the airport would be good if one needs proximity. (Peachtree City, etc). Gwinnett seems too crowded and a bit messy to me, but that may be just my perception. (Jimmy Carter Road - the worst street in GA named after the best person to come out of GA). Cobb county is ok but either sterile (east) or messy (41 corridor) or too far out (west).
Re-reading the above it seems I might choose Dallas over Atlanta, but this is not the case. If I were required to live in either area I'd be ok but overall not necessarily thrilled. If I had to choose I'd probably choose Atlanta by a narrow margin.
Can't really add much to what South-to-West already said (but will try to do so anyway!). Many years ago I moved from the outskirts of Chicago to Dallas, started a family, then 10 years later to Atlanta where we have been for over 13 years.
S-t-W's observations are spot-on, although due to the length of time we have been away from Dallas I am not sure how much the city has progressed. I understand light rail is now prevalent which is surely a good thing. High-tech work is absolutely booming there but Atl is not too bad in this regard. I suspect Dallas has the edge.
What I liked particularly about Dallas is the 'prairie mentality', the great airport, and the terrific food (Tex-Mex and barbecue, and Asian/Indian as well). What I didn't care for was the boring terrain, the heat (the year we left they had 100 straight days of 100+ degree weather, without a break) and the paucity of natural vegetation. A large tree in Dallas is barely noticable in Atlanta, almost a shrub. One Atlanta subdivision may have more trees than an entire Dallas suburb. (exaggerations to make a point)
Atlanta -- interesting terrain, trees (although they have diminished due to development), the Hooch is nice to have although still not a "great" river, and the summers can be more tolerable although the humidity can get bad. The meandering streets and two-lane-streets dominance can look nice but hurts traffic flow something awful.
I do feel the city core is decaying, one reason being cronyism and reverse-racism. Neither the city, Fulton county, nor the state of GA has reliable or competent governance. Perdue is as corrupt as the day is long and this affects everyone whether you think so or not. Fulton cty is deplorable and I can't wait for the creation of Milton cty.
The airport is 'challenging' and so is Marta. We live in Alpharetta and dread going to the airport or using Marta. The local food is not to our taste although it is being made up for by the growth of ethnic (read: Asian) eateries. Buford Hwy would be more of a gem if it were more reliable and slightly more 'cleaned up', but that's part of its character now. DeKalb Farmer's market is awesome although rather distant for us.
Alpharetta is very nice (we are technically in Milton) and yes there is a bit of that suburban mall feel, but more so on the east side. We have also lived in Roswell (10 years) which looks very nice but I wouldn't go there again; there seems to be a lot of that white Southern-v-everybody else vibe going on there for some reason. They resent everybody - Asians, blacks, Yankees, Californians... but they fall in love with you if you have a Brit accent.
Besides west Alpharetta/Milton, I would live in: Dunwoody/Sandy Springs, John's Creek, and under the right circumstances, parts of the city like Morningside, etc. The planned area near the airport would be good if one needs proximity. (Peachtree City, etc). Gwinnett seems too crowded and a bit messy to me, but that may be just my perception. (Jimmy Carter Road - the worst street in GA named after the best person to come out of GA). Cobb county is ok but either sterile (east) or messy (41 corridor) or too far out (west).
Re-reading the above it seems I might choose Dallas over Atlanta, but this is not the case. If I were required to live in either area I'd be ok but overall not necessarily thrilled. If I had to choose I'd probably choose Atlanta by a narrow margin.
Great post, but I totally disagree with your assertion that the city core is decaying. In fact, Atlanta has one of the fastest growing urban cores in the nation--totally opposite of trends between 1970 and 1990 when the city lost 150,000 residents while the suburbs were exploding with growth. In fact, the city of Atlanta has added over 100,000 new residents since 2000.
ise_66,
Alpharetta is unabashed suburbia. It's great for people seeking that lifestyle but hell for people who desire a more urban setting. Limiting yourself to Alpharetta would be like limiting yourself to Brookfield. There are a lot of choices here in regards to the types of neighborhood in which you could reside. You need to visit for a while and look around.
As far as housing prices, home values in metro Atlanta have plummeted, especially in the burbs. Given current conditions, I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Also in regards to wanting greenery, no doubt Atlanta is the better option in that regard. The urban canopy here is amazing. However if you move to Dallas, it won't be like moving to the desert. It's true that a lot of the newer communities in suburban Dallas lack trees because a lot of the subdivisions were built on old cotton fields and the developers had free reign to chop down any of the trees that may have existed previously. But if you looked in older communities inside city itself--or in older suburbs like Richardson or Garland--you will find a lot of trees. Believe it or not, there are a lot of areas of Dallas that are wooded and hilly--you just have to be willing to look past Plano, Frisco, and the rest of Collin County.
Agree completely. If you have been to midtown and seen all the activity, new high rises, new boutique hotels, new restaurants you would know that despite the recession Midtown is probably better then ever. Same goes for other neighborhoods intown. Sure, nothing is perfect but the trend has been that people are moving back into the city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west
Great post, but I totally disagree with your assertion that the city core is decaying. In fact, Atlanta has one of the fastest growing urban cores in the nation
OK, I retract the 'decay' comment - it was a poor word choice. I was referring more to the issues that Atlanta government seems to be having, but again this is my perception, sitting out in the burbs and reading the AJC daily. I rarely get into the city itself, but I do have some dealings with Fulton county, and personally I'd rather have my toenails torn off one by one than deal with them. (exaggeration again, of course).
Atlanta is still quite affordable, even in the fancy condos downtown, compared to the 'real' cities like SF, NYC, Chicago, DC, LA.
And yes I know nearly every metro area has its own set of problems, particularly in this economy. One just trades one set for another.
We lived in Richardson for 5 years btw, and liked it pretty well. Almost moved to Plano at one point but decided against it. From what I recall there are many parts of Richardson that are very livable, and same goes for Irving and other parts of the mass that lies between D and FW.
People seem to get what they deserve here with sprawl, traffic isn't really as bad as everybody says. If you Have to live in suburbia then that's pretty pathetic in my opinion that you'd have to move to a big city like Atlanta, why not move to Raleigh, Austin, Huntsville, or something smaller?
Those 3 cities are high tech centers, low cost of living, and have LESS competition than Atlanta. Seems like a no-brainer, unless you have some mindset that people are narrow-minded in the south outside of Atlanta, which is NOT the case.
It's obvious I DON"T work for the chamber of commerce like many on this board
OK, I retract the 'decay' comment - it was a poor word choice. I was referring more to the issues that Atlanta government seems to be having, but again this is my perception, sitting out in the burbs and reading the AJC daily. I rarely get into the city itself, but I do have some dealings with Fulton county, and personally I'd rather have my toenails torn off one by one than deal with them. (exaggeration again, of course).
I should have included Fulton County government as a 'downside'. LOL! It truly is a terrifying experience. Luckily I'm kind of shielded from some of their shenanigans since I live in the middle of an incorporated city.
I am not sure if Brookfield is comparable to Alpharetta. Alp is a big city by itself. The airport is challenging. The numerous remarks about the poor goverment and planning in Atlanta are very disillusioning. WI appeared to be a backward state but the goverment is probably not as bad here as in Atlanta and GA. The narrow streets and traffic is scary. What will happen in the future if they do not plan out things well?
I want to move to a big city with a vibrant tech/IT jobs market and Dallas and Atlanta are my only choices. Raleigh is more small and messed up. HUntsville is also not that good for IT and Houston is very hot and old.
So that left me with Dallas and Atlanta. Texas as state is way better than GA. Outside of Alpharetta and Atlanta not much that GA has to offer.
I like Alpharetta but not so much Atlanta. I am not sure if I will spend more than 3% of my time in Atlanta city even if I move to Alpharetta. BUt GA and the traffic and the airport is very scary.
Dallas is a great city and TX is a rich state as compared to GA and has great schools and colleges also as compared to GA. But Dallas is not beautiful and looks barren. After being use to the greenery in WI I am not sure if I cna tolerate the sulleness of Dallas. But Dallas has a great airport. Appears very polished, people are more friendly and has a good feel about it.
Either way as compared to WI I cannot go wrong. Dalas has a more betetr future. Not sure What will happen to Atlanta if it goes at this rate of non planning.
The mountain and the deep sea. I am more confused than ever.
I agree with you on Dallas airport, it's so much more modern looking and peaceful than Atlanta.
More westerners move to Dallas than Atlanta, and all the NE'ers comes to Atlanta, that's why it's not as friendly here.
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