Atlanta or DC (Savannah, Dunwoody, Washington: transplants, apartment, for rent)

[DennyCrane]

I'm trying to decide whether to move to DC or Atlanta. If I moved to DC, I would most likely end up living in NOVA, probably in the Reston area. If I moved to Atlanta, I'd be in the Dunwoody area. I've been weighing the pros and cons of each city and need help deciding.

DC:

Pros:
- Lots of IT jobs
- Lots of culture
- Close to family
- Nice summers, except for the humidity
- More cultured and educated population

Cons:
- HIGH cost of living
- Horrible traffic
- Unfriendly people
- Most IT jobs require security clearance
- Competitive atmosphere
- Humid summers and occasional snow (this past winter was abnormal)

Atlanta:

Pros:
- Low cost of living
- Southern hospitality
- Lots of big employers

Cons:
- Not as many IT jobs as DC
- Horrible traffic
- Brutally hot, humid summers
- More rain
- Farther from family
- Surrounded by Georgia

So if you were a single 30something Type B person who doesn't have kids, works in IT, and would prefer to be close to family, which would you recommend? I'm having a really hard time because even though DC seems like it would be better for my career, the cost of living there TERRIFIES me and I'm not sure my salary would make up for it. On the other hand, I'm worried I'll struggle professionally in Atlanta and will really hate the weather.

Here's the other wrinkle. My job will be ending soon. While it would be ideal to have a job lined up before moving, I doubt I'll be able to land one in time. Since I'll have to look for a new job no matter where I go or I stay in my current location, I figure I might as well move to the city I want to live in. That way, I can at least have a local address to put on my resume.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

I'm trying to decide whether to move to DC or Atlanta. If I moved to DC, I would most likely end up living in NOVA, probably in the Reston area. If I moved to Atlanta, I'd be in the Dunwoody area. I've been weighing the pros and cons of each city and need help deciding.

I wouldn't move to either metro until you have a job lined up (assuming that you're employed now, of course), and the location within the Atlanta metro of your job location will probably have some impact on your choice of housing locations.

Southern Hospitality isn't as common in the Atlanta metro as you might think, mainly because a very large percentage of the residents are not natives.

The traffic in Atlanta can be avoided by choosing a home within a reasonable commute of your workplace. See above.

The summers in Atlanta aren't brutally hot or as humid as you might think. I'm a native Minnesotan, and I was expecting a lot worse given the nickname of "hotlanta" and all, but the metro is at roughly 1000 feet about sea level and that makes a difference. It's a lot better here than in Florida in the summertime, IMO.

The rest of the state of Georgia isn't bad, really, at least to visit. I love the hills of northern Georgia, and there are various places scattered throughout the state which make for interesting day or weekend trips.

[roxyrn]

Very easy, go where you have a job.

[atlantagreg30127]

Ditto on the job thing. Although I guess in DC you'd have the advantage of being able to stay/live with the close family to save money until you find something if nothing is lined up. Either market right now is iffy at best with jobs.

If you take public transit to work, DC's metro is a lot more extensive than MARTA and they have commuter rails as well. If all you do is drive everywhere, either city is about the same, really. Both cities have younger professional crowds intown. Atlanta is a city of transplants - if you want the "Southern Hospitality" you speak of (if you mean it by what most people think it is) you're more likely to find it in Savannah than Atlanta, though Atlanta is admitted a friendlier town that some other larger cities.

All things being close to equal, if you're close to your family, it sounds like DC might have the edge.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I wouldn't move to either metro until you have a job lined up (assuming that you're employed now, of course), and the location within the Atlanta metro of your job location will probably have some impact on your choice of housing locations.

Originally Posted by roxyrn

Very easy, go where you have a job.

See my update above. The reason I picked Dunwoody as a potential place to settle is because I know that IT jobs are either downtown or up in the northern burbs. Plus, Dunwoody is very close to the train.

[tonygeorgia]

Atlanta....

better people
cheaper cost of living ( you will never be able to afford a nice house in DC, you can in Atlanta)
less traffic than dc
dc is #1 in hiv
taking the train to work will cost you over $8 a day if you have to park at the train station
rude people in dc
more crime in dc
you have to pay to park downtown on the streets on the weekends now

dc has a lot of culture and things to do, dc is where you go to get your career started and most people want to leave after a few years

weather in DC and Atl is ALMOST the same. DC has more snow but Atlanta is normally only a few degrees warmer than DC

[GaBison2007]

I'm actually in Washington D.C. right now and saving up money to move to Atlanta GA...I;ve been here about 7 years now and I just can't afford it anymore nor am I being professionally fulfilled

To be honest with you...DC's cost of living is getting a bit insane. At minimum expect to pay at least $1100+ to find a simple 1 bedroom (most of the time that does not even count ALL utilities and these are some of the more basic units)...and if you ever think of becoming an entrepreneur, def think about the higher taxes and costs that will go along with creating a business in DC....but you talked about staying in Reston which is cheaper...however if you're gonna work in DC the commute(and parking) might be a bit tiresome and you may even WANT to pay the prices for rent after you're done with transportation expenses

In terms of IT...what are you trying to do in the IT world? ATL could be a better location depending on what you want to do. My friend works with IT but he does flash, graphics, and other programming and the only jobs he can find are boring government/corporate jobs and projects where he's not really being creative but just fixing glitches on websites and other busy work...he freelances (where he makes way less money) to still keep his creative juices flowing but he's not fulfilled and wanting to move somewhere else. Whereas I have friends in ATL happy with their various IT jobs and liking the fact ATL has more of a VARIETY of IT jobs....That's why I'm moving though I'm in a different field (marketing and event planning)...I know DC has more jobs for me, mainly in the govt due to the recession, but the variety of jobs is seriously lacking compared to ATL and I can't wait 6 months just to get cleared for one government position, maybe it's due to the corporations flocking to GA?....However, regardless of the recession, think about which would help you grow in the field you want to work in

DC transportation-Yes DC public transportation is better than MARTA in terms of where we can go...however in terms of reliability, I'm not so sure since I haven't used Marta in a long time. I take public transportation (because i can't afford a car with the rent I pay) but because of severe overcrowding, or the bus not coming on time and glitches, alot of times I'm late to work....reliability is a big issue which I hope they can approve upon and I know alot of my coworkers just drive because they can't stand the public transportation..however this poses a problem because noone in the area can barely find parking and even if so, you'd have to pay a high price for it


Finally-In regards to DC having a more cultured population...I'm not so sure...then again I worked in hospitality and saw DC white-collar political/corporate types have meltdowns in the lobby over not having their coffee the correct temperature or ranting about Poor/Middle Class People being "Lazy and Immoral" during this recession Lol

[DennyCrane]

GaBison2007,

All this time I was focusing on the number of IT jobs without really giving much thought to the type of jobs. While I don't need to be doing cutting-edge type work that's "cool", I also don't know if I'd want to spend the rest of my days in a job that bores me to death. It may pay well, but if that money gets eaten by rent, then what's the point? $1100 would get a really nice 2-bedroom apartment in Dunwoody. In this market, I keep telling myself I can't be picky about jobs. But in the long run, I know I wouldn't be fulfilled just doing bug fixes. It's a tradeoff between job security and job fulfillment. The issue of security clearance is another concern. I know that if I had clearance, I'd have access to more jobs. But I don't know how easily I'll be able to get it and if I don't, I worry that could severely limit my options.

As for public transit, where I work now, the biggest issue is cost. The train pass plus the cost of parking adds up to what a monthly car payment would be. And no one ever has to stand up on the train here.

Maybe I should just start applying to both cities and pick whoever offers me the best job. If I got an Atlanta job with a DC salary, that would be nice.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

See my update above. The reason I picked Dunwoody as a potential place to settle is because I know that IT jobs are either downtown or up in the northern burbs. Plus, Dunwoody is very close to the train.

Not all of them are. I work in the Cumberland area which could be considered "north" I suppose, and there are a lot of IT folks in these parts with WorldSpan (TravelPort) and Home Depot both having their headquarters within a mile or two of the mall and a lot of other companies having facilities in the area, but the company I work for also has a computer center by the airport, and I'm sure Delta and at least some other companies have at least some presence in the southern half of the metro.

Dunwoody isn't a bad place as a general location, though.

FWIW, unemployment in the Atlanta metro is around 10.8%, I think. It isn't good. I know technology people down here who are currently out of work, but of course a lot will depend on your specific skills and technical/industry experience.

Metro Atlanta unemployment unchanged at record 10.8 percent | The Biz Beat

[Iconographer]

JMHO...DC was the worst place that I ever lived; choose Atlanta.