Austin, Atlanta, or Charlotte? (Houston, Dallas: fit in, violent crime, chapel)

[sco0437]

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I are a younger 30's professional couple thinking of moving to Austin from Orlando. I am an Orlando native but things here have declined over the past 10 years regarding crime, everyone being from everywhere else, and almost requiring the use of Spanish.

We are also thinking about Atlanta and Charlotte. Does anyone have any thoughts comparing the 3 cities? Honestly, Im thinking about ruling out Atlanta due to being too diverse for me. I am a more of southern type conservative, even though I am tolerant of many things, Id rather not be put in the middle of it... Are the Austin suburbs mainly upper-middle class, white collar workers? Is Round Rock one of those places?

I am looking for a place that has a true sense of identity, is good for raising a family, and isnt too crazy crowded. We love music, food, and outdoor activities like running/biking. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Steve

[atlanta hope]

I grew up in Orlando and lived in Atlanta 93-08.

If you consider Atlanta, most of the intown neighborhoods are blue but the outer lying areas are red. You may be interested in Kennesaw, Alpharetta or Lawrenceville -- or up near Lake Lanier. I think anyone can fit in Atlanta -- it's a BIG place and it is diverse. Something for everyone. You do say you don't like crazy crowded and it is that if you aren't way out in the burbs for both working and living. The traffic itself will induce road rage in anyone. The commute can be one of the worst ones you can imagine.

Not sure what you mean by a true sense of identity. Sherman burned down Atlanta... not too much history there.

Don't know a lot about Charlotte except there are a lot of banks there. We considered moving to the research triangle area - Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham. You might be interested in those cities.

Don't know much about Round Rock since I'm a new transplant. I'll leave that up for someone else to comment on.

[sco0437]

Hi Atlanta Hope,

Thanks for your reply. So how do you like Austin so far? One thing that really bothers me about a place is where everyone is from somewhere else... Orlando has become a haven from everyone from the northeast and puerto rico/cuba. Obviously people can live anywhere they want but I would like a place where people put down roots.

From what ive heard Atlanta is mainly a city for progressive blacks and most of the white people live 20 miles north of the city.. then have to drive 1hr to work everyday.. that doesnt seem like that much fun to me.

Did you visit Austin before you moved there? How long did you stay?

Thanks!

[eepstein]

It is really hard to compare the cities of Austin, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Austin is by far the smallest of the three and has the least to offer. However, it all depends on what you are looking for. Charlotte is a big banking city with close to 2 million people. I guess you could say its a much smaller Atlanta. Charlotte is a pretty decent overall size city fairly close to the mountains, and beach (about 2-3 hours from the Atlantic Ocean). Probably a good place to raise kids.

Atlanta is pretty much a nightmere in most respects. It sprawls like crazy for 50 miles in all directions from downtown, has some of the worst traffic in the nation, and some of the worst air pollution. It is extremely racially divided and has some of the most arrogant people around. (sounds like Austin) However, its has TONS of job and business opportunities so finding a decent job probably won't take much effort. Also, it has a huge airport where one can get pretty much anywhere in the world nonstop.

Originally Posted by sco0437

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I are a younger 30's professional couple thinking of moving to Austin from Orlando. I am an Orlando native but things here have declined over the past 10 years regarding crime, everyone being from everywhere else, and almost requiring the use of Spanish.

We are also thinking about Atlanta and Charlotte. Does anyone have any thoughts comparing the 3 cities? Honestly, Im thinking about ruling out Atlanta due to being too diverse for me. I am a more of southern type conservative, even though I am tolerant of many things, Id rather not be put in the middle of it... Are the Austin suburbs mainly upper-middle class, white collar workers? Is Round Rock one of those places?

I am looking for a place that has a true sense of identity, is good for raising a family, and isnt too crazy crowded. We love music, food, and outdoor activities like running/biking. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Steve

[GritstoGranola]

I have lived in both Charlotte and Atlanta. Charlotte sounds like the place for you. More conservative than Atlanta, smaller, less congested, has a real family sense. Good place to raise kids. Atlanta is a great town, and I loved our time there. But, you sound like you would be better suited to Charlotte. BTW: Charlotte is 3 1/2 to 4 hours from the ocean (not 2 1/2 as someone posted). Close to major lakes, mountains, ocean. Lots of outdoor activities. Check it out.

[elphabaclt]

Originally Posted by eepstein

It is really hard to compare the cities of Austin, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Austin is by far the smallest of the three and has the least to offer. However, it all depends on what you are looking for. Charlotte is a big banking city with close to 2 million people. I guess you could say its a much smaller Atlanta. Charlotte is a pretty decent overall size city fairly close to the mountains, and beach (about 2-3 hours from the Atlantic Ocean). Probably a good place to raise kids.

I just recently moved back to Austin after living in Charlotte for 12 years, and living in Austin for 8 years before that. Austin is most definitely NOT smaller than Charlotte. The Charlotte metro area is slightly larger than Austin's (1.7 million to 1.6 million) but Austin's city population is greater than Charlotte's. Charlotte has professional sports, but is sorely lacking in many other things. Charlotte sprawls out a lot more, but its downtown (or "uptown" as the natives call it) is very small. Charlotte honestly feels like a large suburb. Austin has the University, a great outdoor scene, terrific live music scene and fantastic restaurants.

That being said, Charlote is a beautiful and very clean city. I lived in south Charlotte, which is probably comparable to the suburbs of Austin (Round Rock, NW Austin, Cedar Park). The weather and the trees make Charlotte such a wonderful place to live. Given your preferences (southern conservative), you would probably love Charlotte, especially South Charlotte. It is a banking center so it tends to be more conservative. As much as love Austin, I would also move back to Charlotte in minute.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by atlanta hope

Not sure what you mean by a true sense of identity. Sherman burned down Atlanta... not too much history there.

Says you...there's probably more history here than in the other three cities combined.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by eepstein

Atlanta is pretty much a nightmere in most respects. It sprawls like crazy for 50 miles in all directions from downtown, has some of the worst traffic in the nation, and some of the worst air pollution. It is extremely racially divided and has some of the most arrogant people around.

What you know about Atlanta would fill a thimble.
Always amusing to be labeled 'arrogant' by a Texan.

[myhotradio]

Let me first start off by saying that crime, especially violent crime, is still exceptionally low in Austin for a city of it's size and Charlotte and Atlanta both suffer from their fare share of crime, especially Atlanta. While Austin may be considered a "liberal" city, there are plenty of conservatives and if you can afford to live somewhere on the West side then you will find plenty of likeminded conservative families though you will still feel that Austin vibe.

In terms of hiking and biking, I dont think Round Rock or Pflugerville or most of the northern suburbs are good for that and Austin certainly outdoes Charlotte and Atlanta when it comes to being able to live an active outdoor lifestyle. The northern suburbs strike me as Dallas-like plastic places that dont really have a unique sense of identity and outdoor living isn't always the norm as it is within the city limits but other working-class to upper middle class suburbs liek Dripping Springs and Cedar Park are quite conservative and have a healthy amount of choices when it comes to enjoying the scenary or even some good old live music.

So, in conclusion, I could go on for hours but I don't think you should abandon Austin for a city like Charlotte or Atlanta. They are both cool places but don't compare to here. If anything you should look around and see what neighborhoods you like because Austin has a wide variety and the spanish thing, at least in my opinion, is something that can easily be worked around if you learn a little here and there and look at it from a different angle.

[eepstein]

Well for one thing i'm not a native Texan, (originally from northern CA) just someone who unfortunately took a good job to live here. However, there are MANY nicer, better places than Austin in this country. However, I am quite familar with Atlanta.

1). It has some of the worst air quality in the nation FACT
2,) It has some of the worst traffic in the nation FACT
3.) It is considered the poster child for urban sprawl in this country FACT
4.) More forest is destroyed to make way more new growth in Atlanta suburbs than in any other city in the country FACT
5.) The city of Atlanta is one of the most dangerous cities in the country FACT.

Don't believe me??? Check you stats on the internet. Its all right there.

Im sure Atlanta has some good things to offer, but a really good quality of life, isn't one of them. You don't think Atlanta is arrogant??? OMG. Atlanta has spent the past 20 years bragging about how good it is and has been so desperate to get people to move there. It shares that with Austin, also an incredibly arrogant city. Now Atlanta is nearly the size of Houston and they still want more and more people to come. More and more sprawl, more more more. It's unreal. How could you not see that??

Atlanta has no zoning and builds skyscapers all over the damn place. Atlantas goal. Lets sprawl all the way to TN and AL and have 15 million people living here by 2030. The future Los Angeles of the Southeast!!!


And yes, i certainly am not defending Texas. It's the biggest NOTHING state in the nation and I can't understand why so many people try to boast about a big, worthless turd. Cant understand it.

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

What you know about Atlanta would fill a thimble.
Always amusing to be labeled 'arrogant' by a Texan.