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Boston by an incredibly large margin. There's no comparison between the two. Boston has a 50% larger population in about 36% the space. The city is based around the pedestrian instead of the car and has some of the most pleasant, inviting, beautiful streetscapes in the nation.
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Economy
Even though Atlanta has grown far faster over the past decade or two, it's hard to give this to Atlanta over Boston.
In terms of unemployment, Boston is at 6% while Atlanta is at 8.3%. Despite Atlanta having an MSA with nearly 16% more people...Boston's GDP is nearly 15% larger than that of Atlanta ($325.6 Billion vs $283.3 Billion), and in the past 5 years Boston's GDP has grown by 9.1% vs Atlanta's 3.5%.
On top of that, in terms of being a knowledge-based hub, Boston rolls Atlanta. There is no comparison between these two when it comes to high technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, life sciences/medical research, financial services, management consulting, etc. This isn't to say Atlanta is necessarily bad in any of those areas....but Boston is among the world's elite in all of them.
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Downtown
Again, Boston's central core puts it on a different level than Atlanta...there's no comparing the architecture, charm, walkability, amenities, and general bustle between the neighborhoods.
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Suburbs
Though it's technically part of the city, Buckhead is very suburban and is a pretty cool spot. I think outside of some of the prettier inner-burbs, Atlanta falls into the cookie cutter style in too much. It's hard to put newly developed cities against an old one such as Boston just because the suburbs of Boston have been around so long that they've been able to build their own beautiful town centers (from long before the car was around). Also, due to the long history of Boston, you've probably heard of places like Salem, Lexington, Concord, and Plymouth...then there are other places with fantastic town centers/harbors like Hingham, Weston, Wellesley, Cohasset, Scituate (my original home), Gloucester...and then moving up further North to New Hampshire you find beautiful cities like Portsmouth.
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Future possibilities
Well Atlanta has the room to expand...but having such an abundance of universities means Boston will always be a start-up haven and have an innovative economy. This ensures that Boston will always be on the cutting edge, whereas a city like Atlanta, who has had a huge chunk of their economic growth based on service jobs, may not necessarily always be able to keep up.
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Public transportation
I think you could argue Marta is one of the best non-Northeastern/Chicagoan subways in the country...and easily the best in the Sunbelt. However it's nowhere near the T.
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Open mindness
Sort of a weird subject. Boston is a haven for academics & liberal thought...Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage...it's a pretty open minded place. However Atlanta is known as a very gay friendly city despite being located in a very conservative state. I know being gay friendly doesn't necessarily mean a place/person is open-minded, but it's a decent enough gay-ge (see what I did there?) given recent political activity.
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Schools
Boston on every level.
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Wages
Boston has higher wages but also far higher cost of living.
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Weather
I haven't spent any time in Atlanta during the summer but I imagine it being about as fun as Boston's winter. Other than that, Atlanta has pretty falls (though not as pretty as Boston's) and generally more comfortable weather in the winter, which will score it points.
My post is heavily in favor of Boston...but I truly believe it's a better city in basically every way outside of COL.
I think most would say Boston's winters are worse than Georgia's summers. Atlanta only tops out at an average of about 90, the summers are shorter, and there are more humid places. Atlanta's weather is certainly milder.
For me Atlanta . I don't have kids and I'm out of school so that's not a concern. I prefer the weather in Atlanta . I work in entertainment industry. I'm black and I like the resources I have in Atlanta. Well lets just say I would rather live in Atlanta.
I have visited both for work and I have to give it to Boston hands down. Actually, besides the historical sites and wonderful restaurants and friendliness, I have to say I felt much safer in Boston than in Atlanta and I was treated with more respect and felt more welcomed in Boston than in Atlanta and I'm saying this as a black man.
Additionally, even though Atlanta may have more blacks in positions of power, the state of Massachusetts has a twice elected black governor, which I think speaks volumes. I don't see the state of Georgia electing a black governor anytime in the near future. Do any of you?
No one thought we would see a black president .. it took long enough but it happened.
wow, give me a break, Boston wins this hands down.
I could only understand Atlanta if you:
1. Prefer suburban living
2. hotter weather
3. you don't make much
4. you're southern and prefer less global culture
wow, give me a break, Boston wins this hands down.
I could only understand Atlanta if you:
1. Prefer suburban living
2. hotter weather
3. you don't make much
4. you're southern and prefer less global culture
The thing is, the vast majority of Americans prefer suburban living due to a variety of reasons, the top being good schools, lower COL, and a lot more space especially if you have a family. Why else is Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Miami growing at alarming rates? Realistically though, most people don't care about how urban a city is. Most hardly pay attention to that stuff. This website is not the representative of the general population. This website, specifically, this forum caters more to urban dwellers then a suburbanite.
And less global culture? I guess that's why Boston has a 78% white population. Clearly, it's on global terms and a cosmopolitan city. Hell, Dallas and Houston are MUCH more diverse then Boston and they are southern/conservative. Stop using global culture and diversity as a pro for Boston. Quite frankly, Boston doesn't have diversity and many of the southern metros have MORE diversity then Boston.
The thing is, the vast majority of Americans prefer suburban living due to a variety of reasons, the top being good schools, lower COL, and a lot more space especially if you have a family. Why else is Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Miami growing at alarming rates? Realistically though, most people don't care about how urban a city is. Most hardly pay attention to that stuff. This website is not the representative of the general population. This website, specifically, this forum caters more to urban dwellers then a suburbanite.
And less global culture? I guess that's why Boston has a 78% white population. Clearly, it's on global terms and a cosmopolitan city. Hell, Dallas and Houston are MUCH more diverse then Boston and they are southern/conservative. Stop using global culture and diversity as a pro for Boston. Quite frankly, Boston doesn't have diversity and many of the southern metros have MORE diversity then Boston.
I'm in a rush so I can't post anything (will try to do it tonight), but Boston is actually much more diverse than people are making it out to be. Despite being nearly 80% white, it has a very wide range of ethnic groups. Remember that under that "white" umbrella is the world's largest Brasilian population, what may be the largest Cape Verdean population, and a significant Arab population. On top of that, Boston has a solid representation of foreign-born Europeans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Haitians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Cambodians, among several others.
wow, give me a break, Boston wins this hands down.
I could only understand Atlanta if you:
1. Prefer suburban living
2. hotter weather
3. you don't make much
4. you're southern and prefer less global culture 6. want to live in a city that's a bit more unique in it's diversity
Fixed
You really shouldn't make those "only" statements. Because there's always more reasons than you think for an opposing viewpoint. Boston is nowhere near ATL in terms of African-American presence and culture.
Well, I was speaking specifically of how these neighborhoods came to be historically. Today, obviously, when it does occur it is by choice.
We are talking about both the Boston and Atlanta of today though.
As for a better place to live, I think I'd be happy with either one depending on personal context especially as defined by employment (what field, how much, where's the workplace) and friends/family (do I have any there).
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