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Hi everyone,
Which city is better in terms of public transportation, cost of living, employment, and a mother with a child?
The cities I am considering are:
Charlotte, NC
Atlanta, GA
Dallas, TX
Austin, TX
I lived in Austin for a few years, so I know what it is like there, but how would it compare to the rest.
As far as Dallas, I heard that it is a bit sprawled out and difficult with public transportation, but I have friends who have lived there that said it was a pretty good city. I also heard good things about Atlanta, but some say that the transportation could be better.
Also, which cities would be the best if you have a degree in social work or in education or are looking to get a degree in either of these fields?
How do all of these cities compare in general?
Thank you.
Hi everyone,
Which city is better in terms of public transportation, cost of living, employment, and a mother with a child?
The cities I am considering are:
Charlotte, NC
Atlanta, GA
Dallas, TX
Austin, TX
I lived in Austin for a few years, so I know what it is like there, but how would it compare to the rest.
As far as Dallas, I heard that it is a bit sprawled out and difficult with public transportation, but I have friends who have lived there that said it was a pretty good city. I also heard good things about Atlanta, but some say that the transportation could be better.
Also, which cities would be the best if you have a degree in social work or in education or are looking to get a degree in either of these fields?
How do all of these cities compare in general?
Thank you.
Oh no. I'll start by saying this will eventually get locked due to Charlotte and Atlanta being in the same sentence.
Atlanta has the best public transportation, but the other ones are improving.
Cost of living I'd definitely give to Charlotte.
As for the employment you're looking for, I'm not exactly sure which would be better, but I don't think you'll have too big of a problem in any of the cities.
Out of the cities you mentioned, Charlotte and/or Atlanta is better for single mothers, but that's my personal opinion.
Take Charlotte off the list - Huge letdown. Austin, TX is a phenominal place as the economy is growing there. Lots more job growth there. Very much a diverse economy with a stable cost of living.
For employment, I would say Atl, Dallas and/or Austin are top. Texas is just booming economically with Atl not falling behind either. Dallas economy is so freaking diverse anyone can virtually find employment. Austin is more geared towards tech and financial sectors.
Personally, I would rule out Charlotte (personally)...
Public transportation goes to ATL but Dallas got the best highway system of them all. I've had no issues riding DART either. In dallas You WILL need a car. Only NYC, Chicago and San Fran are adequate w/o a car in my opinion.
I think cost of living is the same for Dallas, Austin, and Atl. Housing listings seem about the same for Dallas and Atl with Austin being a little higher. (from prices I've seen in multiple websites).
I would add that Austin is beautiful in landscape and scenary plus the hill country next door.
Dallas is mainly flat but does have somewhat of a rolling feel/view to it plus a few "hills" which is nice and Atl is nice too with the mountains up north. As far as the city goes, Dallas is way better than Atl!! Dallas has a more modern/sophisticated feel to it, Dallas is becoming a cosmopolitan city..Atl city is nice but I think its suburbs are boring whereas Dallas burbs may be "cookie cutter" but heck I'd rather have new and nice!! Personal taste I guess..
PS..I would think Dallas and Austin are wayyyy more culturally diverse based on experience and statistics.
1. Although the economies in all four cities are in healthy shape, Dallas has the most robust and the fastest-growing enomony out of the four. I believe Dallas' economic growth is only by Houston and San Francisco. Jobs are also more abundant in Dallas than the other three.
2. Atlanta easily triumphs all of the other cities in regards to public transportation, although it's not as efficient as some of the older, more established cities like Boston and Chicago. MARTA is also the largest public transportation system to not receive state funding, so that also plays a role in its efficiency. In Dallas, DART's light rail network is expanding quite rapidly.
3. Austin has the highest cost-of-living, although there isn't much that separates these cities in that regard.
4. Personally, I like Dallas and Atlanta equally. Both cities have some execellent economic prospects, and I don't see them going down anytime in the near future.
Take Charlotte off the list - Huge letdown. Austin, TX is a phenominal place as the economy is growing there. Lots more job growth there. Very much a diverse economy with a stable cost of living.
I agree economy wise, Austin beats Charlotte. IMO Dallas beats Atlanta for economy too. TX cities can't be matched right now for economy.
From someone who just moved to Charlotte from Atlanta, and has stayed overnight in the two Texan cities, I can say Charlotte's cost of living is much better and you'll get a lot more house for your money.
We payed around $700,000 for our house in Atlanta, which was a 5 bedroom/5 bathroom with a two car garage in a nice subdivision. That house sold for $632,500. Our current Charlotte home costed us $600,000 and has one more bedroom, two more bathrooms, a pool, an extra garage and is also in a very nice subdivision and we still had enough money to snatch up a really nice apartment in Uptown and start timeshare at the beach.
I do agree with the other poster on Dallas having the best economy. I do not agree with the poster who said Charlotte should be taken off the list. It really offers a lot more than what people may think. There's nothing like it.
From someone who just moved to Charlotte from Atlanta, and has stayed overnight in the two Texan cities, I can say Charlotte's cost of living is much better and you'll get a lot more house for your money.
We payed around $700,000 for our house in Atlanta, which was a 5 bedroom/5 bathroom with a two car garage in a nice subdivision. That house sold for $632,500. Our current Charlotte home costed us $600,000 and has one more bedroom, two more bathrooms, a pool, an extra garage and is also in a very nice subdivision and we still had enough money to snatch up a really nice apartment in Uptown and start timeshare at the beach.
I do agree with the other poster on Dallas having the best economy. I do not agree with the poster who said Charlotte should be taken off the list. It really offers a lot more than what people may think. There's nothing like it.
I believe salaries on average are higher in Charlotte too, good post.
Last edited by Ice Cream Man; 04-16-2013 at 04:20 PM..
the four cities, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta and Charlotte offer affordable living for sure
BUT when it comes to jobs and prosperous opportunities definitely it's in Texas,, Austin and Dallas.
Far more everything... jobs, galore of shopping malls. friendlier people and much more diverse.
You can find just about everything and anything you want
Atlanta it's beautiful like Charlotte because of the Piedmont hills and pine forests that surround a lot of the city.. Not to say tho just east of Dallas and barely east of Austin you also have your pineforest scenery so it's not a dramatic difference as if we were comparing lets say Miami to Seattle,, yall feel me?
I can see someone from Augusta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Raleigh, Chattanooga, Nashville, Jackson move to Atlanta for better opportunities and jobs. But you rarely hear someone from either San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Ft. Worth or Dallas say, "I'm moving to Atlanta because of a better paying job, or because of less crime (which ATL in this case tops out as being more dangerous than Dallas or Austin). As a matter of fact Austin Texas has one of the lowest crimes rates of any major city not just in the U.S. but in the world.
and Charlotte is much smaller version of Atlanta and unless you have plans there, money saved up or have a contract job that you signed up from another state, .... um don't expect much unless you want to work at Walmart, Bojangles or Food Lion. #just saying
I live in Dallas now but lived in Atlanta about a year ago and considered both Austin and Charlotte. As far as the economy, like others said, you won't beat Texas. I read somewhere that Texas created more jobs than all 49 states COMBINED, so there's no lack of jobs.
You will need a car unless you live/work in the actual city of Dallas, you could probably get away with doing that in uptown as well but Dallas, like the other cities, is very reliant on a car.
One thing that no one mentioned was there is no state income tax in Texas, which I believe both GA and NC have a 6% rate, as of 2014. I'm not sure what type of salary you make but the more money you make, the better Texas will be. Texas makes up for that lack of state income tax with VERY high property taxes. If buying a home is a priority for you, depending on what type of salary you make, NC or GA may be a better options, as they have lower property taxes. With that being said, North Dallas has some really excellent schools and I believe the Richardson ISD is the best in the state.
As far as safety goes, like every large city, it has it's good and bad areas but living in both Dallas and Atlanta, I never felt unsafe in either, although I will say Dallas may be a bit safer. I see police everywhere and haven't seen or heard of too many violent crimes in the north Dallas areas.
Last edited by livedeverywhere123; 07-13-2014 at 03:48 PM..
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