Relocation help! Phoenix vs Baltimore (county) vs possibly ATL (living, cost, better)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Having difficulty deciding between these 3 cities. My main thing is affordability. I want to be able to buy a decent house on a ~55k salary. If anyone has any info on cost of living differences in these cities please share. Which city would you choose and why?
"Decent" house is very subjective. It will be much smaller in Baltimore since Baltimore is more urban than the other two. But my criteria is vastly different from yours I think. I chose Baltimore because Phoenix is a living hell for me. I hate suburbs and tract homes and I function better in colder weather than in hot weather. I hate driving places. I like urban cities. Just overall I'm extremely biased against Phoenix and I'm not afraid to admit it.
Atlanta would be a bit better. But still, for me, it's not ideal. It's still more suburban. Downtown/Midtown/Buckhead is a walkable stretch and has a subway system and stuff, but it's just not the same IMO.
I like Baltimore since it's an older city with more character. It's closer to many other cities for vacations. Depending on where you live, walking or taking public transit is easy. It's closer to beaches. It does get hot in summer, but nothing like Phoenix. I actually enjoy winter so it has the realest winter of the three choices.
I would choose Atlanta as it has something for everyone, mild winters, hot but not overly hot summers. It also seems to have a massive selection of housing with lots of surplus inventory. Its a real city with dense neighborhoods with interesting things to offer. The home prices and apartment rents seem to be very low compared to most other world-class metropolitan areas.
I can't imagine anyone picking Baltimore or Phoenix over a true world-class metroppolitan like Atlanta with its lush forest like atmosphere, beautiful and vibrant northside neighborhoods and mild and lush climate.
Phoenix seems cheap but the electric bills are very high. I lived in a 3,000 square foot home with roomies and the utility bills were 600 dollars a month in the summer to live in the dust metropolis with towering haboobs monthly. If you like summer daytime highs regularly 110-115 and night-time lows in the 90s due to the heat island then enjoy. The lawns in Phoenix are mainly gravel unlike Atlanta with beautiful lush yards. Phoenix itself is an unvibrant dump filled with the grossest looking beige stucco houses I have seen with prison style walls between each property many with barking pit bulls. Despite being nearly 4 times then population of the city of Atlanta, it has a pathetic deserted downtown with deserted neighborhoods adjacent. Houses are not cheap in Phoenix either considering they don't have basements. North Central is the Midtown/Buckhead wanna be area and fails miserably in every way. Phoenix has some decent suburban areas but a majority of the city itself is a desolate dump filled with warehouses, vacant land and chain linked fences.
I will take Midtown Atlanta, Buckhead, Virginia Highlands in Atlanta over Phoenix's Maryvale or Sunnyslope.
Baltimore County I am not familiar with but I have heard Baltimore suburbs are in close proximity to DC and all of the BosWash corridor at your fingertips at a fraction of the price.
Last edited by lovecrowds; 03-13-2016 at 08:27 PM..
Looking for like winters (I'm from San Diego) safe for kids, diverse, good job market (medical field). I like having my car and not using public transportation. phoenix appeals to me since its somewhat close to home and affordable, atlanta appeals to me because its diverse but I've heard dating sucks there.
Looking for like winters (I'm from San Diego) safe for kids, diverse, good job market (medical field). I like having my car and not using public transportation. phoenix appeals to me since its somewhat close to home and affordable, atlanta appeals to me because its diverse but I've heard dating sucks there.
Atlanta has all of those things plus a huge dating and club scene if you're into that. I think there are more women which makes dating easier for men and harder for women but you'll find somebody. The Medical Industry is strong in Atlanta with Grady, Piedmont, and Emory leading the way. Also you could easily find a cheap flight to San Diego from Atlanta.
I would choose Atlanta as it has something for everyone, mild winters, hot but not overly hot summers. It also seems to have a massive selection of housing with lots of surplus inventory. Its a real city with dense neighborhoods with interesting things to offer. The home prices and apartment rents seem to be very low compared to most other world-class metropolitan areas.
I can't imagine anyone picking Baltimore or Phoenix over a true world-class metroppolitan like Atlanta with its lush forest like atmosphere, beautiful and vibrant northside neighborhoods and mild and lush climate.
Phoenix seems cheap but the electric bills are very high. I lived in a 3,000 square foot home with roomies and the utility bills were 600 dollars a month in the summer to live in the dust metropolis with towering haboobs monthly. If you like summer daytime highs regularly 110-115 and night-time lows in the 90s due to the heat island then enjoy. The lawns in Phoenix are mainly gravel unlike Atlanta with beautiful lush yards. Phoenix itself is an unvibrant dump filled with the grossest looking beige stucco houses I have seen with prison style walls between each property many with barking pit bulls. Despite being nearly 4 times then population of the city of Atlanta, it has a pathetic deserted downtown with deserted neighborhoods adjacent. Houses are not cheap in Phoenix either considering they don't have basements. North Central is the Midtown/Buckhead wanna be area and fails miserably in every way. Phoenix has some decent suburban areas but a majority of the city itself is a desolate dump filled with warehouses, vacant land and chain linked fences.
I will take Midtown Atlanta, Buckhead, Virginia Highlands in Atlanta over Phoenix's Maryvale or Sunnyslope.
Baltimore County I am not familiar with but I have heard Baltimore suburbs are in close proximity to DC and all of the BosWash corridor at your fingertips at a fraction of the price.
Use your imagination. Sure, Atlanta has more glitz and glamour than Baltimore, but please, don't even attempt to discount Baltimore.
Looking for like winters (I'm from San Diego) safe for kids, diverse, good job market (medical field). I like having my car and not using public transportation. phoenix appeals to me since its somewhat close to home and affordable, atlanta appeals to me because its diverse but I've heard dating sucks there.
If you want a similar lifestyle then choose Atlanta. I personally chose Baltimore before you said this information. If I could change my vote, I would change it to Atlanta now. Winters are a bit colder than San Diego, but nothing like Baltimore. It's more suburban. I honestly Just can't recommend Phoenix in any situation. The "city" is appalling to me. I'm not sure where you heard that the Atlanta dating scene sucks, but it's a very large metro full of transplants and young people. It can't be much worse than any other city.
If you're more open to moving to Baltimore City rather than Baltimore County, some of the Live Baltimore incentives might assist you in making your decision: Live Baltimore
I would choose Atlanta as it has something for everyone, mild winters, hot but not overly hot summers. It also seems to have a massive selection of housing with lots of surplus inventory. Its a real city with dense neighborhoods with interesting things to offer. The home prices and apartment rents seem to be very low compared to most other world-class metropolitan areas.
I can't imagine anyone picking Baltimore or Phoenix over a true world-class metroppolitan like Atlanta with its lush forest like atmosphere, beautiful and vibrant northside neighborhoods and mild and lush climate.
Phoenix seems cheap but the electric bills are very high. I lived in a 3,000 square foot home with roomies and the utility bills were 600 dollars a month in the summer to live in the dust metropolis with towering haboobs monthly. If you like summer daytime highs regularly 110-115 and night-time lows in the 90s due to the heat island then enjoy. The lawns in Phoenix are mainly gravel unlike Atlanta with beautiful lush yards. Phoenix itself is an unvibrant dump filled with the grossest looking beige stucco houses I have seen with prison style walls between each property many with barking pit bulls. Despite being nearly 4 times then population of the city of Atlanta, it has a pathetic deserted downtown with deserted neighborhoods adjacent. Houses are not cheap in Phoenix either considering they don't have basements. North Central is the Midtown/Buckhead wanna be area and fails miserably in every way. Phoenix has some decent suburban areas but a majority of the city itself is a desolate dump filled with warehouses, vacant land and chain linked fences.
I will take Midtown Atlanta, Buckhead, Virginia Highlands in Atlanta over Phoenix's Maryvale or Sunnyslope.
Baltimore County I am not familiar with but I have heard Baltimore suburbs are in close proximity to DC and all of the BosWash corridor at your fingertips at a fraction of the price.
Wow troll alert.
1. The average daytime high in Phoenix in the summer is 115? LOL yeah right, lived in Phoenix for 16 years and I can assure you that is not the average high for 3 months of the year, good lord.
2. This is also false, I don't know a single friend who has gravel in their yard. Most of central Phoenix, Arcadia, Baltimore, east Phoenix, ect all have homes with grass in their yards. We are not tuscon, ppl in phoenix are allowed to water their yards lol
EXAMPLES https://goo.gl/maps/zsYH7DHxMny https://goo.gl/maps/KPUW23mGDuQ2 https://goo.gl/maps/2vB6BZckscp https://goo.gl/maps/DqvcCzJuUv32
3. Yeah I think anyone would take living in midtown over Maryvale!!!...Maryvale is by no means a "hip or trendy area" a better comparison would be midtown/buckhead to old town/downtown scottsdale/eastern Phoenix.
You clearly hated living in Phoenix and have it out for the city so OP please don't pay attention to this blatantly biased post.
To give you non biased answer I have lived in DC/BLT area and Phoenix and I personally liked phoenix for its great weather aside from summer, I like western culture more, and it is closer to family in California. Atlanta is a great city also. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the options you listed but I would chose Atlanta if cost of living is your number one focus, can't beat the COL in ATL.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
