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As a CA native the thought of making a change has crossed my mind lately. Out of the three metros listed which would you choose for:
COL
QOL
Job Opportunities/Economy
Entertainment
Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility
Proximity to other major cities
Quick rundown I'm born and raised in CA, wife is originally from Toronto but has spent some time in GA. Couple in our mid 30's, no kids yet but planning on it soon. Her family still lives in Toronto, my parents are in CA so would like to have easy accessibility to both locations. I have sisters who both live in DMV and ATL areas. Not 100% sold on making a move as we bought a new home 2.5 years ago but would be open to it if everything makes sense. I work in logistics and she's in the medical field.
I've been to all three cities numerous times and they're all pretty similar in most sense. Trying to stay out of the cold/snow, extreme heat doesn't bother me as much as high humidity heat.
COL- Phoenix. All 3 cities are very affordable for their sizes but Phoenix is stupid cheap.
QOL- Dallas. Atlanta is close, considering it has great amenities and is a major city, but imo Dallas has it beat, ever so slightly.
Job Opportunities/Economy- Phoenix. No contest. But the other 2 cities have strong job and wage growth as well.
Entertainment- Atlanta. By far the most fun city of the 3. Dallas is second, and Phoenix a distant third.
Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility- Atlanta. Phoenix is blazing hot 8 months out of the year. Dallas has its moments but it’s also hot too often as well. Atlanta is the closest thing to having seasons, so outdoor activities are appropriate a good amount of the year.
Proximity to other major cities- Dallas. It’s within 4 hours or so of Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Atlanta is within 4 hours of Nashville and Charlotte. Phoenix is 5 hours from LA, Vegas, and San Diego
Dead even with 2 apiece. Which factors do you value most? For instance if you have a job lined up or work from home, I’d choose Atlanta in a heartbeat. If you want to take advantage of income taxes, Dallas is your clear winner.
My choice would be Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix in that order.
From the choices Atl fits your criteria most.
Loss of job opportunities in all three but in my opinion the tree cover makes outdoor activities in Atlanta more bearable than in the other two. I would give it the edge for entertainment too
COL - Phoenix > Atlanta > Dallas - Dallas has become expensive over the decade, Atlanta has too but not as quickly as Dallas. QOL - Dallas - No state tax, very easy to get around, booming economy. Job Opportunities/Economy - Dallas Entertainment - If you're into Sports, Dallas easily. If you're into music, shows, movie scene, bar scene, ect - Atlanta easily. Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility - Atlanta easily Proximity to other major cities - Dallas is close to San Antonio, Austin, and Houston but all of them are like alternate versions of Dallas except Austin. Atlanta has more variety in destinations within its proximity. I'd say Atlanta.
COL- Phoenix. All 3 cities are very affordable for their sizes but Phoenix is stupid cheap.
QOL- Dallas. Atlanta is close, considering it has great amenities and is a major city, but imo Dallas has it beat, ever so slightly.
Job Opportunities/Economy- Phoenix. No contest. But the other 2 cities have strong job and wage growth as well.
Entertainment- Atlanta. By far the most fun city of the 3. Dallas is second, and Phoenix a distant third.
Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility- Atlanta. Phoenix is blazing hot 8 months out of the year. Dallas has its moments but it’s also hot too often as well. Atlanta is the closest thing to having seasons, so outdoor activities are appropriate a good amount of the year.
Proximity to other major cities- Dallas. It’s within 4 hours or so of Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Atlanta is within 4 hours of Nashville and Charlotte. Phoenix is 5 hours from LA, Vegas, and San Diego
Dead even with 2 apiece. Which factors do you value most? For instance if you have a job lined up or work from home, I’d choose Atlanta in a heartbeat. If you want to take advantage of income taxes, Dallas is your clear winner.
My choice would be Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix in that order.
QOL is subjective.
Phoenix a distant third when it comes to entertainment is an exaggeration. So is "blazing hot" for 8 months out of the year.
Proximity to other major cities - What difference is one hour if you're already driving 4 hours? Although I love TX, when considering proximity to other major cities/entertainment, I would imagine LA, Vegas (4.5 hours), San Diego, and Puerto Penasco MX (closer to 3.5 hours) may be a bigger draw for some than the other cities you listed. Since OP's family is still in CA, this makes sense.
As a CA native the thought of making a change has crossed my mind lately. Out of the three metros listed which would you choose for:
COL
QOL
Job Opportunities/Economy
Entertainment
Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility
Proximity to other major cities
Quick rundown I'm born and raised in CA, wife is originally from Toronto but has spent some time in GA. Couple in our mid 30's, no kids yet but planning on it soon. Her family still lives in Toronto, my parents are in CA so would like to have easy accessibility to both locations. I have sisters who both live in DMV and ATL areas. Not 100% sold on making a move as we bought a new home 2.5 years ago but would be open to it if everything makes sense. I work in logistics and she's in the medical field.
I've been to all three cities numerous times and they're all pretty similar in most sense. Trying to stay out of the cold/snow, extreme heat doesn't bother me as much as high humidity heat.
Any thoughts or feedback would be great.
Phoenix might be the better choice for you because of low humidity, decent COL and as a CA native, it would be an easier transition.
I from Phoenix and now live in Atlanta. Atlanta and Dallas have some similarities but Phoenix is nothing like Atlanta. Only thing they have in common is sprawl but that’s about it.
COL: Phoenix. Atlanta and Dallas are pricey in their cores but all 3 cities are more or less on par with each other. Of course your paycheck goes further in Dallas due to no state income tax in Texas.
QOL: Subjective. You can have a decent QOL in either city.
Job Opportunities/Economy: Atlanta and Dallas are very corporate cities with lots of companies headquartered in both. They’re also huge transportation hubs. Both cities have booming economies. Phoenix feels more blue collar and doesn’t have a huge white collar employment base for such a large city and metro area.
Entertainment: Atlanta
Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility: Phoenix wins hands down. Dallas and Atlanta can’t hold a candle to the outdoor activities offered in metro Phoenix. North Georgia is beautiful but Arizona is absolutely breathtaking with so many outdoor activities. I miss the mountains out West!
Proximity to other major cities: Atlanta. Atlanta is within a 2 hour drive of Birmingham, Chattanooga, Knoxville. Within a 3-5 hour drive of Nashville, Savannah, Greenville, Charlotte, Florida Panhandle (Destin beach, etc). Not to mention having the world’s busiest airport and being within a 2 hour flight of 80% of the US population.
COL- Phoenix. All 3 cities are very affordable for their sizes but Phoenix is stupid cheap.
QOL- Dallas. Atlanta is close, considering it has great amenities and is a major city, but imo Dallas has it beat, ever so slightly.
Job Opportunities/Economy- Phoenix. No contest. But the other 2 cities have strong job and wage growth as well.
Entertainment- Atlanta. By far the most fun city of the 3. Dallas is second, and Phoenix a distant third.
Outdoor/Leisure Accessibility- Atlanta. Phoenix is blazing hot 8 months out of the year. Dallas has its moments but it’s also hot too often as well. Atlanta is the closest thing to having seasons, so outdoor activities are appropriate a good amount of the year.
Proximity to other major cities- Dallas. It’s within 4 hours or so of Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Atlanta is within 4 hours of Nashville and Charlotte. Phoenix is 5 hours from LA, Vegas, and San Diego
Dead even with 2 apiece. Which factors do you value most? For instance if you have a job lined up or work from home, I’d choose Atlanta in a heartbeat. If you want to take advantage of income taxes, Dallas is your clear winner.
My choice would be Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix in that order.
There are not significantly more job opportunities and a better economy in Phoenix compared to Dallas.
I vote Phoenix. A previous poster stated, "stupid cheap". No, not that cheap. I classify it as normal affordable for those that work for a living. Housing is going up quickly. Rents have risen here faster than anywhere in the country.
If you are comparing to LA, SF, Seattle, and NY ... sure, considerably more affordable than those metros that are extreme cases and not in line with the sanity of the rest of the country.
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