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I am planning to move out of a small NE city in US to a metro.I work in IT and usually we have more chances of landing a job(with my skillset) in a metro. I narrowed it down to Dallas and ATL. I had DC in my mind but Cost of living and commute/housing prices landed it in the back burner same with SF in CA.
So experts your opinions....
My priorities:
1. Have a kid: Schooling
2. Crime
3.Travel, would love to avoid flying every other week... : ).
4.Decent housing
5.Culturally diverse..I am from South Asia/non-christian.
6.Commute.
7.Restaurants/Shopping.
8.Metro Parks
The Atlanta area has a pretty large Indian/Hindu community. I'd imagine that Atlanta probably has more of the amneties that you are looking for, but the commute would probably be better in Dallas.
1. Have a kid: Schooling
2. Crime
3.Travel, would love to avoid flying every other week... : ).
4.Decent housing
5.Culturally diverse..I am from South Asia/non-christian.
6.Commute.
7.Restaurants/Shopping.
8.Metro Parks
1) Dallas overall probably has better school options.
2) Slightly lower crime in Dallas.
3) (?). - Both cities have good airports and overall decent road systems.
4) Both cities offer 'decent' housing though this is open to broad interpretation.
5) Atlanta is a bit more culturally diverse/varied. Dallas is more white/black/hispanic while Atlanta tosses in a few more cultures in larger numbers than Dallas.
6) Both cities are bad on traffic - Atlanta in some areas is a bit worse.
7) Atlanta has the edge here.
8) Both about the same - Atlanta has the North Georgia mountains with a lot of options as well.
1) Dallas overall probably has better school options.
2) Slightly lower crime in Dallas.
3) (?). - Both cities have good airports and overall decent road systems.
4) Both cities offer 'decent' housing though this is open to broad interpretation.
5) Atlanta is a bit more culturally diverse/varied. Dallas is more white/black/hispanic while Atlanta tosses in a few more cultures in larger numbers than Dallas.
6) Both cities are bad on traffic - Atlanta in some areas is a bit worse.
7) Atlanta has the edge here.
8) Both about the same - Atlanta has the North Georgia mountains with a lot of options as well.
Don't know if I can agree with your 5 and 7. Dallas has the largest Asian population but not to larger to notice a huge difference. Dallas has close to 100,000 more Asians than Atlanta does. I think this is a tossup.
I also think number 7 is a tossup. Dallas is known as a shopping mecca for the region and I believe they have more restaurants per capita than any metro in the nation. Honestly, from his criteria. There really isn't a difference other than weather and that Dallas COL is slightly lower.
Sorry to break the news to you but Atl is 2nd most dangerous city according to FBI data. Georgia is in the top 10 of highest murder rate. Education in the South is pretty bad compared to other regions.
The 11 Most Dangerous Cities - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-11-Most-Dangerous-usnews-1262959588.html?x=0 - broken link)
Sorry to break the news to you but Atl is 2nd most dangerous city according to FBI data. Georgia is in the top 10 of highest murder rate. Education in the South is pretty bad compared to other regions.
The 11 Most Dangerous Cities - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-11-Most-Dangerous-usnews-1262959588.html?x=0 - broken link)
They don't do generalized crime rankings. In fact, they specifically advise against it.
If you absolutely need a ranking, then you should break it down into categories. Wikipedia does this (using FBI data).
Atlanta ranks #15 in violent crime and #6 in property crime. It's not a low-crime city, but it's by no means exceptionally bad.
I don't know how the geniuses at US News twisted this into Atlanta being #2 in the nation. Their methodology is not provided.
Further, if you look at the actual metro, where OP would probably be interested in living, it basically goes right to the US average. Less than 10% of Atlanta lives in Atlanta.
On your fifth point, Atlanta wins hands down. Trust me, I'm Indian and I have family and friends in the Atlanta area and except for the traffic and the occasional problems associated with super conservative white types, they love life down there. There's plenty of Indian shopping, Indian families and singles, and places to worship. Of course you didn't specify that you're Indian/Hindu and could be a Pakistani/Muslim which would more or less make everything I said moot.
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