Atlanta or Northern New Jersey(Bergen County)

[Mattie]

Newsflash, there are blacks in GA! Plenty of whites too, especially in the majority white cities of Buckhead and Alpharetta that the OP asked about.

[johnatl]

NJPhilliesPhan is the former DailyJournalist, famous for his absolute hatred of anything Southern - particularly anything related to Atlanta or Florida.

Please take his posts with a huge grain of salt.

[sonofagunk]

I lived in both. When people ask me to explain the difference, this my take:

In North Jersey, if you think someone is an a$$, you will tell them. In Atlanta, you will politely wait for them to leave the room, then tell everyone else they are an a$$.

[Kevin1975]

I think you should base your decision solely on which Housewives show on Bravo you like better, New Jersey or Atlanta.

[jknic]

Originally Posted by sonofagunk

I lived in both. When people ask me to explain the difference, this my take:

In North Jersey, if you think someone is an a$$, you will tell them. In Atlanta, you will politely wait for them to leave the room, then tell everyone else they are an a$$.

That's more like the difference between the Northeast (the "NJ metropolitan area" (LI, NJ, NYC, Philly) in particular) and the rest of the country

[brook2ga]

Originally Posted by Mattie

Do you have a family, or are you single? I lived in Bergen County for 40 years before moving to Sussex so my kids would have room to play. We loved NJ, but the past 5 years we've been in GA (Milton, just next to Alpharetta), have been wonderful. There is plenty to do here, the city is easy to get into and much less expensive than NYC in terms of entertainment. We heard all the horror stories about schools in the south, but as long as you pick the right district, I can promise you they easily match what we had up north. In fact, our local high school offered many more AP classes than our NJ school system, and my son was able to dual enroll at GA Tech while in high school. The HOPE scholarship isn't too shabby either.

Traffic can be rough, but I commuted from Sussex Cty to Parsippany for three years along Route 80, and that was no picnic either.

If I was young, and single, the proximity to NYC would be the greater draw. But, for raising a family, quality of life, and bang for the buck, GA is worth consideration. BTW, we have had NO crime issues in five years.

Excellent post.

If you find a job first, then a place to live, you could avoid a rough commute. The schools my children have attended here are far superior to those they would have attended in NJ.

[cheriesu]

NJ , hands down. I have been living in Ga for 10.5 years and am still trying to get back to NJ! Better food, better schooling, more opportunities in every way...more things to do.. NJ (and the Northeast) is richer in history.. The only thing better here are the cheaper taxes.