Tampa or Atlanta? (Webster: real estate, credit report, how much)

[Not_liking_FL]

Originally Posted by overit2

Not_liking...exaggerating??? Wouldn't that be a matter of opinion on whether it's harsh or not?

For a person from warmer climates, ATL winters are harsh-for someone from N. Dakota our winters are a joke. But when we say nasty and cold, we mean it.

People just like to argue on this board, darn!

I'm from warmer climates and I think Atlanta has mild winters. Argument over.

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by DT97

Good post! And good overall thread. A bit of mis-information though.

I'm so happy I found this thread, I've read the first 3 pages and a/f this post I"ll read the last 3 pages.

I've lived in Atl now for 12 years. I'm 36/m single and coincidentally have been investigating moving to Tampa for the last year.

I've picked the brain of 2 friends who currently live in Tampa on a variety of info.

I live in the Dunwoody, Sandy Springs areas and visit Buckhead weekly. Haven't been downtown/mid-town in several years.
A few things to clear up for the OP and other members who've posted per Atlanta metro area living:

- very very few parks, this makes outdoor running, exercise, play very difficult. Many of the parks/fields are privately owned sports/youth leagues or are owned by churches and have strictly enforced trespassing rules & video surveillance or they keep the game locked. In fact several High Schools keep their gate locked or will run you off if you want to jog on the track.
This is a big deal to me since I like to exercise outdoors once a week or so.

- Traffic is severe....EVERYWHERE. In fact the best time to go anywhere is 9:30-10:30am or 1-3pm. Lunch crowd traffic is a nightmare as is rush hour.

- If you are on Roswell Rd in Sandy Springs or down town you have many thugs. I realize this is not PC but it is what it is and when you pull up at a gas station and it looks like they're filming a 50 cent video you won't feel safe. Many shootings happen here and SSPD is constantly making drug arrests along Roswell Rd at traffic stops. You will see thugs in handcuffs with a narcotics dog on the scene almost every week on Roswell Rd.

- If you are in an upper middle class suburb like Alpharetta ( sp?) or Dunwoody you will have many male drivers with the "me first" attitude as a previous posted mentioned. They may not be felons but they will give you more attitude, the "finger" , cut you off and drive more recklessly than anywhere else.

- Buckhead is a mix of both of the above. Savage, ruthless drivers with nasty attitudes.

- The winters start in Nov and last until April. Winter is NASTY and LONG. it was 28 degrees here March 28th this year. Spring is very cold and if you have allergies be warned. You will suffer beyond belief. The Allergy problem Starts in Early April and lasts until late May.

- On a positive note there are a decent amount of attractive women here of all races. Nothing like L.A. but still not too bad.

- Buckhead is a very trendy, hip, posh place to live. It will never be out of style and will always have the "in-crowd" . It will always be the center of action.

- Remember this-- in Atlanta image is everything. You will be judged off 2 things: 1) how you look 2) how much money you appear to have.

Remember I have 12 years of "in the trenches" experience to back this up.

I've lived in ATL (Alpharetta) for 10 yrs. Roswell Rd. in Sandy Springs is an unsafe area, especially where all the apartments line the street. Not a good area to reside or be at night.

In Alpharetta there is the Big Creek Greenway where you can run or walk for miles in peace and quiet. The North Georgia Mountains are about 50 minutes away from Alpharetta. Lovely waterfalls, woods, views (especially in the fall), and hiking opportunities. The quaint town of Helen is interesting. The beginning of the Appalachian Trail is at Springer Mountain, also about 45 min. away. Lake Lanier (Forsyth County) and Lake Alatoona (Cobb County) are accessible from Alpharetta. Lanier is a short drive north on GA-400.

I have not found the drivers in Alpharetta to be rude at all. In fact, many will stop and let someone in front of them in traffic. Traffic in Alpharetta is really only bad during rush hour and sometimes in the afternoon if there are a lot of school buses on the road. I have noticed that drivers in Buckhead are rude. Buckhead does have a lot of good restaurants and quite a bit of night life. Alpharetta has lots of restaurants but many of them are chains. You have to search to find the individual ones, but there are some here. There is very little nightlife in Alpharetta, I'm told.

Last winter in ATL was particularly cold and long. However, in years past the weather was much milder and usually by mid March was very nice. Could be climate change, who knows! The Atlanta area is very beautiful in spring and fall. It's full of many trees. Allergies are a problem for some people.

Alpharetta is upscale, as is Buckhead. Alpharetta is mostly a family area. I doubt there is a lot to do here for singles. Perhaps if you had friends here it would work out. Many people from all over the ATL area go to Buckhead for the nightlife and restaurants.

When we travel, we drive to the Sandy Springs MARTA, park and take the metro right into the airport. It's very handy and inexpensive.

FWIW, Tampa only has "beaches" on the bay. You have to go to St. Pete or Clearwater for ocean beaches. Another item to consider is traffic from "snowbirds," which can be extremely heavy on all of the southwest coast of FL from November thru Easter.

Tampa winter weather is warmer than ATL, however, the temp can go down to 40's & 50's at night.

Do you have friends in either city? Friends make all the difference, especially in FL where the population is more transient and it's difficult to make friends.

[overit2]

Edit-wrong thread

[tampabaygal]

Buckhead is one of the ritzier parts of Atlanta. It's probably one of the safest, but you're going to pay for it. Traffic is terrible. It can take 40 minutes to get from one side of the city to the next and I usually avoided the freeways when I drove through there. Thank the Lord I wasn't there for morning traffic!

I liked some of the neighborhoods closer to Emory, but apparently the crime is pretty bad. One of my friends who lives there got his car stolen from his apartment complex. Lots of break-ins too.

I'd pick Tampa over Atlanta just because it's quieter. I really like Atlanta, but it's way too busy and the thought of sitting in traffic for that long every day makes me want to cry.

[planedition]

Alpharetta is an exurb. Exurbs usually mean living a life framed by traffic. I recommend South Tampa. South Tampa is one of the only areas I have seen in this country where it is possible to live a "suburban existence" in the city for not a lot of money (houses less than 200k). And by suburban existence I mean having a detached house with a large yard, low crime, great schools, etc. Things that people generally long for when they move to the burbs.

[DT97]

staywarm2- You cut this out my my quote, wouldn't want you to leave it out:

- Other than L.A. , Atlanta has the greatest number of people who live beyond their means anywhere in the country. 26 y/o girls working as a receptionist will be in over their heads in debt driving a leased BMW with a designer hand bag. 31 y/o guys will be driving 47k Benz living in a one bedroom apartment with a 450 credit score. Wash rinse repeat.

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by DT97

staywarm2- You cut this out my my quote, wouldn't want you to leave it out:

- Other than L.A. , Atlanta has the greatest number of people who live beyond their means anywhere in the country. 26 y/o girls working as a receptionist will be in over their heads in debt driving a leased BMW with a designer hand bag. 31 y/o guys will be driving 47k Benz living in a one bedroom apartment with a 450 credit score. Wash rinse repeat.

I cut out your quote because I wasn't responding to it at all. I have no clue if this is at all true, and unless you've checked out the credit score of all people in their 20's and 30's, neither do you!

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by planedition

Alpharetta is an exurb. Exurbs usually mean living a life framed by traffic. I recommend South Tampa. South Tampa is one of the only areas I have seen in this country where it is possible to live a "suburban existence" in the city for not a lot of money (houses less than 200k). And by suburban existence I mean having a detached house with a large yard, low crime, great schools, etc. Things that people generally long for when they move to the burbs.

Alpharetta is a suburb, not an exurb. Per Wikipedia, "Alpharetta is a city in North Fulton Co, GA. It is an affluent suburb of Atlanta. The population per the 2010 census was 57,557."

It is only framed by traffic if you need to travel to mid-town or downtown during rush hour. We've gone to the city of Atlanta many times at other than rush hour and had zero problem with traffic. I agree with posters who say you should live in-town if you work in-town. If a person chooses otherwise in any city, they'll probably pay a price for that. But there are many businesses in Alpharetta and many people who live and work here.

[DT97]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

I cut out your quote because I wasn't responding to it at all. I have no clue if this is at all true, and unless you've checked out the credit score of all people in their 20's and 30's, neither do you!

When you buy things you can't afford and pay back your credit score takes a nose dive.
Try to keep up.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by DT97

When you buy things you can't afford and pay back your credit score takes a nose dive.
Try to keep up.

You should definitely move to Palm Harbor if you make it to the Tampa area.