Has anybody moved to Atlanta from Chicago and have regretted their decision? (Monroe: 2014, apartment)

[ecuresident]

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Ecureresident, I agree. but even if I was your age I would rather move to Los Angeles or Orange County. Atleast the high taxes would compensate for the sunshine all year around. High taxes in Chicago? For what? This crappy weather?

Your right... I am a family man with two infants. I don't really value the city life, but the suburban life. so what i am looking for is different from you? Again, even if i was 28 and single... I would not waste my valuable single years in Chicago, I would be in LA or OC, California.

True if you can find a job there, and afford the high cost (way higher than Chicago) cost of living. Not to mention you want to talk about sprawl and sitting in traffic! You could always live in Indiana and still get all the benefits of Chicago as the taxes are way lower and the drive is 30 mins to an hour like most of the other Chicago suburbs.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by ecuresident

I agree but it depends on what you value. I am younger (28) and the nightlife, restaurants, etc suck in Atlanta compared to Chicago. Like prior posters have mentioned, Atlanta compared to Chicago is not Walkable and the Vibrancy of Chicago is not there. But if you are looking at cost of living and weather, Atlanta beats Chicago hands down.

I certainly won't dispute that, but Atlanta's trajectory has gotta be encouraging. Over the last decade, Midtown has transformed before our eyes from a dodgy, empty sort of place to a pretty vibrant area. It's not up to Chicago standards, perhaps, but now there are a fair number of people walking the streets, businesses facing the street, multi-use developments, tall buildings, etc.

Of course the recession caused that to come to a screeching halt, just like everything else, but there's no reason to think it won't continue to improve once the economy picks up again.

As far as taxes go, you can take a look at this list:

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is against the tos

Illinois is not a high tax state, but Georgia is a low tax state. $400 less in taxes per capita, before Illinois' current 2 percentage point hike.

[mrpanda]

Thanks for that post Test.. Interesting. Does this include a universal tax burden as a package? (sales tax, property tax, state income tax, etc.) Does this mean that there are only 8 states that has more favorable tax environment over Georgia?

Regardless thanks for the link that shows the rankings by state. Very interesting.

[ecuresident]

Originally Posted by testa50

I certainly won't dispute that, but Atlanta's trajectory has gotta be encouraging. Over the last decade, Midtown has transformed before our eyes from a dodgy, empty sort of place to a pretty vibrant area. It's not up to Chicago standards, perhaps, but now there are a fair number of people walking the streets, businesses facing the street, multi-use developments, tall buildings, etc.

Of course the recession caused that to come to a screeching halt, just like everything else, but there's no reason to think it won't continue to improve once the economy picks up again.

As far as taxes go, you can take a look at this list:

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is against the tos

Illinois is not a high tax state, but Georgia is a low tax state. $400 less in taxes per capita, before Illinois' current 2 percentage point hike.

I'd have to agree, that midtown is getting better, but as I moved here 3 years ago, I really dont have much to compare to. According to my friends that grew up here we have actually went backwards, as everyone I know talks about the heyday of bars in Buckhead. Now I do agree that midtown will get great once the economy picks up, but I cant wait until I am 35 for that! I dont think anyone is arguing that taxes are lower in GA, aka thats why you get a lot more house for the money. But Taxes in Chicago also go towards a lot more (in my mind), streets are repaved every few years, the sewer system isnt going to cost billions to renovate (which comes from higher water rates, and not taxes even though it is pretty much the same thing),there is a developed public transit system, there are hundreds of salt trucks/plows for the winter, the city has numerous parks, festivals, etc that actually make the city walkable. (Atlanta does have some of that like Centennial Park and Piedmont Park) and the list goes on.

[mrpanda]

LivinginBuffalo,
Hopefully these pictures can give you a good idea what the St. Marlo homes off of Prestwick Cir look like. These are pictures i took myself on my last visit. The homes on that street are absolutely beautiful. I was also pretty impressed on how tight the security is getting in. Let me know if you need anything else ok. I am getting more and more excited about the move once summer arrives.

[livinginbuffalo]

If you don't mind my asking! I just wonder how much you end up paying with the upgrades you would want.

[ecuresident]

St. Marlo is an excellent area, and with the way prices dropped is a steal. No one thought prices would drop that much in a prestigious Country Club. But for me, if I was paying 600K-1 mill+ I would want more than a quarter of an acre of a lot and being on top of my neighbor ( I dont know how large the lots are, from the pics it just seems like they are very close together) .

[mrpanda]

LivinginBuffalo,
I would budget about $20,000 - $35,000 on average. I think we came about $25,000 in upgrades. The designer had told me that few people got a little nutty and spent over $100,000. My wife and I were very strategic with our upgrades with resale in mind. We mostly upgraded wood floors, kitchen and the bathrooms. My wife wanted to have wooden floors all upstairs but it way over our budget so we just have all wood floor on the first floor.

[livinginbuffalo]

and the prices now are probably what they should have been in the first place. There is a house in there now for sale for $695K that was purchased for 1.2 million a few years ago. That is ridiculous! And I heard that Monique lives in there, which to me, is a turn off. I don't want to live with a bunch of celebrities but would rather live with regular joes like myself. That said, we are not opposed to looking in there but we prefer Laurel Springs for the golf course which is semi-private and has less traffic from what I understand (of course, that's what the pro shop in Laurel springs said so I know they are biased)

[mrpanda]

Originally Posted by ecuresident

St. Marlo is an excellent area, and with the way prices dropped is a steal. No one thought prices would drop that much in a prestigious Country Club. But for me, if I was paying 600K-1 mill+ I would want more than a quarter of an acre of a lot and being on top of my neighbor ( I dont know how large the lots are, from the pics it just seems like they are very close together) .

I will admit that these homes on Prestwick are entry level homes for St Marlo CC. I think the lots on Prestwick are between .25 - .5 acres. My home is being built on .35 acres. Inverness I think range from .35 - 1 acre. I think the prices now are selling at 2002 St. Marlo prices, but i don't see it staying there very long if the economy starts to improve.