Should I move to Atlanta from Boston? can't take this long cold winter! (Dallas: 2013, apartment)

[darkone]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Oh, sure Boston can get just as hot as humid as Atlanta in July/August but then again Atlanta can get just as cold as Boston in the winter. The catch is, in Boston the heat doesnt last nonstop for months. They actually get cooler air occasionally. And the same goes for Atlanta in the winter, while at times it may be as cold as BOston, it doesn't last as long.

Correct - summers in Boston don't compare to those in Atlanta in terms of consistency of heat and length and winters in Atlanta are nothing compared to those in Boston. All in all, it depends on what you want, but for as brutal as an Atlanta summer day can be, one can still play tennis or golf at 7pm. Can't do that during winter in Boston.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by mami2emily

Lived in Boston for 11 years. The blizzard of 96 did us in

Oh man...lived north of Worcester and remember that one well, as well as the 20" of snow that hit in April the following year.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by darkone

Correct - summers in Boston don't compare to those in Atlanta in terms of consistency of heat and length and winters in Atlanta are nothing compared to those in Boston.

We had no air conditioning in our house, except for a window unit in the bedroom. Most homes in New England, even new ones, do not include A/C, although you can add it as an option in most new homes. That is a big difference.

The summer in New England is generally great, but when that high humidity sets in, and the dew point is in the high 60s and low 70s, it can be very uncomfortable. Many small stores in older buildings also have inadequate or no A/C, just like most homes and apartments.

In the winter, everyone in NE is prepared, and the flip side is here in Atlanta, where many are not prepared. People walk around here in inadequate clothing, they have inadequate heating and insulation, some have single pane windows, etc. We all know the story when any kind of frozen precip hits.

[foxxygrl82]

Crime rate is pretty bad in the metro area of Atlanta and parts of Atlanta, but the northern part of the metro area (Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Roswell, Norcross, Cobb County, Kennesaw, Smyrna) aren't too bad as far as crime goes. I would avoid the southern metro area because of high crime. While things do happen, you should be okay if you practice common sense.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by foxxygrl82

Crime rate is pretty bad in the metro area of Atlanta and parts of Atlanta, but the northern part of the metro area (Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Roswell, Norcross, Cobb County, Kennesaw, Smyrna) aren't too bad as far as crime goes. I would avoid the southern metro area because of high crime. While things do happen, you should be okay if you practice common sense.

The crime rate in South Metro doesn't seem to be too high. Fayette, Coweta, and Henry counties are not that bad.

[JRJay]

Atlanta sits on the piedmont of the Appalachians, which means it has a cooler climate than its latitude suggests. Summers and winters both can be brutal, but the winters aren't as long and unremitting as Boston. So the question is, what can you better stand, the heat/humidity or the cold? If you can better stand the heat/humidity, then Atlanta is a big improvement over Boston.

As for the talk about crime, if you can handle Boston, then you can handle Atlanta. Same ground rules.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by JRJay

Summers and winters both can be brutal.

Sorry, but calling the winter in Atlanta "brutal" is just ridiculous. The winter here is mild and relatively short. There may some cold days or a couple if inches of snow every now and then, but calling it "brutal" is just plain inaccurate.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Sorry, but calling the winter in Atlanta "brutal" is just ridiculous. The winter here is mild and relatively short. There may some cold days or a couple if inches of snow every now and then, but calling it "brutal" is just plain inaccurate.

It's all relative. Someone who has lived in Miami their whole lives would consider Atlanta winters brutal. Obviously you are from up north, because I definitely don't consider highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s mild. One thing you can't argue with is that Atlanta summers are just as brutal as winters up north. It's funny how you hear a lot of northerners moving south to escape the cold but you don't hear about southerners moving north to escape the brutal summers. I guess people would rather deal with 95-100 degrees with high humidity for 4 months than deal with cold and snow.

[DTL3000]

Originally Posted by matt8325

It's all relative. Someone who has lived in Miami their whole lives would consider Atlanta winters brutal. Obviously you are from up north, because I definitely don't consider highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s mild. One thing you can't argue with is that Atlanta summers are just as brutal as winters up north. It's funny how you hear a lot of northerners moving south to escape the cold but you don't hear about southerners moving north to escape the brutal summers. I guess people would rather deal with 95-100 degrees with high humidity for 4 months than deal with cold and snow.

You're stretching it a little bit as far as Atlanta summers go. Saying it's 95-100 degrees for 4 months here is like saying it's 0 degrees for 4 months up there. It may be 95-100 for maybe a month and a half here, and it sucks, believe me. However, the average for the rest of the summer is solidly in the 80's which most people can handle and many even enjoy.

As far as winter goes, this last one seemed a bit harsh by Atlanta standards but it was short compared to the one I experienced in NYC in 08-09. The weather actually wasn't that much worse up there, it just took forever to finally warm up. I learned how to layer in Boy Scouts and I actually managed to survive.

Siberia has brutal winters, not Atlanta, nor Boston or NY.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by matt8325

It's all relative. Someone who has lived in Miami their whole lives would consider Atlanta winters brutal. Obviously you are from up north, because I definitely don't consider highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s mild. One thing you can't argue with is that Atlanta summers are just as brutal as winters up north. It's funny how you hear a lot of northerners moving south to escape the cold but you don't hear about southerners moving north to escape the brutal summers. I guess people would rather deal with 95-100 degrees with high humidity for 4 months than deal with cold and snow.

I disagree...some things are objective. Sure, if you move from Miami, the winter is more substantial in Atlanta, but to call it brutal just defies reality.

I agree about the heat. The big difference about the heat up north is the lack of A/C up there. In the south, central A/C is the rule. When it was 90 degrees in Mass, I suffered with the heat and humidity, and we went to places like the mall, movies, or a museum to escape the heat. I looked into adding central A/C to my 120 year old house, and it wasn't really feasible. Window units can help in bedrooms, but not in large living areas downstairs. There is also a problem with placement, since large BTU units take up windows and require bracing. Just simpler to suffer for the few days it's really hot.

Here in Atlanta, I can stay home and be comfortable in my central A/C.