thinking in moving from San Francisco to Atlanta... good choice?? (Savannah: middle-class, real estate) - Georgia (GA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

bayarea-girl · 10-07-2011, 02:10 PM

ATL is not SF that is for sure when it comes to transit. But there is a train station, carpools, buses, and plenty of taxis. Many parts of the city highly encourage people who ride bikes. There is 0 commute if that person decides to live in the city. If the person lives in a burb, depending on which one there will be some traffic but nothing at all that compares to here. If the op lives in a burb, a good one, then they can expect not to see sidewalks in the area. So walkable areas would be the park.

Chickfila's are more commonly found in the burbs and not the city of Atlanta itself. No diversity in cuisine, PLEASE! That is simply not true. The city of Atlanta has just about all types of food you can imagine. Most residents of Atlanta are transplants from either CA or NY. I've had some of the best Mexican and Japanese food in Atlanta. There is a big organic and farmer market pushes all around the city. Also, the city of Decatur has a lot of food diversity as well. A lot of the chefs you see on TV are from and or live in Atlanta.

jade408, if you aren't black, latino, or white people won't know how to place you is also just not true. Atlanta they say, is one of the top places foreigners are moving to (was actually in the paper). Indians, Asians, and just about everything has moved there. It is more rare to find someone who is originally from Atlanta and or GA when you go there. A lot of interracial couples and families are more prevalent there now than any time I can remember. Not sure when the last time you were there or if you actually lived in Atlanta or a surrounding area.

The thing that bothers me the most is people that comment on Atlanta but have either never lived there and if they lived in GA, they lived near Atlanta but in an entirely different city like Marietta then make comments about Atlanta as a reference point for their experience.

jazzcat22 · 10-07-2011, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jade408

Not as much diversity in cuisine as there is here.

I agree with everything you said except this. I think Atlanta has great diversity in cuisine---there is a Chinatown (albeit smaller than SF), Korean areas, Little India, Little Ethiopia...we even have a Cambodian restaurant.

mayorhaggar · 10-07-2011, 02:44 PM

When I was in college I spent a few summers working in Atlanta, so it was more than just visiting for a few days.

I just hated it as a city, everyone there thinks it's really great and it still gets a lot of publicity just because of the Olympics but I really never liked anything about it. You have to drive everywhere, which sucks. There is a subway but it doesn't really go anywhere, though it's decent for getting to the airport. There isn't really a ton of walkable shopping districts like in SF, people instead go to the MASSIVE malls...I seem to remember that in one part of the city there was a giant mall on one street corner, then another separate massive mall kitty-corner to it on the other side of the intersection...wow. There aren't really many trendy hipster neighborhoods like in SF. There's Little Five Points which has some hipster stuff but it's like 3 blocks long and can't compare to something like Valencia Street in SF.

Basically everything that people like about SF (cool weather, natural beauty, tons of shops and restaurants, walkability and density, public transit, etc) just doesn't exist in Atlanta at all. BUT it does have stuff that SF doesn't have--a more modern highway system (though it's clogged with traffic most of the time), way cheaper housing, different weather (you gotta be ok with HOT summers and quite chilly winters), and, well, some people prefer shopping at malls and driving everywhere.

I would maybe compare Atlanta to San Jose in terms of urban feel (definitely not in terms of housing prices), but take away the mountains and substitute in Southern greenery. If you don't like San Jose at all then you'll hate Atlanta. I would maybe compare Southern California to it too but at least Socal has a lot of natural beauty.

BayAreaHillbilly · 10-07-2011, 02:48 PM

It's a fascinating place. Very much a place of the future. Lots of black professionals as well as an increasing cadre of recent professional immigrants some of whom are skipping places like California entirely and are going straight to Atlanta. Not a surprise given all the international travel hubbing there.

jade408 · 10-07-2011, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzcat22

I agree with everything you said except this. I think Atlanta has great diversity in cuisine---there is a Chinatown (albeit smaller than SF), Korean areas, Little India, Little Ethiopia...we even have a Cambodian restaurant.

What I mean here is there are lots of them. There is one of each, all over town. But not dozens. Hope that makes sense.

Diverse compared to the South? Of course? Diverse compared to NYC or SF. Not really. **SF has tons of food diversity, especially when you factor in size of city.

jade408 · 10-07-2011, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bayarea-girl

jade408, if you aren't black, latino, or white people won't know how to place you is also just not true. Atlanta they say, is one of the top places foreigners are moving to (was actually in the paper). Indians, Asians, and just about everything has moved there. It is more rare to find someone who is originally from Atlanta and or GA when you go there. A lot of interracial couples and families are more prevalent there now than any time I can remember. Not sure when the last time you were there or if you actually lived in Atlanta or a surrounding area.

The thing that bothers me the most is people that comment on Atlanta but have either never lived there and if they lived in GA, they lived near Atlanta but in an entirely different city like Marietta then make comments about Atlanta as a reference point for their experience.

I have several friends who grew up in all parts of the metro, they have had trouble fitting in. Especially as teenagers. This is not the same as in the Bay Area at all. Things are more segregated than the Bay Area, and generally people stick with their own ethnic group. If you are coming from here, you will feel a difference in my opinion. It is not that other people do not exist, or live in the city or metro, but your mileage will vary if you are looking at your social circle.

bayarea-girl · 10-07-2011, 07:40 PM

jade408, I understand what you are saying. Actually, fitting in has to do more with your social network in Atlanta. You need to be well connected there because people do stick to their own in the sense that if you aren't associated with their circle be prepared to be a bit lonely indeed. The bay area has its own racial inadequacies but I know what you are saying.

mayorhaggar, there are PLENTY of places that are walkable and that do remind people of the bay area. But no place can be like the bay area. The OP didn't say they want to move to the bay but to Atlanta. Too bad you didn't notice not only Little Five Points, but there are plenty of areas and walkable ones you just didn't mention such as the Candler Park area, Old Fourth Ward, Emery area, Vinnings, Virgina Highlands, Atlantic Station, Buckhead, Kirkwood, Inman Park, Cascade, etc, etc, etc. Not sure when the last time you were there. But just the historic buildings are just absolutely amazing.

Listen, gay people and entertainers don't move to Atlanta for nothing. They aren't boring people and Atlanta is known to be the other Hollywood. Both singles and people with families enjoy Atlanta. Those that don't, either don't have jobs or are women without husbands. If the person is a single lady, then for sure Atlanta is not the place to be.

Also, I LOVE the city of Decatur. It isn't Atlanta but just about everything there will remind you of Berkeley.

Wanted to post some pictures but am too lazy to google and for some reason the pictures that came off of Atlanta's forum in city-data isn't letting me post the pictures. Oh, well you can always check out old boring Atlanta in that forum.

Joy74 · 10-07-2011, 11:52 PM

Atlanta was only desirable when the jobs were plentiful. That was the draw.

04kL4nD · 10-08-2011, 12:29 AM

SF to ATL is a serious downgrade. I'd think twice before making that move....

I'm from the South and people love to talk about how ATL is like the NYC or LA of the Southeast. The truth is, that nobody ever says the reverse about Atlanta (Seattle reminds me of Atlanta), because in reality, it's just not that special of a town. The traffic is horrible, the weather is nothing to write home about, and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere.

mayorhaggar · 10-08-2011, 01:04 AM

Buckhead is a joke. I don't remember if I went to the other areas but I tried to go see any cool areas I heard about. Everyone there was all "oh y'all just have to go see Li'l Five Points, it's so hip an' awesum" and I went there and it's literally like 3 blocks long and not particularly interesting. I guess Atlanta is interesting and "hip" if you grew up in the middle of nowhere or in the dull suburban South, but if you've spent any time in a real city you'd find Atlanta to be little more than an overgrown suburb of itself.