Atlanta vs. Miami (Savannah, Kennesaw, Stone Mountain: 2013, amusement park, violent crime)

[sergiofreeman]

Hi There!

My sister from Miami is applying for me to live in the states, I have a family , three daughters , 13, 15, 16; at the Begining, I'm going to Miami but later I'm thinking in Atlanta, Please tell me in what sense we'll be improving our opportunities for better jobs , college opportunities and so on, besides, taking into account that we are Cubans but we are type of family who would like to take advantage of America.

Great to know you are always willing to help.
Thanks in advance.

[BeyondInfinity]

Originally Posted by sergiofreeman

Hi There!

My sister from Miami is applying for me to live in the states, I have a family , three daughters , 13, 15, 16; at the Begining, I'm going to Miami but later I'm thinking in Atlanta, Please tell me in what sense we'll be improving our opportunities for better jobs , college opportunities and so on, besides, taking into account that we are Cubans but we are type of family who would like to take advantage of America.

Great to know you are always willing to help.
Thanks in advance.

Miami is beautiful; however, Miami cannot compare to the living standards of Atlanta. The cost of living in Atlanta is much less than Miami. Homes here cost less as well but are generally larger than Miami.

Atlanta has a diverse economy with many major companies headquartered here (Coca Cola, UPS, Home Depot, Delta Airlines, NCR, Newell Rubbermaid and many more). In addition, Atlanta has great universities and colleges (Emory, GA State, GA Tech, Kennesaw State, Perimeter College, etc).

Atlanta is a diverse area as well, but not as diverse as Miami, IMO. You will be hard pressed to find a native Atlantan in Atlanta. Most citizens of this great city are from New York City, New Jersey, Ohio, Chicago, Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, South Korea, India, China, Africa, Brazil, Europe, Caribbean Islands and many more places around the globe.

We have a ton of great restaurants in the area. Also, there is a lot to do (Tour CNN center, GA Aquarium (The World's Largest), Coca Cola Museum, hiking and whitewater rafting in the mountains (GA, TN, NC), beaches are 4 hours away in Savannah, GA, parks, Stone Mountain, Six Flags (Amusement Park), White Waters (Water Park) and so much more.

We have better public transportation than Miami as well (trains and buses). In addition, the city just passed a $6 Billion tranportation bill that has to be approved by the citizens to improve traffic, public transportation, etc in the area.

80 percent of the country is within a 2 hour flight from the world's busiest airport (Hartsfield-Jackson Airport). The time it take you to drive from Miami to Atlanta, you could drive from Atlanta to Washington D.C.

[ATLTJL]

Miami certainly has a much, much, MUCH larger Cuban population if that is important to you.

I hate to sound stereotypical, but I have lived in Miami. If you have 3 kids that age and are able to raise all three of them without at least one of dangerously experimenting with serious drugs, you would certainly be one of the greatest parents there. It's not just a generalization, the kids there figure out how to get into everything. So many of them are able to get things right at home from their parents. It's really sad.

That was my experience. Miami is a beautiful city, but a horrible place to try to actually raise a family.

Watch the movie Bully. Everybody I know from the area agrees with me that the movie did a spectacular job capturing what it's actually like to grow up in South Florida (not that all the kids will murder their friends, but just the look, feel, and culture of the area).

[Atlanta-Kid]

Atlanta, is the most populated city in the south east of the U.S., bigger city district, metro and skyline, and its not that hot here. I can say a lot more, we get this sameargument like every year

[Caleb Longstreet]

Lived in South Florida and Atlanta twice now....

Miami

Pros: Warm weather, 365 days a year. 4 months of which are simply brutal. Great water access if you are a fan of salt water swimming/playing. Great access to the Carribean, South and Central America and all points East and South.....Beautiful Latin women if that is of interest, looking to spit out kids for Green Cards faster than you can say, "check please"....Outdoor lifestyle is a must to really enjoy it. Varied cuisine from real Cuban food to real Spanish food...there is a difference.....gateway to the Florida Keys.....if you live there, get a boat or better yet, get friends who have boats.....diving is great for lobsters and spear fishing. Water is relatively clear and only improves when you head to the islands.

Cons: Not the most friendly place you will ever visit. I've written rants on how South Florida is about as abusive a place one can imagine. People tend not to pay their debts, pay bills late and this is to include business and personal. Scam city....this includes Broward and Palm Beach Counties. If you are a personal service vendor, get used to people/customers being rude and abusive. It's just the way it is done and there is no end in sight. Crowded beyond measure in Dade and now in Broward. South Florida is basically a strip of high-densely populated land bordered by an Ocean and the Everglades. Civilization stops right at both boundaries. Employment is sketchy and it's the last place you want to find yourself unemployed. Housing, despite the recent setbacks, is still artificially high. In Dade, there are quite a few families who convert the townhouse living room into a bedroom for the newly-weds, the upstairs for Papi (Grandma and Grandpa), kids in other rooms, relatives in yet more....basically, 2 cars in the garage, 2 in the driveway in front of the garage door, 2 behind it juuuuuuuuuust in front of the sidewalk and 2 at the curb.....2 or 3 generations, same house, same schools...why? So they can pay one set of taxes and drive used nice cars with intermittent payment records...the schools are swamped. Typically 45-60 kids per class...you do the math. Hey, why pay all those taxes when you can just start stuffing small dwellings with legions of people??? Ridiculous.

It's the kind of place where if you walk down a busy street and yell "stop thief!!!" half the crowd would run....telemarketing scam centers abound to include lots of those vacations people buy from all over the US and beyond....I could go on for decades about the scammers and criminal element down there but hey, don't take my word for it, search the posts within this site and you will see some similar/common denominators. Businesses come and go like last night's credit-card eating bimbos....just the way it is and they believe that negotiating bills after the contract is "okay"....It's the kind of place you can spend $300 a night for a hotel and get treated like crap. Amazing.

Summary?

If you want to drink, snort, smoke, and chase fake boobs 24X7, you have found paradise. And up to a certain age, who can blame them? But, it does get trying watching "Daytona Dave" with a gold chain around his neck at age 50 with his partner "Scooter" going into the nightclubs after piling out of a 10 year old Camaro...

If you want to raise a family? Not so much. I left in 1997 to raise a family here and while Atlanta is anything but perfect, between the two??? Hands down no brainer avoid South Florida/Dade/Broward/Palm Beach....just my humble opinion and I did live there for 8 years, 6 months, 2 days, and about 10 hours...but, who is counting? Leaving was more like getting paroled than actually moving on.

Probably felt a bit like what some POW's must feel when they were finally freed from the Japs....it's that crappy. When you visit, it's great. If you have to live there, you will clearly see the "helpful" attitude best described as "what's in it for me?" across the board and at all ages. Don't discount the Seniors either. They will rob parking spaces and push carts into your car and look at you like "what the f are you lookin at?" It's HORRIBLE. I still get down there for business but, as I arrive at gate D4 at Ft. Lauderdale on my way in I always smile comforted in the fact knowing that within a few days I will be leaving.....

Crime abounds and for the most part, people have sort of accepted it. Violent crimes are bad in every big city to be sure but, they can get heated quickly in Dade. I'm all for Concealed Carry Licenses and gun ownership. Big fan of it. But, that Machismo from Hector and Antonio Bandumbass can get out of hand. That is the LAST place you want to start shooting. The only thing more prevalent than the concrete is the amount of people walking on it.....KEEEEEROWDED!!!! doesn't begin to describe it. Seperation between your neighbors wall and you is about 25 feet, or less with variances...I've seen "home" lots with as little as 7' variance to the property line....and of course, there are a myriad of zero-lot dwellings....complete with the "density" I described above.....

Okay to visit, you just don't really, really want to live there.....It's transient, for a reason. Good luck.

[muxBuppie]

Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet

That is the LAST place you want to start shooting. The only thing more prevalent than the concrete is the amount of people walking on it.....KEEEEEROWDED!!!! doesn't begin to describe it. Seperation between your neighbors wall and you is about 25 feet, or less with variances...I've seen "home" lots with as little as 7' variance to the property line....and of course, there are a myriad of zero-lot dwellings....complete with the "densityI described above.....

Okay to visit, you just don't really, really want to live there.....It's transient, for a reason. Good luck.

You know people on this site have wet dreams about this right.

[bornjacksonian]

Originally Posted by Atlanta-Kid

Atlanta, is the most populated city in the south east of the U.S., bigger city district, metro and skyline, and its not that hot here. I can say a lot more, we get this sameargument like every year

Atlanta skyline could never compare to the combined skyline in Greater Miami

[ATLTJL]

Do people really pick cities based on skylines?

A lot of terrible cities have fairly impressive skylines.

That's silly. You might as well pick a place based on how many lanes the interstate has or how many Krystals are in the metro area.

[cityfilms]

The main difference is Atlanta is one of the most disconnected cities in America. Miami, because of its compactness and density, has a more international feel everywhere you go. I've been in Atlanta for 10 years and there is NO neighborhood in Atlanta where you can go and find a lot of Europeans like French and German like you can find in Miami area.

That is why Atlanta is typically referred to as the "blah", or "everyday" city in film. It's the city you hear about in a movie "well X moved to Atlanta". They don't come visit Atlanta in the movie, they just mention it...

[readyset]

Originally Posted by bornjacksonian

Atlanta skyline could never compare to the combined skyline in Greater Miami

Ya Atlanta is much better than that beach front residential balacony mess called Miami. I'd rather be in a city with corporations like Atlanta than one based off overpriced housing any day.