Do you regret relocating to Atlanta? (Dunwoody, Dallas: apartment, home, buy)

[FromGA]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

I subscribe to a "you bring your happiness with you" philosophy...are you fairly happy where you are now? Then you'll be happy in Atlanta once you find your niche. There is something for everyone here. Unless you love surfing--sorry! We have hopping urban areas, safe pleasants suburbs. Liberal areas, conservative areas...it'll take a few months but a happy person usually figures out a good lifestyle here for him/herself.

For Atlanta, I take the opposite view that you do. My Atlanta philosophy is this: if you are unhappy where you are (eg. you dislike living in your small town and want to a larger metro), then Atlanta will be a meaningful step (will work for at least 4-6 years). Atlanta has something for everyone, albeit at a smaller scale. If you are a hipster, there will be some neighborhoods that work for you. If you like city, there will be certain parts of midtown that will work. Same with say neighborhoods popular with Asians.

But if you are looking for multiple great cities, go to the northeast. If you like tons of scenery, go where you will find it (Calif may be). If you like hipster, choose that type of city.

[Humanista]

Originally Posted by lorilove

Vinings is considered the suburbs - I don't know anyone that would try to compare it to New York City

In all honesty, no one should compare anywhere in metro Atlanta to NYC. There is no comparison.

To answer the original question, although I do not hate Atlanta, I do regret moving here from the northeast. I'm glad the housing market is finally recovering and once I get hopefully close to parity I will seriously consider moving back north. I'm okay with the higher cost of living with a higher quality of life in return.

If you do move here, Gotta Dance Atlanta is a great studio with ballet classes and tons of others. Most classes start about 5:30 and the last class is typically at 8:30pm. They cater to non-dancers to professionals.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Mia_Mia23456

I was in Vinings for a few days. It's a very nice area, but very quiet (not much action at all). Definitely a far cry from NYC life.

Originally Posted by lorilove

Vinings is considered the suburbs - I don't know anyone that would try to compare it to New York City

...That is an excellent point by lorilove.

Atlanta is overall a very-suburban metro area as most of the metro area didn't exist until well after World War II as opposed to older Northeastern/Northern metro areas (Philly, Chicago, Boston, New York) which had their civic identities well-established by World War II.

Much of the area inside of I-285 that has come to be known as the urban core of the Atlanta region was very-suburban in nature until the 1980's, while most of the area outside of I-285 that is now known as the close-in and inner suburbs (Clayton County, OTP DeKalb County and mega-suburban counties North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett) did not exist until the mid-late '70's or later.

Atlanta is a VERY YOUNG big city that did not really become a major metropolis until the 1990's and later.

Which means that people moving here expecting to find a much more well-established civic identity like is found in older Northeastern cities of similar population (Boston, Philly, DC) are often disappointed.

Atlanta actually has not really formed a civic identity yet as one of the ongoing issues in local politics is that the Atlanta metro area/region often seems to be in an ongoing state of identity crisis with the metro area being caught in a constant push and pull between older factions trying desperately and futilely to keep the metro area as it was in the past when millions fewer people lived there and younger factions trying to move the metro region forward into the future too soon before it may be ready.

A good way to describe the sprawling Atlanta region is as a large, over-sized early teenager with the body of a large adult but with the brain and maturity of an early teenager.

The Atlanta region is physically large and spread-out like a much more established metro region in the Northeast, but the metro area is still very young age-wise and psychologically and is still very much in search of what it wants to be in the future (...Will Metro Atlanta continue to be an automobile-overdependent region where one has to drive EVERYWHERE for EVERYTHING like a Texas-style sunbelt city or will Metro Atlanta's very-limited Northeastern-style road network force it to become a transit-heavy city in the future like its Northeastern peers?).

Anyone who moves here, particularly from large Northeastern cities with established civic identities, will have to understand that the civic identity of the Atlanta metro area is still very much a work in progress with much political, social, cultural and physical infrastructure that just simply does not yet exist, despite the metro region having a population of over 6 million people.

If many of the newcomers that are and have moved here want the type of political, social, cultural and physical infrastructure that they had in the Northeast, they are going to have to be willing to roll up their sleeves and do the dirty work to build the type of infrastructure that they think a metro area of 6 million people should have.

[Mia_Mia23456]

I wasn't comparing Atlanta or Vinings to NYC. Why would I do such a thing? Atlanta and NYC have very little to nothing in common with each other.

Just to clarify, the person who I responded to mentioned that he relocated from NYC. I mentioned that Vinings was a far cry from NYC, meaning the atmosphere is extremely different. I did not mean that the two areas had anything in common. I was actually drawing attention to the fact that those locations are polar opposites of each other.

[Freeminds]

I think people are idiots for moving here and expecting it to be exciting. Did you not visit first?

[Mia_Mia23456]

Originally Posted by Esperanita

In all honesty, no one should compare anywhere in metro Atlanta to NYC. There is no comparison.

To answer the original question, although I do not hate Atlanta, I do regret moving here from the northeast. I'm glad the housing market is finally recovering and once I get hopefully close to parity I will seriously consider moving back north. I'm okay with the higher cost of living with a higher quality of life in return.

If you do move here, Gotta Dance Atlanta is a great studio with ballet classes and tons of others. Most classes start about 5:30 and the last class is typically at 8:30pm. They cater to non-dancers to professionals.

Which city in the Northeast did you relocate from? I do agree that although things tend to be more expensive in the Northeast, you get a higher quality of life in return.

As an aside: I've never seen so many fast food restaurants in one place until I visited the inner suburbs of Atlanta.

[Mia_Mia23456]

Originally Posted by Freeminds

I think people are idiots for moving here and expecting it to be exciting. Did you not visit first?

I don't really think any city is "exciting." It all depends on what you make of it. I lived in NYC for a number of years and I found myself a bit tired of the overall vibe. The only remaining enjoyable aspect for me was jogging in central park after work and my dance classes.

I grew tired of the subway and being around so many people, especially during rush hour.

Atlanta reminds me of other small cities in the South. There's not a lot going on usually, so one has to really make an effort to find different types of activities to engage in.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Mia_Mia23456

As an aside: I never seen so many fast food restaurants in one place until I visited the inner suburbs of Atlanta.

That's about right...

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Mia_Mia23456

I wasn't comparing Atlanta or Vinings to NYC. Why would I do such a thing? Atlanta and NYC have very little to nothing in common with each other.

Just to clarify, the person who I responded to mentioned that he relocated from NYC. I mentioned that Vinings was a far cry from NYC, meaning the atmosphere is extremely different. I did not mean that the two areas had anything in common. I was actually drawing attention to the fact that those locations are polar opposites of each other.

Atlanta was once nicknamed "The New York of the South." It was also once nicknamed "The Chicago of the South." There are also buildings or places in Atlanta that puts New York or Manhattan in their names or areas here that are referred to as being like Manhattan, namely Midtown and Buckhead. There's a high rise building in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody called The Manhattan. And a newer development in the southern suburbs of Atlanta refers to some of its construction as "Manhanttan in the woods," whatever that means.

Some people get offended if one compares Atlanta to NYC yet the city itself often wants to be compared to or considered to be similar to NYC.

[Mia_Mia23456]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

That's about right...

I'm very thin and I love to run. Honestly, I hadn't encountered so many obese individuals until I visited the South. Don't get me wrong, the Northeast has plenty of obese individuals as well, but it balances out because we also have a fair share of health conscious people too, who are in tip top shape.

The South, particularly Atlanta seems to have an over abundance of big people. I believe all of the fast food restaurants, lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyles explain why obesity is so prevalent in the area.