Should I move from Birmingham

[Tarzanman]

Cumming is a sprawling suburb. If your job comes with a hefty raise then it is worth considering.

Commuting into that area will be an issue if you do not live close by because the roads in that area have not kept up with the growth over the past 10 years.

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Atlanta - founded 1837
Birmingham - founded 1871

And I don't get the statement that a southside Birmingham resident would be unable to find comparable communities. That should be a fairly easy task IMO:

Mountain Brook = Buckhead, Brookhaven, Druid Hills, Morningside, west Sandy Springs.
Homewood = Vinings, Sandy Springs, East Cobb.
Vestavia Hills = Roswell, Alpharetta, Duluth.
Hoover = Kennesaw, Acworth, Cumming, Suwanee.

I've lived in both Birmingham and Atlanta, and I can see your point. However, my opinion is that your comparison would work only based on similar housing stock, while there are massive cultural differences between say, Homewood and Sandy Springs and whatnot. I'm not saying Atlanta doesn't have historic homes, just that in Birmingham it is a culturally different type of people that live in them. Birmingham is like, if the population of Roswell lived in Decatur. Or if the population of Milton lived in ITP Sandy Springs. Hence my comment before about feeling culturally similar to Roswell/Milton but wondering where all the classy homes are.

[cwkimbro]

I wouldn't recommend moving to Decatur to get to Cumming. That is really long commute.

East Cobb is better, but that is still a longer commute vs good affordable options.

If you think this is a starter job to get into the area and might be transferring.... you might consider long commutes to get yourself in commuting distances of multiple job centers...otherwise... I'd locate closer to cumming -if- you move. It is very suburban and very new, which is out of step of some of the things you want, but I wouldn't wish the commutes those commutes on anyone if it could be helped.

Yes, you can expect strip malls sporadically positioned throughout the Cumming and cities nearby. I will note one thing... Duluth is a bit older of a suburbs compared to places closer to Cumming. There are often better sign ordinances and the strip malls themselves, being newer, look far nicer than what you likely saw in Duluth.... but yes they are strip malls. You will also see these large 3-6 store tall suburban office buildings that take up a large foot print scattered about on major corridors and McGinnis Ferry Rd. Sometimes they are behind trees or a hill and well hidden, sometimes they aren't. The jobs are moving to the people and people are also moving in for the jobs, hince your situation.

It is a really nice area though if you choose to adjust to it.


To clear up confusion with other posters. Atlanta is probably more historical and has more historical properties than Birmingham, but I think Birmingham has some places that might be better preserved in time. The issue is Atlanta has boomed like crazy and Cumming is a far to the north. Its like the 4th layer of suburbs. Most things out there will be newer. It use to be mostly trees or farmland, so the older housing stock just isn't there.

I don't know first hand, but I suspect 10feetTall is right in his most recent reply.

If we went back 30 years the culture in Sandy Springs would have been closer to that in Milton. As we have grown things shift.

You can expect more traffic than what you saw in Newnan for sure, however the roads are also built nicer (and larger) in places. There are more people, but more building to handle it. What you will find is the area can actually be very pleasant and easy to commute in if you're near your job or not obstructed by a few bottlenecks. This is why Atlanta has had a two-way trend to bring people closer to jobs and jobs closer to people in our regional planning.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Atlanta - founded 1837
Birmingham - founded 1871

And I don't get the statement that a southside Birmingham resident would be unable to find comparable communities. That should be a fairly easy task IMO:

Mountain Brook = Buckhead, Brookhaven, Druid Hills, Morningside, west Sandy Springs.
Homewood = Vinings, Sandy Springs, East Cobb.
Vestavia Hills = Roswell, Alpharetta, Duluth.
Hoover = Kennesaw, Acworth, Cumming, Suwanee.

That was exactly what I meant.Atlanta is older than Birmingham.Naturally the Housing stock would reflect that.

The OP may like Woodstock?
Also what about Dahlonbega?Its further North but would not be a bad commute to Cumming would it?

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by ElleKaye

The vibe is different in Birmingham and since the OP asked about houses in northern suburbs, it is unlikely he will find what he's looking for. Also living on the south side would be the commute from hell to Cummings. This does mean that there are not neighborhoods in Atlanta metro that are historic, but the only place I can think of even slightly close to where he works that may be similar is Roswell. Anyway, relocating to Atlanta metro does not sound like a good move for the OP.

Well I know that te vibe is different.For one,Atlanta has a lot more transplants from all over.
As far as Alpharetta ,he also said he rater not live in a highly congested area.Thats a difficult task in the North Metro area.

What about Adairsville?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

I've lived in both Birmingham and Atlanta, and I can see your point. However, my opinion is that your comparison would work only based on similar housing stock, while there are massive cultural differences between say, Homewood and Sandy Springs and whatnot. I'm not saying Atlanta doesn't have historic homes, just that in Birmingham it is a culturally different type of people that live in them. Birmingham is like, if the population of Roswell lived in Decatur. Or if the population of Milton lived in ITP Sandy Springs. Hence my comment before about feeling culturally similar to Roswell/Milton but wondering where all the classy homes are.

Huh?

[ATLTJL]

Huh?

I think that the real-world version of what is being said here that Birmingham is an extremely socioeconomic segregated city.

You can live close to the city (Mountain Brook and Vestavia are both less than 10 miles to the city core) in pleasant communities that are easy drives to everything you could ever want and be as peaceful and safe as Milton/Alpharetta. READ: You can walk the streets in the middle of the night with absolutely no problem whatsoever. There are no wandering crackheads, panhandlers, or other characters that are "part of living in the city." Because, well.....they aren't exactly in the city, they are in suburbs. But the distance they are from the city, we would consider "intown" here.

So in Birmingham, it's possible to live in a neat area with character in a quiet suburban setting while only being 10-15 minutes away from the city. And even though Mountain Brook/Vestavia are pricey, they are more affordable than comparable areas of Atlanta.

The closest thing I can describe to it is imagine if Milton and everything about it was magically transplanted to where Sandy Springs is. It's like that.

10 Feet Tall knows what he is talking about, I think he just wanted to word it in a way that avoids a classist/race war on this board. But you know me, I call them like I see them, good or bad. Vestavia and Mountain Brook are almost 100% upper middle class white. Good, bad, whatever....that's just what it is.