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Old 12-24-2007, 08:02 PM
 
75 posts, read 552,753 times
Reputation: 140

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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevK View Post
I came here on assignment for the Olympic Games. I arrived to work from Jan 14 through the games. So being here for 6 months and living in a weekly residential hotel in Norcross, I already know the area pretty well before I made the decision to make it a permanent home. I would have to say that the only real surprise I got was the Ad Valoreum vehicle tax when I first went to register my car. She said $267 and I said "oh &%#$"! I told her I will be back on payday and I rode on my Illinois tags for 2 more years until the value dropped enough that I did not have to pay an arm and a leg. Illinois did not have such a tax. Tag renewals there were $20 and the emissions test was free.
I'm from Illinois also. I was shocked that I had to pay ad valoreum tax as well as pay 25 bucks for an emmission test EVERY year. My sticker was 15 bucks in Il. I also wish I had known traffic was a mess. Not only is every road overcrowded...folks drive liike maniacs. Half the time...I don't even want to venture outside unless it's a necessity. I feel so handicapped. Had I known it would take all day just to go to the grocery store...I would have moved somewhere not nearly as congested. I think I'm about to leave Atlanta. There is no such thing as a leisurely Sun eve drive down here. I have not had the luxury of just getting to know Atlanta. Everytime I leave my house...it is a neccessity.
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Old 12-26-2007, 12:27 PM
 
Location: Atlanta,Ga
826 posts, read 3,111,513 times
Reputation: 243
Quote:
Originally Posted by CUDavidBanner View Post
After moving to Atlanta and living there for some time. What were the things you wished you knew before you moved? What shocked you the most about the area? And knowing what you know now would you still have moved to Atlanta. And if not why? Thanks.
I wish I knew how bad the crime was and how high the taxes were in th City of Atlanta. However I was pleasantly surprised at the city razing the housing projects. The traffic shocked me most. Yes I would have still moved to Atlanta, it has been great for my husbands career and our quality of life is alot better here.

I am not sure how liberal PC BS causes crime, thats interesting.
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Old 12-26-2007, 01:00 PM
 
2 posts, read 8,649 times
Reputation: 12
Had I realized the love-hate relationship suburbanites have with Atlanta, I would have never vebtured outside of the perimeter. They (not all, but most) love to mule and puke about how horrible the city is, but when they start posting ads for their business, home, service, etc, they can't put the word "ATLANTA" big enough.

Right now, I'm searching and searching for a good child care summer program for my son. All I see is "Atlanta" here, "Atlanta" there, but when I actually go to the website or pick up the phone, these "Atlanta" places are north of Alpharetta. I could have sworn Atlanta didn't stretch to just south of Chattanooga. Sheesh. If people hate the city so much, stop advertising that you live/work in it.

Now we have about three different bus systems (with questionable drivers) rolling through the city streets. From Cobb, Cherokkee, Gwinnett, etc. All because these counties and cities didn't want Marta to "bus in crime."
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Old 12-26-2007, 01:04 PM
 
1,145 posts, read 4,192,833 times
Reputation: 966
The one thing that surprised me was that, as someone else said, houses are not as cheap as you might think. I used to go on realtor websites all the time before my move and see the cheap beautiful homes. After I moved, I realized these homes are meant for those who are cool with one hour commutes.

On the bright side, real estate is still very reasonable for a major corporate city. We just bought a new townhouse in the Perimeter area, and I know my friends from Boston/NYC/Cali are going to be amazed by the price we paid.
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Old 12-27-2007, 08:33 AM
 
Location: Atlanta -Moved from Denver
131 posts, read 491,166 times
Reputation: 62
I also made the mistake of research through online realtor sites and listening to biased family. You just can't get a good understanding of what the actual commute will be. Now I am one of those with the crazy commute...but then again I now have an unbelievable house with land and am debt free (other than house).
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Old 12-27-2007, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Atlanta, GA
2,290 posts, read 5,528,924 times
Reputation: 800
1. Didn't anticipate the separateness of communities in this, the 21st century.

2. Didn't anticipate the lack of people-moving and transit for such a heavily populated metro area. Nor did I anticipate such an illogical aversion to transit.

3. Didn't anticipate the ineptness, incompetence and small-mindedness of state and local governments in Atlanta AND the suburbs.

4. Didn't anticipate the natural beauty of Georgia.

5. Didn't anticipate the size of metro Atlanta's Asian population (I love it; it reminds me of California)

6. Didn't anticipate the incessant media coverage of crime.
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Old 12-27-2007, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,669,497 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrownPrincess View Post
I'm from Illinois also. I was shocked that I had to pay ad valoreum tax as well as pay 25 bucks for an emmission test EVERY year. My sticker was 15 bucks in Il. I also wish I had known traffic was a mess. Not only is every road overcrowded...folks drive liike maniacs. Half the time...I don't even want to venture outside unless it's a necessity. I feel so handicapped. Had I known it would take all day just to go to the grocery store...I would have moved somewhere not nearly as congested. I think I'm about to leave Atlanta. There is no such thing as a leisurely Sun eve drive down here. I have not had the luxury of just getting to know Atlanta. Everytime I leave my house...it is a neccessity.
Yes I was really shocked by that! I knew the emissions test would be $25 because I saw the signs all over town but back then it was only every other year odd/even that you had to get the damn thing. I certainly did not expect that huge tax on a 2 year old Mustang GT so I just went back to Chicago next summer and registered the thing at my kins address in Arlington Heights since I still had an Illinois driver's license anyway and it was like $20 for the sticker and $15 for the city sticker as I recall. A hell of a lot cheaper than what they wanted here. I rode for 2 more years on Illinois plates until the car lost enough value that I did not have to pay so much here.
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Old 12-27-2007, 08:49 PM
 
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 25,982,877 times
Reputation: 3990
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrownPrincess View Post
I'm from Illinois also. I was shocked that I had to pay ad valoreum tax as well as pay 25 bucks for an emmission test EVERY year. My sticker was 15 bucks in Il.
Minnesota doesn't call it the same name, but tag renewal in that state also used to be quite expensive (based on the value of the vehicle), anc could easily be a few hundred $$ or more. That was changed a while ago, though. The emissions testing requirement in MN was also dropped (unlike GA, where private companies test emissions, the testing stations in MN were run by the government, and it was decided that so few vehicles failed the test every year that it wasn't worth doing anymore).

The salt and such on the roads really shortens the lifespan of vehicles up there, though, so you aren't going to see as many older vehicles on the roads up there anyway. They simply don't survive.
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Old 12-29-2007, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Georgia
53 posts, read 284,854 times
Reputation: 59
My biggest surprise was that it's so hard to get a good paying job here that you can actually live off of. My friends have all been telling me with my qualification I can start up in management and earn good money. BS. I am having hard times getting through life here and have to take on two jobs. I am looking to relocate away from here. I didn't realize that Atlanta was the biggest growing city in the U.S. which explains a lot. I would definately never move here a second time if I had the chance although this is where I grew up. It sure has changed.
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Old 12-29-2007, 10:58 PM
 
941 posts, read 2,297,265 times
Reputation: 849
From what i hear alot of areas here that used to be nice are now bad, you hate to live in a place where you have to say, oh it's crime there, or oh the schools are bad there,or traffic is hellish here, and that's what it's like in this area too much of a crap shoot where you will end up.
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