If you moved here from a higher cost of living area... (Atlanta: condo, how much)

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

This puts you in a comfortable financial position. If you tell that to people in the California forums, some reply with a remark like “yeah but you have to live in Georgia “.
Almost none of them have lived here but some think it’s redneckish, backwards, and the weather is intolerable and not worth the tradeoff. If you can afford where you live then it’s totally your choice and California on the coast and mountains is nice. But I was able to retire early with a nice lifestyle here in marietta while most of my friends still work paying the higher costs trying to get where I am at now.

I miss the weather there, but the financial freedom in exchange for 3 to 4 months of heat and humidity is worth the tradeoff. They tell me how they couldn’t stand to live in the heat and not go to the beach. I ask them how bad is that when you are at work all day and not enjoy all that there.

I moved up from Savannah Ga. after living there for 10 years, & trust me the heat & humidity up here in Atlanta is not really bad. Spend a few years in the low country or along the gulf coast & your blood thins out quickly.

I'd still love to go live in California for a few years though as the weathers fantastic, but I can get the same weather at 25% of the price in Southern Spain.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by bellhead

I moved up from Savannah Ga. after living there for 10 years, & trust me the heat & humidity up here in Atlanta is not really bad. Spend a few years in the low country or along the gulf coast & your blood thins out quickly.

I'd still love to go live in California for a few years though as the weathers fantastic, but I can get the same weather at 25% of the price in Southern Spain.

That’s what I hear that the heat and humidity are not as bad as the areas you mentioned.
I agree about the weather in California. When they tell me they wouldn’t deal with the heat, I tell them with the money I save, I can relocate in the hottest months back to California or live elsewhere like you mention in Spain or anywhere else and not be limited to California.
Honestly as a former Californian, I think we are wimps when it comes to weather. They have the best weather yet post it’s too hot, no rain, etc. and that’s in San Diego, probably the best weather of all California.

[Otakumaster]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

But still you’re okay with you yourself, not others, as being identified as a dumb racist redneck? I’m not talking others, just you personally.

If it doesn’t apply let it fly. Hit dogs holler the loudest.

[Otakumaster]

Also, only SoCal and San Jose has the good weather.

It’s 66 degrees and in the middle of July right now in San Fran for example. Screw that. I like summer to actually be warm/hot lol.

[Swandaddy]

Originally Posted by Otakumaster

Also, only SoCal and San Jose has the good weather.

It’s 66 degrees and in the middle of July right now in San Fran for example. Screw that. I like summer to actually be warm/hot lol.

Let's just say that you're someone who likes 66 degrees most of the year. . . let's just say mid 50s to low 70s. Understanding that ATL does get warm summers -- does ATL get a lot of mid 50s to low 70s most of the year? Seems like according to stats it does but those aren't always fully descriptive. . . .for example Chicago weather stats don't do a good job of taking the lake effect into account.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by Otakumaster

Also, only SoCal and San Jose has the good weather.

It’s 66 degrees and in the middle of July right now in San Fran for example. Screw that. I like summer to actually be warm/hot lol.

Incorrect.
Outside of San Francisco in the Bay Area it is much warmer. Check the average temps in the east bay, peninsula, and Marin county.
My friend works on cars a lot in his garage. I ask him if he’s working on one when I call and he says it’s too hot.
The Bay Area generally has better weather than SoCal except for San Diego . There’s a lot of microclimates in the Bay Area. Even in San Francisco there all kinds of microclimates. One side could be cool and fogged in and the other side sunny and warm.
While part of San Francisco might be 66, my old town is low 90s to high 80s.

[bryantm3]

Hate to say it but this thread makes me bitter. It seems like the average incomes in these other places y'all are moving from are so astronomical compared to here that when you move here, you can afford to run the place. It's great, I'm sure, but you should understand why people are upset when you move into their town, buy it, suddenly you run all the businesses, own all the land, and then call everybody that's from here rednecky and poor.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

Hate to say it but this thread makes me bitter. It seems like the average incomes in these other places y'all are moving from are so astronomical compared to here that when you move here, you can afford to run the place. It's great, I'm sure, but you should understand why people are upset when you move into their town, buy it, suddenly you run all the businesses, own all the land, and then call everybody that's from here rednecky and poor.

I followed everything you said until the part where you said they called everyone redneck and poor. I don’t see people moving here acting like that. Who moves here to start a business and run everything? Most people move here and get a job unless you have stats on out of towners taking over the area, I think you are just looking for an excuse for why some locals aren’t successful. The people who are that wealthy are not going to move to an area just because it’s cheap if they can’t stand the people.
I’ve met some great people here in Georgia, many not born here but transplants as well as locals. I haven’t heard anyone speak poorly of the locals.
The ones that do speak poorly are the ones I mentioned in California that have never even been to Georgia but hold stereotypes.
My income from California was not that much more than what someone in Georgia can make if they work hard like I did in California. Instead of hating on someone else because they make more money, maybe worry more about yourself if you aren’t happy with your station in life. If you think you speak for all locals, then maybe they should look inwards at themselves. No one forces them to sell their businesses or homes to out of towners paying top dollar. Perhaps it’s their own greed in selling out.
The bitterness you have towards others may well result in them speaking negatively about Georgians.

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

Hate to say it but this thread makes me bitter. It seems like the average incomes in these other places y'all are moving from are so astronomical compared to here that when you move here, you can afford to run the place. It's great, I'm sure, but you should understand why people are upset when you move into their town, buy it, suddenly you run all the businesses, own all the land, and then call everybody that's from here rednecky and poor.

I'm actually making more money at my Job in Alpharetta (a healthcare company founded and owned by a Georgia born man), than I did at my old job I had outside of Boston before we moved down here 4 years ago.

My wife has a high paying job in Pharma, and her position is full time remote. Anyone who is qualified could get her job, whether it be someone living in cosmopolitan San Fran, or back country Georgia.

As far as calling everyone rednecky or poor, I think thats a misconception people from out of state have before they actually see it for themselves. If anything, I see a lot of wealthy Georgian families, that own a **** ton of land (hundreds or thousands of acres). And they get richer selling off pieces of their vast amount of land at a premium (especially in North GA mountains) which they've probably inherited for free, or bought for pennies decades ago.

[BobbyJayATL]

Having moved here from a "higher cost of living area" (DC) I find the claim that this area is cheaper than DC to be fallacious at best; it doesn't seem true as much as it's used as a pressure point in negotiating salaries.

While this might not hold in a comparison with all "higher cost of living" areas, as compared to where we moved from, to give ourselves anything close to a similar lifestyle, our costs are the same (if not more) in Atlanta.

We moved from a close in suburb (Arlington) that provided great commutes (transit, cycling, driving - all sub-30 minutes to downtown DC), walkability, and well rated (public) schools, where we purchased our home around 5-6 years ago for 450k (assessment is now about 625k).

The neighborhoods one could choose from here to get any of that are limited; I don't know that there is anywhere in metro Atlanta that provides all of it.

We're still in temporary housing as it were, but looking at neighborhoods I'd generally call comparable (what I call the "human scale" Buckhead neighborhoods - basically everything east of Peachtree), Midtown, VA-Highland, Morningside, Candler Park, Lake Claire, Inman Park - aside from stuff being sold for lot value I see maybe one or two houses comparable to ours in VA at or below that price.

Despite the good transit access in those areas, dual car ownership is still pretty much a requirement, significant driving is pretty much mandatory (even if a commute doesn't require it), and to have a comparable K-12 education private school tuition is basically mandatory at minimum from 6th grade up.

OR I guess we could live in East Cobb, or Forsyth, north Gwinnett or north Fulton, possibly save slightly on house cost, but give up that savings with 2.5+ hours round trip commutes and no walkability.

It is what it is - my wife and I are both originally from Georgia and came into our move eyes wide open.

But Atlanta's cost of living is not lower than DC's. Full stop.