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Old 02-11-2021, 09:02 AM
 
4,307 posts, read 6,248,651 times
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I've posted on here before, but would appreciate some candid advice about my particular situation.

Background - My family and I almost moved to Atlanta 3 years ago when I considered a job offer. I turned it down because I had some concerns about the company (PM me if you want to hear more specifics as I'd prefer not to share on a public forum). At the time, we looked at homes in the northern suburbs in upscale areas (East Cobb, Alpharetta, Johns Creek).

Current situation - We are a family that lives in an upscale suburb of the SF Bay Area. We're reconsidering a relocation because remote work options are increasing (not necessarily to pursue a new job, but would want to be in a large metro if/when we needed to look for other roles). We aren't struggling (by any means) and live a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle. We both work in the high tech sector and have two young, school aged kids. We are generally pretty liberal, although don't mind being around some folks more moderate (but have more issues with the far right vs the far left). We are active in terms of outdoor recreation and are not religious at all.

What we like about CA - Job opportunities (at least historically), outdoor recreational opportunities, weather/climate (most of the time), weekend getaways, less religious vs other areas, diversity, most of our family is nearby, some of the state politics (like how CA is often a leader in social justice issues).

What we dislike about CA - Cost of living (even with a high income couldn't really "trade up" on a home in our area for dream house without becoming house poor), climate change (while we love the warm sunny weather, the perpetual drought and more frequent smoke from fires is really getting to us), tough to make/establish friendships (people are transient so many of our friends have moved, while a lot of other folks are just outright unfriendly or too busy to establish friendships), fiscal mismanagement of state (high taxes which are increasing while they don't seem to take care of the infrastructure here).

Why Atlanta - We've considered other locations to move and I'll give you my feedback:

-Seattle - Cost not much lower vs Bay Area, perpetually overcast
-Denver - Costs increasing, a little too dry, not large enough job market
-Austin - Costs increasing, too hot in summer, not large enough job market
-Dallas - Too hot in summer, scenery just seems boring/bland for outdoors

We like the scenery in Atlanta with green/lushness everywhere and rolling hills. We like that its not too far from nice beaches (day's drive), mountains and other states to explore. We do like how its trending politically, the fact that it has all/most of the amenities we'd need in a large metro area but the cost of living would be less. We think it would be a friendlier, more family oriented environment.

We are a little weary that being in the Bible Belt (even though ATL is a blue dot), we might be out of place? Is it tough to meet friends here, who would be of like minds to us?

When I looked at ATL last time, I liked some of the ITP suburbs a bit better (Brookhaven, Buckhead, Virginia Highland, etc.). We like having some walkability and proximity to more activities. But, I've seen that to get what we'd want would cost more (we could still afford this), and we'd have to send our kids to private schools and crime is somewhat of an issue. We could comfortably afford a home in the $1M range (if we had to send our kids to private school) or up to $1.5M if not. I do suffer from seasonal allergies. Will I be miserable in ATL?

Would appreciate other's thoughts on 1 - is ATL the right choice for us and 2 - if so, where would you recommend someone in our situation focus on location-wise?
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:28 AM
 
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I'll let others comment on your other questions.

But I can address one:

Quote:
I do suffer from seasonal allergies. Will I be miserable in ATL?
Yes. Absolutely. Positively. No question about it.

The caveat is... this is pretty much true anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard.

Personally, if I had $1.5 million to spend, I'd be looking at beachfront property in some of Florida's beach towns. But... you do you!
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:31 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLTJL View Post
I
Personally, if I had $1.5 million to spend, I'd be looking at beachfront property in some of Florida's beach towns. But... you do you!
Haha. I don't mind for a vacation, but I can't see myself living in FL. Between the hurricane risk and the weird culture (seems an odd combination of very "blingy" and "trashy"), not my cup of tea for a residence.
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:38 AM
 
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That may be true somewhere like Miami, but Florida is a pretty big state. That's not the case everywhere.

Anyway, if saving money is your primary concern, have you thought about places like Chattanooga? Asheville? These towns are cooler than you think with thriving art scenes that make them little blue havens in a sea of red, just like Atlanta. The reason I'm suggesting it is because on your budget, you could probably live like royalty there. In Atlanta... sure, you could get a much better place than SF, but in these places, you'd be living it up big time.

Chattanooga has easier access to Atlanta than some of its suburbs! (not exactly, but it's really not far from the city). Just for fun... why don't you see what you can afford there. I think you'd be stunned if you saw how beautiful Lookout Mountain is.
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:45 AM
 
4,307 posts, read 6,248,651 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLTJL View Post
That may be true somewhere like Miami, but Florida is a pretty big state. That's not the case everywhere.

Anyway, if saving money is your primary concern, have you thought about places like Chattanooga? Asheville? These towns are cooler than you think with thriving art scenes that make them little blue havens in a sea of red, just like Atlanta. The reason I'm suggesting it is because on your budget, you could probably live like royalty there. In Atlanta... sure, you could get a much better place than SF, but in these places, you'd be living it up big time.

Chattanooga has easier access to Atlanta than some of its suburbs! (not exactly, but it's really not far from the city). Just for fun... why don't you see what you can afford there. I think you'd be stunned if you saw how beautiful Lookout Mountain is.
I've explored other parts of FL. While I can name a few nicer communities that I've visited, I just don't think I'm a FL person, to be honest.

I haven't explored those other places. I have heard great things about Asheville and would like to visit someday.

I feel like I need to hedge my bets by staying in a large metro. I'm still not 100% sold that remote work will be a thing indefinitely. In a city like Atlanta (or substitute any other large metro), if I had to look for work elsewhere, I'd feel confident that I could find something in my field. In the smaller towns, not so much. We're hearing more and more companies go all remote, which is encouraging. However, I have no idea how widespread this will be in say, 5-10 years. I am happy at my company and have no plans to leave. On the other hand, I can't predict where my family or company situation will be and am hesitant to live somewhere where I'd have to move again, if I couldn't find a remote gig.

Honestly, I don't need to really save a lot of money. I feel like we're saving a lot as-is and its not like we'd go for bottom barrel prices if we moved. Its more to have a better quality of life/standard of living at the same or a lower price point.
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:59 AM
 
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For your preferences you'll be fine in Buckhead. The only thing that may suffer compared to SF is walkability if you don't live near downtown Buckhead. The only other thing would be allergies, you'll experience it much more (especially around Spring) than you will in SF.
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Old 02-11-2021, 10:05 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Need4Camaro View Post
For your preferences you'll be fine in Buckhead. The only thing that may suffer compared to SF is walkability if you don't live near downtown Buckhead. The only other thing would be allergies, you'll experience it much more (especially around Spring) than you will in SF.
Doesn't living in Buckhead require sending kids to a private school? Trying to factor that into my expenses would likely put us in the lower end of the range for a home cost.

Also, is it an issue in terms of crime in the Buckhead area? Have seen some recent stories, so that's a little bit of a concern of mine.
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Old 02-11-2021, 10:21 AM
 
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Depends how old your kids are.

For elementary school, you can send your kids to Sarah Smith, no problem.

A lot of people decide to go private once middle school rolls around... but you don't HAVE to.

Don't let crime stories in Buckhead scare you. Most of them are people from other areas, coming to Buckhead on weekend nights and causing problems on city streets. As far as I know, the neighborhoods are still relatively safe. People there aren't going to tolerate unsafe neighborhoods.
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Old 02-11-2021, 10:29 AM
 
4,307 posts, read 6,248,651 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLTJL View Post
Depends how old your kids are.

For elementary school, you can send your kids to Sarah Smith, no problem.

A lot of people decide to go private once middle school rolls around... but you don't HAVE to.

Don't let crime stories in Buckhead scare you. Most of them are people from other areas, coming to Buckhead on weekend nights and causing problems on city streets. As far as I know, the neighborhoods are still relatively safe. People there aren't going to tolerate unsafe neighborhoods.
Kids are in kindergarten and 2nd grade, so still pretty young. Where we live, public schools are top notch from K-12. I grew up in an area that didn't have great schools, but I still managed to do well, so I get that a lot of it is dependent upon parental support. However, it is something that I look at when moving to an area that I'm not familiar with, as I'd be interested in understanding funding for academics (honors/AP programs), extra-curriculars, class size, etc.
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Old 02-11-2021, 11:04 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
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How did you like East Cobb, Alpharetta, Johns Creek last time? Cause that was kinda my first thought til you said you like the intown areas better. I don't know just how much better you liked intown. Did you check out Decatur last time? Their city school system is pretty highly ranked from Elem all the way to the high school.
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