Atlant GA or Dallas TX? Your preference. (Atlanta, Smyrna: job market, quality of life)

[khakibecca]

We are considering a move to either of these places. Which would you prefer? Why?

[LiveUrban]

Atlanta because it has a lot more culture. It's more of a world class city and has easier access up and down the Eastern coast.

The city and surrounding areas are much more green looking too. Dallas currently has yellow grass everywhere.

[Tdiddy0027]

Dallas from what I hear is nice and it's as big as Atlanta if not bigger, but Atlanta does have more depth to it imho. It's more than just a shiny sunbelt city in the middle of the prairie, it still has an amazing southern culture to it and it is indeed more connected to the east coast- through its geography and its airport.

ps. If anyone can disprove what I just said about dallas, please tell me

[gladt]

I use to live in Atlanta before moving to Charlotte, before moving from...Anyway, IMO both Atlanta and Dallas are nice but different to me. Atlanta is a thriving southeastern city with a strong southern culture while Dallas though technically in the south seems much more western to me in look, feel and has a mix of a little southern culture, more southwestern culture and as someone else pointed out to me, "Texas culture". Atlanta's culture compared to Dallas' cultural offering I have not been here long enough to make an honest judgment although they say they have almost completed the 2nd largest Arts District in the country, just outside of downtown.
Comparisons? To me Dallas feels and seems to be bigger, faster and denser except compared to areas of midtown and buckhead. Interstate 75 in Dallas is pretty urban stretch of road for a sunbelt city. Downtown areas both seem to be about the same. Dallas has a very nice areas called uptown and west village which are adjacent to downtown. The biggest difference to me is that Dallas has it's interesting parts spread all over the metro area while Atlanta's are more concentrated within ITP. I enjoyed Atlanta but like Dallas better, so far.

[atlantagreg30127]

Overall I prefer Dallas. I simply prefer the "vibe" there and it has advantages such as better City leadership, an expanding transit system, and SLIGHTLY more controlled growth. Atlanta has more trees, and a better geographic location with mountains close by and the ocean, etc., but in the end, as far as cities go, while I live in Atlanta, if I were choosing between the two, I'd pick Dallas.

Of course, all you said is that you're considering both and ask which is better - but better for WHO? You haven't told us anything about yourselves, what you like to do for recreation, your age range, etc etc etc. Some will say Atlanta is better (for them) others will say Dallas is better (for them) but that doesn't mean either/or will be better for YOU. You need to visit and spend time in both cities and determine that yourself.

[portyhead24]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Overall I prefer Dallas. I simply prefer the "vibe" there and it has advantages such as better City leadership, an expanding transit system, and SLIGHTLY more controlled growth.

Oh lawdy, I bout split a gut over this one. Leadership in Atlanta must be WAY bad because it's the pits in Dallas overall. What I mean by that is that it seems the city as a whole can't get much accomplished due to the setup of a decentralized form of city government. Too many people having their own agenda and not enough cooperation with a central focus. The city seems to always be in talks of building this new development or this new park but can't seem to go anywhere with it. Don't get me wrong, it's a great city but it definitely has it's flaws. I myself haven't visited Atlanta so I can't really comment, but I have a good friend of mine who lives there and I hope to visit her asap. She loves it there fwiw.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by portyhead24

Oh lawdy, I bout split a gut over this one. Leadership in Atlanta must be WAY bad because it's the pits in Dallas overall.

Did Dallas "misplace" $140-million dollars of their budget money and never figure out where it went?

We did.

[south-to-west]

Come on. As we all know by now, the financial crisis isn't only endemic to Atlanta. The State of Georgia has a budget shortfall as well--as do many other major cities across the country.

In regards to the comparisons between Dallas and Atlanta, you should search older threads because this topic has been talked about endlessly. Basically the two metros are very similar in regards to economy, growth patterns, climate, and vibe. The main differences are geographic, having two anchor cities (DFW) instead of one (ATL), and Texas vs Southeastern culture. IMO I think Dallas may have a slight edge on Atlanta when it comes to quality of life, but Atlanta has more of an edge when it comes to the uniqueness and character of the urban center. I love living in Atlanta and am proud to call it my home, but I would seriously consider Dallas as well due to its better job market and its more progressive policies when it comes to investing in transportation improvements.

[travelingtrainer]

I spent twelve years in Dallas and if you'd like to send me a direct message with any specific questions, I would be happy to help you.

I have only lived in the ATL area a few weeks, so I can't help you much there.

[MantaRay]

Let me speak from a perspective of having lived in Atlanta for several years and having never spent time in Dallas but having done extensive research on both places to formulate my top 5 list of places to retire. Currently Atlanta (actually Suwanee) is #4 and Dallas is #5 on my list, the order being primarily due to proximity to family and secondarily due to hatred of 100 degree temperatures. For me, recreation will be the biggest part of my retirement, with biking the trails comprising the bulk of that recreation. So I'll speak from what I've discovered on the recreation front:

Atlanta is TERRIBLE in bike/pedestrian trails connecting one part of the city to another. Suwanee does have a good 9 miles of trails, and Smyrna does connect to the extensive Silver Comet Trail, which heads out of town, Peachtree City is the mecca of trails in the metro, and Freedom Park downtown does have limited trails (maybe 2 miles if that), but nothing going across town. Dallas, on the other hand, has trails out the wazoo, running through the suburbs and populated proximity to downtown. Huge difference there.

Atlanta has no major public waterfront feature like a riverwalk, baywalk, lakewalk, canalwalk, etc. Dallas has the Trinity River Greenbelt Park, and not only that, but Dallas has plans to significantly improve the park. It's called the Trinity River Corridor Project, and info can be found at trinityrivercorridor.org. If Dallas follows through, it's going to be one of the nicest public waterfront parks in the nation. So Dallas wins hands down on that front.